INTRODUCTION

One of the best ways to understand the spirit of a civilization and to appreciate its
excellences and realize its limitations is to study the history of the position and status of
women in it. Civilization is to a great extent the result of a society’s capacity to control some
of the strongest and most selfish impulses embedded in the human nature. No class of
similar importance and extent as that of women was placed in the infancy of society in a
position of such absolute dependence upon men, and the degree in which that dependence
has been voluntarily modified and relaxed naturally serves as a rough test of the sense of
justice and fair play developed in a community.1
Talking of very early times, the women in India enjoyed an honorable position in the
society. Manu compares the status of the woman to the presiding deity in the house and
says that “where women are honored, there the gods are pleased; but where they are not
honored, no sacred rite yields rewards. Where the female relations live in grief, the family
soon wholly perishes; the family, where they are not unhappy, ever prospers.”
As far as social structure is concerned, the Indian society was mostly patriarchal; children
were given the last name and gotra of their father. However, it was a common practice to
address children by their mother’s name, like the mother’s name was used for Arjuna when
he was addressed as Kounteya (Kunti’s son), and Yashodanandan (Yashoda’s son) for
Krishna, Gandhariputra (putra means son) for Duryodhana, etc. Altekar is of the view that
the participation of women in productive activities such as agriculture, manufacture of cloth,
bows, arrows and other war materials was at the root of the freedom and better status of
women in the Vedic age; and their position began to deteriorate when the cheap or forced
labours of the enslaved population or of the Shudras became available to the Aryans and
women ceased to be productive members of the society.

1
Dr. A. S. Altekar, “The Position of Women in Hindu Civilization”, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 2nd edn., Reprint
1987, Pg. No.1
TEXTUAL POSITION OF WOMEN – VEDIC AND POST–VEDIC
LITERATURE

In India, during the ancient times, respect for women in the society was taken as a matter
of fact. The essence of every natural phenomenon (Deva) is power (Shakti) and the artistic
expression of this Shakti is given a female form. Frank Morales aptly points out, “Within
the concept of Shakti, we find a profound and spiritually oriented philosophy of women’s
liberation.” The texts of the Vedic age provide a great deal of assistance in analyzing the
position of women during those times. They are a storehouse of a great deal of information
on the subject.
Going by the Satapatha Brahmana, it is found that the wife was considered to be a half
of the husband and she alone completed him. As far as occupation of the women during
the Vedic times is concerned, it is inferred that the women used to actively participate in
activities such as agriculture, manufacturing of bows, arrows and other war material.
Samhitas also refer to female workers in dying, embroidery and basket-making. It is
interesting to note that the Vedic Samhitas have special words to denote female workers
in the above crafts, which have disappeared in the later literature.2
The Mahabharata and Yajnavalkya Smriti talk of women enjoying great privileges and
being regarded as “pivots of the entire social organism”. As to the birth of a girl child in
the family, the Aitareya Brahmana observes that while the son was the hope of the family,
the daughter was the source of trouble to it. The Mahabharata even talked on the same
lines when it came to the birth of a female child. Even in the Kathasaritsagara we find
that the son was considered to be the bliss itself and the daughter was the root of all
misery and discontentment. In the Jain Katha Upamitibhavapra panca many cynical remarks
are used against women. They are said to be as fickle as the wind, deceitful in their ways
and an impediment in the road to spiritual progress. Bhartrhari also took them as an
obstacle in one’s way to reach the door of heaven.3 Thus, distinct views can be seen as
far as the texts are concerned, be it the Vedic literature, or be it the post – Vedic literature.

POSITION OF WOMEN IN THE FAMILY

In the Vedic times, there was the patriarchal setup and the birth of sons was favored.
This patrilineal model was adopted uniformly almost at all the times in ancient India.

2
2 Supranote 1, Pg. No. 179.
3
A. Chakraborty, S. K. Biswal, “History of Ancient India”, Arise Publishers and Distributors, New Delhi, 1st edn.,
2007, Pg. No. 200.
Children were given the last name and gotra of their father. However it was a common
practice to address the children by their mother’s name. The birth of a girl was generally
considered an unwelcome event in society in ancient times. It was considered inauspicious.
A wife who unfortunately happened to give birth to girls in succession was despised and
even sometimes divorced. Even in the royal family the difference was clear and well-
marked.4
Around 7th century A.D., when women took active participation in the economic activities
like cattle rearing by way of physical labour, weaving, etc., they contributed to the family
economically and thereby held a considerably higher status in the family. In Rigvedic
period, husband and wife were considered as one entity, referred to as dampati. Wife was
made to sit beside the husband in all religious ceremonies for giving ahuti. Without the
wife the ceremonies were considered to be incomplete. She participated in political functions
and vidatha assemblies. Out of the twelve ratnins, who had to be present during the
Rajyabhishek ceremony of the king, three were women. All these quite evidently hint at
the importance women held in the society and as such they held an important position in
the family as well. They were respected and their presence was something that was looked
up to.
But at a later date that is in the later Vedic period a quite evident decline in their position
in the family and in the society as a whole is witnessed which goes on declining further.
Women are deprived of the agricultural function as this goes to the duties of the shudra
class as the caste system goes on to rigidify. Their presence in religious ceremonies also
loses considerable importance because now this is taken over by the purohit. Also, the
women are even left out in the political arena as due to the emerging of large extensive
empires upheld by the king, assemblies like Vidanta and samiti lose their being. They fade
away and so does the women participation in public affairs.

MARRIAGE AND WOMEN’S RIGHT TO CHOOSE

When taking Vedic period in view, as such, the texts do not mention child marriage.
Manu on this point writes in Manusmriti that a man’s body is fully developed by the time
he is twenty-five and that of a woman’s is not developed till she is sixteen. He advises
that a girl should wait at least three years after the onset of puberty and then the parents
should let her choose a husband who is her equal. This concept only brought up an ancient
tradition that was followed in Hindu marriages, that is, the tradition of Swayamvara. Women
could choose their husbands through a type of marriage called Swayamvara. In this type
of marriage, potential grooms assembled at the bride's house and the bride selected her

4
B.K. Nanda, “Political and Cultural History of India”, Arise Publishers and Distributors, New Delhi, 1st edn., 2007,
Pg. No. 157
spouse. Instances of Swayamvara ceremony can be found in epics, the Ramayana and
Mahabharata. This continued even in the later period in high class families.5
At the time of her marriage, the girl was decorated with valuable ornaments and clothes
and various gifts were presented to her by the parents in accordance with their status. As
far as Rigvedic period is concerned, dowry was prevalent but at times it was the son-in-
law who had to pay money in order to purchase his bride. The marriage of girls was not
considered to be essential and there are references to girls remaining unmarried till late
age and living with their fathers and brothers.6
After leaving the parents’ home, her husband’s house was her permanent house. The idea
of the institution of marriage in ancient times was that of a lifelong union; only death
could separate a woman from her husband. The husband was the whole world for her. She
had to be faithful and maintain high ideal of chastity. A woman’s role as outlined in
Hinduism in the Rigvedic times was to be a good wife so that the gods and goddesses
would respond to the couple’s requests and needs. An altar tended mainly by the
father/husband, was overseen by the wife/mother when he was gone from the home. Her
job was to keep the sacred flame burning all the time. It was also the woman’s responsibility
to recite and sing hymns to the deities, a duty ascribed to women in most all other cultures.
The human married Indian couple was the example employed by the Brahmin priests when
they expounded on the deities.
PROPERTY RIGHTS OF WOMEN
In early Vedic period, the women were permitted to have personal property in the form of
jewellery and clothing. The Arthashastra permits women to have money up to 2000 silver
panas. The amounts in excess of this limit were held by the husband as a trust on behalf
of the wife. The property of women could be used by the husband only in case of dire
necessity. He could also exercise check on his wife if she want only to give away her property.
After the death of a woman the property passed to the daughters (not to the husband or
the sons). When there were no sons, the widow inherited the property of the husband.7
Of speaking, the wife was a joint owner in the husband’s property. Theoretically, she
enjoyed economic rights but practically, she was not at liberty to move to court for
claiming her property. That was totally unthinkable on her part. The idea was that she
would have lost her religion had she gone against her husband.
The position of women in connection to property rights improved considerably during the
medieval times. The right to property was recognised in India from the very beginning. In
this connection G. D. Banerjee observes, “Nowhere were the property rights of women
recognised so early as in India, and in very few ancient systems of laws where these rights
been so largely conceded as in our own.” In the form of stridhana women were entitled
to the right of property given to them at the time of marriage by their parents, brothers
or relatives.8 Stridhana primarily comprised of gifts received at the time of the marriage.

5
http://www.thisismyindia.com/ancient_india/woman-in-ancient-india.html [last accessed on: 24/10/2013]
At a later date, immovable property also started coming within the ambit of stridhan.
Katyayan Samhita talks of a woman being able to sell and mortgage her immovable
property. Implications were such that for a childless mother, if she died, stridhana devolved
upon father and brothers. A brotherless daughter could inherit father’s property. Shukrasmriti
mentions that even if she had a brother, the daughter had a right to property.

FEMALE EDUCATION
In Vedic times women and men were equal as far as education and religion were concerned.
Women participated in yajna ceremonies alongside men. One text even mentions a female
Rishi, Visvara. Going by the literary evidence, it can be seen that in early Vedic times
women also received the religious teachings. They could study the Vedas. The Upanishads
refer to several women philosophers, who had public discourses with their male colleagues
such as Vacaknavi (also known as Gargi), who challenged the famous saint, Yajnavalkya.
Once a female child was born, it was the duty of the parents to bring her up and educate
her properly, though the scope of her education was limited. Child marriage restricted the
proper education of women. According to Harita, education can be imparted to them on
condition that they are taught not by an outsider, but by their own parents or brother.9
There were two kinds of women scholars in the Vedic lot : Brahmavadinis and Sadyodvaha.
There were Upadhyayas, women who took teaching as their profession. Saraswati was the
goddess of learning, writing, knowledge, mathematics, the arts, music, magic, and eloquence.
She created the first alphabet. Many consider her the mother of all life since it was her
divine energy that united with the awareness of Brahma, who was born from the golden
egg from sea. Thus the two created all knowledge and all creatures of the world.
In the times of Buddha, women did not have educational freedom. Education was not
considered as being of any importance to women. Their religious freedom, too, was
restricted. As they had only little freedom, their chances of performing meritorious religious
rites, too, were very limited.10
Taking later Vedic civilisation into view, women like Gargi and Maitreyi were considered
to be highly advanced intellectually. Gargi was one of the learned persons who was
summoned by King Janaka to attend the conference convened by him. The Upanishads
refer to a conversation between Maitreyi and her husband, Yajnavalkya. In general, girls
of royal families were undoubtedly imparted military and administrative education. There
were queens who governed their respective kingdoms after the death of kings, like Somaldevi
of Rajputana, and Gahadavala queen of Jayachandra.

ISSUE OF WIDOW REMARRIAG

During the Vedic period, the practice of Sati held a symbolic status, that is to say, the
wife would lie on the unburnt pyre of the husband for some time and would then come
back. The usual procedure for the widow during these times was possibly marrying a
younger brother-in-law, who was very often unmarried at that time. The idea was that the
property should remain within the family. References to regular remarriages of widows in
Vedic literature are few, probably because Niyoga was then more popular than remarriage.
At this period, however, a widow could get as many as three sons by Niyoga; so the
Niyoga relationship practically amounted to a remarriage.11
Widow Remarriages, however, started coming into disrepute during the period 300 B.C. to
200 A.D. As by and by the ascetic ideals and principles started coming into the picture,
the opposition to widow remarriage started getting stronger and stronger. Vishnu recommends
the path of celibacy to be followed by a widow. Even Manu lays down that a widow
should never even have a thought about remarriage after her husband’s death. The condition
of widows went on deteriorating. The later Smritis talk of how a women is supposed to
retain her chastity as much as she would have had in the presence of her husband. Sage
Vatsayana refers to a remarried woman as a punarbhu, meaning a ‘seeker of pleasure’. At
this point of time, widows were allowed to participate in social functions but they were
not allowed to attend religious ceremonies.
At a later date, they are forced to suffer more ill treatment. They are considered to be
inauspicious, a non-entity and she is held responsible for the death of her husband. Sati
starts coming into the scene. The whole idea of prohibition of widow remarriage is that
greater premium starts getting attached to physical purity. By 1000 A.D., even a child
widow whose married life had not even started is not allowed to remarry. They were
forced to leave secluded life away from all pleasures that married women enjoyed. After
some time, even the sight of a widow started being considered to be inauspicious which
later gave way to evil practices such as Sati.

WOMEN PARTICIPATION IN PUBLIC LIFE

Around seventh century A.D., when women took active participation in the economic
activities like cattle rearing, weaving, etc., they contributed to the family economically and
thereby held a considerably higher status in the family. In Rigvedic period, husband and
wife were considered as one entity, referred to as dampati. Wife was made to sit beside
the husband in all religious ceremonies for giving ahuti. Without the wife the ceremonies
were considered to be incomplete. She participated in political functions and vidatha
assemblies. Out of the twelve ratnins, who had to be present during the Rajyabhishek
ceremony of the king, three were women. All these show that women were an active
participant in the public life. They were respected and their presence was something that
was looked up to. The Rigveda refers to women engaged in warfare. One queen Bispala
is mentioned.
But in later Vedic period, a quite evident decline in their position in the society is
witnessed which goes on declining further. Women are deprived of the agricultural function
as this goes to the duties of the shudra class as the caste system goes on to rigidify. Their
presence in religious ceremonies also loses considerable importance because now this is
taken over by the purohit. Also, the women are even left out in the political arena as due
to the emerging of large extensive empires upheld by the king, assemblies like vidatha and
samiti lose their being. They fade away and so does the women participation in public
affairs.
The other problem which arises lies within the husbands’ mindset. Jealous husbands with
narrow outlook would not allow their wives to mix freely with the outside world. This
created an atmosphere favourable for the spread of the theory that women should lead a
life of seclusion.12 Thus, considerably women participation in public affairs decreased. Their
social freedom of movement and mixing with other people was restricted and in this regard
they had to observe some kind of code of conduct. Sukra is also against her free movement,
and does not allow her a moment’s freedom. According to him, an ideal woman should
be confined to her home and be always engaged in domestic affairs from early morning
till late evening.13

FAMOUS WOMEN OF ANCIENT INDIA

There were many women in ancient India who were popular among the commons and held
some special status. Gargi , the Vedic prophetess and daughter of Sage Vachaknu, composed
several hymns that questioned the origin of all existence. She had discourses with the
famous philosopher Yajnavalkya. Her question: “The layer that is above the sky and below
the earth, which is described as being situated between the earth and the sky and which
is indicated as the symbol of the past, present and future, where is that situated?” – took
even the great Vedic men of letters by awe.
Vedic wisdom is encapsulated in myriad hymns, and 27 women-seers emerge from them.
But most of them are mere abstractions, except for a few, such as Ghosha, who has a
definite human form. Granddaughter of Dirghatamas and daughter of Kakshivat, both
composers of hymns in praise of Ashwins, Ghosha has two entire hymns of the tenth book,
each containing 14 verses, assigned to her name. The Rig Veda contains about one thousand
hymns, of which about ten are accredited to Maitreyi, the woman seer and philosopher.
She contributed towards the enhancement of her sage-husband Yajnavalkya's personality and
the flowering of his spiritual thoughts. Yajnavalkya had two wives, Maitreyi and Katyayani.
Maitreyi was wellversed in the Hindu scriptures and was a 'brahmavadini'.
The Rig Veda has long conversations between the sage Agasthya and his wife Lopamudra
that testify to the great intelligence and goodness of the latter. As the legend goes,
Lopamudra was created by sage Agasthya and was given as a daughter to the King of
Vidarbha. After serving her husband faithfully for a long period, Lopamudra grew tired of
his austere practices. She wrote a hymn of two stanzas making an impassioned plea for
his attention and love. Soon afterwards, the sage realized his duties towards his wife and
performed both his domestic and ascetic life with equal zeal, reaching a wholeness of
spiritual and physical powers. A son was born to them. He was named Dridhasyu, and he
later became a great poet.
Others include Sita who was Rama’s wife and daughter of King Janak. Kunti was the
Queen of Hastinapur and mother of the Pandavas. Shakuntala was the Queen of Hastinapur
and wife of King Dushyanta. Draupadi was the wife of Pandavas.

IMMORAL PRACTICES
Issue of Sati:
In the Mahabharata, there is an incidence of Pandu’s wife Madri committing Sati because
she held herself responsible for the death of her husband. Before that, there is a reference
in Ramayana to a daughter-in-law of Ravana, Sulochana, who died on the pyre because
she found her life useless without him. In these cases there was the free will of the
woman. Such kind of acts were not imposed upon them by the society. Even in the Vedic
era, sati held just a symbolic status.
Purdah System:
As time passed, there developed a purdah system in the Hindu society. It was not the
same as it was later seen in modern India. The freedom of women of movement and freely
mixing with other people was limited. They were supposed to follow a proper code of
conduct. Accordingly, “if she ever needed to go outside, she had to put on garments
properly. She was not to walk fast, nor was she allowed to speak with anyone except a
dealer, a recluse, an old man and a physician. While walking, she was not to laugh, not
to talk, not to make any gesture. She was ever to be wakeful about the proper covering
of her body and never to let any part of hers to be bare.”14
Abu Zayd remarks, “In the Indies they have public women called women of the idol, the
origin of whose institution is such: when a woman has laid herself under a vow, that she
may have children, if it happens that she brings forth a handsome daughter, carries the
child to the God, so they call the Idol they worship and leave her. When the girl has
attained a proper age, she takes an apartment in this public place and spreads a curtain
before her door and awaits the arrival of stranger as well as men of other sects, to whom
this debauchery is made lawful. She prostitutes herself at a certain rate and delivers her
gains into the hands of the Idol’s priest to be used by him and support the temple.”15
The Prostitutes:
There was a category of women who were engaged in regular prostitution. They were
generally known for their skills in dancing and singing and were extremely beautiful. Most
of them practised it openly. Generally, such women were prohibited from mixing with
common people due to moral reasons. These prostitutes were protected by the state and
anyone who was found guilty of offence against them had to pay heavy fines.
 CONCLUSION

Women held a respectable position during the Vedic times but things and situations took
on a different turn and their position went on deteriorating. They lost importance in the
family and also in the society. Where on one hand earlier they used to be an active
participant in the public life, later on they were subject to seclusion and something so rigid
as the purdah system. While earlier they were allowed to choose their husband by virtue
of swayamvara system, at a later date, they are given the charge of the institution of
marriage when they hardly know what are its implications or at the least what does it
mean.
Women faced problems with education. While in earlier times where we have women like
Gargi and Ghosha, later, they are forced to marry when it is the time for their education.
The upnayan gets substituted with vivaha. They are simply denied education. All together,
women are neglected and the situation never gets better. It gets worsened when immoral
practices like those of Devadasi, Sati, Jauhar, prostitution and purdah system come into
picture. Women lose their freedom. They are discriminated. The birth of a female child is
considered to be a cause of misery.
Hence, as the paper moves on tracing the deteriorating position of women in ancient India,
we realise that how women from enjoying such a high status in Rigvedic age go on losing
their status throughout. They are reduced from - doing manual labour in

Rigvedic age, thereby contributing to the family economically, to being useful only for
household chores. The times take a shift and we see several problems sprouting up in this
context, like that of Sati, Jauhar, Purdah System, Devadasi System and others too. Women
as such, become puppets in the hands of men. All the ancient notions of her being a
goddess by and by fade away.