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189 ELIZABETH BENTHIEN, a resident of
T 1 Chicago, baa found the Meal wife. She diacov
IVB I errd thla rarltr among the Mahratti women'
AVJL I of western India. Thla Important discovery
wti made quite by accident, aa most great
discoveries are, while Miss Benthlen waa pur
suing her work aa, a missionary teacher among
mmmmm these people.
Miss Benthlen spent Ave years aa principal of the hlgn
school at Poona. 8he had occasion to travel about the coun
try a great deal, and often taIkf-4 with the lower and middle
class women, who travel about (freely, a they have their
own compartments In the railroad trains. Besides, Miss Ben
thlen was several times Invited to visit high class ladles in
their sananas, where she accepted pansaparl made by their
own delicate tinted Afters.. So she had every opportunity to
judge avid In all classes of society she fosmfl examples of this
idesl wife.
What constitutes the MahratU woman's perfection?
Why, this: She worships her husband.
Husbands Worshiped as Cods.
"A husband," says one of the sacred writers of India.
" must constantly be revered as a god ry a virtuous wife."
" Let a wife," rt is said in the Skanda Tirana, " who wishes
to perform sacred ablutions, wash f.he feet of her husband,
and partake of the water." Says another writer: "The
husband Is her god, and priest, and religion; wherefore, aban
doning everything else, she ought chiefly to worship her
husband."
This command Is not a dead letter either. Its power
is felt In every class of society from the doll like creatures
secluded In the sananas to the poor servant who goes out
to work by the day while her husband tolls as a laborer In
the rice fields.
While a lower or middle, clnss man eats his rice and
bananas his wife stands behind him fanning him and silently
praying! What a picture for the high strung American- man
who Is often heard to declare that the Ideal woman Is deaf
and dumb! Imagine a member of a twentieth century wom
an's club standing behind hef husband's chair fanning him
and praying while he eats his dinner!
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Afraid to Speak His Name.
And yet this Hindu woman is of our own race! What a
poor downtrodden looking creature she Is! Timid and patient
as a sheep she never dreams of speaking to her husbanu
unless he first addresses her. Even in his absence she holds
him In such reverence that she can rarely be Induced to spenc
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his name. If you ask one of a group of Mahratti women the
name of her husband she will Mush and smile In confusion
without speaking. If you persist in questioning her she will
Anally turn to one of her companions and say: "You tell
ler.'
They even have Jewelry made of iron.
slon of sons. Suppose she has prayed all her life that In the
n.'xt Incarnation she may he born a man: suppose she has
faithfully worshiped her husband all her life; If she Jeaves
' no son to pray for her after death, all Tier lifelong devotion
goes for nothing. Small wonder then that it is the MahratU
woman's ambition to have the greatest possible number of
children.
Ail Want to Wear Jewelry.
Beside husband and children, the Mahratti woman has
third interest in life her jewelry. Even the poorest and
The high class woman does not wait upon ber husband? In America we have no conception of what poverty mean
h does no work of any sort but her relation to htm Is just in India wear all the trinkets they can obtain. Crude and
aa abject, She is even more helplessly dependent than her tawdry beyond words are the great earrings, nose rings, neck
low class sister, because she does nothing but chew her laces, and bracelets worn by these women. Miss Benthlen
pansaparl, fan herself, and play with jewelry all day. The has a necklace made of cloves and bits of brass wire that an
'making of the pansaparl a mixture of betel nut, butter, nut- American child might put on her doll, which has been
meg, lime, and cnrdnmon seed, all wrapped In a green leal aeriousiy cnertsnea as an ornament by a grown woman.
and neatly pinned together with a clove is her chief consola
tion. She may nevt-r appear on the street as her humbler
sister may. She has not even the advantage of going out to
work. She prays to the gods to make her a man next time;
meanwhile she worships her husband.
Children Their Only Hope of Heaven.
The first question a Mahratti woman asks a stranger who
Is Introduced to her is, "How many children have you?"
The missionary women, who are many of them spinsters, are
s looked on with pity and suspicion by these Hindu women,
who cannot understand how a woman can be free either to
marry or not aa she chooses.
Miss Benthlen was always besought at once by the
women she made friends with to tell how many children
she hsd. Once she told some especially insistent questioners
that aha had seventy-five.
" Wonderful 1' they exclaimed. " But are they all your
own?" they queried further.
When Miss Benthlen admitted that they were only pupils,
that aha had no children of her own, they freely expressed
extreme pity.
"But you have a husband T' they asked, hopefully.
No. Miss Benthlen admitted that she had no husband.
Then their manner changed at once, for among these peo
ple every respeotable girl Is provided with a husband la her
earliest youth. The woman who admits that she kas bo
husband Immediately brands herself aa not respectable.
J Vnt A have children la llmut fatal a mtafrhrtuna aa
ot to have a husband. The woman who has no children Is a
curse to her husband, for every man must have sons to praf
him Into heaven after death. He believes that If he leaves no
sons be and his ancestors will suffer tortures forever. One
ran readily see, therefore, the desirability of having many
sins, especlaly If one's life Is not above reproach. A wom
i.'s only hope of ever entering heaven depends on the posses-
of glass or silver as soon as the owner can afford it. They
put nearly all their savings into jewelry. One of the chief
hardships of the widows is the fact that they are never
allowed to wear any jewelry. It is the religious duty of the
mother and sisters of the newly made widow to tear off her
ornaments.
The Mahratti woman knows no change of fashion. Her
dress is not altered from year to year. It consists of a strip
of silk or cotton eight or ten yards long, so adjusted as to
make a complete costume, including a headdress. This all
enveloping garment la called a sari. The only undergar
ment worn is a short waist buttoned In the back. The dress
has neither seams, hooks, nor buttons. It Is simply a long
rectangle, so skillfully adjusted as to make a complete cov
ering. Worn with this drees are low sandals with curled up
toes. One wonders how a woman could work while so
swathed about The answer is that they never work as we
do, but slowly and languidly, like the sound of the word
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life Is Without Individual Romance.
In this land, where woman's Interests are entirely do
mestic, where her intellectual life Is a minus quantity,
there Is absolutely no romance. There Is no such thins
are worn with pride, though several are exchanged for one 'courtship or romantic attachment between men and women
Toung men and maidens are betrothed by their parents In
Infancy, and the bridegroom sees the face of his bride for
the first time after the marriage ceremony. Anything like
love between husband and wife Is rare indeed. Once in ten
thousand times two people who are congenial may happen
to find themselves husband and wife, but congeniality Is not
considered or looked for In marriage. So the question, "Is
marriage a failure?" is never discussed in India.
, Women worship their husbands because it la a rells-inuM
duty enjoined on them from their earliest youth. Individual
character has nothing to do with It. The personal adoration
that is worship of the Individual, the actual enslavement of
the heart, they know nothing of. They worship their hus
bands In fear and bondage, as they worship their idols.
Family Attachment All Due to Religion.
With these Hindus all Is religion. All is immutable
custom. The motive for every action in life can be traced''
to the belief: " It always has been so; It always will be so."
Nothing Is spontaneous, free. Individual. Even the love of
parents for their children is not simple, natural affection.
A man's entrance Into heaven depends upon his possession of
sons. That Is the philosophy of his wish for children. The
wife who has been married in childhood and sent away to
slave for her mother-in-law when she Is only 8 years old
(worships her husband because that Is the attitude demanded
by her religion. And patient, sheep like, she clings to the
belief of ber people: " It always has been so, It always will
be so." i
Such is the Ideal wife among the Hindus of western India.
ir v' V' ' !-:v,,-, Thcywwhtp their : M ittb
Cw rrV husbands and tvly on Sons' H yvlwiii'
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