There is a natural affinity between male and female. Male gets impulse from the woman. Bankim Chandra writes up the women of his times in golden prose. We may compare the women of his day and ours.

Rabindranath Tagore wrote in a poem:

“Make beautiful yourself and prepare;

Come, O Woman, with your soothing hand.

Let a smile appear on your soft face

And vermilion on your brow.

Make things to go, make things to grow,

And fill my empty room with joy.

Come, Fortune Lady, with the waters of

your pilgrimage;

With wonders me endow.’

This is a call for a chaste woman.

 

There was a distinguished female character of Bankim Chandra, whose name was Devi. She was a chaste, devoted wife. How a husband could be everything in a woman’s life was shown by Bankim Chandra in his story about her, Devi Choudhurani.

 

If a woman loses her feminine character of cherishing a male, she is no longer a woman. We may find females of this sort in any society. It is a disgrace for a woman to be without her mate. It is the nature of a woman to nourish and cherish a man. Alone she cannot live. Widows pass their days in a living death. A woman gets life from serving a man. The women of the West are supposed to be less devoted to their husbands than ours. Perhaps they make less fanfare of devotion, yet possess it all the more. Otherwise, how could so many men of the West have been so resourceful and happy? The women of our country think that the water of the husband’s washed feet is nectar and that to swallow it means to serve the husband. But this is not so. To serve the husband means to look into every aspect of his life and push him on the zenith of his achievement.

 

Hariballav, the father-in-law of Prafulla (later Devi- Choudhurani), did not take her into his house because he heard that her mother was unchaste. Nowadays the fathers and mothers of bridegroom don’t bring their new daughters-in-law into their homes due to disputes over dowry and differences of manners. The daughter-in-law is the wife of the son, but they don’t care to consider her So. This was essentially Prafulla’s problem when she said to her father-in-law. “How will I live? What will I eat?” In answer Hariballav said, “Beg, borrow, or steal.” She did not follow that advice but she was caught accidentally by a famous dacoit named Bhabani Pathak who reared her as Devi Choudhurani. We don’t need to analyze the character of Bhabani Pathak here- whether he was a dacoit or a saint-, but we do like to emphasize that the girl Devi Choudhurani did not lose femininity when she was turned out of her husband’s house and fell among thieves. Her keenly feminine attitude continued into old age. We know this from her conversations with Nishi Thakurani, And Bhabani advised her to look upon Krishna as her husband. Nishi Thakurani told her, “You have not seen and got a taste of your own husband.  Otherwise you wouldn’t give two figs for Krishna.”  When Devi Choudhurani later met her husband, Brajeswar, she showed no lack of interest or devotion towards him. She was still his good wife.

 

Women of the modern age have become more independent-spirited and have tried to compete with men. But we appreciate them more if they stay attached to their husbands as companions, nourishing them with appreciation and inspiring them towards greater achievement. If the female in a woman is not awakened, a male cannot get nourishment from her. And so women should charge and inspire their men as far as their own qualities allow. This is their better independence.

 

Males are stalwart, strong, liberal-minded. Females are soft, tender and deep. We can compare the male with the seed and the woman with the soil. The male enjoys the world by dint of his labor, and the female enjoys it through the male. They bear equal opposite temperaments, and women need to love their husbands and children with all their might. It is their first need.

 

“Traveler, have you lost your way?” It is a question from a story of Bankim Chandra. Nabakumar is the hero of this story. He lost his way in the deep forest and got tired. Then he heard a sweet voice say, “Traveller, have you lost your way?” Kapal Kundala, who had been brought up in the company of the human sacrificer (Kapalik), was charmed to see the handsome Nabakumar and showed him how to escape the Kapalik’s clutches. There was tenderness in Kapal Kundala, When the two were married, she had to save him again and again from the Kapalik.

 

Kapal Kundala lived far away from human society. She was reared by the Kapalik in the deep forest whose stillness she loved. She had no experience of life, however, and she married Nabakumar in all innocence. Due to that innocence she could not do her duties fully towards him.

 

Nabakumar thought that Kapal Kundala was a loose woman when he found her making a midnight appointment with the Kapalik. He did not like the appointment and grieved over what he supposed was her mischievousness. At last Nabakumar consented to the Kapalik’s sacrificing her in his worship. Nabakumar took her to the Ganges to bathe her for the sacrifice, but he could not go through with it. There Nabakumar fell at her feet, entreating her, “Save me, Kapal Kundala. Console my restless mind. Tell me you are not unchaste. Just make me believe it once and I will take you back.”

 

Kapal Kundala pulled him up to his feet and said, “Why did you not ask me about all this?”

Her words were not unjustified. Nabakumar could have asked before he disbelieved her. Due to circumstance he formed a wrong notion about her. Of course, she also could have told him what she was doing. She knew by intuition what he was thinking and intending to say to her, but she refrained from saying anything due to his bad mood and her own untutored mind. She did not keep her balance. Kapal Kundala was very serviceable, soothing, and sympathetic to her husband. It was her instinct. Due to this softness she could say to him, “Traveler, have you lost your way?” When she plunged into the Ganges, Nabakumar did not even try to rescue her, and her death ends the story.

 

Generally women are mothers. They bear and nurture their young. They conceive to the extent they elate and stimulate theirs mates. Where the conjugal life is not happy, the productivity of the male is generally lost. To make a happy union a woman should be allowed to choose her husband. If she errs in selection, she may still be able to accommodate since the selection was her own.

 

Chanchal Kumari, the Princess of Rupnagar, wrote to Raj Singha, “Whoever rescues me from the hands of the Moghuls will be my legal spouse. It is my pledge. O warrior, gain a wife by victory in battle! The Pandav brothers got Draupadi by showing their strength to rivals. Bhishmadev won the Princess of Kashi in the same way. And O King, how difficult was the marriage of Rukmini ! I know you are the best warrior in the world. I think you will not hesitate to save me.”

 

Princess Chanchal took Raj Singha as her husband to save her father’s property and herself. A woman by instinct worships a hero. Bankim Chandra dealt with many women in his books-Mrinalini, Hiranmayee, Tilottama, Ayseha, Radharani and the blind Rajani- and they all showed this instinct of hero-worship.

 

Nowadays we find that men run after women and beg for their love. This is quite the opposite of the normal- and unhealthy too. We find this defect in both our present day literature and society. It must be rooted out.

 

Bankim Chandra supported the idea of a man having more than one wife. Prafulla, Nayan Bou, and Shagor were all wives of Brajeswar. Sree, Devi and Nanda were cc-wives. Surjamukhi and Kundanandini were also co-wives. Bhubaneswari and Lalitalabangalata were likewise.

 

In her father-in-law’s house Prafulla (Devi Choudhurani) found co-wives Nayan and Shagor much to her liking. Nayan and Shagor and she had no quarrels. She gave a good demonstration of how a wife should serve and deal with her husband and his other wives. Sree was separated, then divorced, from her husband. But the other co-wives, Devi and Nanda, got along well together. Surjamukhi happily consented to her husband’s marrying Kundanandini, but the latter unfortunately renounced married life after sometime. We are not to conclude from this that there were any ill-feelings between Surjamukhi and Kundanandini. What then was the cause of the latter’s renunciation? Sometimes a woman’s passion remains unsatisfied; she wants union with her husband and it is good that she should have it. One day Surjamukhi also left her husband. Does it mean she too was unsatisfied? We think so. We think both were unsatisfied, though on good terms with one another.

 

We don’t know the details of the relation between co-wives Bhubaneswari and Lalitalabangalata. We infer, however, that there was no dispute between them because the son of Bhubaneswari (Sachindra) was a favourite of Lalitalabangalata.

 

We don’t know either what Bankim Chandra intended by his espousal of polygamy. But we have many examples of polygamy in our ancient literature. Men are naturally polygamous; women monogamous. If a woman offers herself to a strong, already married male and he accepts her, there may be good progeny. By this means too the lower grade males will not be able to marry; so that a general improvement of the race results. For these reasons the Aryans were in favor of polygamy and put it into practice. In western countries, for the procreation of better children, they prohibit the marriage of imbeciles. And it is good.

 

We know Bankim Chandra’s story about Ayesha. Ayesha loved Jagat Singha most poignantly, but she was baffled in her love due to her being a Moslem. Still she loved him to the end. It was her monogamous instinct at play. Mrinalini was a Buddhist and Hem Chandra was a Hindu, but they loved each other and their union was happy. Ayesha was a Moslem; Jagat Singha was a Hindu; but both were Aryans. There was no real bar to their union; yet they were not united, and tragedy came.

 

Shaibalini had been the daughter of a poor father. She had none but her mother, no possession but her beauty. She knew she was to marry Pratap, but Pratap knew it would not be good inasmuch as they were from the same clan. Wherever the Aryans went, they maintained the clan, and descendants of a common Seer- ancestor were not supposed to marry. Union of two close of kin will produce issues of short temper and small strength. This has the support of modern biologists. Marriage within the same clan is not necessarily bad, they say, but there should be a distance of five generations on the mother’s side and seven on the father’s.

 

A woman is satisfied when she becomes a mother. A woman without children is seldom motherly. In Bengal the word for wife means ‘conceiver’. The wife conceives her husband’s seed. When a woman refuses to be a mother, she generally hits at herself-and the society as well.

 

Shaibalini was the legal wife of Chandra Shekhar (Pratap), but not his loving wife. In her heart she could not accept him.  Her passionate urge was not satisfied by him, and she was tempted into drifting by her environment. A man named Foster got hold of her and took her in his boat towards Mongyr. The wind blew wildly against them and they could not move. The boat was caught by some men near the village of Bhadrahati. At that time a woman named Sundari went to Shaibalini in the guise of a barbar’s wife. Her intention was to rescue her and take her back to her husband. But when she made known that intention, Shaibalini asked, “Why should I go back? I have no mother, no father, no friend.” Sundari replied, “And no husband? A woman is meant for her husband.” Said Shaibalini laconically, “You know me.” “Yes, I know”, retorted Sundari, “and I have never seen such a loose woman. A husband like yours is hard to get in this world. Still you are not satisfied with him.” Sundari said lots more to Shaibalini, but could not change her mind. At the end Shaibalini said, “Think I am dead and gone. I will die one day anyway.” Sundari replied sadly, “I long for that. I even pray to God to let you face death early- a watery grave before you get to Mongyr.” But as luck would have it, the wind died down. The boat sailed smoothly on. But the husband Pratap was on the watch. He intercepted and took his wife to his own house in Mongyr. Yet her adventures were not over. The Nabab Mir Kashim once took her to his house, thinking she was a Moslem woman. Finding out his mistake, he asked, “Who is this Pratap to you.?” “He is my husband”, she said. “What is your name ?” he asked. “Rupashi”-she answered.

 

We feel for Shaibalini. We know there are thousands like her in our society. Many wives are not happy with their husbands, and many husbands too are dissatisfied with their wives. Her case is not singular.

 

In the great silence of the garden Sree told her husband about love without lust. But her husband Sitaram paid no attention to her words. His eyes drank in her beauty. Sitaram was guilty no doubt, but was Sree without sin? Was she really high-minded? The ways and works that elate us, give us life and wisdom, are good and are religion. Do we find Sivani without Siv? A woman without her husband? Sivani without Siv, Lakshmi without Narayan-only pretends religion. Sree was doing that on the advice of her friend Jointi.

 

Women are naturally tender; so they need a shelter, the protection a man can give them. Women have many sides. We have them as wives, sisters, daughters, mothers, etc. They are so soft and tender that they rarely can protect themselves well against the advances of evil men. They can only start playing with those who run after them, and a terrible rot infects the society as a result.

 

Rohini was a widow and lived as such. Why she did not marry again is not our question. In her withered widowhood she found Govindalal, son of zeminder Krishna Kanta, who turned his son out of hearth and home when he discovered his romance. If Rohini had not come in contact with Govindalal, she might not have fallen in the mire of an illegal love. Once enticed, however, Rohini went to the limit of looseness. It caused her death and it ruined Govindalal’s wife and Krishna Kanta’s family life.

 

By His own will God manifested Himself in many ways. The creation of male and female was one of the ways. The male is nourished by female and the female enjoys herself through the male. Male and female are fulfillers of each other, each other’s best friend. We observe that a man’s interests are wide, that he travels far for attainment and glory, and that a woman generally feels it her glory to feed him.

 

Bankim Chandra depicts the character of women very nicely. They are by nature very loving, serviceable, companionable and impulsive. Devi, Kalyani, and Santi are unforgettable characters. Bankim Chandra’s women never try to attract men to them. They stand at their men’s sides-elating, soothing, helping. It is to the credit of Bankim Chandra that he put women so high. We want this kind of women in our every family.