Position Of Women
The very high standard of learning, culture
and as round progress reached by Indian women
during the Vedic age is a well-known fact. The
best proof of this is the fact that the Rigveda, the
oldest known literature in the whole
world,contains hymns by as many as twentyseven
women, called brahmavakinis of women
seers. Saunaka in his Brihaddevata (5th century
BC), a work on the rigveda, has mentioned the
name of these twenty-seven women seers.
In the Ramayana and the Mahabharata too,
we find many instance of the two types of Indian
women, ascetic and domestic. A magnificent
example of a brahmavadini in the Ramayana is
Anasuya, wife of the Sage Atri. Another
celebrated woman. She was the disciple of the
great sage Matanga and had her hermitage on
the bank of the lake Pampa On the other hand,
the highest manifestation of domestic perfection
in the Ramayana, is found in the inimitable
personality of Sita, the idol of Nidian
womanhood. The Mahabharata too is
resplendent with a galaxy of great women
fulfilling their destinies. For instance. Suitable,
who was a great scholar, for want of a suitable
bridegroom, became an ascetic for life and
roamed about from place to place in search of
knowledge. Other celebrated brahmavakinis of
the Mahabharata are the daughter of Sandklya
described as a Brahmani and Siva had who
mastered the Vedas. Far more numerous are the
instances of women who led dedicated lives at
home, e.g., Kunti and Draupadi. One of the most
celebrated women of the Puranas is Makalasa,
the escort of king Ritdhvaja. She was at once a
great scholar, a saintly woman and dutiful
housewife. Another saintly woman of the
Puranas is Devahuti, wife of the great sage
Prajapati Kardama and mother of the greater
sage Kapila. The propounder of the samkhya
system of Indian philosophy. Her philosophical
discourses with her learned husband and son
go to prove her unique spiritual attainments,
even though she lived a household life. The
position of women in India gradually
deteriorated as the golden Vedic ideals of unity
and equality began to fade off through the
passage of time. During the period of the Smritis,
women were bracketed with the Sudras, and
were denied the right to study the Vedas, to utter
Vedic mantras, and to perform Vedic rites.
Hence, during such an age, it was not to be
expected that women would continue to enjoy
the old privilege of choosing a life of celibacy and
asceticism. Since women and property are
bracketed together in several reference in the
epics, Smritis and Puranas, there is no doubt that
woman herself was regarded as a sort of
property. She could be given away or loaned as
any item of property. Manu and Yajnavalkya,
for example, hold that a woman is never
independent. This was like the attitude of a
typical patriarchal society based on private
property. Because of this attitude, the
Brahmanical law did not allow any proprietary
rights to to women; the provision for stridhana
is of a very limited character and does not extend
beyond the wife’s rights to jewels, ornaments
and presents made to her. Manu declares that
the wife, the son and the salve are unpropertied,
whatever they earn is the property of those to
whom they belong. This sort of social philosophy
took strong roots in the Gupta and post-Gupta
periods, although the institution of monogamous
family and private property had been developed
much earlier.
