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THE IDEAL OF INDIAN WOMANHOOD
this ignorant view, the whole of nature does nothing but commit sins. How many seeds are wasted in her scheme of reproduction! Waste is the rule; fructification is only an accident.
Gandhi is, of course, concerned about the sacred bond of marriage". In his opinion, its object is reproduction. No sacred bond is necessary for that natural process. It takes place everywhere without any sacred bond. The sacred bond of marriage", is slavery for women. They are treated as the means of production, privately owned by men. Gandhi says that the woman has been given the field of life by God, and it is her duty to make use of it. That is only a sickeningly sanctimonious way of saying the same thing-the woman is a child-bearing machine. However, if the field of life is a gift of God, why cannot the woman select the seed to be planted on her field, and hire the ploughman to her liking. To allow her that liberty, would be obeying the law of God. But the trouble with the religious people is that they are constantly violating the laws of their God, on his authority.
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Many fables have been fabricated about the exalted position of the woman in Hindu society. There are volumes of legends about it. Even today, lyrics are woven around that fiction. Hinduism is said to concede perfect equality to women. They are granted the status of goddesses, though of
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