Eternal India Encyclopedia

PEOPLE

Eternal India Encyclopedia

WOMEN

whom the Buddha found to be fit enough for appointment as Superin- tendent of the convent at Jetavana and (vii) Sundari, a beautiful heir- ess, who renounced the world, on her brother's death. Some of these women after obtaining enlightenment took to missionary work for their faith. The most renowned of these lead- ers was Patachara, the bereaved mother who gave solace to 500 other bereaved mothers. The position of women in India gradually deteriorated as the Vedic ideals of equality and unity faded with the passage of time. During the period of the Smritis, the period of codification of social laws, women were bracketed with the Sudras and were denied the right to study the Vedas, to utter Vedic mantras and perform Vedic ceremonies. Unquestioning devotion to and self-effacing service of husbands became their only duty. Manu sums up her position in this dictum: "A woman is protected by her father in childhood, by her husband during youth and by her sons in old age. She is never fit for freedom." The period from the invasion of India by Mohammed of Ghori in the 12th century to the establishment of British authority in Bengal in the second half of the 18th century witnessed a further deterio- ration in the position of women in India. The unsettled social and economic conditions which prevailed in North India because of the series of invasions that took place contributed to many restrictions being placed on women. Rigorous seclusion of women became the rule as a result of the system of purdah which the Muslims en- forced. With the decay and disappearance of the Buddhist monas- teries, the educational facilities which they provided for women also ceased. Sati, the custom by which Indian women immolated themselves on the funeral pyres of their dead husbands, also established itself in the North among royal families though not among the common people. The practice, was abolished by law the Governor- General of India, Lord William Bentinck, in the 19th century. The Prevention of Sati Act of 1829 was followed by the Widow Remar- riage Act of 1856 which legalised the marriage of widows. The agitation against early marriage which often resulted in early widowhood was led by Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar. In some of the princely states, like Baroda ruled by progressive rulers, legislation in this respect was passed as early as 1901. But it was only in 1929 that the Central Legislature passed the Child Marriage Restraint Act (populary known as the Sarda Act after its sponsor Harbilas Sarda) fixing the age of consent within marriage at 18 for boys and 14 for girls and outside marriage at 15 for girls. Amend- ments to this Act raised the age of marriage for girls to 15 and the age of consent outside marriage to 18. In South India which was not exposed to continuous invasion, conditions were different. The position of women underwent no serious deterioration. Education was fairly widespread. The re- gional languages produced a number of women poets. The advent of the British and the birth of various socio-relig- ious reform movements like the Brahma Samaj and Arya Samaj brought about a new awakening which led to an improvement in the status of women. When Mahatma Gandhi appeared on the scene, women in large numbers responded to his call and took part in the Freedom Movement against the British. With Independence and the adoption of the new Constitution of India in 1950, women secured adult franchise and complete political equality. Articles 14 and 15 guarantee to all citizens, irrespective of

The Rig Veda provides evidence that in ancient Indian society women were the equal of men as regards access to and capacity for the highest knowledge. The Rig Veda contains hymns by as many as twenty-seven women called brahmavadinis or women seers. It was by no means obligatory for brahmavadinis to take the vow of celibacy, renounce the world and meditate in a secluded mountain cave. On the contrary quite a few brahmavadinis who came to be blessed with the realisation of Brahman were married women. In the Vedic age domes- tic life was not regarded as in any way inconsistent with spiritual life. Womanhood in the Vedic age and for many centuries later had two main ideals, viz that of a brahmavadini and that of a sadyovadhu, A sadyovadhu was of a domestic type dedicating herself to the welfare of her family and devoting herself to her domestic duties. But there was no real opposition between the status of a brahmavadini and that of a sadyovadhu. Just as many brahmavadinis were married, many sadhyovadhus were of a spiritual nature and strove for spiritual realisation in the midst of their domestic duties. A famous brahmavadini was Gargi, daughter of the Sage Yajna- valkya, who came forward boldly to cross lances with male philoso- phers. The two epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata, have many examples of the two types of Indian women. Gandhari, Kunti, Draupadi, Savitri, Damayanti, Shakuntala and Satyabhama in the Mahabharata were women who, though housewives, were also reputed scholars and saintly characters. The highest epitome of domestic perfection is found in the character of Sita in the Ramayana. The wife enjoyed with her husband full religious rights and regularly participated in religious ceremonies with him. The Rig Veda accorded the highest social status to the women of those days. Rig Vedic society was based on monogamy and was patriar- chal. The marriage hymn refers to the practice of the bridegroom going to the bride's house, where he marries her and conveys the bride to his own house after the marriage. In the new home she has an honoured place as mistress of the household, looking after her aged father-in-law, mother-in-law and her husband's brothers and sisters. The hymn also indicates that marriage was a sacrament and indissoluble. The great grammarian, Panini, who lived before 500 B.C. in his work Ashtadhyayi cites illustrations of his grammatical rules to show how women were going in for regular Vedic studies like men. Buddhism kept up the traditions of Brahmanical religion in ac- cording womanhood an honoured place in social life. Women were made eligible for admission to the Bikshuni Sangha, the Order of Nuns, which opened to them ample opportunities for social service and public life. The Order of Nuns was the nursery which produced many learned women. The Buddhist nuns were called theris. Some Buddhist nuns achieved great distinction by the promi- nent part they took in the work of the early Buddhist Reformation. Some of these women leaders of the Buddhist Reformation are mentioned in the commentary of Dharmapala on the Therigatha (Songs of the Nuns). They are (i) Soma, whom the Buddha con- verted at Rajagriha (ii) Anupama, daughter of wealthy parents who " cutting off the glory of her hair, entered on the lonely paths of life and wandered forth to lose the sense of home" (iii) Queen Khema (iv) Sujatha, wife of a wealthy citizen, who in the quest for Truth renounced worldly happiness (v) Chapa, who by her conduct drove her husband to be a monk till she herself chastened, by their separation, followed her husband to the Order (vi) Kisagautami,