Devi and the Spouse Goddess: Women, Sexuality and Marriages in India

Over the centuries, the idealised roles women were expected to play in Indian society have embodied in images of Hindu deities. Society, particularly the male Brahmanical elite, expected decent upper caste women to conform to the image of the benign Spouse Goddess. The upper caste woman, like the Spouse Goddess, was expected to be a worshipful and dutiful mate to her husband. She appears as Sarasvati, wife of Brahma; Lakshmi, paired with Vishnu; and Parvati, mate of Shiva. The Spouse Goddess' sexuality is controlled by marriage and is directed towards procreation, particularly of male heirs. When control of the Spouse Goddess' sexuality is lost, and she is (or is thought) unfaithful she becomes the Spouse-Goddess-out-of-control, a motive force in many of India's epic tales Devi has her probable origins as an earth Goddess in the Indus Valley Civilization. She has been continuously worshipped in India's little tradition, in different forms and ways. She represents overt sexuality and enjoys parity with males in economic and political activity. In her various modes she embodies the egalitarianism and open sexuality exhibited by lower caste Hindu women. Scholars have often confused the Spouse-Goddess-out-of-control with Devi and have not understood the interplay of these images of goddesses and women's status in Indian societyvLynn Gatwood's brilliant and provocative study of Indian religion and society is certain to generate controversy. But it casts new light on the interaction of ideology and culture in Indian history. The book will permanently change one's perceptions of Indian women, of their relationships with men, particularly through marriage, and of the Goddesses of the Hindu Pantheon.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgement Preface Introduction Part One: The Historical Dimension 15 Part Two: The Ethnographic Dimension 75 Conclusion 182 Bibliography 189 Index 201

About the Author :
Lynn E. Gatwood (1945) passed her M.A. in Anthropology in 1984, with focus on South Asia. She is a member of the American Anthropological Association. Besides her anthropological interests, she is a singer, song-writer and guitar player.