Page 41 - HIRS - Eng
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RESPECT AND PROTECTION 7
with only one leg, one hand or only one side of the body.
He must have two sides. 1
Such protection meant that the girls would not go anywhere
unaccompanied. While it may seem restrictive to the point
of being suffocating to modern women, traditional ladies
were used to it and happy enough to potter around in their
houses, going out only with other family members. Due to
this, incidents of rape or harassment of women by strangers
were practically unheard of. They were not subjected to the
unpleasantness of outsiders ‘checking them out’ and making
lewd remarks when they were outside their home, for the
men accompanying them took seriously their responsibility
of taking care of them, to the point of challenging anyone
who even looked at them lustily.
Upholding a woman’s dignity was a matter of utmost
importance, and any violation was taken to be a poor reflection
on the family and society itself. Along with the family members,
the government was equally conscientious about protecting
women. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam describes that when one of the
warrior princes, Arjuna, appeared to be morose and dejected,
he was questioned by his elder brother, Yudhiṣṭhira: “You
are always the protector of the deserving living beings, such
as brāhmaṇas [priests and teachers], children, cows, women
and the diseased. Could you not give them protection when
they approached you for shelter? […] Have you not properly
treated a deserving woman?” Śrīla Prabhupāda comments
2
in the purport:
1. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.26.17, purport by Śrīla Prabhupāda.
2. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.14.42–43.