When Gods stop being patriarchal

The next time a woman feels demoralised that the world is patriarchal, here is a cheerful thought. There are times when even the Gods are not patriarchal. The Goddesses will have none of it.

Shiva, the destroyer, is an ascetic. He has no desire for a wife or family. Parvati has decided that he will not remain so. She defies her parents, the mighty Himalaya and Maina, undertakes austerities which make even sages shudder, and mobilises allies, like Kamadeva, to awaken the love dormant in Shiva. Unmindful of the groom’s unkempt appearance, and the strange company he keeps, she has a most unconventional midnight wedding. Such is the power of the feminine that the fierce Shiva becomes a good husband and householder and comes to be known as Girijashankar, Umapati and Bhavanipati.

Vishnu, in his avatar as Krishna is wooed by a legion of women. He is the quintessential metropolitan male: sensitive, attractive and groomed to perfection. Revealing himself to Arjuna as the almighty God, he has no hesitation in attributing to himself feminine qualities. Even as he declares that he is all-devouring death, he declares his feminine attributes as fame, prosperity, speech, memory, intelligence, constancy and forgiveness. He is happy to be worshipped as Radheysham, Rukminivallabha or even Gopikrishna. Lakshmi as the consort of Vishnu wields powers over Gods, Kings and lesser mortals alike. There is no prosperity or splendour without her; even Vishnu is merely Sridhara and Sripati. In her incarnation as Sita, the demon Ravana kidnaps her, but dare not touch her without her consent.

Brahma is as indulgent as any liberal father can be. Saraswati, his daughter, is Bramhacharini. She is the modern woman free to pursue knowledge. She is intelligent, articulate, the repository of all learning, and untouched by artifice. She has judgement and bestows wisdom to those who put their faith in her. A hard taskmaster she symbolises independence and also the price one has to pay to protect it.

In the land of patriarchy, it not surprising that Goddess worship continues and on waking one looks at the hand and sees in it Lakshmi at the fingertips, Saraswati in the palm and Gowri as the source or point of movement. They all have distinct personas and without their agency nothing moves.