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PEOPLE
Eternal India
Encyclopedia
WOMEN
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,
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