women's intelligence

[Sudalaimuthu Palaniappan]

In the Tamil literary tradition, there are three important works maNimEkalai,
kuNTalakEci and nIlakEci. The protogonist in each of them is a woman. Each of
them finally becomes a nun.

There is an interesting episode from the Buddhist epic maNimEkalai. The
protogonist, maNImEKalai is told by the patni goddess kaNNaki (maNimEkalai was
the daughter of kaNNaki's husband and the other woman mAtavi.)  to seek
knowledge  about different religious traditions. She says, "You systematically
listen to the content of the different religious traditions. After
understanding their true content, you embark on the path of the pitakas of
Buddha. They (the proponents of religions) will consider you as a young woman
and one who is wearing bangles and will not tell you the facts about their
religions. Therefore, change your form." Saying this, the goddess taught her a
mantra that would enable one to change one's form. Using that mantra,
maNimEkalai changed herself into a male ascetic and learnt about the different
religious traditions. This is in canto 26 of maNimEkalai.

It is obvious that the author disagrees with the existing attitude among the
religious elite and may be the society about women's intelligence.

Regards

S. Palaniappan