In Hinduism, women occupies a very important position. In fact, a superior position to men. Feminine energy is the essence of the universe, the one who creates all the matter and consciousness, the eternal and infinite, the metaphysical and empirical reality, the supreme soul of everything. It is a culture whose only words for strength and power are feminine – "Shakti" means "power" and "strength". All male power comes from the feminine. There are many Hindu upnishad, shastra and puranas in which women celebrated as the most powerful and the empowering force such as the Devi Upanishad, Devi Mahatmya and Devi-Bhagavata Puaran etc.
For example:- literary evidence suggest that things and towns were destroyed because a single woman was wronged by the state. For example, valmiki Ramayana teaches us that ravana and his entire clan was wiped out because he abducted Sita. Ved Vyas's mahabharat teaches us that all the kauravas were killed because they humiliated draupadi in public.
In Devi Sukta ( chapter 10 of Rig veda) Devi proclaims herself to the source of all creation, the source of creative power itself, 15 wheels harshal was both immanent and transcendent, being consciousness as well as manifested reality. Ultimately, Dev is all that is, both manifest and manifest, embracing and surpassing the limits of the limitless universe.
These are the hymns:-
1. I move through the deities of storm and light, through the deities of the heavens, through all the deities. I uphold the lords of day and night, the sovereign of the atmosphere, the God of fire (Agni) and the benevolent celestial guardians.
2. I bear the nectar of immortality. I support the Creator of living beings, the Protector of the universe, and the gracious Lord of prosperity. I bestow wealth on those who prepare the sacrifices and offer the oblations with an attentive mind.
3. I am the sovereign in whom all the auspicious deities are united. Shining with consciousness, I am foremost amongst those worthy of worship. The Gods diffuse me in every direction, my presence abiding in many places and revealed in manifold ways.
4. Through me alone all mortals live who see and breathe and hear what is said, not knowing that they abide in me. Hear me as I speak the truth to you.
5. I myself proclaim this, which is pleasing to Gods and humans alike. I make mighty whomever I wish, I make them devout and open their eyes to right understanding.
6. For the God who puts evil to flight, I draw the bow, that His arrow may strike down the hater of devotion; such is the fervor I stir within that person. Through heaven and earth I extend.
7. At the summit of creation, I bring forth the heavens. My creative power flows from amid the waters of the infinite ocean. Thence I spread through all the worlds and touch yonder heaven with my vastness.
8. I breathe forth like the wind, setting all the worlds in motion. So great have I become in my splendor, shining far beyond heaven and earth.
– Rigveda ( Mandala 10, Hymn 125 ).
Also French author Louis Jaccoliot writes about the women's in Hinduism as : Hindoo Origin of Hebrew and Christian Revelation said: "India of the Vedas entertained a respect for women amounting to worship; a fact which we seem little to suspect in Europe when we accuse the extreme East of having denied the dignity of woman, and of having only made her an instrument of pleasure and of passive obedience." He also said: "What! here is a civilization, which you cannot deny to be older than your own, which places the woman on a level with the man and gives her an equal place in the family and in society."
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