Women in Ancient India

Women in Ancient India

Now, we see that both men and women enjoy an equal status in society and women have been making a mark in all fields, despite gender inequality, violence against women, and patriarchy. Frequently, it makes us wonder about the status and condition of the womanish folks in ancient India. In ancient Indian culture, women were treated as equal to men, and there was no demarcation based on gender, rather women were feted by society, and society at the time considered women as "Janani'', which means mother. Indeed, in Hindu scripts, women are considered as "Devi".

The accomplishments of Gargi, Maitreyi, Sita, Draupadi, and Alapa turned out to be the most ideal part for women of this period. These women were competitive with men in numerous fields and also entered and enjoyed their rights and equivalency. There were no restrictions on them, and they held great wealth and property.

The Indian artistic tradition begins with the Vedas. It's generally believed that the Vedic period spread from 300 BC to 600 BC. The degree of freedom given to women to take part in public conditioning indicates the nature of the status enjoyed by women during the Vedic period. Women had no way to observe "purdah". They enjoyed freedom in opting for their life partner. Widows were permitted to re-marry. Divorce was still not admissible to them. Indeed, men didn't have the right to disjoin their women. Women were given complete freedom in family matters and were treated as "Ardhanginis".

In the Vedic period, women used to play a noble role in education. Although all genders were offered the honor of equal educational opportunity to study Vedic literature, the part of women in ancient Indian literature came of great significance. The ancient textbooks mention several largely educated women scholars, like Maitreyi, Sulabha, Gargi, Lopamudra, etc. Also, there are references to woman preceptors, known as Upadhyayas (unattached womanish preceptors) and Upadhyayanis (married womanish preceptors) within society.

There was no dearth of women saints and pundits. The notable woman rishikas were Romasha, Lopamudra, Apala, Kadru, Visvavara, Ghosha, Juhu, Vagambhrini, Paulomi, Yami, Indrani, Savitri, Devayani, Nodha, Akrishtabhasha, Sikatanivavari and Gaupayana.

Marriage in the Vedic period was considered a social and religious duty and united the couple on an equal footing. Women had the right to remain spinsters throughout their life. Marriage wasn't forcefully assessed on them; child marriages were unknown. Girls were given the right to marry only after puberty; after completing their education, women had the right to elect their life-partners. Frequently there were also love marriages called "Gandharva Vivaha". Monogamy was the form of marriage in the Vedic days. There are several references to the custom of "Niyoga" where a family or the nearest relation of a departed husband could marry the widow with the authorization of the elders.

Rig-Veda honored the right of a partner to inherit her father's property. A wedded daughter had no share in her father's property, but each spinster was entitled to a one-fourth share of the legacy entered by her brothers. As a woman, she had no direct share in her husband's property. Still, an abandoned woman was entitled to 1/3rd of her husband's wealth. A widow was expected to lead an ascetic life and had no share in her husband's property. Therefore, it could be generalized that the social situation wasn't in favor of women enjoying property and yet protection was given to them as daughters and women. The practice of "Sati " is nowhere mentioned in the Rig-Veda. The practice of taking dowry was there, but it was only emblematic. It hadn't surfaced as a social wrong.

Women could shine as arguers in public assemblies. They generally enthralled a prominent place in social gatherings but they were denied entry into the "Sabhas". In the religious field, women enjoyed full rights and regularly shared religious observances with their husbands. Religious observances and offerings were performed concertedly by the husband and the wife. There was no bar for women to read or study any of our sacred literature.

Both Ramayana and Mahabharata Epics give a respectable place to women; women had been called the root of Dharma, substance, and enjoyment in both the epics. We find vast references to the expressions of courage, strong willpower, and valor of women like Kaikeye, Sita, Rukmani, Satyabhama, Sabitri, Draupadi, and others. One of the effects most missed about India and Hinduism is that it's a manly-dominated society and religion and the reality is that it isn't so. It's a religion that has attributed the words for strength and power to women. "Shakti " means "power" and "strength". All manly power comes from the woman. The Trimurti (Brahma,Vishnu,Shiva) are helpless without their womanish counterparts.

The integrity among the genders had room in the early Vedic period, but in the after-Vedic period, there was a decline in the integrity and equivalency among them, especially the position of the women, which was equal in the early Vedic period, a downcast trend in after Vedic period. It's believed that foreign subjection was the main reason for the decline of women's status in that period. There was a corrosion in the Rig-Vedic ideals of fairness and harmony, which deprived women of enjoying their right to study the Vedas, recite Vedic mantras, and practice Vedic rituals. Women were forced to get wedded and or involved in domestic life and have a disposable devotion to their misters. At that time, parents were ashamed of the birth of a girl's child.

There came a time when women had to borrow the "purdah", a robe that covers the body in a way that affects their freedom. This is the reason it gave birth to numerous other immoralities in society which made women's lives more delicate to live. There were numerous restrictions like Sati, and Jauhar, and no education for girls, widow re-marriage, child marriage, and numerous others.

The status of women bettered a little during the Buddhist period, though there was no tremendous change. Buddha sermonized on equivalency and he tried to ameliorate the artistic, educational, and religious status of women. During the benevolent rule of the notorious Buddhist lords similar to Chandragupta Maurya, Ashoka, Sri Harsha, and others, women recaptured a part of their lost freedom and status due to the fairly broadminded Buddhist gospel. Women were permitted to "Sanyasis". Numerous women took a commanding part in Buddhist monastic life. Women had their own sangha called the Bhikshuni Sangha, which was guided by the same rules and regulations as those of the monks. The sangha opened to them avenues of artistic conditioning and social service and ample openings for public life.

It may therefore be concluded that in Vedic India, women didn't enjoy an inferior status; rather they were enthralled by in an honourable place. They had ample rights in the social and religious fields and limited rights in the profitable and political fields. They weren't treated as superior or inferior but equal to men.

Sources:

https://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/women/status-of-women-during-the-vedic-period/47391/

https://books.google.com/books?id=jjscEAAAQBAJ

https://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/women/status-of-women-in-ancient-india/47636

 

**Author: Sara Mandke, a Student of Government Law College, Mumbai