A

PROJECT REPORT
ON
ROLE OF WOMEN IN EARLY
VEDIC PERIOD

Submitted By-

Name: Jayant Garg

Class: 1 st Semester, 5 Year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.)

Hall Ticket No. : 201251

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to show sincere gratitude to all academic and administrative

staff of DAMODARAM SANJIVAYYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY and Dr.
Viswachandra Nath Madasu in particular who extended their help in
completion of project work.

Secondly I would also like to thank my parents and friends who

helped me a lot in finishing this project within the limited time.

Jayant Garg
 CONTENTS:

1. Introduction
2. Birth of the Goddess
3. Position of a girl child
4. Education of a girl child
5. Women and marriage
6. Divorce, remarriage and widowhood
7. Prostitution in the early age
8. Conclusion
9. Refrences
 INTRODUCTION:

"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 Hindu 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.

The early Vedic family was of the patriarchal type, women had some control over the
entire household. The Rig Veda reveals a stage where women enjoyed equal status
with men. ". . . a Rig Vedic hymn describes how a maiden could take a soma twig and
offer herself as a sacrifice to Indra. Vedic sacrifices were performed jointly by husband
and wife." Patriarchy never denied women their rights and privileges. From 4th century
B.C to 3rd century B.C. girls were given education. But this was practically confined to
the well-to-do families. There existed the initiation ceremony or Upanayana, for both
girls and boys. According to A.S. Altekar ". . . education was regarded as very
essential to secure a suitable marriage." In Rig Vedic society ". . . the practice of child
marriage did not exist.'' So women got an opportunity to acquire education. If they
wanted to pursue knowledge without getting married, they were allowed to do so,
without any constraints. The educators wisely divided women into two groups
namely Brahmavadinis and Sadyodvahas. "The former were life-long students of
theology and philosophy, the latter used to prosecute their studies till their marriage at
the age of 15 or 16." Many educated women became teachers or Upadhyayinis. No
wonder the age witnessed many sagacious and capable women "like Visvavara, Apala
and Ghosha even composed mantras and rose to the rank of rishis." Lopamudra, one
of the female preachers, is said to have preached as many as 179 hymns of the first
book of the Rig Veda along with sage Agasthya. There were many women poets and
philosophers during this period. This confirms the fact that if given equal opportunities
women can definitely prove that they are as capable and as intelligent as men.
Majurndar points out that the Aryans never neglected or showed prejudice towards
women as far as their education was concerned. May be they were not conscious of
the gender power-politics and conflicts at that time, as society was not so complex and
was at a developing stage.
If the Vedic period is divided into two halves then it may be said that the condition of
women deteriorated in the second half, that is, late! Vedic period than what it had been
during the Early Vedic period.

In the Early Vedic (or Rig-Vedic) period the womenfolk had a high status in the society.
Women were highly respected in the family a well. A married woman used to perform
religious ceremonies as a partner of her husband.

Despite the prominence of men in family women were considered as the masters of the
household. Unmarried women could pursue their study staying in the house of their
parents In Later Vedic period, however, this position of women change for the worse.

The family tended to be more patriarchal. In contemporary books women have been
depicted as one of the evils In the Later Vedic period women were not allowed to
participate in the tribal assemblies.
 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, Lakshmithe nourishing, and Saraswati the creative.

Here it's notable that Hinduism 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.

Women enjoyed a position of respect and stature in ancient Vedic India. Women of the
Vedic period (circa 5000-1200 BCE) were epitomes of intellectual and spiritual
attainment. The Vedas have lots to say about these women, who both complemented
and supplemented their male partners. When it comes to talking about significant
female figures of the Vedic period, four names - Ghosha, Lopamudra, Sulabha Maitreyi,
and Gargi - come to mind. The ideals of Indian women hood are also embodied in the
tales of the ancient Puranas such as the Srimad Bhagavatam.

Further, many of the sages are named in a matrilineal manner, emphasizing the role of
the Mother and refuting the oft held belief that the vedic period was a patriarchal
society.

It is more than coincidental that the deity associated with learning and knowledge is
Saraswati ,the deity that adorns the left hand side of the banner. There have been
numerous instances of women exhibiting high standards of courage, valor, learning and
wisdom in the ancient period of the Indic civilization. We will touch on the lives of a few
constrained as we are by space and time.

Ghosha: 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 first
eulogizes the Ashwins, the heavenly twins who are also physicians; the second is a
personal wish expressing her intimate feelings and desires for married life. Ghosha
suffered from an incurable disfiguring disease, probably leprosy, and remained a
spinster at her father's house. Her implorations with the Ashwins and the devotion of her
forefathers towards them made them cure her disease and allow her to experience
wedded bliss.

Lopamudra: The Rig Veda ('Royal Knowledge') 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. The royal couple gave her the
best possible education and brought her up amidst luxury. When she attained a
marriageable age, Agasthya, the sage who was under vows of celibacy and poverty,
wanted to own her. Lopa agreed to marry him, and left her palace for Agasthya's
hermitage. After serving her husband faithfully for a long period, Lopa 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.

Maitreyi: 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. While Maitreyi
was well-versed in the Hindu scriptures and was a 'brahmavadini', Katyayani was an
ordinary woman. One day the sage decided to make a settlement of his worldly
possessions between his two wives and renounce the world by taking up ascetic vows.
He asked his wives their wishes. The learned Maitreyi asked her husband if all the
wealth in the world would make her immortal. The sage replied that wealth could only
make one rich, nothing else. She then asked for the wealth of immortality. Yajnavalkya
was happy to hear this and imparted to Maitreyi the doctrine of the soul and his
knowledge of attaining immortality.

Gargi: Gargi, the Vedic prophetess and daughter of sage Vachaknu, composed several
hymns that questioned the origin of all existence. When King Janak of Videha organized
a 'brahmayajna', a philosophic congress centered around the fire sacrament, Gargi was
one of the eminent participants. She challenged the sage Yajnavalkya with a volley of
perturbing questions on the soul or 'atman' that confounded the learned man who had
till then silenced many an eminent scholar. 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?" - bamboozled even the great Vedic men of letters.
 POSITION OF A GIRL CHILD:

The position of a daughter in the Hindu family during the Vedic period did not include
much authoritative role. Her socialization from childhood involved a high degree of
Modesty peculiar to Hindu culture .Her training installed in her tolerance, patience,
submission and identification of her personality with her husband's. Though marriage
was of great social and religious significance, it was not mandatory as the extensive use
of the word "Amajur", which means a girl who grew at her father's house, suggests this.
The Vedas include references to unmarried female rishis like Apala and aitreya and
some of them received co-education, though rare, which sometimes led to love
marriage. Girls were regarded as objects of good women. Ramayana includes a
detailed description of the reception of Rama after his long exile by the unmarried girls
first and later a religious bath at their hands. The grown-up daughters during the
temporary absence of the parents managed household and received the guests.
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.

It is believed that according to "Sarvankuramanika" there were as many as twenty

women being credited for composing the hymns of the rig Veda. It is believed that
during Upanishad period there were Brahmanyadinis, life long students of Philosophy.
One renowned scholar was Gargi who challenged Yagnavalkya and asked many subtle
and intricate questions. Upanishad also includes a conversation between Yagnavilkya
and one of his two wives Maitreyi over division of property at the decision by the sage to
renounce the world. Maitreyi indicated her preference for initiation to the knowledge of
Brahmavidya to property. Passages in the Vedas show that women apart from a mere
literary career had other careers open to them. They entered fields of teaching,
medicine, business, military and administration .The wife enjoyed with her husband full
religious right and regularly participated in religious ceremonies. In fact, such
ceremonies without the wife joining her husband were regarded as invalid. It is further
ordained that the woman whose hand is accepted in marriage should be treated with
respect and kindness and all that is agreeable to her shall be given to her. All these
indicate that a woman held a status equal to man and there were considerably less
restrictions on her activities outside the home.
Women of the Vedic era were held in high esteem by the Hindus
 WOMEN AND MARRIAGE:

Eight types of marriage were prevalent in the Vedic age, of which four were more
prominent. The first was 'brahma', where the daughter was given as gift to a good man
learned in the Vedas; the second was 'daiva' , where the daughter was given as a gift to
the presiding priest of a Vedic sacrifice. 'Arsa' was the third kind where the groom had
to pay to get the lady, and 'prajapatya', the fourth kind, where the father gave his
daughter to a man who promised monogamy and faithfulness.

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

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.

The daughter-in-law entered her husband's family as a stranger, because the other
members had already imbibed the traditions and customs of the family. The bride's
major duty was to make efforts to merge her personality with that of her husband's in
matter both mundane and spiritual, and also to adapt herself to the traditions and
sentiments of the family of which she had become a full fledged member. Her position
was one of honorable subordination. It was expected from her to show respect to and
obey all the elder members of the family. She had to help the mother-in-law in
household duties such as cleaning, washing, drawing water, cooking, rearing children,
tending cattle, and nursing the sick and the aged.

The wife was always supposed to participate in religious ceremonies along with her
husband. In fact, no religious rite was complete without her presence. She was called
"ardhangini" or the other half. The Mahabharata declared that "in truth, a householder's
home, even if crowded with sons, grandsons, daughters-in-law, and servants is virtually
a lonely place for his life, if there is no housewife. One's home is not the house made of
brick and mortar; it is the wife who makes the home. A home without the wife is like a
wilderness". A wife was considered as his friend, counsel, and companion. All this was
related to the counterpart role in the husband's role system.
 DIVORCE, MARRIAGE AND
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.
PROSTITUTION IN THE EARLY

VEDIC AGE:

Prostitutes were very much a part of the Vedic society. They were allowed to make a
living, but their lives were regulated by a code of conduct. They came to be known as
'devadasis' - the girls who were married to God in a temple and expected to spend the
rest of the life as his maid serving the men in the society.

CONCLUSION:
“Yatra Nari Astu Pujyante, Ramante Tatra Devataa”
The Gods reside in places where woman is worshiped --- Manu Smriti

Women had a very significant position in our ancient Indian society. In fact they were
superior to men. There are literary evidences to suggest that woman had power which
could destroy kingdoms and mighty rulers. Veda Vyasa in Mahabharata writes how
Kauravas fell because they humiliated Draupadi, the wife of Pandavas. Valmiki's
Ramyana depicts the sad state of Ravana for abducting Sita Devi forcibly. The worship
of Goddesses in ancient period was to inspire public to respect women. In the Vedic
society women participated in religious ceremonies and assemblies. There is no
evidence of isolation of women in Vedic period in domestic or social affairs, but they
were affectionately dependent on their male relations throughout their lives. There were
women like Matreyi, Gargi, Lopamudra, Ghosha, and Indranni who were learned souls
and have put forth there thought in Upanishads.

Women had an opportunity to choose their man through a type of marriage called
Swayamvara. In this type of marriage, the eligible grooms assembled at the bride's
place and the bride selected her man. There are many such incidences in epics the
Ramayana and Mahabharata. This continued even in the later period in royal families.
Women were given more freedom as compared to now.

As the time passed the position of women underwent a drastic change in all spheres of
life. In the later Vedic period, women lost their political rights of attending assemblies.
Child marriages came into existence.

It is a myth that women were not given status in Vedic period. Please read the
statements given bellow to prove that women were given respect in those times, as
these are from Vedas and other significant scriptures:

“Women are worthy of worship. They are the fate of the household, the lamp of
enlightenment for all in the household. They bring solace to the family and are an
integral part of Dharmic life. Even heaven is under the control of women. The Gods
reside in those households where women are worshipped and in households where
women are slighted all efforts at improvement go in vain.”Manusmriti 3-56

“O bride! May the knowledge of the Vedas be in front of you and behind you, in your
centre and in your ends. May you conduct your life after attaining the knowledge of the
Vedas. May you be benevolent, the harbinger of good fortune and health and live in
great dignity and indeed be illumined in your husband’s home.” Atharva Veda 14-1-64.

“The wife should do Agnihotra (yagna), Sandhyavandana and all other daily religious
rituals. If, for some reason, her husband is not present, the woman alone has full rights
to do yagna.” Rigveda Samhita, part 1, sukta 79, sloka 872.
That women and men are equal in the eyes of dharma is made explicit in a beautiful
sloka from the Rigveda: “O women! These mantras are given to you equally (as to
men). May your thoughts, too, be harmonious. May your assemblies be open to all
without discrimination. Your mind and consciousness should be harmonious. I (the rishi)
give you these mantras equally as to men and give you all and equal powers to absorb
(the full powers) of these mantras.” Rigveda 10-191-3. 

Indeed the virtues of the loyal and virtuous (pativrata) wife are comparable to only those
of agnideva (the fire god). “… This agnideva is pure and worthy of worship just as
pativrata women.”Rigveda Samhita, Part -1, sukta 73, sloka 829. 

During Hindu marriage ceremonies the following slokas are read out by the grooms but,
these days, little understood. “O bride! I accept your hand to enhance our joint good
fortune. I pray to you to accept me as your husband and live with me until our old age.
…” Rigveda Samhita Part -4, sukta 85, sloka 9702
 

REFRENCES:
1. http://hinduism.about.com/od/history/a/vedic_women.htm
2. http://www.preservearticles.com/2011082311479/what-was-the-condition-of-women-in-the-
early-vedic-age.html
3. http://www.historytuition.com/position_of_women_in_ancient_india/2500b.c-1500b.c.html
4. http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/226/6/06_chapter2.pdf
5. http://www.indicethos.org/Hinduism/Womenfamous.html
6. http://www.speakingtree.in/spiritual-blogs/seekers/mysticism/status-of-women-in-vedic-period