For centuries, men have always been considered the stronger sex. Whether it is in battle, politics, religion, and even in the home, society has heavily favored patriarchs. Men are the leaders, the revolutionaries and the saviors whereas the women are merely their wives and mothers, never playing a very glamorous role in history. Yet, after one primal, helpless scream from every major male Hindu God, that stereotype is abolished in India. From their fears and wrath is born the ultimate warrior; the female Goddess Durga. The tale does not stop there though. Enter Rama, a man considered to be one of the greatest kings India has ever seen; at his side, his utterly devoted and submissive wife, Sita. Although Sita is dutiful and completely immersed in Rama, her power and influence over him is just as strong as his over her. It goes without saying that Durga, the vicious, rule breaking demon slayer and Sita, the passive and docile wife of Rama are day and night, two sides to a radical coin, yet at the same time, it is through their similarities: men relying on them, their constant battle to prove their worth and their take on the ideal Hindu woman, that one can see how both these extreme representations of Devi are incredibly different.

To commence, men rely on both of Durga and Sita. For Durga, it is the male Hindu Gods that create her, blessing her with beauty, cunning and unimaginable strength (Jai Maa Durga, 96). She alone is the key to the survival of the universe in the battle against Mahisa, placing extreme amounts of pressure on this newly formed female (Jai Maa Durga, 97). Yet, seeing how she is the literal embodiment of unadulterated anger and fury, she defeats Mahisa as easily as it would take mortal to blink (Jai Maa Durga, 105). Later, when she takes her true place as the most powerful deity in the Hindu religion, she becomes a demon slayer, defending all the males and females of the world with her awesome fighting ability (Kinsley, 104). Without Durga, the world is lost to the forces of evil that no other creature, whether it is man, warrior or God, can defeat. On the flip side, although Sita is absolutely helpless in a situation involving violence, men depend on her emotionally: more specifically, Rama (70). When Ravana captures Sita, Rama is an emotional time bomb (70). It is said that in Sita’s absence, “Rama is reduced to a blubbering, half-maddened wreck” and is only snapped out of his self-pity by his brother Laksmana (70). Yet, to say Sita is helpless is unfair to her, seeing as how she, in a completely uncharacteristic move, threatens Ravana, stating how she could “burn him to ashes with the fire she has accumulated from her chastity” (73).

As well, both women are in a constant battle to prove their worth to the opposite sex. Durga is said to love challenges, continually thriving on proving herself the most dominant God in the galaxy (99). During the battle with Mahisa, Mahisa cannot believe that a female as beautiful as Durga can bring about his defeat. He is adamant in his belief that she is just a weak, docile woman, claiming, “Oh! She is a mere woman. What harm can she inflict upon me?” (Jai Maa Durga, 9). In response to Mahisa’s flippant disregard for her superior strength, Durga lasso’s Mahisa and begins toying with the demon every God is petrified of, before slaying him (Jai Maa Durga, 11). Additionally, to continually reinforce her superiority, Durga declares she will marry the one man who can defeat her (98-99). Seeing as how this is virtually impossible, all men except for Siva, the destroyer, perish at her feet (115). For Durga, it is her beauty that attracts her next prey and eventual victim (99). Yet, in Sita’s case, it is her beauty that attracts just the opposite. When Sita becomes the perfect wife to Rama, she has no idea how many times her divine husband will place scrutiny upon and doubt her. Staying true to her dharmic responsibility as a wife, Sita begs Rama to take her with him when he is banished from his palace, foregoing all the wealth and comfort palace life entails (72). It is in the forest that the beautiful Sita is kidnapped by the evil demon Ravana who is enthralled by Sita’s beauty (72). Ravana demands that Sita become his wife, yet Sita, refusing to betray Rama, denies him (73). Even when Ravana announces he has killed Rama, showing Sita a head and bow he bewitched to resemble Rama, Sita, grief stricken, pleads for Ravana to kill her, since she blames herself for Rama’s supposed death (73). Furthermore, when Hanuman, the “loyal monkey ally of Rama” finds Sita, she declines his help for that would mean, “touching another male besides her husband” (72-73). Finally, when Rama manages to rescue Sita, he refuses to take her back, for he believes she was unfaithful to him (74). Sita then despairingly begs Agni, the God of fire, to burn her (74). It is only when Agni refuses to harm one such as pure as Sita, that Rama rejoices and takes her back to be his Queen (74). Sadly, Rama’s pride once more finds a way to come between his love for his wife, as his followers begin to question Sita’s fidelity (74). Rama banishes Sita to the forest (74). It is there in the woods, does Sita fulfills her final duty as wife giving birth to twin boys (76). When Rama finds her again, several years later, he demands that she once again undergo the fire ordeal to prove his subjects wrong concerning her fidelity (76). This is the proverbial last straw for Sita, as she politely refuses to obey her husband’s request, refusing to subject herself to yet another test of purity and loyalty (76).

Moreover, Durga refuses to play into the stereotypical ‘Hindu woman’ role, while Sita is the archetype of it. Durga pollutes her body with the blood and flesh of her followers and is untamed and sexual (99-100). According to Kinsley, “Nearly all forms of Durga’s mythical exploits portray her as independent from male support and relationships” (99). Durga single-handedly destroys every Hindu ideal of what a woman should behave, dress and act like, refusing to be the submissive in her relations with men (99). Durga does not conform to the Hindu wife role, seeing as how she is the one who is defending the cosmos from demons, a role that is usually associated with males (97). In the battle with Mahisa, Mahisa states Durga is, “too delicate to fight, too beautiful for anything but love play, and must come under the protection and guidance of a man in order to fulfill her proper proclivities” (99). Seeing as how Durga goes on to decimate him, as well as numerous other demons, one can see how false that statement truly is. Yet, in sharp contrast to this slayer of evil, is Sita, the perfect paradigm of chastity and virtue. Where Durga is born of unfiltered wrath and anger, Sita is born of nature, often referred to as ‘the world’s mother” (78). Young Bengali girls often pray, aspiring to be as dutiful and faithful a wife as Sita is (77). Sita’s devotion never wavers, even when presented with situations that seem hopeless. When Rama is ‘killed’ by Ravana, it is Sita who blames herself for her husband’s death, chalking it up to the fact she must have committed some horrible act of infidelity, which, in turn, caused the demise of Rama (73). It takes an incredible amount of passion and patience on Sita’s part to continually place a man that is in no way deserving of her, before herself at all times (76). Yet, seeing as how Sita is “the ideal Hindu wife, whose every thought revolves around her husband” one can admire her dedication (70). Even though Sita seems to be completely devoid of independent living from Rama, she in many ways is like Durga, in the sense that when push comes to shove, she is above all else, a woman who is just deeply in love with her position in life (72). Although the tales of Durga and Sita were told thousands of years ago, both stories still hold true in today’s society, representing every aspect of a female. Women can be cruel warriors, caring mothers or steadfast wives, all the while being their own inner Goddess. Durga and Sita are both one in the same, demonstrating just how many faces a woman can possess under the circumstance. Yet like the double-edged sword that is the Hindu women, whether it is the vengeful murderess or the passive wife, one must never forget that both sides of the sword can cut just as deeply.

Jai Maa Durga, 91-106.

Kinsley, David. Hindu Goddesses: Visions of the Devine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Tradition. Berkley: University of California Press, 1988, 65-78; 95-115.

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