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Hinduism Perspective on Sexuality By: A K Shakoor MBE and Imtiaz Patel Dip., MSc. Edited by: Ashok Chudasama BA Hons. (Gen. Secretary of Blackburn Hindu Centre, Blackburn)
Introduction
Background to the faith Hinduism is a way of life. It relates to the religious, social, moral and political behaviour of about 83 percent of the people of India. It is a living faith which has been constantly changing and developing since it began in India. It has no historical founder, and has many sacred books. The oldest scriptures are called the Veda, and include hymns or songs to spirits controlling nature, rules for performing sacrifice, and philosophy about the mysteries of life and death. Hindus worship one God under different names and appearances, both in male and female. Hindus believe in the reincarnation of the soul or atman, which passes through many lives, not all humans. Hinduism is mainly practised in India but it is also found wherever Hindus have settled.
The Universal Moral Law Hindus themselves call their faith “Sanatana-dharma” (the Universal Moral Law). Because it is universal and it is applicable to all people. The core of Hindu moral law is “Dharma” (moral duty, responsibility), and this will vary from person to person according to age, sex, social position, education and occupation.
Hindu society was traditionally divided into four castes and many hundreds of interdependent sub-castes, based on social and occupational and on geography. The four castes are the “Brahmins”, (priests, professionals, head of the states), “Kshatriyas”, (administrators, soldiers), “Vaishyas”, (business people and farmers), and the “Shudras”, (artisans, landless farm labourers).
There was another group called “Untouchable” within the Hindu social framework. In the past, people who did the dirty or polluting jobs were put outside the caste system, into a fifth group. Hindus in all the other castes avoided touching them, or even getting into their shadows, for fear of becoming polluted. These people were called untouchables. “Untouchability” was abolished by law in India in 1950.
Traditionally, the caste and sub-caste into which a person was born have defined their social and spiritual status, occupation, social contacts and social and religious duties. People in higher castes had more important religious duties and were expected to be more strict in their observances. A person’s caste is believed to be determined by “Karma”, the natural cycle of reward and punishment for every act and thought. It is linked to reincarnation and is regarded by many Hindus as divinely ordained and a part of natural law.
Community Duty Originally the duties of the various groups were related. A landowner was expected to pay his farm workers enough. A ruler had a moral duty to reward the priests for carrying out rituals and celebrating festivals. These duties still are related in rural areas. Community duty was designed to support the whole community.
Family Duty Ideally, a Hindu’s life is divided into four stages called ashramas (a stage in life). They are:
Friendship A person’s life is influenced by the elders in the extended family, by teachers, and by friendships. Friendships in Hindu society are formed in many way.
Friendship between the sexes is not favoured in Hindu society. Boys, and girls are usually kept apart. In cities, they may go to the cinema, or attend a sports club, or visit a disco as a group.
In India two men may be seen walking together with their arms around each other’s shoulders, or they may embrace when they meet. This is an accepted gesture of friendship without any suggestion of homosexuality.
Love “Love is a many splendour thing” – so the song says. From the Hinduism point of view the word ‘love’ creates many different emotions in the hearts of different people. There are 20 different Sanskrit words which describe love. Of these, eight deals with pure love and the rest describe sexual love. Some types of love are:
The Relationship between Faith, Culture and Community
Hindu communities in Britain Most Hindu families settled in the UK in the 1950s and 1960s emigrated from the North-Western states of Gujarat and Punjab. The families of most Hindus from East Africa originated in Gujarat and Punjab, having immigrated to East Africa earlier last century. Most of these families arrived in Britain in the late 1960s and early 1970s, many as refugees. A small number of Hindu families have arrived from other parts of India, as well as from countries such as Fiji, Guyana and some Caribbean islands such as Jamaica, to which their ancestors had emigrated to in the nineteenth century. In addition there are a number of Tamil Hindu families from Sri Lanka, most of whom have arrived more recently in Britain, as refugees. It is estimated that there are about 600,000 Hindus in the UK.
The Place of gender in faith and culture In traditional Hindu communities, particularly those in rural areas in India, the roles of men and women are clearly distinguished. Men are in overall authority and are responsible for all matters outside the home and supporting their families. Women are responsible for rearing and educating children, looking after the family and for running the home. These roles increasingly overlap in Britain in response to the lifestyle adopted by the Hindu community living here. One of women’s most important duties, however, is to teach the children and grandchildren about their moral and religious values.
Within most families, although men are considered to have ultimate authority, men and women generally share decisions. Women are deemed to be responsible for the conduct of children both within and outside the home. One of the traditional religious duties of a Hindu woman is to honour and obey her husband. In turn Hinduism stresses that husbands must treat their wives with kindness and respect. Women are particularly honoured when they become mothers, especially of male children. This relates to the issue of the expectation of men within Hinduism. For example not only will a male child provide an heir for the family but he also ensures there will be a male figure who can become the head of the household upon the death of the father.
Relationship A relationship is a link or connection between two or more people. Any relationship between individuals is based on varied ideas or emotions. Hindu moral values are based upon the following key ideals.
The Family Structure Within Hindu communities family structures have a more formal hierarchy. The male head of the household traditionally has over all authority. Beneath him, older family members usually have authority over younger family members, and men over women, at least in public matters. Within each generation, an older brother has authority over his younger brothers and an older sister-in-law over her younger sister-in-law. A young wife or mother may be very much under the authority of her mother-in-law. Older people have authority and influence and are respected and deferred to by adults as well as by children.
Relationships outside the family There is traditionally a very strict code of sexual morality to protect families and communities. Pre-marital and extra-marital sex are forbidden. As in many communities from different cultures higher moral standards are often expected of girls. Consequently girls are not afforded the same freedom as their male peers with respect to movement outside of the family home or in the establishment of personal relationships. It is traditionally very important that a girl should not go out with, or be alone with, a man before she marries and that her reputation should be untarnished. Behaviour which infringes these norms by one young woman also affects the reputations of other women in the family and may ruin the chances of those who are not yet married.
There may be particular restriction within some Hindu families here, on some girls and young women, where many Hindu parents feel that their daughters are in great danger from peer pressure and influences which seek to encourage them to conform to the relatively liberal values of the host culture which could be potentially dangerous to their own values and customs.
Marriage For a Hindu man marriage is a religious duty. It is more of a sacrament than a contract. Arranged marriages are the most common for Hindus, though it is increasingly becoming less common. They are arranged by the elders in the family. The elders consider carefully the horoscopes of the young people, and the social, financial and religious status of both families.
Love marriages are now becoming common in Hindu society. If the young people choose their own partners, the choice is only approved by parents and other elder relatives if the families are of equal social standing. In her new home a bride may have to look after her parents-in-law and other senior relatives. If there is a vast difference between the family traditions, she will experience great challenges with regard to religious rituals and food.
The social and ritual status of the couple is of great significance. All Hindu marriages have to be registered. All Hindus practice monogamy. This means they each have only one partner.
At one time it used to be common for a bride’s parents to give a dowry to the bridegroom’s parents. This was the daughter’s natural inheritance from her father’s property. The size of the dowry affected the bride’s status in her new home.
A law abolishing dowry came into force in India in October 1985. Many parents are still expected to give money to the bridegroom’s parents as ‘wedding gifts’ on their daughter’s marriage.
Divorce In Hindu law, based on their holy scriptures, marriage is for life. Divorce is only possible as a last resort.
Since the Hindu Marriage Act 1955, marriages can be ended by divorce but traditional Hindus do not accept the idea. Divorce is not common in Hindu society as it can be a social stigma. Divorce has some serious implications for women as well. Re-marriage after divorce is difficult.
Sexuality
How sex is understood by the Hindu faith Sex is understood by Hindus as primarily for procreation rather than pleasure. Sex and sexual matters are still considered as a cultural taboo which is very rarely discussed openly in public domain. There is a social and cultural perception that such private issues like sexuality should be confined to marital relationships.
Homosexuality As mentioned in the previous chapter that South Asian society is based on the notion of “shame” and “honour”, there does not appear to be any explicit views on homosexuality primarily because such issues are not publicly debated. Culturally and socially, it is not acceptable to be homosexual, hence, it is shameful behaviour for any individual, even to talk about it.
The family and cultural pressures are so high for each individual to marry and have children, it makes it extremely difficult for people to be open about their homosexual identity. However, some men and women are inclined to express their sexuality through a loving relationship with a partner of their own sex.
Male homosexuality and its female counterpart, lesbianism, exists in Hindu society, as it exists in other society, but from a Hindu perspective both these forms of sexual expression are regarded as socially unacceptable and shameful.
The reality can often be that people will marry for the sake of their families and under some pressures but will also on occasion continue to lead double lives where they are able to express their sexual desires within same gender sexual relationships in an extremely subtle and private manner.
Heterosexuality This form of sexual behaviour has scriptural approval since every Hindu male has a religious duty to marry and produce children.
Although premarital and extramarital sex occurs in society, they are rarely talked about and never approved of.
Celibacy Traditionally, a Hindu’s life is divided into four stages, and these apply to the three upper classes, which are Brahmins (priests, professionals), Kshatriyas (administrators, soldiers), and vaishyas (business people). The four stages are Brahmacharya (student stage), Grihastha (married householder stage), Vanaprastha (retirement), and Sannyasa (renunciation).
A student, whether following western type of education or traditional education is, by definition, celibate. For Most Hindus marriage does not take place until their studies are completed and they have found employment. Among other things, the religious guidelines are that a student should not have sex before marriage. Since girls have equal opportunities for education they also fall into this category while they are students.
From a Hindu perspective, a premarital sexual relationship is strongly discouraged. Hindu parents take keen interest in their children’s educational and social activities.
Chastity: Chastity is the state of being sexually pure, i.e. not indulging in unlawful sexual intercourse outside marriage. A chaste wife, devoted to her husband is a pure wife (pativrata). Most Hindu couple fall into this category.
Puberty Young boys and girls belonging to Hindu faith learn about puberty in the same way as their peers within the host communities. Sensitive information on subjects like sexuality can be obtained from a variety of sources including their friends, schools, community centres, literature available in the market, the media and some time through informal discussion with their family members.
There are no religious rituals or ceremony that marks puberty or the passage from child to adulthood. However, there may be a change in the way a girl dresses at this point. Before puberty a young girl would be permitted to wear shorts for example. But, with the onset of puberty, when her body is starting to develop, then the family and social expectation would be that her body would be covered more appropriately. Arrival of puberty or the passage from childhood to adulthood, may bring some changes in terms of both gender. However, this period of adolescence restricts free mixing of genders.
Hindus do not practice circumcision from a religious point of view, unless of course through medical reasons.
Menstruation and Menopause According to Hindu traditions of purity and pollution, Hindu women are considered unclean during menstruation and the forty days after giving birth. They are not supposed to touch the family shrine, they cannot go to the temple, they cannot pray and even they are not allowed to touch holy books or Holy Scripture. During their menstruation they do not engage in any sexual relationship. After childbirth, where there is support from extended family members some women may stay indoors resting for the full forty days. After forty days women do come back to their normal routine and move on with their daily activities.
As far as menopause is concerned, there are no clear-cut guidelines or references in Hindu scriptures.
Contraception To all Hindus life is sacred. However, in keeping with the diversity within the Hindu faith there are varying views on the subject of abortion and contraception. India is a country where over 80 percent of the population are Hindus and Hindu religious bodies hold strong views on most moral issues.
For most Hindus there is no specific religious guideline either permitting or prohibiting artificial methods of birth control, though members of some religious sects may follow special rulings on the subject. Generally, speaking from a Hindu perspective most methods of contraception are permitted. Arguments for family planning can be found in many moral teachings and epic stories such as the Mahabharata, which ‘offers great praise for the Pandavas, who served as one of the Hindu prototypes of the ideal family’.
Some Hindus believe that it is their duty to produce a son, since only sons can perform the funeral rites that enable a man’s soul to go to heaven. Sons are therefore needed to say prayers to ensure survival in the next world. Due to this situation, contraception is therefore not generally practiced until the birth of a son or sons.
Decisions with respect to which contraceptive device to use and how to access it will depend on couples and individual preferences.
Abortion The Hindu paths to salvation include the way of works (rituals), the way of knowledge (realization of reality and self-reflection), and the way of devotion (devotion to god that you choose to follow). If the practitioner follows these paths, salvation can be achieved. Abortion tends to be disapproved of as Hindus believe that both physical and spiritual life enter the human embryo at the moment of conception. To Hindus all life is sacred. However, in keeping with the diversity within the Hindu faith there are different views and opinions on the subject of abortion.
There is evidence that abortion is an accepted part of modern life for many Hindus. Also abortion was legalised in India in 1971 in case of rape, incest and for the mental health of the woman if she would be adversely affected by the birth of an unwanted child.
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