Women in Vedic society

[Sandip Bankar]

"The home has, verily, its foundation in the wife" - The Rig Veda

During the Vedic age, more than 3,000 years ago, women were assigned a high place in society. They shared an equal standing with their men folk and enjoyed a kind of liberty that actually had societal sanctions. The ancient Vedic philosophical concept of 'shakti', the feminine principle of energy, was also a product of this age. This took the form of worship of the female idols or goddesses.

Birth of the Goddess

The feminine forms of the Absolute and the popular Hindu goddesses are believed to have taken shape in the Vedic era. These female forms came to represent different feminine qualities and energies of the Brahman. Goddess Kali portrays the destructive energy, Durga the protective, Lakshmi the nourishing, and Saraswati the creative.

Here it's notable that Vedic society recognizes both the masculine and feminine attributes of the Divine, and that without honoring the feminine aspects, one cannot claim to know God in his entirety. So we also have many male-female divine-duos like Radha-Krishna, Sita-Rama, Uma-Mahesh, and Lakshmi-Narayan, where the female form is usually addressed first.

Education of the Girl Child

Vedic literature praises the birth of a scholarly daughter in these words: "A girl also should be brought up and educated with great effort and care." (Mahanirvana Tantra); and "All forms of knowledge are aspects of Thee; and all women throughout the world are Thy forms." (Devi Mahatmya)

Women, who so desired, could undergo the sacred thread ceremony or 'Upanayana' (a sacrament to pursue Vedic studies), which is only meant for males even to this day. The mention of female scholars and sages of the Vedic age like Vac, Ambhrni, Romasa, Gargi, Khona in the Vedic lore corroborates this view. These highly intelligent and greatly learned women, who chose the path of Vedic studies, were called 'brahmavadinis', and women who opted out of education for married life were called 'sadyovadhus'. Co-education seems to have existed in this period and both the sexes got equal attention from the teacher. Moreover, ladies from the Kshatriya caste received martial arts courses and arms training.

Women & Marriage

Eight types of marriage were prevalent in the Vedic age according to "Manava Dharma Shastra":

1. Rite of Brahmana (Brahma) - where the father of the bride invites a man learned in the Vedas and a good conduct, and gives his daughter in marriage to him after decking her with jewels and costly garments.

2. Rite of the Gods (Daiva) - where the daughter is groomed with ornaments and given to a priest who duly officiates at a sacrifice during the course of its performance of this rite.

3. Rite of the Rishis (Arsha) - when the father gives away his daughter after receiving a cow and a bull from the brightgroom.

4. Rite of the Prajapati - (Prajapatya) where the father gave his daughter to a man who promised monogamy and faithfulness.

5. Rite of the Asuras (Demons) - when the bridegroom receives a maiden after bestowing wealth to the kinsmen and to the bride according to his own will.

6. Rite of the Gandharva - the voluntary union of a maiden and her lover.

7. Rite of the Rakshasa - forcible abduction of a maiden from her home after her kinsmen have been slain or wounded and their houses broken open.

8. Rite of the Pisaka - when a man by stealth seduces a girl who is sleeping or intoxicated or is mentally disbalanced or handicapped.

In the Vedic age there was both the custom of 'Kanyavivaha' where the marriage of a pre-puberty girl was arranged by her parents and 'praudhavivaha' where the girls were married off after attaining puberty. 

There was also the custom of 'Swayamvara' where girls, had the freedom to choose her husband from among the eligible bachelors invited to her house for the occasion.

Wifehood in the Vedic Era

As in present, after marriage, the girl became a 'grihini' (wife) and was considered 'ardhangini' or one half of her husband's being. Both of them constituted the 'griha' or home, and she was considered its 'samrajni' (queen or mistress) and had an equal share in the performance of religious rites.

Divorce, Remarriage & Widowhood

Divorce and remarriage of women were allowed under very special conditions. If a woman lost her husband, she was not forced to undergo the merciless practices that cropped up in later years. She was not compelled to tonsure her head, nor was she forced to wear red sari and commit 'sahagamana' or dying on the funeral pyre of the dead husband. If they chose to, they could live a life of a 'sanyasin' or hermit, after the husband passed away.

--
Regards,
Sandip B. Bankar, Ph.D.
Aalto University, School of Science and Technology,
Espoo, P.O. Box 16100
Finland.
E-mail: sandip...@aalto.fi
Phone: Mob.  +358 505293353+358 505293353

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