ABSTRACT

This book analyses the Puranic representations of women, tracking the significant changes in gender equations in these texts against the background of the transformations that took place in the social milieu between AD 300 and AD 1000. The Puranas were written by men reinforcing the brahmanical patriarchal attitude towards women. After reviewing the relevant existing scholarly works relating to the Puranas and women in early India, the book locates the five selected Mahapuranas within the larger brahmanical textual framework in terms of chronology and authorship. In the context of Puranic traditions, the book discusses the religious traditions of Vaisnavism, Saivism, and Saktism; tirtha; mahadana; temples; and gender elements in Puranic cosmogonic myths. The discussion of marriage demonstrates that there was a deliberate theorisation of the institution of marriage in the anas with interlinked emphasis on chastity, purity, divinity, and women's status within the household. The book explores the Puranic feminine archetypes of daughter, wife, and mother within the patriarchal household.