From the perspective of Sri Aurobindo’s and the Mother’s teachings, how should one understand this and cultivate the right attitude in a relationship or marriage?
Again, there are things mentioned in the Puranas, in fact in every religious and spiritual teaching, that are temporal and belong to the Age in which they were given. There are others that are eternal truths and relevant for all times. Besides, in India, a distinction is drawn between Shruti, that is to say the Vedas, Upanishads, the Gita and the Smritis, that is the Puranas and Itihasas. The Shrutis are considered infallible, whereas the Smritis are not all to be taken as authentic. In fact, the Gita goes even further and bids us to go beyond every Scripture, heard or written, Sabdabrahmativartate. The Puranas, for all their beautiful things, – and there are plenty, are not to be taken as gospel truth to the letter and for all ages.
The Man – Woman relation changes from Age to Age and the highest in every Scripture is of equals. The subordination of one to the other is a misreading and misapplication of the divine truth of the feminine, the Shakti, emerging from the Ishwara. But they were and are always one before the emergence and, after the emergence, they are simply two modes of functioning, passive and dynamic, of One Reality.
Affectionately,
Alok Da
