Essay name: Vasudevahindi (cultural history)
Author:
A. P. Jamkhedkar
Affiliation: Savitribai Phule Pune University / Deccan College Post Graduate and Research Institute Pune
This essay is an English study of the Vasudevahindi reflecting cultural history and traditions of the life of people in ancient and medieval India during the 6th century. The Vasudevahimdi is a romantic and religious tale that revolves around the wanderings of Vasudeva (a former Jain monk) and religious teachings in the guise of love stories, a common theme of poetry in Jainism.
Chapter 3 - Social Conditions
54 (of 228)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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201
different
In the Vh(M), the same ideal is presented in
other words. A woman was expected to be devoted to her
husband (padibhatta). She was not to think of any other
Man
person.
Damadamti who is described to have such a devotion
towards her husband, is represented as not being attacked
by lions or serpents in the forest鹿. The nurse of Bamdhumati,
who was one of the wives of Vasudeva, tells her that the
husband is superior even to monks, kings or gods虏. The
practice of women from the royal family remaining behind
the curtain seems to have continued in the periods 鲁 of both
the Vh(P) and the Vh(M).
4 The Vh(P) quotes instances of loose behaviour
of women from various classes of the society: the royal 4
the Brahmana, and the Vaisya. It was, therefore, essential
that there should be certain checks on the freedom of
women even in general. This is suggested by the story of
Vasudatta, who has to suffer a lot because of her not listening
to the advice of elders in the family7. That the fidelity
1. Vh(M), 11.63b. Similar passages occur in the
Nala-Damayanti akhyana and the Dasakumara carita, HCIP
Vol. IV,p.555.
2. Vh(M), I.10b.
4. Vh(P), 9, 54.
6. Ibid., 233.
3. Ibid.; II.203b.
5. Ibid., 14, 31.
7. Ibid.; 61.
