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Status of Women in Ancient India

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Status of Women in Ancient India International Multidisciplinary e –Journal/Author : Dr.Baltinder Kaur (190-194) Status Of Women In Ancient India Dr.Baltinder Kaur Principal Kirpal Sagar College Of Education S.B.S Nagar The position of woman reflects the cultural, aesthetic, moral and spiritual attainment of society. The elevation of the feminine principles pervades Vedic thought. Woman enjoyed an almost equal status with man in Rigvedic period. This is well-evident from well-known aphorism ‘Jayedastam’ which means that wife is the home. The mother in the household sets the model for the conception of the Rigvedic goddesses v iz . ‘Aditi’ the eternal mother of all being, ‘Indrani’ the imperious mistress of the household; ‘Vak’, 'the eternal cosmic energy of the universe', ‘Saraswati’ the pattern of fine arts and learning; ‘Usha’, the breath and life of all beings; ‘Ila’, 'the first teacher; Bharti 'the all surpassing goddess of speech and so on. Ordinarily girls were, no doubt, less welcome than boys. Since exceptions are always there, in this age there were some parents in society who would perform special religious rituals for their good luck of getting learned and capable daughters. Girls were educated like boys. Atharvaveda observes that a maiden can succeed in her marriage only if she has been properly trained during the period of studentship. During this period itself there was emergence of a good number of highly educated women who were well versed in art of writing poetry. Lopamudra Visvavara, Sikata, Nivavari and Ghosha made rich contribution to the vedic hymn. Not only this the women scholars like Sulabha Maitreyi, Vadava Prathiteyi and Gargi Vachaknavi made great original contribution to the advancement of education. Besides studying the Vedas, many of them specialised in Purvamimansa, which discussed the diverse problems connected with vedic sacrifices. One thing is very certain that if the number of women scholars in such a technical branch of study was so high naturally, therefore, the number of women who used to receive general education must have been fairly large. Being educated, girls enjoyed full liberty to lead their life in the way they wanted to. So much so, they had an effective voice even in the selection of life partner. The Vedic hymn wherein a husband addresses the wife "A friend thou shall be, a friend, thou hast become, may your friendship be everlasting", indicates the true sprit of marriage. The wife was www.shreeprakashan.com Vol-IV, Issue-I, Jan-2015. Page 190 International Multidisciplinary e –Journal/Author : Dr.Baltinder Kaur (190-194) regarded as the "gift given by God". What an age. Women were blessed with full grace and patronage. Not only when the husband was alive but even after his death, they were given full freedom to remarry only if they wanted to, as it is quite evident from the hymn. "Rise woman, thou art lying by the side of one whose life is gone, come to the world of living, away from him, thy husband that is dead, and become the wife again of him, who is willing to take thee by the hand and marry thee". Not only this, there were love marriages, Gandharva Vivah etc. were also in practice. There was no seclusion of women, they used to move freely in society, often in the company of their lovers. In the social and religious gatherings they occupied a prominent position. Women had an absolute equality with men in the eyes of religion. Even in matters of property rights, she was given her full due as it’s clear from the Vedic hymn, "you should not prevent my daughter from acting meritoriously from acquiring wealth and from performing virtuous acts". In a way, the vedic period seems to present the best in women whatever the field of life be. She was not found wanting, rather she created a name and fame there too. As it is clear from the invocation dedicated to Saniyasi, which relates her excellence as a warrior even though she is a woman. Another instance mostly referred, pertains to Vakaas-personified speech, said to the daughter of Rishi Ambhrini. In the hymn she is known as foe, destroying a sovereign queen and she renders assistance to Rudra while fighting against the enemies. The position of women, on the whole, was fairly satisfactory. The community, as a whole, was showing proper concern and respect for women, allowing them considerable freedom in the different activities of social and political life. As a matter of fact, religious sanctions, social recognition, family support and, above all, the highly determined self of the woman, made her a big achiever. Whatever may be the field, she excelled and earned glorious achievement. It is a universal truth that nothing is everlasting in the world; naturally, therefore, the solid ground and the glorified position enjoyed by women during vedic period started fading gradually. In the Sutra period, the position of women was not so high as that in vedic times. The introduction of non-Aryan wife into the Aryan family was responsible for the general deterioration of the position of woman, that gradually and imperceptibly started round about 1000 B.C. and became quite marked in about 500 years. The non-Aryan wife, with her ignorance of Sanskrit language and Hindu religion, could obviously not enjoy the same religious privileges as the Aryan consort. According to them, "A wife is not independent with respect to the fulfillment of the sacred law"; strict discipline in life and fidelity to her husband were demanded of a woman. ”Let her not violate her duty towards her husband; let her restrain her tongue, eyes and actions." The importance and the necessity of a son increased for the continuity of the race and for the peace and happiness of the souls of the dead in other world. They addressed prayers to gods to give them sons “O! Indra, this lady beget ten sons and her husband himself be the eleventh.” www.shreeprakashan.com Vol-IV, Issue-I, Jan-2015. Page 191 International Multidisciplinary e –Journal/Author : Dr.Baltinder Kaur (190-194) Such lowering of the position of the wife in the family not only affected her adversely but also the life and the fate of her daughter. The discontinuance of Upanyana, the neglect of education and lowering of the marriage age produced disastrous consequences upon the position and status of women. Brides, too young and inexperienced, ceased to have any effective voice in the settlement of their marriage. Svayambara and love marriages became the things of the past so much so that marriage bonds were decided sometimes immediately after the birth of a daughter and some times even before the birth of a child. During the first half of this period widow remarriages and Niyoga continued to be permitted but gradually they came to be eradicated. During this period marriage became irrevocable, only so far as the wife was concerned. The husband could discard his wife for the grave offence of not being sufficiently submissive. The denial of the graceful position to the woman when the husband was alive resulted in further perpetuating her sorrows and suffering when the husband was snatched by the cruel hands of destiny. Tortured by the in-laws, ignored by the parents, she found the solace of her life in death. The new development affected the position of the widow adversely in various ways. The fate was, undoubtedly, cruel to the widow in carrying away her husband. It had, however, given her a new opportunity to secure spiritual salvation which can be best attained by leading a pure and chaste life. The widow should, therefore, never think of remarriage. This advice was, however, one sided. Smritis do not offer it to the widower. On the other hand, they permit him to remarry immediately after the death of the first wife, lest the sacred fires should remain unlit. A greater calamity that overtook the widow in this period was the sati custom as the action of the sati came to be regarded as a great religious sacrifice, which deserved to be imitated. Many of the earlier laws governing freedom to women got extinct, and what remained thereafter was the ascetic rigidity. Manusmiriti is full of paradoxes of respect and neglect of woman. Manu keeps woman in high esteem when he says, "woman must always be honoured and respected by the father, brother, husband and brothers in law, who desire their own welfare”. And "where women are honoured, there the very Gods are pleased but where they are not honoured, no sacred rite even could yield rewards”. Had Manu stopped here, perhaps, there could have been no better appreciation of women. But underneath such rhetoric, there was a different motive. The Manusimiriti tended to lower women's status and deprived her of traditional honour in a variety of ways. For though women were created by God to be mothers just as men were created to be fathers. So a maiden might be given away in marriage even though she had not attained the proper marriageable age. The ideal of wifehood in essence was the negation of her personality. "The husband must constantly be worshipped as a god by a faithful wife even if he be a destitute of character or seeking pleasure elsewhere or devoid of good qualities. A good www.shreeprakashan.com Vol-IV, Issue-I, Jan-2015. Page 192 International Multidisciplinary e –Journal/Author : Dr.Baltinder Kaur (190-194) wife desirous of living in this as well as the next world with her husband must never do anything that would displease him, either alive or dead. A woman attains paradise not by virtue of any austere penance but as a result of her obedience and devotion to her husband.
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