Fwd: Rig-Veda and Women

[Guest guest]

MillionPaths , Jason Spock <jedi_spock

wrote:

 

 

Creations Columns by Nanditha Krishna

 

The equals of men

 

I was recently researching the women of ancient India when I came

across a startling piece of information. Seventeen of the Seers to

whom the hymns of the Rig Veda were revealed were women — Rishikas

and Brahmavadinis. They were Romasa, Lopamudra, Apata, Kadru,

Vishvavara, Ghosha, Juhu, Vagambhrini, Paulomi, Jarita, Shraddha-

Kamayani, Urvashi, Sharnga, Yami, Indrani, Savitri and Devayani. The

Sama Veda mentions another four: Nodha (or Purvarchchika),

Akrishtabhasha, Shikatanivavari (or Utararchchika) and Ganpayana.

This intrigued me so much that I had to learn more about them, but I

drew a blank. Who were these wonderful women who were on par with

their men and produced the greatest and longest living literature of

the world?

 

In the Vedic period, female brahmavadinis (students) went through

the same rigorous discipline as their male counterparts, the

brahmacharis. The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad describes a ritual to

ensure the birth of a daughter who would become a pandita (scholar).

The Vedas say that an educated girl should be married to an equally

educated man. Girls underwent the upanayana or thread ceremony,

Vedic study and savitri vachana (higher studies). Panini says that

women studied the Vedas equally with men. According to the Shrauta

and Grihya Sutras, the wife repeated the Vedic mantras equally with

their husbands at religious ceremonies. The Purva Mimamsa gave women

equal rights with men to perform religious ceremonies. Vedic society

was generally monogamous, and women had an equal place.

 

There are several instances of individual women who sought to

educate themselves. Pathyasvasti went North to study and obtain

titles. The well-known lady philosopher, brahmavadini Gargi

Vachaknavi, was an invitee to the world's first conference on

philosophy, convened by King Janaka of Videha, and challenged

Yajnavalkya to a public debate. Her acknowledgement of defeat and

praise of Yajnavalkya induced the king to gift him 1,000 cows and

10,000 gold pieces, which Yajnavalkya rejected and retired to the

forest, followed by his wife Maitreyi, an equally educated and

spirited woman.

 

There were shaktikis or female spear bearers according to

Patanjali's Mahabhashya, and women soldiers armed with bows and

arrows in the Mauryan army, according to Kautilya's Arthashastra.

The Greek Ambassador Megasthenes mentions Chandragupta Maurya's

armed female bodyguard. Thus education was not the only vocation for

women.

 

The heroines of the epic period are better known. Sita and Draupadi

were highly educated, powerful and determined women. But the

debasement of the status of women had begun. Sita had to undergo an

Agni pariksha — an ordeal through fire — to prove her purity. In the

Uttara Ramayana, a later interpolation that is illustrative of

changing mores, she was cast off by her husband to assuage palace

gossip. She finally " entered the earth " , a euphemism for suicide. In

spite of her five husbands, Draupadi was staked and lost in a game

of dice, disrobed and publicly humiliated. The men of the Ramayana

and Mahabharata had several wives, an indication of the lowering

status of women.

 

Rules of morality were stringent for women, and even the fact that

she was deceived could not save Ahalya from her husband's curse.

Kannagi, in the Tamil epic Silappadigaram, is married to Kovalan,

who abandons her for a dancing girl Madhavi. On losing all his

money, he is kicked out by Madhavi. His faithful wife takes him back

and they go to Madurai, where he visits the public parks filled with

dancing girls and later pawns Kannagi's anklet. When he is falsely

accused of theft and executed, Kannagi should have heaved a sigh of

relief. Instead, she curses the city to be destroyed by fire. Thus a

wonderful city and its inhabitants were destroyed for a useless man.

Jayalalithaa, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, did well to remove

Kannagi's statue from Marina Beach in Chennai. She was no role

model. Manimekhalai, daughter of Kovalan and Madhavi, was far

better. Refusing to become a courtesan, the profession of her birth,

she became a nun and Buddhist philosopher. Kannagi is used

as a role model to justify polygamy and a patriarchal society,

teaching women that suffering and patience is synonymous with

goodness.

 

To escape the growing harshness of society, many women joined the

Buddhist and Jaina orders of nuns, which gave them opportunities for

social service and public life. Vishakha, Amrapali and Supriya gave

the Buddha hospitality and financial support. Uppalavanna became a

teacher of younger bhikkunis. There were thirteen theiris among the

Buddha's chief disciples, the most famous being Dhammadinna, a

teacher of religion, Soma of Rajagriha, the beautiful heiresses

Anupama and Sundari, queen Khema, wealthy Sujata, Chapa the

chastened wife, Patachara the bereaved mother, Sukka the preacher,

and Kisagautami, superintendent of the Jetavana convent. Ajja

Chandana was Mahavira's first female disciple, the others being

Mallinatha the Mithila princess, Jayanti and Mrigavati of Kaushambi,

Sthulabhadra's seven sisters and Yakkini Mahattara. The new faiths

gave them a freedom and dignity they missed as wives, mothers,

daughters and concubines.

 

The most interesting women are the panchakanya, five women

immortalized for their chastity and purity: Ahalya (wife of sage

Gautama), Draupadi, Tara (wife of both Vali and Sugriva), Kunti and

Mandodari. Four of these women were forced to marry, or be

associated with, more than one man by forces beyond their control.

The idea developed that a pure heart was stronger than physical

chastity. But the freedom of choice given to the Vedic women had

gone. Women had to follow the dictates of their family and society,

while men had the freedom to have several wives and concubines.

 

Creativity came to the rescue for many women, as religion and temple

building were their only refuge. Shaiva and Vaishnava saint-

poetesses of the early bhakti movement in Tamil Nadu include great

women like the Shaivites Avvai, Tilakavati, Mangaiyarkarasi and

Karaikkal Ammaiyar, and the Vaishnava mystic Andal. Rajasimha

Pallava and his wife Rangapataka jointly built the Kailasanatha

temple at Kanchipuram. Sembiyan Mahadevi, widow of Gangaraditya

Chola, renovated and built several temples. Kundavai, sister of

Rajaraja Chola I, built temples at Rajarajapuram. Lokamahadevi, wife

of Vikramaditya II Chalukya of Badami, built the Lokeshwara temple

at Pattadakkal. But these were fortunate women who had education,

wealth and status. The vast majority were wives and chattels.

 

Islamic rule in North India saw a sharp decline in the status of

women, now relegated to the veil, both as an influence of the new

dispensation as well as for their personal protection. Jauhar

protected Rajput women from captivity. If women came out of the

confines of the home, the new court culture made them either

entertainers or chattels, both highly degrading positions. Thousand

years of the purdah was to have a highly detrimental effect on

women, something from which the northern states have yet to recover.

 

Religion and creativity, once again, came to the rescue of a few.

Lalla, a Kashmiri Shaivite ascetic, preached absolute dependence on

divine will and devotion to one's duty. The Rajput princess Meera is

the best known, composing beautiful and eternal poetry. All the

states of India had great women saint-poetesses, such as Mahadaisa,

Muktibai, Janabai, Bahinabai, Venabai and Akkabai of Maharashtra who

composed abhangs and kirtans. There were few women rulers: Razia

Sultana, Chand Bibi, Rani Chinnammal, Rani Lakshmibai, and perhaps a

couple more. But they were left out of civil society and

development. We had to wait for the 20th century to achieve that.

 

So next time we look for role models, let us look carefully and make

sure the message they convey is correct. We have to go back 5000

years to find women who fit 21st century hopes and aspirations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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