Jain Journal 1991 10

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 31

114
JAIN JOURLNAL
In spite of the various precautions, if the married life does not become successful, the dissolution of wedlock is permitted under specific circumstances and the wife is allowed to contract another marriage. This means that divorce was allowed under certain conditions. In fact the practices of divorce and widow remarriage were governed by local customs and to that extent the position of women in this respect varied from place to place. When a woman becomes a widow she is placed in a precarious condition and the treatment accorded to her has an important bearing on her social position. The lot of the widow helps to find out the attitude of society towards women as a class. The first question to be dealt in connection with a widow was whether she was allowed to survive her husband, or she was compelled to die with him. Hindus adopted the policy of sacrificing the wife at the husband's death right from 300 B. C. upto 1829 A. D. when the custom of sati was prohibited by law. Contrary to this we do not find any instance of self-immolation or the custom of sati in Jaina texts.
Apart from self-immolation there were three courses open for widows in ancient times. They could either pass their remaining life in widowhood, or have some children by levirate (niyoga), or remarry regularly. The second course was not prescribed by the Jainas; the third course was regulated by local customs and in all probability was adopted by a very small sections and, therefore, the first course, which was considered more honourable, was open to the Jaina widows. As the full religious freedom was allowed to females, widows could devote their time for their spiritual upliftment and thus carve out a respectable position for them in their family and in the minds of people in general. Again a Jaina widow inherited the property of her deceased husband and hence could pass her widowhood without any serious economic difficulty. Further, Jaina widows were free from the ugly custom of tonsure followed by the Hindu widows from about 1200 A. D. Among Jainas only nuns are used to be shaved and it is suggested that this practice might have given rise to the custom of the tonsure of widows in the Hindu society.
In conclusion it can be said that inspite of traditional practices of early marriage and widowhood persisting in the Jaina community, the granting of religious independence to women had very healthy repurcussions on their social status. Thus, they commanded voice in their family affairs and wielded uncommon influence in the shaping of their children's destiny. Moreover, they enjoyed many legal rights of inheritance and possession of property and had ample opportunity of managing their domestic business independently.