Motherhood is considered the greatest glory of Hindu women

[KALKI]

Motherhood is considered the greatest glory of Hindu women.
The Taittiriya Upanishad teaches,

"Matridevo bhava" - "Let your mother be God to you."
... Hindu tradition recognizes mother and motherhood as even superior to heaven.
The epic Mahabharata Shantiparva, 30.9 says, 3000bce

"The teacher who teaches true knowledge is more important than 10 instructors.
The father is more important than 10 such teachers of true knowledge and the mother
is more important than 10 such fathers. There is no greater guru than mother."
Hinduism offers some intriguing and unique examples of strong women in the form of Goddesses. Two thousand years ago Saint Tiruvalluvar observed: "What does a man lack if his wife is worthy? And what does he possess if she is lacking worth?" There is more respect in the East for women and for their role in society.


To instill such high ideals in humankind, Indian ancestors created a plethora of goddesses who enjoyed equal status with their husbands. The concept of Ardhanareeshwarar, where God is depicted as half-man and half-woman, is a concrete example to support this argument. In many philosophical texts God is referred to a Tat, meaning It and that God is beyond gender. And, one would find a comparable Goddess for each God. Further, we know for a fact that ancient India was permissive; women could have multiple husbands, widows could remarry, divorce was permitted for incompatibility or when estranged.