The Goddess Re-discovered: Gender and Sexuality in Religious Texts of Medieval Bengal

200 Pages·2022·2.116 MB·English

by  Saumitra Chakravarty

THE GODDESS RE-DISCOVERED
The book critically analyses questions of gender and sexuality in the medieval religious
texts of Bengal. It analyses the emergence of religious cults in patriarchal contexts, the
humanization of the goddess figure as a wife and mother who is subject to social and
ethical codes, and demythologization of folk epics.
This book discusses the folk genre of the Mangal Kavyas such as the Chandi
Mangal and the Manasa Mangal, against the perspectives of Sanskrit texts like the
Devi Mahatmya and the Devi Bhagavata Purana, and compares and contrasts the
Kalika Purana against the texts and practices of the Tantric cult, to shed light on the
paradoxes and parallels in the images of Kali found in the texts and practices domi-
nant in the eastern region of India. The author also highlights the centrality of
Chaitanya in the Gaudiya Vaishnava movement, the social and religious revolution
he brought with the philosophy of raganuga bhakti along with the androgynous
aspects in his relationships; explores the concept of mystical eroticism in the love of
Radha and Krishna as seen in the song sequences of the Gaudiya Vaishnavas; and
discusses women’s Rama-kathas found in a variety of languages across India.
Rich in archival material, this book will be an essential read for scholars and
researchers of gender studies, women’s studies, literature, medieval history, social
history, cultural anthropology, religious studies, cultural studies, South Asia studies,
and those interested in the history of medieval Bengal.
Saumitra Chakravarty teaches English Literature in the Postgraduate programme,
National College, Bangalore, India. She is engaged in active research on various
aspects of the ‘feminine’ in literary and religious texts, and has a PhD in English
Literature from Calcutta University, India. Dr Chakravarty has presented papers at
various international conferences. Her research articles have been published in inter-
national journals like Intersections of the Australian National University, Canberra,
in Le Simplegadi and Il Bianco e il Nero of the University of Udine, Italy, in Bells of
the University of Barcelona, in the History Research Journal, U.S.A., in the Journal of
Religion and Spirituality, U.S.A., in the Asian Literature and Translation, University
of Cardiff, in the Athens Journal of Philology, Greece.
Her poems have been included in an anthology of 50 Indian women poets entitled
Roots and Wings. Her books include Three Sides of Life, a volume of poetry The
Silent Cry, and a book of essays entitled The Endangered Self as co-author. Her
articles have been included in five books.

THE GODDESS
RE-DISCOVERED
Gender and Sexuality in Religious Texts
of Medieval Bengal
Saumitra Chakravarty
First published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa
business
© 2023 Saumitra Chakravarty
The right of Saumitra Chakravarty to be identified as author of this
work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Reasonable efforts have been made to publish reliable data
and information, but the author and publisher cannot assume
responsibility for the validity of all materials or the consequences
of their use. The authors and publishers have attempted to trace
the copyright holders of all material reproduced in this publication
and apologize to copyright holders if permission to publish in this
form has not been obtained. If any copyright material has not been
acknowledged please write and let us know so we may rectify in any
future reprint.
The views and opinions expressed in this book are those of author
and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Routledge.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978-0-367-72124-4 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-31672-7 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-31081-5 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003310815
Typeset in Sabon
by SPi Technologies India Pvt Ltd (Straive)
Dedicated to every woman’s search for justice and identity

CONTENTS
Acknowledgements ix
1 The Medieval Period in Bengal: A Brief Introduction 1
PART I
Shakta Literature in Bengal 21
2 Hindu Goddesses and Patriarchal Politics: Unveiling Goddess
Imagery in the Chandi Mangal, the Devi Mahatmya and the
Srimad Devi Bhagavata Purana 37
3 Suppression and Resistance: Celebrating Manasa in Text,
Performance and Ritual 55
4 Kali, Goddess Power and Sexuality: The influence of Tantra
on the Kalika Purana 72
PART II
Vaishnava Literature in Bengal 89
5 Radha as a Social Rebel: Female Sexuality in the Vaishnava
Padavalis of Bengal 105
6 The Concept of Androgyny in the Chaitanya Hagiographies
of Bengal 124
vii
CONTENTS
PART III
Interpreting the Epics: Anuvada Sahitya or Itihasa Sahitya 139
7 Empowering the Silenced Voices: The Paradox of Female
Chastity in Krittivasa’s Ramayana 153
8 Women’s Ramayanas: Chandraboti’s Folk Ballad 169
Index 182
viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The writing of this book has been a long and arduous journey of years of
painstaking research into what was for me uncharted territory, of learning
to understand and love an archaic form of the Bengali language in which I,
as a student of English Literature, was initially left clueless and floundering.
But the journey has been immensely rewarding, a return to roots. What
was originally an assortment of a few stray thoughts compiled in a bunch
of journal papers, crystallized into a dream of writing an entire book on
Medieval Bengali Literature from the perspective of gender, a topic I have
repeatedly delved into in my literary research. I am immensely grateful to
the editorial team of Routledge, particularly to Ms Antara Ray Chaudhury
and Ms Brinda Sen and Ms Suba Ramya and her team at Straive for facili-
tating the fulfilment of this dream. In taking the first faltering steps into the
writing of this book, I needed verification of my hypotheses, strong scho-
lastic support. I offer my most profound gratitude to Mr Moloy Bannerjee,
Moloyda for patiently and diligently going through my entire manuscript
and offering valuable suggestions for improvement from his vast storehouse
of erudition. I am thankful for the love and encouragement provided by my
dear husband and son, both scientists who firmly reined in my runaway lit-
erary imagination. I offer my most humble, loving obeisance to the memory
of my parents who taught me to dream big, to not rest till I had achieved
my goal. My two elder sisters, Aroti Bhattacharya and Bharoti Ganguly,
gave me my first taste of Bengali literature and tutored me in the intrica-
cies of grammar; I am truly thankful to them. My grateful thanks are due
to the editorial teams of all the journals where earlier, briefer versions of
some of these articles had been published. They readily gave permission for
the inclusion of the much-modified versions in this book. The list includes
the following journals and the publication details, Le Simplegadi of the
University of Udine, Italy, (Vol. 7, No. 7, November 2009) Intersections of
the Institute of Gender and Sexuality, Canberra, (Issue 22, October 2009,
Issue 33, November 2012), Asian Literature and Translation: A Journal of
Religion and Culture of the University of Cardiff, U.K., (Vol. 1, No. 5),
History Research Journal (Vol. 3, No. 4, April 2013), Journal of Religion
ix