Dr. V.K.Maheshwari, M.A(Socio, Phil) B.Sc. M. Ed, Ph.D
Former Principal, K.L.D.A.V.(P.G) College, Roorkee, India
The history of the most of the known civilisations shows that the further back we go into antiquity, the more unsatisfactory is found to be the general position of women. Hindu civilisation is unique in this respect, for here we find a surprising exception to the general rule. The further back we go, the more satisfactory is found to be the position of women in more spheres than one. And the field. of education is most noteworthy among them. Women in ancient India before 200 B.C. were very fortunate because they were treated on a par with men. The Vedic initiation and wearing of the sacred thread was for both girls and boys. Women were eligible to learn and recite the Vedas and other religious texts, just like the men perform sacrifices and yagnas, choose to remain unwed if they wished to pursue studies (in fact the Atharva Veda said that a maiden was not to marry until she had completed her students life) and above all they could choose their partners in life. Many women had attained knowledge in the Brahman, the Supreme Being and were called Brahmavadini. Similarly there were the Mantranids who specialized in the Mantras and Vedas (such as Kausalya, mother of Rama and many others like Atreyi) and the Panditas who were scholars (such as Draupadi, the wife of the Pandavas brothers in the Mahabharata). Theology, religion, philosophy and teaching were some of the favourite subjects of study for women. Some Vedic hymns are supposed to have been written by women. According to Panini, the famous Sanskrit grammarian of later times, there were boarding houses in the Vedic times, for women students. There were poetesses too in that period showing how conducive the ambience for learning and being creative was, for women. All this was in the period prior to 200 BC.
We can however understand this strange phenomenon when we remember that for a long time education in ancient India meant Vedic education, and that it had to be necessarily imparted to all who were expected to take part in Vedic sacrifices, irrespective of their sex.
Women eligible for Vedic Sacrifices : There is ample and convincing evidence to show that women were regarded as perfectly eligible for the privilege of studying the Vedic literature and performing the sacrifices enjoined in it down to about 200 B. C. This need not surprise us, for some of the hymns of the Rigveda are the compositions of poetesses. Even the orthodox tradition admits that the Rigvedic collection contains hymns composed by twenty different poetesses. Visv x avara, Sikata Nivavarl, Ghosha, Romasa, Lopamudra, Apala and UrvasI are the names of some of them. Man could perform the Vedic sacrifices only if he had his wife by his side;both had to undergo a special initiation on the occasion and take equally active part in its procedure. Down to the end of the Mauryan period, the housewife was expected to offer oblations in the household fire unaided by the husband, normally in the evening and sometimes in the morning also. In the srattararohana ritual of the Agrahayaga ceremony, the wife used to recite a number of Vedic hymns 5 and the harvest sacrifices could be performed by women alone, ‘because such was the long standing custom’. From the Ramayana we learn that Kausalya was by herself alone performing a sacrifice on the morning of her son’s proposed installation as an heir-apparent . The same was the case with Tara when her husband Bali was about to leave the palace to meet Sugriva in the fateful encounter. It is interesting to note that both these ladies are expressly described by the epic as mantravid, i.e. well grounded in the Vedic literature. We need not then wonder if we find Sita also offering her Vedic prayer during the days of her captivity in Lanka. Kunti, the mother of Pandavas, was well- versed in the Mantras of the Atharvaveda .
No one can recite Vedic prayers or offer Vedic sacrifices without having under- gone the Vedic initiation (Upanayana). It is, therefore, but natural that in the early period the Upanayana of girls should have been as common as that of boys. There is ample evidence to show that such was the case. The Atharvaveda expressly refers to maidens undergoing the Brahmanharya discipline 8 and the Sutra works of the 5th century B. C. supply interesting details in its connection. Even Manu includes Upanayana among the sanskaras (rituals) obligatory for girls (II. 66). After about the beginning of the Christian era, girls Upanayana went out of vogue, but Smriti writers of even the 8th century A. D. like Yama admit its prevalence in the earlier age.
There were no child marriages in the Vedic period ; as a rule however girls could not remain unmarried as long as boys as they had to be younger than their spouses. Majority of them used to get married at the age of 16 or 17, and only a few would prosecute their studies after that age. Girls of the former class were called Sadyovadhu and of the latter class Brahmvadinl. The education of the Sadyovadhus comprised the study of important Vedic hymns necessary for usual prayers and sacrifices. Music and dancing were also taught to them ; partiality of women to these arts is often referred to in the Vedic literature. Brahmavadinls used to marry after their education was over ; some of them like Vedavati, a daughter of sage Kusadhvaja, would not marry at all .
The attainments of lady scholars, who remained unmarried for a longer time, were naturally wider and more varied. In the Vedic age, they used to acquire thorough mastery in the Vedic literature and even compose poems, some of which have been honoured by their inclusion in the sacred , canon. When the Vedic lore and sacrifices became complex, a new branch of study, called Mimansa, came to be developed in their connection. Though this was a subject, drier than mathematics, we find lady scholars taking keen interest in it. Kasakritsnin had composed a work on Mimansa called Kasakritsni after him ; lady students who used to specialise in it, were known as Kasakritsna. If lady specialists in a technical science like Mimansa were so numerous as to necessitate the coining of a new special term to denote them, we can reasonably conclude that the number of women who used to receive general literary and cultural education must have been fairly large. When in the course of time the study of philosophy became popular in the Upanishadic age, women began to take keen interest in that subject also, Such was the case with Yajnavalkya’s wife Maitrey ; she was more interested in studying deeper problems of philosophy than in wearing costly jewels and apparels. In the philosophical tournament held during the sacrificial session performed under the auspices of king Janaka, it is interesting to note that the subtlest philosophical question was asked by the lady philosopher GargI Vachaknavi. The question was so subtle and esoteric in character that Yajnavalkya refused to discuss it in public. The keen reasoning and subtle cross examination of Yajnavalkya by GargI shows that she was a dialectician and philosopher of a high order. Atrey of the Uttara-Rama-charit was another lady, who was studying Vedanta under Valmiki and Agastya. Some lady scholars of the age like Sulabha, Vadava, Prathitey, Maitrey, and Gargi seem to have made real contribution to the advancement of knowledge, for they enjoy the rare privilege of being included among the galaxy of distinguished scholars, to whom a daily tribute of gratitude was to be given by a grateful posterity at the time of the daily prayer .
The eventual permission, which the Buddha accorded to the admission of women to his Church, gave an impetus to the spread of education and philosophy among the ladies of the aristocratic and commercial communities. Like Brahmavadinis, several ladies in Buddhist families also used to lead a life of celibacy, with the aim of understanding and following the eternal truths of religion and philosophy. Some of them even went outside India to countries like Ceylon and became famous there as teachers of the holy scriptures. Among the authoresses of the Theri-gatha who were believed to have attained salvation, 32 were unmarried women and 18 married ones. Amongst the former, Subha, Anopama and Sumedha belonged to very rich families, and are said to have been wooed by princes and rich merchants . When so large a percentage of girls was leading a life of celibacy in pursuit of religion and philosophy, it is but natural that the general average of intelligence and education among them must have been fairly high.
As far as the agencies for imparting female education during this period are concerned. We have already seen that for a long time family was the only educational institution, and even boys used to receive education only from their fathers, uncles or other elders. The same naturally was the case with girls. When however later Smritis like Yama lay down that none but near relations should teach girl students, they are probably referring to a state of affairs current by about the beginning of the Christian era; for there is evidence to show that such was not the case in the earlier period. When a large number of women were receiving higher education and were making their own contributions to the march of knowledge, it is but natural to suppose that some of them must have followed the profession of teaching. And the presence of the terms Upadhyaya and Upadhyayanl in Sanskrit language supports this conjecture. The latter of these words is a courtesy title given to the wife of a teacher, who may or may not be educated. The former, however, denotes a lady, who was herself a teacher. That a special term should have been coined to denote lady teachers in order to distinguish them from wives of teachers would show that their number in society could not have been small. We must note in this connection that there was no Purdah custom in Hindu society down to the 12th century, and so there was no difficulty for women in taking to the teaching profession. Lady teachers may probably have confined themselves to the teaching of girl students, though some may have taught boys also. Panini refers to boarding houses for lady -students, chhatrisalas , and these probably were under the superintendence of Upadhyayas or lady teachers, who had made teaching their profession. Unfortunately we have no clear and sufficient evidence about the activities of lady teachers and the management of girls’ boardings.
The modern reader would be anxious to know whether co-education prevailed in the past. Our sources however throw but dim light on the subject* From the Malatimadhava of Bhavabhuti, written in the 8th century A. D., we learn that the nun Kamandaki was educated along with Bhurivasu and Devarata at a famous centre of education. This would show that if not in Bhava- bhuti’s time, at least some centuries earlier, sometimes boys and girls were educated together while receiving liigher education. In the Utiara- Rama-charit also (of the same author) we find Atrey receiving her education along with Kusa and Lava (Act II). The stories of Kahoda and Sujata and Ruru and Pramadvara, narrated in Puranas, would also point to co-education. They would further show that at a time when girls were being married at an advanced age and receiving co-education, sometimes love- marriages used to take place as a consequence of it.
When however there were competent lady teachers, parents may have preferred to send their daughters to read under them; but when they were not available, they may have sent their wards to read under male teachers, and necessarily along with male students. In an age, which looked upon love marriages as nothing abnormal, co-education need not have frightened the parents. What percentage of girls received co-education is a question which we cannot answer in the present state of our knowledge. It could not however have been very large.
It is not easy to determine the extent of female education during this period. Vedic literature has preserved rituals to be performed by parents anxious for the birth of scholarly daughters; it would therefore follow that many parents must have been anxious that their daughters should become cultured and accomplished ladies. Education of girls could not have been neglected by the ordinary well-to-do father. Upanayana ritual was also obligatory for girls, and this must have ensured the imparting of a certain amount of Vedic and literary education to the girls of all the Aryan classes. We may therefore presume that as long as Upanayana ritual was performed in the case of girls, and the custom of child marriage had not taken root in society, girls of well-to-do families must be receiving fairly good education. Such continued to be the case down to c. 500 B. C.
By about 500 B. C. it had already become a mere formality, not followed by any serious course of Vedic education. Female education received a great setback during this period primarily owing to the deterioration of the religious status of women. During the earlier period, Upanayana ceremony was as much obligatory for girls as it was for boys. We have already seen how this ensured a certain amount of higher education to every Aryan girl During the period we are reviewing, Upanayana began to be gradually prohibited to girls.
The Manusmriti, which was composed at about 200 B. C., goes a step further and declares that girls’ Upanayana should be performed without the recitation of Vedic Mantras. But immediately if the next verse it is stated that it is really the marriage ritual of girls which corresponds to the Upanayana ritual of boys . It is therefore clear that Upanayana of girls, even as a mere formality, was dying down by the beginning of the Christian era. Yajnavalkya (200 A. D.) therefore takes the logical step of prohibiting Upanayana altogether in the case of girls , and all later Smriti-writers follow his lead, though some of them like Yama admit that once upon a time girls used to have the privilege of Upanayana and Vedic studies. The discontinuance of Upanayana was disastrous to the religious status of women ; they were declared to be of the same status as that of the Shudras and unfit to recite Vedic Mantras and perfom Vedic sacrifices. The wife’s association with the husband in the family sacrifices became a formal matter and there were some theologians like Aitisayana who were opposed even to this formal participation.
The causes of the prohibition of the Vedic education to women during this later period have nowhere been specifically stated; they can only be inferred. When Vedic literature came to be regarded as revealed, it was insisted that it should be very meticulously and accurately committed to memory. The Vedic course also became a lengthy one, requiring a long period of study, and could not be finished till about the age of 24. The marriages of girls, as a rule, were never postponed to this advanced age even during the Vedic period. Usually they took place at about the age of 16 or 17. Girls in well-to-do families therefore could get only about six or seven years for their Vedic studies ; they could not therefore carry them out with that exactitude and thoroughness which was insisted upon by the age. In poor families, the exigencies of the household work must have resulted in only very little time being available for Vedic studies after the Upanayana. Girls in such families were often unable to recite even the formulae in the marriage ritual prescribed for the bride ; they had to be recited by the priest or the bridegroom. Dilettante Vedic studies were regarded as not only useless, but also dangerous ; even the slightest mistake in the recitation of the Vedic hymns was regarded as very disastrous in its consequences. It was therefore probably felt that since women could not study the Vedic literature ip the proper manner, its study should be prohibited to them in order to avert spiritual disasters to the family arising out of the mistakes of amateurish Vedic girls- students. Spoken dialect had by this time become completely differentiated from the Vedic speech; women were unable to speak even ordinary Sanskrit and used to express themselves in Prakrits or vernaculars. They must have experienced greater difficulties in correctly pronouncing the Vedic hymns than men, who could speak classical Sanskrit correctly.
Leaders of society therefore felt that correct transmission of the Vedic literature necessitated the prohibition of its study to women. Their Upanayana was therefore also discontinued.
The mischief caused by the discontinuance of Upanayan was further enhanced by the lowering of the marriage-able age. In the Vedic period girls were married at about the age of 16 or 17 ; but by c. 500 B. C. the custom arose of marrying them soon after the attainment of puberty. Dharmasastra works of the period however permit the postponement of a girl’s marriage to the age of 16 or 17 in case a suitable match could not be arranged. Manu, though in favour of a marriage at 12 in normal circumstances, was prepared to contemplate the possibility of a girl remaining unmarried to the end of her life, if no suitable bridegroom could be found. Later writers, however, of this period like Yajniavalkya, Samvarta and Yama, most vehemently condemn the guardian Who fails to marry a girl before the attainment of the puberty. This condemnation had the natural effect ; from Alberuni we learn that in the 11th century Hindus used to marry at an early age, and that a Brahmana was never allowed to marry a girl above the age of 12. Many marriages must have taken place much earlier, for the Smritis written at the end of this period begin to glorify the merits of a girl’s marriage at the age of 7, 8, or 9. When it was regarded as an ideal thing to celebrate a girl’s marriage at so young an age, female education could hardly prosper.
Between 200BC and 1200AD the damage in women’s position and therefore to their chances for getting educated, was becoming more and more evident, because the thinking relating to a women’s role was first changing, in ways which were adverse to women and their progress. They gradually began to lose the privileges for religious participations and for the education, and were treated like the sudras, of interior caste. A few girls in rich and aristocratic families did indeed study Sanskrit and Prakrit and household art, song of dance- it is said that there were poetesses in Prakrit and specialist in Vedanta and Sanskrit literature. Some women even started learning medicine. But these were the exceptions. For Manu’s code engulfed the thinking of the times, by which by a young girl, by a young women, or even by an aged one, nothing must be done independently, even in own house. Already, early marriages become customary. Manu further said: Let the husband employ his wife in the collection and expenditure of his wealth, In keeping everything clean, in the fulfillment of religious duties in the preparation of food and in looking after the household utensils. Perhaps the luckiest girls, as far as opportunities for education went, were temple dancers and the prostitutes, who could “stoop” to learn anything with no objections from any quarter!
Though in society as a whole female education received a great set-back during this period, it continued to receive attention in rich, cultured, aristocratic and royal families. 1 Girls in these families were given fairly good literary education, though they were not allowed to study the Vedic literature. They could read and understand Sanskrit and Prakrit works and even detect mistakes accidentally committed by their male relations. Special effort was made to give them a good grounding in domestic and culinary arts and fine arts like music, dancing, painting, garland-making and household decorations. Tutors were appointed in rich families to train girls in these arts and accomplishments, as is shown by the employment of Ganadasa and Haradatta in the household of king Agnimitra. Most of this education was finished before the marriage ; but famous lady scholars of the age, probably continued their education and reading even after their wedlock.
Educated ladies in cultured families continued to make their own contributions to literature, as was done by the lady scholars of the earlier period. During this age, there flourished several poetesses in south India, who composed poetry in Prakrit. Among the authors from whom selections there are sevan poetesses, their names being Reva , Roha, , Madhavl , Anulakshml, ,Pahal, Vaddhavahl and Sasiprabha. Some of the Sanskrit anthologies also have preserved the memory of a few other poetesses, who seem to have composed poetry of a very high order. Sllabhattarika was famous for her easy and graceful style, noted for a harmonious combination of sense and sound. Devi was a well known poetess of Gujarat, who continued to enchant her readers on the earth even after her departure to heaven. Vijayanka’s fame in Berar was second only to that of Kalidasa . She seems to have attained a really high position among Sanskrit poets and poetesses, for the poet Rajasekhara compares her to Saraswatl. A drama, Named Kaumudlmahotsava has been recently discovered’ which is from the pen of a poetess, whose name seems to have been Vidya or Vijjaka. The plot dramatises the incidents of a political revolution at Patallputra, showing thereby that ladies were not uninterested in the incidents of political history. Subhadra, Slta, Manila, Indulekha, Bhavadevi and Vikatanitamba are some other poetesses quoted in later anthologies . It is a pity that we should have lost their works. Lady scholars of this age took interest in criticism also ; Rajasekhara’s wife was both a critic and poetess. The umpire in the controversy between Sankara and Mandanamisra was the accomplished wife of the latter; she must have been well grounded in Mimansa, Vedanta and literature. Some ladies were attracted by medical studies also ; the majority of these must be specialising in gynaecology. Some of the lady doctors had also written authoritative works on the medical science. Among the Hindu works on medicine translated into Arabic in the 8th century A.D. was a book on midwifery, written by a lady doctor, whose name appears as Rasa in the Arabic garb .
Achievements of lady scholars in cultured families were thus fairly high. Cultured families are, however, relatively few in society. They could afford to employ special teachers for their girls. Ordinary families, however, were not so well situated, and it is therefore doubtful whether the average woman was receiving any education after about the 6th or the 7th century A. D. Asahaya, a commentator on the Narada-smriti, ‘ who flourished in the 8th century A. D., justifies the theory of the dependence of women on the ground that their intelligence is not developed like that of men on account of the absence of proper education. It is hazardous to make any statement about the percentage of literate women in society at the end of the 12th century A. D., but it could not have been higher than ercent. Literacy among men at this time was probably about 30 percent.
In the era of Buddhism and Jainism (Roughly 300 BC to 800 AD) which emerged largely as reaction to the dominance of Brahminic thinking and rituals of the Vedic times, there seemed to be a free air for women. They could become Bhikkunis or Monks, even though they were considered subordinate in status to the male monks or Bhikkus. During this period, marriage for girls was not a rigid must and the birth of a girl baby was as welcome as a boy’s. Widowhood was not frowned upon. These factors had a great influence on women taking to education. Women were highly regarded in Jain society and many of them took to religious education and become monks.
We saw how in the earlier period the Buddhist movement gave an indirect impetus to female education and produced a number of nun-poetesses. During this period however we do not come across any nun scholars at all. Nunneries had gone out of vogue by the 4th century A. D.; Chinese pilgrims of the 5th and 7th century A. D. do not refer to them at all. It is interesting to note that in modern Ceylon and Burma also nunneries do not impart instructions to girls as monasteries do to boys. We have there- fore to conclude that female education, which was languishing during this period, could not get any impetus from Buddhism also.
Ancient Indian history knows several queens and princesses, who used to take active part in the administration of their kingdoms of the Andhra dynasty (c. 150 B. C.) Prabhavatigupta of the Vakataka dynasty ( 390 A.D.) were governing extensive kingdoms during the minority of their sons. The queen of Masaga directed the defence of her capital against Alexander the Great after the death of her husband. Several queens of Kashmir have fought on the battlefield, and some of them, like Sugandha and Didds have ruled as regnant queens. In the Chalukya dynasty several queens and ladies of the royal family like Mailadei, Akkadevi,. Kunkumadevi and Lakshmidevi are known to have taken active part in the administration of the empire as governors of towns and districts. It is therefore quite obvious that steps must have been taken in royal families in ancient India to give proper training to princesses in order to make them fit to carry on the administration in the case of emergency, or even in normal times in order to help their husbands. The training was both administrative and military. Administrative training was of course given when they had become old enough to take part in the governance of the kingdom, but military training was imparted during their adolescence. They were trained fairly well in the use of arms ; they could also ride and swim. The son of queen Vijayamahadevi was called Gangadatta, because the mother used to, swim about in the Ganges, owing to a strong desire to do so during pregnancy. In ordinary Kshatriya families also some military training seems to have been imported to the lady folk. Village women are often seen defending their hearths and homes, in times of danger, and even laying down their lives while doing so. Inscriptions have recorded the cases of governments of the day honouring village heroines with the gift of suitable ornaments. The tradition of military training for ladies in high Kshatriya families continued down to the advent of the British rule. There still exists a commemorative tablet in Shikarpur Taluka immortalising the memory of a spirited lady, Hariyakka by name, who died fighting in 1446 A.D., while avenging the murder of her father. Maratha and Rajput princesses could usually play the sword and wield the lance.
In ordinary families, literature and the fine arts were usually the favourite topics of female education. This education was of course not calculated to make women economically self-sufficient, but we must note that the theory that women ought to be economically independent is of quite a recent origin. In the case of emergency, however, the Hindu woman could eke out a humble subsistence for herself and her children by taking to spinning and weaving in her spare time. In Pali literature we find instances of wives imploring their dying husbands to keep composed by pointing out that they could maintain the family by their skill in spinning and weaving . The Artha-sastra of Kautilya lays down that the state superintendent of weaving should make special arrangement for sending cotton to and receiving the yarn from those women, who were crippled, or whose husbands were dead or had gone abroad, and who were thus compelled to seek work for their subsistence . There is evidence to show that during the 9th century also widows, who were not provided for, used to have recourse to spinning for their maintenance. This humble but independent means of existence was available to the women in distress in India down to the middle of the last century, when the hand spinning and hand weaving industry was crushed out of existence by the mill competition.
Swami Vivekananda glorified Indian women of the past for their great achievements as leaders in various walks of life. He proudly states that “Women in statesmanship, managing territories, governing countries, even making war, have proved themselves equal to men, if not superior. In India I have no doubt of that. Whenever they have had the opportunity, they have proved that they have as much ability as men, with this advantage – that they seldom degenerate. They keep to the moral standard, which is innate in their nature. And thus as governors and rulers of their state, they prove-at least in India far superior to men. John Stuart Mill mentions this fact.”