IJ
IJCRM
International Journal of Contemporary Research in Multidisciplinary
ISSN: 2583-7397
Open Access • Peer Reviewed
Impact Factor: 5.67

International Journal of Contemporary Research In Multidisciplinary, 2025;4(5):242-250

Cultural Codes and Gendered Hierarchies: A Critical Reading of Women’s Status in The Puranas

Author Name: Ramanand Yadav;   Prof. Shailendra Kumar Mishra;  

1. Ph.D. Research Scholar, Department of History, MDPG College, Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh, India

2. Professor, Department of History, MDPG College, MDPG College, Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract

The paper also unfairly examines how the status of women was viewed in the Puranas, ancient scriptures in the Hindu religion, through the perception of cultural codes and hierarchies extolled by gender. The paper will also attempt to understand how these texts affirm the traditional gender roles and power, among other things; what is of interest in the study is the literal and figurative representation of women in the mythological literature. In accordance with the qualitative approach, the paper will apply textual analysis and exposition of the most important Puranic compositions to identify the purpose of the woman and her representation. They also suggest that women are represented in a multifaceted yet rich representation in the Puranas with the diverse roles they perform as mothers, goddesses, and warriors. In most cases, they are expected to adhere to a rigid system as defined by the society that enforces the patriarchal systems. Such topics as contribution, occurrence of moral responsibility, and lifetime operations are quite impressive with the gendered hierarchy of writings, according to the study. The conclusions drawn about the implications of the research in the result of this study have been the permanently present attributes of Puranic stories on how modern societies view the roles of women and the continuity of gender inequality in contemporary society. This research study incorporates the need to re-analyze the traditional texts, a critical aspect of which would provide certain light on the issue of feminism and the stage of gender analysis using ancient texts.

Keywords

Puranas, gendered hierarchies, cultural codes, women’s status, mythology, feminist critique.