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A CULTURAL STUDY OF THE NISITHA GURNI
husbands.' In spite of references to self-immolation, the practice of Sati was not universal. A number of widows can be observed as living with the families of their husbands or going back to their paternal house, a practising chastity and renunciation and also sometimes embracing the monastic order.s
Faina Attitude Towards Women-Being the expounder of an ascetic religion the attitude of our author towards women could not be very different from the other advocates of his faith. Women as a social entity were not only neglected but also held in contempt by the Jaina and the Buddhist lawgivers, as their (women) presence was supposed to be an impediment in their spiritual development-"a bolt barring the city of heaven, a path to the dwelling of hell".. Emphasising the agility of the woman-nature, the author in one of his works quotes from other sources in support of his views :8 “They (women) laugh and weep for the purpose of acquiring money (arthahetch), they make others believe but never believe themselves; therefore a man belonging to a high family and possessing virtues should remain away from women like flowers growing up in the grounds of a cemetery", and
unstable by their very nature like the waves of an ocean, unsteady in their affection like the evening clouds, women discard a person after fulfilling their purpose like the lacbranch squeezed out of its sap.96 Similar statements can be found in the NC. It has been stated that women are fickleminded by their very nature and lack the strength of character.' Their affection can be easily won over by showering 1. à får g'a Afcas, arfo fa affer 9iaE G10—NC. 4, p. 14; Brh. V. 3, p.
208 2. NC. 2, p. 111. 3. NC. 2, p. 261. 4. Winternitz, M., History of Indian Literature, Vol. II, pp. 462-63. 5. Uttara. Cü., p. 65. 6. समुद्रवीचीचपलस्वभावाः संध्याभ्ररेखा व मुहूर्तरागाः । स्त्रियः कृतार्थाः पुरुषं निरर्थक
faqifsat isa otsifat 11 --Uttarā. Cī., p. 65. 7. Tore for Fantat i Farat e graft BETHAT Hafd--NC. 3, p. 584.
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