She Said “What Does Being a Woman Have to Do With It?” 2,000 Years Later, We’re Still Asking

• The article reflects on Soma’s defiance of Mara in the Therīgāthā, showing how the struggle for women’s spiritual authority has endured across centuries.
• Just as Mara belittled Soma, today women still face barriers in religious life, excluded from rituals, sidelined in leadership, and burdened with preserving faith at home without being allowed formal authority.
• Acts of resistance, from women priests to women-led mosques, echo Soma’s voice, challenging limits and reclaiming spiritual space.

“Whatever was reached by the sages, a state hard to originate; Women with two-fingered wisdom cannot reach it.”

When I first read this line in the Therīgāthā, one of the earliest collections of women’s voices in Buddhist literature, my thoughts stalled, and a whole rail of reflections began. Who was speaking? To whom? And why did it feel like a voice I had already heard, echoing in so many corners of women’s lives today?

This was Mara, the figure in Buddhist tradition who embodies temptation, distraction, and doubt, mocking Soma, a Buddhist nun who was meditating under a tree when Mara tried to diminish her by equating womanhood with weakness. But Soma’s reply cut right through his words: “What does womanhood matter at all, when the mind is well composed, when one sees clearly with insight?” Her response refuses the premise that gender determines spiritual attainment.

The Same Energy, Different Century

This exchange is centuries old, yet its resonance is immediate and profound. Mara may no longer appear in the guise of a mythological figure, but his voice is alive in contemporary society. He shows up in laws that restrict women’s choices, in traditions that decide how women should dress or behave, and in the quiet voice of self-doubt shaped by years of discrimination. He manifests in the unspoken taboos around menstruation that exclude women from sacred spaces, in ritual practices that sideline female participation, and in patriarchal traditions that claim authority is the natural domain of men. Each of these cultural forms echoes Mara’s original whisper: “This is not for you.”

Raise the Children in Faith, Just Don’t Lead the Prayer

Today, too, women face barriers in their spiritual lives. She is responsible for preserving faith in the home, passing it on to children, and maintaining ritual practices, but the leading roles in temples, churches, or mosques are still reserved for him. How ironic it is that the weight of carrying the religion fell on women’s shoulders, but the leading role was never given to them. This imbalance of women’s spiritual authority does not stem from the essence of faith, but rather from social norms that have been shaped and repeated over generations.

What Happens When Women Stop Asking Permission

Now, new spaces are emerging where women share prayers and teachings, reaching people in ways that were previously impossible. However, these same spaces also present challenges. Women’s voices are overlooked, dismissed, or met with criticism when they step beyond what society expects of them. Their wisdom is often doubted or overlooked, even when it is rooted in profound learning and devotion.

Even after facing challenges, women today continue to respond with resilience, as exemplified by Soma, not only through words but also through action. One such example is the work of Shubhamastu, a charitable trust founded by a female priest. In a religious landscape where the role of the priesthood has been historically guarded as male territory, this initiative demonstrates women’s spiritual authority in action.

In Uttar Pradesh, Shaista Ambar established India’s first mosque led by women in 1997, creating a space where women could pray and take part in religious life with dignity and independence. Rajasthan has also seen its first woman qazi,  Nishat Hussain, breaking into an Islamic legal and ritual role traditionally reserved for men. These acts, whether in temples or mosques, reshape the imagination of what is possible. They echo Soma’s voice to Mara, refusing to accept limits placed on them, and instead, they are a declaration that women’s spiritual authority is an inherent human right.

Perhaps, then, Soma’s story is not merely a historical anecdote, but an invitation to question the voices, both internal and external. So the real question is how we respond when we hear Mara’s voice in our lives, sometimes through society and sometimes even within ourselves?