The learned Hindu woman of the past
Introduction
European colonialists
wrote our present Indian history with racist feelings. They cleverly concealed
all that is good and glorious about the nations that they enslaved and
deliberately hyped the smallest flaws visible. Their dishonest and concocted
versions have thenceforth been travelling across the world, unverified, widely
unquestioned and even funded! They even imposed them on Indians through English
education. All the truthful information that our modern youth need to know is
cleverly hidden from them or badly misinterpreted and everything essentially
Hindu in appeal is made to be seen as outdated, primitive or inferior. The
worst affected in this process is the
image of the Hindu woman. The very mention of ‘Hindu woman’ now brings with it
the picture of a distressed, exploited & weak woman. The pictures of sati, child marriage, dowry, purdah and domestic violence are so
glaring that they eclipse all the information about the Hindu women’s learning,
might and notable achievements. Nothing noteworthy has been told about her role
in polity, business, family affairs, fine arts, literature and spirituality. As
a result, instead of admiration and reverence for her glorious achievements, we
rather feel sympathy or contempt for her.
Scanning across the
Hindu scriptures, literature, living traditions and other documents, we come
across plenty of information about the Hindu woman. Infact, the oldest examples
of women as queens, administrators, warriors, poetesses, spies, dancers, musicians,
gymnasts, teachers and mystics are obtained from ancient Hindu society. But
down the ages, owing to internal and external factors as well as repeated
foreign onslaughts of centuries, the Hindu woman’s freedom, rights and status
underwent drastic changes. Most of the versions of atrocities, gender bias and
exploitation are from this invasions era
and post-invasion era, which are comfortably mistaken to the ‘all time’ history of Hindu women. On
the contrary, the Hindu woman of the vedic and pre-invasions era, enjoyed high
privileges and rights and made noteworthy contributions to the society. This
article is an attempt to have some glimpses into the literary achievements of Hindu
women in the ancient and medieval times[1].
The literary status of the Hindu women
Education in ancient India comprised mainly value education,
spiritual education and worldly education. Veda and its interdisciplinary
domains were tutored in the gurukula along with fundamentals of law, polity,
economics, logic, languages, poetry, science, mathematics and others. Occupational
skills and other arts were learnt mainly through the regional experts or elders
in the family. Every man and woman, from every community obtained training in
their respective occupational skills and became self employed. So in this
sense, there actually was none who was ‘uneducated’ or ‘unskilled’ in ancient
Hindu society.
At the age of eight,
children were enrolled into Gurukulas, jungle residential schools, where the aacharya and his family hosted students
from various regions. The aachaaryaaNi
(the wife of the aachaarya) was the
mother figure who catered to the food, lodging and other needs of all the
students and guests. Arundhati, the celebrated consort of Sage Vasista, is believed
to have been an aachaaryaa herself. (Aachaaryaa refers to women vice
chancellors of gurukulas) Gobhilagrhyasutras
state that women must be educated, because without that they would be unable to
perform agnihotra rituals. Brhadaranyaka Upanishad even prescribes a mantra to beget a learned daughter! Learned
women were referred to as Kathi
(belonging to the katha school of
learning) and Bahvrichi (belonging to
the Rigvedic Bahvricha school of
learning), Kashakritsnaa (student of
the mimamsa school of Kashakritsna) Chhaatri (female students) and
Upaadhyaayini (lady teachers). Popular words like Vidushi, vidagdhaa, panditaa, sarvajnaa, muktaa, yogini, etc.,(still
in vogue) refer to learned / enlightened women. The celebrated grammarians,
Panini and Patanjali refer to women who undertook veda-adhyayana. All these hint towards the high literary
status of the ancient Hindu woman.
The girls who graduated
from the gurukulas could opt to become either brahmavadinis or sadhyovadhus.
The sadhyovadhus were ones who entered
wedlock and undertook the responsibilities of household duties. Brahmavadinis were the maidens who chose
to remain celibate and continue studies or penance. Gargi Vachaknavi,
Vagambhrini, Maitreyi, Sulabhaa, Shashvathi and others are popular brahmavadinis of vedic times[2].
Vagambhrini was a spiritually enlightened rishika
(seer) who prophesied the vedic hymn devisukta.
Maitreyi, was a moksha-patni of Sage
Yajnavalkya, (a mokshapatni’s
relationship with the husband is
conditionally that of a student) Vedic lore contains many dialogues wherein
great men and women debate- For eg- Yajnavalkya-Gargi
samvada, Urvashi-Pururavas samvada, Yama-Yami samvada, Agastya-Lopamudra
samvada, Indra-Apaala samvada and so on. In a vedic ritual called mahavratya, a young bachelor debates
with a dancer woman as part of the ritual! Valmiki’s Ramayanam hints towards Seeta being well versed in Vedas and even
performing the sandhya-vandana rites
regularly. When Hanuman searches for Seeta in Ashokavanam in Lanka, he waits on
the banks of a lake there. Anticipating that ‘if Seeta were around, she would
certainly come to the banks for performing saayam
sandhyavandana (the evening vedic
prayers)’. Ramayanam describes
Swayamprabha, a woman of great learning and penance who possessed amazing
occult powers and helped the monkey battalion find their way out of a secret
cave, by transporting them out in the wink of an eye! Vedavathi was another celibate
woman performing tapasya to please
Lord Vishnu. Parvathi, Anasuya, Aditi, Devahuti, Satyavathi, Sulabhaa Maitreyi
and many many more can be enlisted from the epics and puranas. The lofty
vedantic perspective considers every soul worthy of jnana and moksha, irrespective
of gender or community, as long as he/she has purity and the potentials to
comprehend the same. This enabled Hindu dharma to produce many great yogis & yoginis from the vedic times till date.
Swayamvara
system (where a maiden publicly chooses her groom) was very common in ancient
and medieval India. Rgveda mentions
that women participated at par with men in public celebrations. It even
mentions how young maidens gathered in huge numbers desiring to win worthy
spouses[3]. There
are numerous legends and folk stories that narrate how learned princesses or other maidens posed difficult
poetic or adventurous challenges before young men who desired to marry them. All
these historic accounts or legendary accounts all undoubtedly point towards the
literary heights that women accomplished in ancient Hindu society.
Some tales narrate how women were sometimes more
learned than their menfolk. A story in Kathasaritasagara
tells about how a dull-headed king felt embarrassed
before his learned queens.[4] There is the tragic tale of the great scholar and
poet Vikatanitambaa, who was ill-fated to marry a fool, whom she later
discarded. The legends around poet Kalidasa speak of his wife, the princess of
the land, being greatly learned and talented. That necessitated him, a
simpleton, to take up learning. Kalidasa’s
Kumarasambhavam describes how
Parvathi, the daughter of Himavan, mastered all the vidyas at a young age from Sage Narada. Queen Damayanti is said to
have sent an extraordinary poetic puzzle to the court of king Rtuparna, knowing
well that only Nala could solve that. She was searching for Nala in disguise in
Rtuparna’s court. In order to woo Nala, she even announced a ‘second
swayamvara’! Stories even narrate how the sage Astavakra married a woman impressed
by her scholarship. In more recent history, we come across Ubhayabharati, the
great scholarly spouse of the popular scholar Mandana Mishra, who was nominated
as the judge in the debate between him and Adi Shankaracharya.
There is a comic episode that describes how a learrned
woman, saved her dull-headed husband from disgrace. The couple had invited some
scholars for lunch. The wife was busy serving food. Intending to showcase his
‘knowledge’ of Sanskrt, the stupid husband loudly called to the wife ‘dhadhim aanaya’. Here, he intended to
request her to bring dadhi (curds).
But ‘Dadhim aanaya’ is grammatically
incorrect and the scholars around were amused. The witty wife immediately
brought buttermilk instead and said ‘afterall you asked me not to bring dadhi!” (the sentence could be
understood as ‘dadhi ma aanaya’ too!)
Another instance tells about a learned maiden who put to test men who aspired
to marry her. An enthusiastic young man used the only Sanskrt declension he
knew explain the grammatical features of the words ‘vihasya’, vihaaya and aham
and failed. Amused at his stupidity the maiden exclaimed- ‘yasya shashti chaturthi cha vihasya cha vihaaya cha |yasyaaham dvitiyaa syaat dvitiyaa
syaamaham katham||’ ((How can I be the dvitiyaa
(wife) of a fool for whom vihasya, vihaaya and aham words are of shashti, chaturthi
and dvitiya-vibhaktis respectively?!).
Almost all the heroines of classical
literature are learned and talented. There are references to women who used
their mastery over occult sciences, astrology and tantra & mantra for
helping others. There are examples of some women who misused them too! There is
an instance in Valmiki’s Ramayanam
wherein the wicked Shurpanakha advices Ravan on polity and kingship. Chanakya mentions
different types of women spies to be appointed in royal services.
The medieval
times saw many great queens, woman administrators and poetesses. Vijjika of Vijayanagar
dynasty was a great poetess. A dark skinned woman and scholar of great worth
that she was, she was acclaimed as ‘Shyamala sarasvathi’ (the dark goddess of
learning)! Tirumalaamba, the scholarly queen of the Vijayanagar dynasty,
composed the Varadambikaparinaya champu wherein she describes the great
battle expedition of her heroic husband, King Kampana. Gangadevi was yet another
poetess and queen of the Vijayanagar
dynasty who composed Madhura vijaya.
Raghunathanayaka, the
king of Tanjavur, had a scholarly queen called Ramabhadramba who wrote
the history of the Nayaka dynasty. He
also had a courtesan named Shukavani, who was a scholar par excellence.
She was an extraordinary poetess,
learned orator, musician, dancer and political advisor of the king. She
was also an astavadhaanini, who could
perform eight literary feats simultaneously and compose with ease thousands of
verses, as she played on the Veena and debated on scriptures! The king and the
whole kingdom were so proud of this great woman that she was given the title of
‘madhuravani’. Gangabai, the cousin of Jhansi Rani Lakshmi
Bai, was well versed in vedic and classical literature. She was a great patriot
who participated in the freedom struggle of India.
Karnataka itself had
many great queens to boast of- Queen Shantala of the Hoysala dynasty is one of
the most admired ones. She is not only know for the judicious political advisor
that she was, but also acclaimed for her extraordinary accomplishments in fine
arts and the worldclass temples that she constructed. Rani Abbakka, Kitturu
Chennamma, Belavadi Mallamma, Sanchi Honamma and many other women are lustrous
in history, known for their learning, valour and dynamism. Names like Vaakchaturaah
(good orators), kathanakovidaa
(talented in narration) that occur in Manasollasa,
are mirrors to the accomplished women of the past.
Attimabbe and Sovaladevi of Karnataka were great patrons of
learning and gave numerous grants to the cause of education. The celebrated
poet Ranna and Ponna were greatly patronized by Attimabbe. The Veerashaiva
movement saw a spectrum of women philosophers like Akkamahadevi, Moligeya
Mahadevi, Viradevi who was appointed for recitation(uggadisuva kanne),
Sivamayidevi who was a professional storyteller and other Sharanes who dynamically expressed themselves through debates,
poetry or vachanas. They even worked
towards human empowerment by serving for the poor and needy.
The traveller Nuniz
records that in the Vijayanagar empire, there were women in royal service who were wrestlers, astrologers and
soothsayers, accountants, judges, watchgaurds, teachers within the palaces and
office bearers who documented all the affairs of the kingdom. Bhima’s
BasavaPurana refers to women playing
instruments like maddale, kahale, flute and tala. There are sculptures in Karnataka depicting maidens learning veena from teachers, an elderly lady
doctor examining the pulse of her patient, a woman writing, etc.,[5]
All these indicate towards literacy and education in medieval Hindu women. The
Hoysala sculptures even show women reading, writing, hunting, wielding the bow
and arrow, apart from playing instruments, singing and dancing. Similar
depictions can be seen in Chalukyan art too. Many sculptures and painting even
show women wrestling and waging battles, displaying gymnastics, etc.,[6]
A variety of hairstyles and jewelry are also seen in the sculptures reflecting
the fashion sense that Hindu women had! The Tapogaccha gurukula (university)
of Gujarat, in the 14th century conferred different types of titles
like Ganini, Pravartini and Mahattara
on learned women. These titles referred to leader of groups and different
designations that they held in the university. Poet Rajasekhara praises
accomplished princesses and poetesses and even quotes his scholarly wife
Avantisundari's opinion thrice in his Kavya-mimamsa!
Damodara Gupta's Kuttini-matam (9
A.D) refers to a courtesan who was well versed in the natyasastra of
Bharata, many sangeeta and nrtya treatises, Vrikshayurveda
(treatment of plants), painting, needlework, wood carving, metal designing, clay-modeling, cooking,
instrumental music and kamashastram".[7]
Contributions
to culture and fine arts
The greatest
contribution of the Hindu woman at all times has been to the sphere of culture
and fine arts. The colourful and aesthetic appeal of Indian costumes, fine arts
and festivities all owe their existence and charm majorly to her. The descriptions
of festivities in all ancient accounts lavish their words on the beauty and
grace of the women involved. There are many references to women who were
experts in various dance styles, music forms, painting, puppetry, games, brain
teasers, tongue twisters, mimicry and many more. Poets of Sanskrt and other
Indian languages of ancient and medieval times, describe the best attributes of
women.
Women gathering in groups, to worship, sing,
cook, rejoice or simply gossip was common in every part of India in the Hindu
society. When the masters like Buddha, Mahaveera, Basaveshwara and others created
religious revolutions (and even when many of their theories were against the
conventional ones!) large numbers of women from all communities followed them. Sanyasinis(women recluses) were held in
high esteem and patronized by the people.
The dasis (slave girls) of royal families played a great role in literary
and cultural domains.[8]
Despite being ‘owned’ by their masters, the dasis were learned, industrious and
well-versed in fine arts, polity and royal etiquette. They and their children
were employed in many official and personal tasks of their masters and even awarded
for good work. They served in royal offices, temples and harems as spies,
attendants, messengers, musicians, dancers and many more. The elderly and
experienced Kanchukis and dhatris were even held in high respect
by all including the king. Satyakama Jabali, the great vedic seer, Vidura, the
wise prime minister of Hastinapura, Vedavyasa, the celebrated seer who
classified the vedas, Chandragupta Maurya, the founder emperor of the Mauryan
dynasty, were all sons of dasis or
women from very humble backgrounds. In Ratnavali
natiuka, Abhijnana Shakuntala and others the heroine are seen writing love
letters to their lovers. In Malavikagnimitram, the heroine Malavika,
who is in the guise of a dasi is even appointed to compete with a princess in a
dance competition in which she consequently wins too! Malavika, although a dasi
is appointed for the prestigious dohada ritual
to substitute the queen! This showcases the respect they commanded at par with
other women. In the poetic descriptions of song-dance and colour shooting
amusements related to seasonal celebrations like vasantotsava and
jalakreeda, these maids steal the show. There is
the romantic tale of King Udayana teaching the Veena to princess Vasavadatta in
Swapnavasavadattam.
The
beginning of her decline
Education and social freedom was initially equally to men and women in
Hindu society. However the
burden of large scale tasks and multiple responsibilities that came with the
huge joint family system, too many children, daily guests etc., did curb the
woman’s time and convenience to continue deep study and vedic rituals seriously.
This led to simple compromises like sharing of duties between husband and wife
and family members. Accordingly food, children, guests and family other home
needs were to be handled by the women folk. While earning, religious rites and
outdoor activities fell on the male members. But this adjustment in the long
run, badly affected her learning and economic freedom. One or two generations
of lack of education was enough to leave the women weak and dependant. However,
education and literacy continued for girls within homes, temples and community
centres. Kathaa-kaalakshepa, ballets,
theatre, storytelling, literary debates and the Dangura paddhati(ancient
method of propagating news and announcements to public) etc., substituted to
the loss in many ways. They were taught songs and stories that documented history,
ethics, social norms and fine arts.
Owing to lack of vedic
education, her performance in the yajnas
and vedic chanting became more symbolical than practical. For eg- She lights
the first spark for the fire rituals and stands beside her husband touching his
right arm (instead of performing the rites). However the Hindu woman’s rights
over streedhanam (own money,
property, jewllery etc.,) and religious acts were intact. Despite the discontinuation
of vedic education and the terrible threat to women’s honour during foreign rule, the Hindu society
kept producing mighty queens, poetesses, yoginis,
administrators, dancers, spies and many other illustrious women time and
again!
Ancient India emphasized
on skill training that promoted self employment for all. Hindu women were never
deprived of skill training in their respective occupations. They mastered with
ease their respective family trade, home affairs, native art styles like
knitting, stitching, embroidery, pottery, singing, dance, cooking, fashion and
many others. No women of any community was ignorant of fundamental rights,
duties, religious & social norms, history & geography of her motherland
and current affairs. Women’s participation in farming, cattle rearing,
dance-drama and music professions, native gymnastics, weaving, pottery, native
medicine, embroidery, jewellery and others continued uninterrupted even when
vedic education discontinued for most of them. Brahmana women familiarized themselves with different vedic
scriptures and rituals at home. Kshatriya
women were skilled adept in polity, intelligence services, martial arts and
administrative affairs. Vaishya women
were adept in their family trades and assisted the male members in business. Women
vendors were common in all communities at all times. Bhagavatapuranam narrates how cowherd women travelled single or in
groups to the city of Mathura to sell their produce. Women spies and royal and
cultural ambassadors were as active even during these darkest times of Hindu history.
In considerably safer regions where Hindu rulers ruled, women continued to
participate in public events like festivals, processions, dance, drama music,
gymnastics and others.
The dark age of Hindu women
The biggest tragedy that
struck the Hindu woman’s life was the series of unprecedented Islamic invasions
that took place in medieval India. Carrying away women on the streets and brutal
rape were common features of Islamic attacks, which necessitated women to
confine themselves to homes. In a dark age of insecurity all around, she could
no more go to the gurukula or opt for
swayamvaras or participate in public
celebrations. Child marriage which was prevalent to some extent at those times
became a rage because many hoped that ‘the invaders would spare married women’[9]
Sati system came into vogue because
most women preferred suicide to lifetime slavery under the invaders. The purdah system was another consequent
sanction on woman’s freedom in the same social context. The continuation of wars
and advent of foreign rule destabilized the social and military power of Hindu
kingdoms terribly. Generations of teachers and warriors[10]
in particular were brutally destroyed to ensure that the intelligentsia and
military might never rises back to the rescue. Innumerable migrations happened
within India, where people fled for saving their lives and preserving their dharma. In the constant struggle for
freedom and social justice, women empowerment was almost forgotten for
centuries. The European colonization that followed brought in more trouble. The
terrible political, religious and social intervention by European colonizers
and destruction of native education, occupations, courts and laws traumatized
the Hindu society. This worsened the state of the Hindu woman further and she
was gradually confined to the ‘security’ of home.
But even amidst such
problems in the medieval times, valiant queens like Jhansi Rani, Kittur Rani
Chennamma, Rani Abbakka and great poetesses like Vijjika, Gangadevi, Tirumalamba, Madhuravani,
Ramabhadraambaa and many others made landmark achievements. In the 19th
century, when Gandhi, Sardar Patel, Subhash Chandra Bose and other great
leaders pioneered the freedom struggle, Hindu women of all communities joined
in large numbers. Lakhs of them donated their valuable jewellery and savings
for the cause. Many great women voluntarily initiated their menfolk and
children into the freedom struggle too!
After a nightmare of
foreign rule of centuries, India obtained freedom. But modern India still needs
to come out of the spell of colonial influence that greatly influences its present
education system, intelligentsia, history accounts and media. It needs to bring
back to light its glorious knowledge treasures. It is time for India explore its
ancient texts in Sanskrt and other Indian languages, inscriptions and numerous
living traditions and rediscover the unsung glory of the Hindu woman.
Suggested reading
a.
Great women of India, Editors
Swami Madhavananda, Ramesh Chandra Majumdar, Pub: Advaita ashrama, Calcutta,
1993
b.
The world of Courtesans, Moti
Chandra, Vikas Publishing House Pvt ltd. Printed at Thomson Press (India) ltd,
Delhi
c.
The Kamasutram
of Sri Vatyayana Muni, Edited with Hindi Commentary By Çri Devdutta Shastri, Chaukhambha Sanskrit Sansthan,
Varanasi (India)
d.
Folk elements of Hindu culture, Benoy
kumar Sarkar, Munshiram Manoharlal publishers pvt. Ltd. 1972
e.
A concise encyclopeadia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda,
published by Ramakrishna Math, Bangalore, 2008
f.
PÀ«vÉUÉÆAzÀÄ
PÀxÉ, ±ÀvÁªÀzsÁ¤ Dgï UÀuÉñï, ªÉÄÊwæ
¥ÀæPÁ±À£À, ¨ÉAUÀ¼ÀÆgÀÄ, 1996
g.
Education of Women in Ancient and Medieval
India- Dr. Jyotsna K Kamat, Paper published in "Perspectives in
Education", Dharwad 1980 (Sadashiva Wodeyar's 50th Birthday
Felicitation Volume)
h.
Encyclopeadia of Indian Culture, R N Salatore, Sterling publishers pvt.
Ltd. and Ghate’s lectures on Rgveda,
Revised and Enlarged by V S Sukthanmar,
pub : Oriental Book Agency, Poona-2, India
i.
The Cultural Heritage of India, VI vols.
Published by The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of world culture, Calcutta, 2000
j.
History of Dharmashastra,
Volume V, part I, Pandurang Vaman Kane, Bhandarkarr Oriental Research Institute, Poona, India,
1994
k.
A cultural study of vratas and utsavas in
popular Sanskrt Literature- Dr V. B. Arathi,
Doctoral thesis, Department of Sanskrt, Bangalore University, Bangalore, 2010
[1] All
references are not given in detail here. But most of these details can be got
from original versions of Rgveda, Valmiki’s Ramayanam,
Mahabharatam, the eighteen Puranas, smritis, and Sanskrt poetic works and also from the the books
suggested for reading at the end of this article.
[2] A list of not less than 27 rishikas (brahmavadinis) can be obtained from vedas
[5] Sculptures
of Hoysala and Chalukyan temples and Jalasanavi
temple
[6] Temples
of Hampi and Lakkundi
[7] Reference- Education of
Women in Ancient and Medieval India-Dr. Jyotsna K Kamat, Paper published in
"Perspectives in Education" , Dharwad 1980, (Sadashiva Wodeyar's
50th Birthday Felicitation Volume)
[8] The concept
of ‘dasya’ of the ancient Hindu society
was certainly not as inhuman as in European and Arabic contexts, where all the slaves
are absolutely deprived of all kinds of human rights.
[9] It is mostly in north western and
eastern India that purdah, sati(jowhar)
and child marriage have been most rampant, because those were the places more
affected by repeated invasions.
ಕಾಮೆಂಟ್ಗಳಿಲ್ಲ:
ಕಾಮೆಂಟ್ ಪೋಸ್ಟ್ ಮಾಡಿ