Patriarchal Values of Indian womanhood and Its Legacy in Kalidas' Shakuntala

Abstract

Over the course of centuries Indian great epics like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata continueto exert its pronounced impact upon shaping philosophic approach to Indian life on religious,cultural and social levels. The innovative andImmortal creation of theiconic figures like Rama and Krishna imparts strikingreligious and social stance to consolidate an enduring sense of moral consciousness.The present paper on the contrary seeks to explore how classical Indian philosophyinsists on defining Indian women as historically mute and socially oppressed subalternsubject under the patriarchal supervision. Therefore, the paper shades light on identifying the stereotype Indian women with Shakuntala whose womanhood is marked bycoyness,submissiveness and susceptibility. The prejudiced and paralytic patriarchal legacy left behind by post Vedic period perpetuates its ideologically galvanised exploitative encounter on thewomen.Though, neutralized in the wake of the globalization some extent the partial centralization of patriarchal power and authority does not allow the voiceless a valid and vast space to think independently of men in independent India.