I was charmed with this dainty little woman, yet I could not help thinking that she might be a pretty toy, but not a companion to the man with whom I had been conversing a few hours previous, and in whose library I had seen Emerson’s “Essays,” Farrar’s “Life of Christ,” “Pilgrim’s Progress,” the works of Tolstoy, Epictetus, and lying upon the desk, as if just left by the master, Maeterlinck’s “Life and Death.” According to the ethical, moral, and religious standards of the Hindus, man and woman are equal. The Vedas teach— Before the creation of this phenomenal world, the first born Lord of all creatures divided his own self in two halves so that one half should be male and the other half female. Just as the halves of fruit possess the same nature, the same attributes and the same properties in equal proportion, so man and woman, being the equal halves of the same substance, possess equal rights, equal privileges, and equal power. This sounds very well in print, and learned Hindus quote us the Vedas to show that in their country women and men are considered equal. They are most indignant at the conception by the Western people of the treatment accorded the Indian woman by her husband. They say that books are filled with the stories of the brutality of husbands who marry these girl-wives without love on either side, yet they point out that it is a well-known fact that there are fewer wife-beaters in India than there are in England. Manu, the great law-giver, says, “A woman’s body must not be struck hard even with a flower, because it is sacred.” In the olden time we are told that women were well versed in the Vedas, although it is now claimed that they are forbidden to read them or to be taught their truths. It is known that two of the famous songs of the Rig Veda were revealed by women, and when Sankaracharya, the great commentator of the Vedanta, was discussing this philosophy with another savant, a Hindu lady well versed in the Hindu scriptures was requested to act as umpire. Whatever may have been her position in former times, at present there is no woman on earth who reveals more true attachment and devotion to her husband than does the Hindu wife. There is a beautiful saying, “Man is strength, woman is beauty; he is the reason that governs and she is the wisdom that moderates.” In the Mahrabarata we find this definition of a woman— A man’s wife is his truest friend; A loving wife is a perpetual spring Of virtue, pleasure, wealth; a faithful Wife is his best aid in seeking Heavenly bliss. A sweetly speaking wife is a companion In solitude, a father in advice, A mother in all seasons of distress, A rest in passing through life’s wilderness. CHAPTER VIII INDIAN MOTHERHOOD