Position of Woman in Dak's Sayings of Assam, India
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Abstract
Though it is not known for sure whether he existed or not, and if existed, where and when did he live, a large number of pithy sayings in Assamese are attributed to Dak or Dakpurus. The Dak's sayings in verse are indispensable part of Assamese folk culture and they cover almost all aspects of Assamese life. Dak is called the Veda Vyasa of Assam, and Assamese folk people seek answers to many complex questions of life in Dak's sayings.
Dak has made many remarks on women and many of his sayings are still used as the standard for judging women's nature and character. Apart from commenting on the symptoms of good woman and bad woman, Dak also comments on the symptoms of an ideal wife. Dak makes his value judgment on woman basically on the basis of her physical beauty and noble birth, and her loyalty to her husband. To Dak, an ideal woman worships her husband all day and night-
® swaamik puje godholi raati,
® sehise naari laksmi jaati.
(Who worships her husband all day and night/ She is the woman of Lakshmi's class)
She is expected to be extremely tolerant, who never opposes her husband-
® swaami jadi khange kare dhikkaar,
® suniyaa tathaapi nede uttar.
(If husband scolds her/ She will not even give any answer)
She has to be confined within the four boundaries of her house-
® jito naari fure haate ghaate,
® taako eriu kahilo Dake.
(The woman who goes to market/ Should be avoided, says Dak)
Under any circumstance, the ideal woman is as humble as a slave-
® namra vaabe thaake jehen daasi,
® sajal nayan naahishe haasi.
(She is as humble as a slave/ Wet eyes with no smile)
But do these sayings hold impartial view on women as a whole, or do they justify the freedom that Assamese women enjoy in their day-to-day life? Did Dak say something which is not relevant to Assamese women? Do Dak's sayings encourage subjugation of women by men? Was he an advocate of patriarchy?The paper will focus on all these issues.