Author: Nanditha Krishna
Publication: The New Indian Express
Date: August 3, 2003
URL: http://www.newindpress.com/sunday/colItems.asp?ID=SEC20030803031539
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.
The author can be reached at nankrishna@vsnl.com
