The High-Caste Hindu Woman By Pandita Ramabai

This collection features a reprint of Pandita Ramabai’s seminal 1887 work, The High-Caste Hindu Woman, which critiques the social hardships and domestic restrictions faced by upper-caste Indian women. The text is introduced by Rachel L. Bodley, who details Ramabai’s extraordinary life as a scholar and reformer while highlighting her conversion to Christianity and her tireless advocacy for female education.

Central to the introduction is a tribute to Dr. Anandibai Joshee, the first Hindu woman to earn a medical degree, whose perseverance serves as a beacon for the broader movement of women’s upliftment. Through biographical accounts and passionate appeals, the source documents the struggle against traditional customs like child marriage and the mistreatment of widows. Ultimately, the volume functions as both a historical record and a fundraising tool intended to support Ramabai’s mission of establishing schools for marginalized women in India.

Chapter : 1 Prefatory Remarks

1. Religion is Not Just a Belief; It is a Daily Routine

Ramabai explains that for Hindus, religion is inseparable from daily life. She mentions a humorous saying that “the Hindus even sin religiously”. Every single action—from waking up and washing your teeth to eating and lighting a lamp—is performed in a specific, prescribed religious manner.

Tradition over Law: Ramabai argues that “time-honored custom” has become even more powerful than ancient sacred laws.

For example, while ancient laws might allow certain things, modern social customs are so strict that a person can be “excommunicated” (kicked out of their social group) for breaking them.

2. The Cycle of the Soul and the “8.4 Million Births”

To explain why people are so terrified of breaking rules, Ramabai explains the Hindu concept of the soul:

The Supreme Spirit (Paramatma): All things come from one supreme, formless spirit.

Reincarnation: The soul is immortal and is rewarded or punished based on its deeds (Karma) by being reborn into different forms.

The Ultimate Goal: The goal of life is to be “re-absorbed” into the Great Spirit, like a river flowing into the ocean.

This creates a high-stakes environment. According to the doctrine Ramabai cites, a soul might have to be born 8.4 million times before it can become a Brahman (the highest caste).

Only as a Brahman can a person finally reach the end of this cycle and find rest. Therefore, a Brahman’s life is their “last chance” to avoid millions more years of misery, making them incredibly anxious about following every single rule perfectly.

3. The Origin and “Tyranny” of the Caste System

Ramabai provides a historical look at how the caste system began and how it changed:

The Original Intent: She suggests that “caste” started as a simple division of labor based on merit and skill.

The Four Castes:

1. Brahman (Priests): The spiritual heads of society.

2. Kshatriya (Warriors): Those who protect and govern the country.

3. Vaisya (Traders/Artisans): The business class.

4. Shudra (Servants): Everyone else.

The Shift from Merit to Birth: This is Ramabai’s big critique. In ancient times, caste was based on individual capacity, but later it became an “accident of birth”. Now, a son of a Brahman is honored as the head of society simply because of his family, not because he is actually wise or good.

4. Caste as a “Tyrant”

Ramabai describes caste as a tyrant that has infected every part of Indian society, even influencing Mahomedans and Christians in India. She notes that even high-caste Hindus who convert to Christianity often struggle to let go of their caste prejudices. This system is so rooted that even a high-caste person who tries to be kind to someone of a lower caste is “shunned as an outcast” by their own family.

5. The Role of the “Code of Manu”

Finally, she introduces the most important book for our study: The Code of Manu. While there are many sacred books (the Vedas being the most ancient), the Code of Manu is the “highest” authority for religious and social laws.

Ramabai points out that while different law-givers disagree on many things, they all agree on how to treat women.

This sets the stage for the rest of her book, as she will show how these laws divide a woman’s life into three painful stages: Childhood, Married Life, and Widowhood.

6. Inter-Marriage:

She notes that while inter-marriage between castes was once lawful under specific conditions, it is now strictly forbidden by custom, and those who attempt it become “outcasts”.

Chapter 2 “Childhood,”

Ramabai moves from the general religious background to the very beginning of a high-caste Hindu woman’s life. She illustrates a world where a girl’s arrival is often seen not as a joy, but as a burden or even a curse.

1. The Religious “Necessity” of Having a Son

Ramabai explains that the core of the problem starts with religious law. According to the Code of Manu and other sacred texts, a son is the most coveted of all blessings because he is the one who “redeems” his father.

A son is believed to save his father from hell and ensure he reaches heaven.

Ramabai points out that while one verse in Manu says “a daughter is equal to a son,” the context reveals this is only true because her own son (the grandfather’s grandson) can perform the same religious duties. Without the prospect of a grandson, a daughter is considered of little use to her parents’ spiritual future.

2. The Mother’s “Trial of Fire”

Because sons are so spiritually important, a woman’s status in her own home depends almost entirely on her ability to bear them.

Ramabai describes the intense care and anxiety mothers feel when approaching childbirth. If she bears a son, she wins her husband’s favor and her face “beams with happiness”.

If a woman has only daughters or no children at all, she is often neglected, treated with sadness, or even replaced by a second wife. Ramabai shares a heartbreaking story of a woman whose husband threatened never to see her face again if her first child was a girl.

3. The Unwelcome “Nothing”

Ramabai describes the social reaction to a girl’s birth as incredibly cold. In some groups, like the Rajputs, when a boy is born, there is music and celebration. When a girl is born, the father may coolly announce that “nothing” has been born into his family.

If a girl is born after a brother has died, she is often cursed and blamed by her own parents and neighbors for “crowding out” the boy. Ramabai notes that children as young as six or seven start to realize they are unwelcome, unbidden guests in their own homes.

4. Different Paths for Boys and Girls

From early childhood, the treatment of siblings is vastly different:

Boys: Are showered with gifts, praises, and attention. They are taught by society to despise girls and women, often lecturing their older sisters simply because they are male.

Girls: Receive little to no education, usually only committing a few prayers or songs to memory. By age six or seven, they are already expected to help with household work and childcare.

5. The Economic Fear: The Cost of Marriage

One of the biggest reasons families fear having daughters is money.

Marriage is the most expensive of all Hindu ceremonies. For a high-caste family, a wedding can cost at least two hundred dollars—a massive sum at that time.

Because a father is religiously required to marry off his daughter within a fixed time or face “unpardonable sin” and social exile, many poor fathers see a daughter as the direct cause of their inevitable financial ruin.

6. The Darkest Result: Female Infanticide

Finally, Ramabai addresses the most tragic result of these social and economic pressures: female infanticide (the killing of baby girls).

In some parts of India, parents felt driven to kill their female infants at birth to avoid the future shame of being unable to marry them off or the poverty of the dowry.

Despite British laws trying to stop this, Ramabai cites census data from 1880-81 showing that there were over five million fewer women than men in India. She attributes this staggering gap to infanticide, neglect, and the lack of proper medical care for women.

Chapter 3 “Married Life.”

Ramabai describes the abrupt and often traumatic end of a girl’s childhood. She argues that marriage for a high-caste Hindu woman is not a partnership based on love, but a religious “yoke” that strips her of her individuality and turns her into the property of her husband’s family.

1. The End of Childhood: The “Early Marriage” System

Ramabai explains that it is nearly impossible to tell where a Hindu girl’s childhood ends and her married life begins because they happen almost at the same time.

According to the Code of Manu, a girl can be married as young as eight years old.

Parents believe that the earlier they give their daughter in marriage, the greater the “merit” and the richer the rewards they will receive in heaven.

Ramabai notes that this wasn’t always the case. In ancient times, women had the freedom to choose their own husbands (a custom called Swayamvara). However, after the 12th century, “infant marriage” became the universal custom.

2. The Selection Process: Caste, Money, and Stars

The choice of a husband has nothing to do with the girl’s wishes. Instead, it is a business-like transaction managed by parents and even the family barber.

Caste over Wealth: A high-caste father will never marry his daughter to a man of a lower caste, even if that man is a millionaire.

The Tyranny of the Horoscope: This is a crucial concept. Parents consult horoscopes to see if the couple’s “planets” agree. If the horoscopes don’t match, a perfectly good suitor might be rejected. Shockingly, if a girl has a “bad” horoscope, her parents might marry her off to a man of sixty or seventy years old just to get the marriage over with.

3. Marriage as the Only “Sacrament”

For a high-caste woman, marriage is the only religious sacrament she is allowed to receive.

The “Indissoluble” Bond: Once the ceremony is over, the marriage is permanent. According to Manu, a wife is never released from her husband, even if he sells her or leaves her.

Becoming Property: From the moment of marriage, the girl becomes the property of her husband’s clan. She is described as an “impersonal being” who has no merit or quality of her own; she simply assumes the qualities of her husband “like a river united with the ocean”.

4. The Deception of the Wedding Day

Ramabai points out the cruel irony of the wedding ceremony. To a child of eight or nine, the wedding seems like a grand party with gorgeous dresses, music, fireworks, and treats.

The Child’s Perspective: Little girls often look forward to marriage because they see their friends getting attention and think, “Oh, what fun!”.

The Reality: They don’t realize that as soon as the music stops, “the yoke [is] put on [their] neck forever”.

5. Life in the “Women’s Court”

Once the ceremony is over, the girl is taken to her husband’s home, where she falls under the absolute authority of her mother-in-law.

The Joint Family System: High-caste houses are divided into an “outer court” for men and a dark, back “inner court” (the zenana) for women.

Breaking the Spirit: The young bride enters the family at the lowest possible rank. She is expected to be silent, never laugh loudly, and never speak to her father-in-law or other male relatives unless commanded.

The Mother-in-Law’s Rule: The mother-in-law often treats the child-bride as a servant, scolding her for every mistake. Ramabai notes that some mothers-in-law are kind, but many—having been treated cruelly themselves as children—become “heart-hearted” and torment the new bride.

6. The Lack of Domestic Happiness

Ramabai concludes that there is rarely such a thing as a “happy family time” in these homes.

Strangers in Marriage: Because the husband and wife are often children and strangers to one another, they may grow up to hate each other.

Subservience in Daily Acts: Even in eating, the hierarchy is clear: the women of the family eat only after the men have finished, and the wife “eats what her lord may please to leave on his plate”.

Chapter IV “Woman’s Place in Religion and Society.”

This is a pivotal chapter because Pandita Ramabai exposes the “paradox” of the Hindu woman’s life: she is spiritually worshipped as a mother but socially and legally treated as a dangerous or inferior being.

Here are the major arguments and concepts from Chapter IV explained in simple terms:

1. The Paradox: The Goddess vs. The Sinner

Ramabai begins by highlighting a confusing contradiction in religious law.

The Honored Mother: Some ancient commandments say women must be “honored and adorned” and that “the gods are pleased” where women are respected. Specifically, the mother is given honor “without parallel”. She is called the “queen of the son’s household” and should be treated “like unto a god”.

The “Evil” Nature: Ramabai then shows the “reverse side” of these laws. Other scriptures claim that women are naturally seductive, “heartless,” and “impure as falsehood itself”. This creates a culture of deep distrust where women are viewed as “fetters” or “the chief gate to hell”.

2. The Total Denial of Independence

Because the laws view women as naturally untrustworthy, they are forbidden from ever being independent.

The Three Stages of Control: Ramabai cites a famous law from Manu: “Her father protects her in childhood, her husband protects her in youth, and her sons protect her in old age; a woman is never fit for independence“.

Seclusion (The Zenana): To keep women from “evil inclinations,” they are often shut away in the back of the house. Ramabai argues that husbands are encouraged to keep their wives busy with household chores (cooking and cleaning) primarily as a way to “guard” them and keep them out of mischief.

3. Education as a “Crime”

Under these religious laws, a high-caste woman is strictly forbidden from learning or even hearing the sacred scriptures.

The Concept: Women are considered to have “no merit or quality of their own” and are denied the “blessed enjoyment of literary culture”. Their only “honors” are physical—pretty clothes and “dainty food”—rather than intellectual.

4. Marriage as Total Subservience

In this chapter, Ramabai defines what “religion” actually looks like for a woman. It is not about her own spiritual growth, but her service to her husband.

Husband as God: A woman’s only hope for heaven is to worship her husband as a god, even if he is “destitute of virtue” or addicted to “evil passion”.

One-Way Loyalty: A husband has the legal right to replace his wife if she is barren, “quarrelsome,” or even if she shows him “hatred”. However, the wife has no such right; she must remain faithful and obedient to him no matter how he treats her.

5. Women as “Marital Property”

One of Ramabai’s most biting arguments is that, legally, a wife is viewed as property, not a person. She is classified alongside “cows, mares, female camels, [and] slave-girls”.

The Restitution of Conjugal Rights: Ramabai explains that under both ancient law and modern British rule, a husband can sue to “claim” his wife like he would claim any other piece of property.

6. The Case of Rakhmabai: A Modern Tragedy

To prove that these “barbaric” laws still have power, Ramabai shares the real-life story of Rakhmabai, an educated woman who refused to live with the man she was married to as a child.

The Outcome: Despite her courage, British judges—feeling bound to uphold ancient Hindu laws—ordered her to live with her “husband” or go to prison.

Ramabai’s Critique: Ramabai argues this was a case where three hundred and thirty million gods and millions of men conspired to “crush [a woman] into nothingness”.

Chapter V, “Widowhood,”

Pandita Ramabai calls the “worst and most dreaded period” of a high-caste woman’s life.

In this chapter, Ramabai argues that widowhood is not viewed as a natural tragedy, but as a divine punishment for terrible crimes the woman is believed to have committed in a past life, such as disobedience to her husband or even murdering him.

1. The Hierarchy of Misery

Not all widows are treated exactly the same; their status depends on their age and whether they have children:

Mother of Sons: She is still considered a “sinner,” but she is not a “pitiable object” because she is the mother of “superior beings” (men). Her sons protect her, and social hatred toward her is diminished.

Child-Widow or Childless Widow: These women face the most severe abuse. A child who was married at eight and widowed at nine is treated as a “greatest criminal” upon whom “Heaven’s judgment has been pronounced”.

Mother of Girls: She is treated with indifference or genuine hatred, especially if her daughters were not married before the husband died.

2. The Double Standard: Widows vs. Widowers

Ramabai highlights a shocking inequality in how religious law (the Code of Manu) treats the death of a spouse:

The Widower: A “twice-born” man whose wife dies is commanded to burn her body with sacred fire and then immediately marry again and continue his life as usual.

The Widow: She is forbidden from ever mentioning another man’s name. She must emaciate her body by living on only flowers, roots, and fruit, and she must remain “patient of hardships, self-controlled, and chaste” until death. There is no second husband prescribed for a virtuous woman.

3. The “Terrible Custom” of Suttee (Sati)

Ramabai provides a deep historical critique of Suttee, the practice of a widow burning herself alive on her husband’s funeral pyre.

The Argument of Falsified Scripture: This is one of Ramabai’s most powerful points. She argues that ancient priests falsified the Rig-veda (the oldest sacred text) to support Suttee. The original verse actually told the widow to “Rise… come to the world of life” and return to her family, but priests changed a single syllable to make it sound like an order to enter the fire.

The Reality of the Pyre: While some widows went voluntarily out of love or fear of a miserable future, many were forced. Ramabai notes that if a widow tried to leap down from the heat, priests and relatives would often force her back onto the pyre with bamboo poles.

Legal Change: She credits Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Lord William Bentinck for finally prohibiting this practice in 1829.

4. The Daily “Slow Death” of the Living Widow

Since Suttee was banned, Ramabai argues that widows now face a “living death” through social customs designed to strip away their humanity:

Physical Disfigurement: Among the Brahmans of the Deccan, a widow’s head is shaved regularly every fortnight. She is deprived of all jewelry and must wear only a single coarse garment of white, red, or brown.

Starvation and Exclusion: She is allowed only one meal every twenty-four hours and must never take part in family feasts or festive occasions.

Social Taboo: A widow is called “inauspicious”. A man will postpone a journey if he sees a widow’s face in the morning, and she is often called by the name “rand”—the same word used for a harlot.

5. The “Prison-Home” and the Path to Infamy

Ramabai describes the widow’s life as being a prisoner in her own house, closely guarded so she doesn’t “disgrace” the family.

The Psychological Toll: Cut off from education, friends, and any hope of a future, many young widows see only two options: suicide or a life of “infamy and shame” (prostitution) just to escape starvation.

The Failure of Reform: While some reformers tried to introduce widow-remarriage, Ramabai notes it has mostly failed. Men who marry widows are “cut off from all connection with society” and treated as outcasts, leading many to break their promises or even commit suicide under the pressure.

Chapter VI, “How the Condition of Women Tells upon Society.”

This is where Ramabai makes her most powerful social and political argument: she claims that the mistreatment of women is not just a “woman’s issue,” but the primary reason for the decline and weakness of the entire Hindu nation.

Ramabai argues that men and women are “indissolubly united” by nature. Therefore, if women are kept in a state of ignorance and dependence, it is impossible for the men or the nation to be truly strong or free.

Here are the major arguments and concepts from Chapter VI:

1. The “Poisonous Fruit” of Seclusion

Ramabai argues that keeping women in purdah (seclusion) has devastating physical and mental effects that pass down through generations.

Physical Decay: Closely confined to dark houses without fresh air or sunshine, women become physically weaker and smaller.

Mental Starvation: Deprived of education and the chance to see the world, their minds become “starved.” Ramabai notes that they often become “selfish slaves” to petty interests because they aren’t allowed to care about the well-being of their neighbors or their country.

2. The Law of “Pre-Natal Influence”

This is one of her most fascinating arguments. Ramabai claims that a mother’s state of mind and body directly affects her unborn child.

The Argument: Because mothers are kept in a state of “monotony and inactivity,” their children inherit a “fatal legacy of weakness and dullness”.

Sons of Slavery: She argues that since sons learn their first lessons at the knees of uneducated, oppressed mothers, they grow up to be “slavery-loving creatures” who prefer to depend on other nations rather than standing on their own feet.

3. Women as a “Brake” on Progress

Ramabai points out that the ignorance of women actually holds back “liberal-minded and progressive men”.

The Concept: Even if a man wants to make a positive change, like crossing the ocean for trade or bettering his household, “bigoted women” in the family often prevent him from doing so.

Lack of Hygiene: Because high-caste mothers are kept ignorant of the most basic laws of hygiene, their children often die young, or survive to be “weak and unhealthy adults”.

4. The Three Chief Needs of Hindu Women

After describing the problem, Ramabai identifies three specific things needed to fix the condition of women and, by extension, the nation:

Self-Reliance: High-caste women are currently “pitiful parasites” who literally do not know how to survive if their male protector dies. Ramabai argues they must be taught to stand on their own.

Education: She cites shocking census data from 1880-81, showing that out of nearly 100 million women under British rule, 99.5 million were unable to read or write.

Native Women Teachers: She argues that while foreign missionaries do good work, the real change must come from within. India needs a “body of persons from among themselves” to teach and lead their sisters.

5. Education as a “Forbidden Fruit”

Ramabai explains why the few women who do get to school rarely stay educated.

Superstition: There is a popular belief that if a woman learns to read or hold a pen, her husband will die. The fear of becoming a widow is so strong that it “overcomes their hunger and thirst for knowledge”.

Ridicule: If a young wife is caught reading, she is often mocked by her husband’s relatives and commanded by the elders to “leave off this nonsense”.

Chapter VII, “The Appeal.”

In this concluding chapter, Ramabai moves from describing the problem to offering a very specific, practical solution. She argues that the only way to save India is to empower its most oppressed group: the high-caste widows.

Here are the major arguments and concepts of her plan, explained in simple terms:

1. The Power of “Untapped Potential”

Ramabai’s first major argument is that Hindu women are not naturally inferior; they are simply starved of opportunity.

The Concept: She argues that high-caste women come from a “refined and cultivated race” and have inherited “quickness of perception and intelligence” from their fathers.

Proof of Ability: She points to successful women of her time, like Dr. Anandibai Joshee and Kadambini Ganguli, to prove that with just a little “judicious education,” Hindu women can equal any woman in the world.

2. The Scale of the Crisis

Ramabai uses hard data to show why this is an emergency.

The Statistics: According to the 1881 census, there were about 21 million widows in India.

The Most Vulnerable: Most shockingly, she notes there were 669,100 widows under nineteen years of age, including nearly 79,000 who were under nine years old. These “virgin widows” are the ones she wants to save before they are driven to suicide or a life of shame.

3. Why Existing Schools Are Not Enough

Ramabai explains why widows aren’t currently getting help from the two types of schools available:

Government Schools: These schools are often too expensive for a penniless widow, and they don’t allow for the strict caste rules that an orthodox Hindu woman feels she must follow to keep her dignity.

Missionary Schools: While well-meaning, many high-caste widows fear that if they go to a missionary school, they will be forced to forsake their ancestral religion and become outcasts from their families forever.

4. The “Five-Point Plan” for a New Type of Home

Ramabai proposes creating special “Houses” or schools specifically for high-caste widows. Her plan has five key features:

Religious Freedom: The houses must be places where widows can follow their own caste rules (like cooking their own food) without being pressured to change their religion.

Job Training: Instead of just learning to read, they would be trained for honorable professions like teaching, nursing, or housekeeping so they can be independent.

Native Management: The schools should be run by “influential Hindu ladies and gentlemen” so the community trusts them.

International Help: She wants American ladies to assist as teachers, bringing the best of Western education to combine with Eastern culture.

Broad Learning: The schools should have libraries filled with books on history, science, and art to “open the eyes and ears” of women who have been kept in the dark.

5. The Financial “Ropes”

Ramabai concludes with a famous metaphor. She cites a missionary who said, “I will go down into the deep mine, but remember that you must hold the ropes”.

The Argument: Ramabai is willing to do the hard work in India (going into the “mine”), but she needs the people of America to “hold the ropes” by providing the money to start the school. She calculates she needs about fifteen thousand dollars to start and five thousand dollars a year for ten years.

6. The Final Plea: A National Redemption

Ramabai’s final concept is that by educating these “despised” child-widows, the world is actually helping to redeem the entire nation of India. She asks her readers to hear the “feeble cry” of India’s daughters and act out of a sense of common humanity.