08/03/2022
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Sree Sree Boroma and Satsang: Understanding Sree Sree Thakur’s Feminism
Dr. Mamata Sengupta
Assistant Professor of English
Islampur College
Dist. Uttar Dinajpur, West Bengal
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One of the prime objections against organized religion has always been its pronouncedly patriarchal nature. The complaints of gender discrimination against Semitic religions such as Christianity and Islam are especially high in number which is partly due to the presence and predominance of decidedly male Trinities in both these ideologies. The case with Hinduism is a bit different. Since Hinduism did not originate as a distinctive religion in itself but developed as a practical method of synthesizing different schools of philosophies and life-styles, it has always been accommodative of differences and deviations. It is this strong accommodative impulse of Hinduism that has been elemental in bringing together divergent and even apparently warring schools of thoughts and identity groups. Resultantly, different socio-cultural and racio-gender categories in India could peacefully co-exist and co-flourish. In fact, Hinduism happens to be one of the earliest religious cultures where the prominence of the Male Trinity (Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma) has been balanced and neutralized by an equally sacred and potent Female order (Durga, Lakhsmi and Saraswati). Moreover, the indispensability of the female principle has been repeatedly emphasized in Hinduism through the concept of Prarkriti as the Shakti (source of power and sustenance) behind the Purusha (the male God and the world). It was, however, only in the wake of the Later Vedic Period that patriarchy started emerging as a controlling force in the public and the private lives of the subcontinent. With this significant change in society’s power hierarchy, the female goddesses gradually succumbed to a relatively silenced existence. Though the cult of the Mother still continues to exist as a popular practice, much of its original significance and intended message are already lost and forgotten.
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What Sree Sree Thakur Anukulchandra’s ideology does to influence this overpowering patriarchal culture may prove to be an interesting study. Sree Sree Thakur revolutionizes our religious philosophy with three kinds of reformations. First, He separates the concepts of Dharma (the study and pursuance of being and becoming) from that of Religion (specific arbitrary ritualistic practices), and establishes Dharma as the beacon of a fulfilling lifestyle. Second, He emphasizes the mandatory practice of certain socio-familial gestures like Yajan, Yaajan, Istabhriti, Swastayani and Sadachar which helps man in reconnecting with the Ideal who symbolizes and is the supreme fulfillment of life. And last but not the least, Sree Sree Thakur breaks down the very basis of the discourse of gender that patriarchy thrives on and organized religions preach. These three strategies taken together pave way for what Sree Sree Thakur sees as the ideal world/family order where no one needs to fight the other for his/her respective rights and can co-exist and cooperate with all. [Published in Bliss][©Bliss Network]
Sree Sree Thakur’s ideal of the man-woman relationship both in the familial and in the social space is exhibited fully in His relationship with His wife Sree Sree Soroshibala Devi or Porom Pujyoniya Boroma. Literally, Sree Sree Boroma embodies the power that sustains and fulfills Sree Sree Thakur and all his social and spiritual endeavors in every possible manner. She is not merely His holy consort in the divine sense of the term but also is the living example of the perfection He wishes to see in every woman — His ideal of, what we can call, the “female” self (the self-fulfilling, world sustaining one) as opposed to and by the gendered “feminine” other (the socially defined/restricted one). Repeatedly, Sree Sree Thakur has stressed the importance of Sree Sree Boroma in His life and works, “Had you not been there to support me, I would have surely become a mess” (Alochana Prasange, Vol. XIII, 42, translation mine). Evidently, this proclamation situates Sree Sree Boroma at the core of Satsang’s moving force, establishing Her as the archetypal Shakti that keeps the universe moving. This also destroys the patriarchal hierarchy where women are traditionally thought to occupy a lower position than the men. [Published in Bliss][©Bliss Network]
This done, Sree Sree Thakur attempts to dismantle and subvert the gender binary on which patriarchy operates and family thrives. One of the devotees, Chakrapnai Das notes how Sree Sree Thakur often called Sree Sree Boroma His female “alter-ego”, “Do you know who Boro Bou is; if I had been a woman, then I would have been her” (Das in Sarkar: 2010, 74, translation mine). Needless to say, such a spontaneous and potent remark highlights something far greater than mere conjugal love between a man and wife. It is rather an expression and a celebration of an indivisible and unitary togetherness that is beyond all socio-cultural categorizations — something that our scriptures have celebrated as the Ardhnarishwara. Sree Sree Thakur here breaks down the difference between the male and the female existence and symbolically represents them in such a peaceful union where there is neither any scope for split nor any cause for tension. For the Satsangees, Sree Sree Boroma represents that constant source of illumination which guides their understanding of the divine order. She is not only our connection to the Love Lord but also is the practical representation of His wishes (the Ideal) to which we all must aspire. She is mother not only to Her biological children but also to the entire mankind which is fighting against itself. Sree Sree Boroma represents that perfectly balanced self who is a woman (a realized self), a wife (a fulfiller), a mother (a sustainer), and a leader (a signifier). Her strong personality, unflinching dedication, capacity to love, and the innate power to motivate and lead others established her as the primary force behind the organization and development of Satsang as a movement once Sree Sree Thakur settled down in Deoghar. [Published in Bliss][©Bliss Network]
While talking about the symbolic significance of worshipping the goddess Lakhsmi, Sree Sree Thakur once opined that the “root meaning” of the word Lakhsmi is “to see keenly” which associates the word further with the study of philosophy, knowledge, etc. (Deeparakshi, Vol. II, 148). This, according to Sree Sree Thakur, was an indication of what women need to study more deeply and rigorously in order to become worthy of their traditional association with the goddess, “Women need to be comprehensively trained [in discourse, philosophy, arts, etc.], so that they literally become Lakhsmi” (Alochana Prasange, Vol. XV, 33, translation mine). Sree Sree Boroma, needless to say, represents the absolute achievement of all these qualities and therefore symbolizes the Ideal of womanhood for the entire world. It is here that Sree Sree Thakur emerges as the greatest feminist of all ages who seeks to restore the lost glory of the female in patriarchy. Of course, His feminism is different from what the West understands it to be. Feminism, for Sree Sree Thakur, is not reactionary strategy but a proactive and curative measure that tries to eliminate injustice from society. As He Himself clarified in the volume V of The Message, “Tit not for tat / rather treat for tat / compassionately” (The Message, Vol. V, 87). [Published in Bliss][©Bliss Network]
Sree Sree Thakur’s views on the genders rest primarily on three basic principles that highlight a new dimension of gender study:
1. Genders are not hierarchically organized; they rather exist on different but equally significant planes of their own.
2. Each gender has certain inherent qualities and natural propensities which should be nurtured and supported by family and society alike.
3. It is impossible for society and mankind to develop and grow if women are not allowed to realize their potential for growth and fulfillment.
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Since, Sree Sree Thakur eliminates the very concept of gender superiority and establishes all gender categories as equals, this definition robs patriarchy of all justifications to project itself as the sole receiver of all social benefits. This done, Sree Sree Thakur asserts women’s capacity to nurture and channelize the immense possibilities that God as the creator has infused life and the world with. This is why He preferred calling women as “Maa” (mother) irrespective of their age as a means of reminding the world of women’s unique capacity to reproduce and sustain life, “Do you think mothers are fools? If they are fools then how can they give birth to children and raise them? Give a man the responsibility to raise a motherless child. Most will mess it up. But mothers do it so easily. Don’t think of yourself as powerless …. You [women] are here, and that is why you are protecting us [men]. Otherwise what would have happened to us?” (Alochana Prasange, Vol. IV, 166, translation mine).
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This is evidently a distinctive quality that separates Satsang from all other spiritual doctrines. In this context, we are definitely reminded of Deshbandhu Chitta Ranjan Das’ visit to Sree Sree Thakur to seek His guidance about the Indian freedom struggle. When Das expressed his anguish over the lack of trustworthiness in his fellow freedom fighters, the Supreme Beloved emphasized the need to have good mothers. What He tried to point out was obviously the need for proper female empowerment through Ideal-centric education and attachment to a fulfilling style of living. Unlike other religious models, neither Sree Sree Thakur nor Sree Sree Boroma ever wanted to capture the genders in any kind of normative existence. They only wanted man to follow the primary “norms” of existence which stay constant and do not change with the passage of time. It is high time that these time-honoured norms are accepted by us all; for, as we have perhaps already seen, the future that we are heading to is really terrible. [Published in Bliss][©Bliss Network]
Works Cited
Sri Sri Thakur Anukul Chandra. Deeparakshi. Vol. II. Compiler. Debiprasad Mukhopadhyay. Deoghar: Satsang Publishing House, 1993.
─ Satyanusaran. Trans. Rev. Amarendranath Chakravorty. Deoghar: Satsang Publishing House, 1999.
─ Alochana Prasange. Vol. IV, XIII & XV. Deoghar: Satsang Publishing House, 2012.
─ The Message. Vols. V. Deoghar: Satsang Publishing House, 2012.
Das, Chakrapnai. “Sree Sree Boromar Dibya Smriti”. In Jayatu Janani Me. (Ed.) Kartik Chandra Sarkar. Deoghar: Satsang Publishing House, 2010. 74-80.
This article was published in Bliss Aug 2020 Women's Special Issue. To read the recent issues of Bliss visit the following link:
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