The Position of Women in Hindu Civilization

An Overview of Book:

    This book contains 12 chapters and every minor to major issue pertaining to women has been discussed in detail by the author, encompassing those issues too — on which present day’s feminists cry out loud. The age of marriage, the marriage rules, the married life, the purdah system, the dowry, education of women, the divorce, the position of widow in the society, women in public life, administration, career, women’s proprietary rights and even dress – ornaments worn by women, all these issues have been delineated in great detail and these issues travel from the ancient to modern timeline.

    The bibliography of this book is a lifetime reading list in itself for a scholarly person. From Vedic and allied literature to Epics, Purāņas and Tantra-s, Altekar relies heavily on the original — better called as the primary — texts of Sanātana Dharma. His bibliography also encompasses the contemporary texts of Sanātana Dharma’s offshoot i.e. Buddhism and Jainism’s texts. By giving references of buddhists or Jain texts, while discussing any aspect associated with women of ancient time, Altekar unintentionally shoots two arrows at once — one, Altekar nullifies the attempts of leftists forces of painting Hindus as oppressive and orthodox community while painting the buddhism as modern and progressive and two, establishing the fact that Buddhism is the offshoot of Sanātana Dharma. Each chapter deals with the history and development of its topic from the earliest times to the present day.

    The author also refers to Dharmaśāstra literature, Dharmasūtras, Smṛtis and classic Sanskrit literature while advocating them mostly and also criticizing them at certain points. Altekar also delves into Arthaśāstra and Kāmaśāstra while discussing women’s economic and dhārmika life. Altekar fearlessly describes the stark contrast of treatment of women between Islamic society and Hindu community by referring to Muslim sources, foreign travelers and medieval accounts. The author supports his speculative – analysis regarding views about women’s various issues, with Zoroastrianism's religious text ‘Avesta’ in several places in the book. This elucidates that earlier civilizations were truly liberal in nature unlike the monotheistic religions.

     Altekar efficiently distincts almost every topic in two broader and explicit frames – early Smṛtis writers and later Smṛtis writers, emphasizing the fact that the social graph of certain societies being flexible, open – minded and logical to being rigid, orthodox and illogical respectively. This ultimately shows that leftists refer to later Smṛtis writers authored by recent social thinkers ; while portraying Indian – essentially the Hindu society – as the orthodox and oppressive one for manufacturing baseless narratives to fulfill their gruesome agendas and we as the youth of India fell for those agendas; but like every society, the western society also has several atrocious social systems, as the famous author Arvindan Neelkandan says in one of his courses on Social Justice  – “Every society has certain vices, but the westerners don't let those vices become the defining feature of the entire society.”  But sadly Indians do the exact opposite of it.This book draws attention to the virtuous side of Indian society in general and Indian women in specific.

The prominent debatable issues through an Indic – socio perspective

The general attitude towards women:

The author, A.S. Altekar, at the very threshold presents a litmus test, a deliberate intellectual maneuver; which establishes the discussions that unfold in the subsequent chapters. The parameters for a litmus test for an ideal state of women in a society, as a told by Altekar, are –

1. The degree, extent and domains of dependency of a woman on a man.
2. The marriage laws or customs indicate the mentality of men in that society.
3. The rules about the sex morality delineates the moral and ethical tone of the society.
4. The degree of voice given to a woman in their marriage settlement and management of their households.
5. The extent to which their proprietary rights are recognised.
6. The sense of sympathy developed in a community towards widows.
7. Access to education.
8. Progress in fine arts.
9. The dressing sense and ornaments they wore.
10. The degree of freedom given to women to move in society and take part in public life.
11. How a religion stands for justice and fairplay for women.
12. How the religion assigns a position to women in its ritual and theology.
13. The nature of religion’s philosophy can well be ascertained from the observations of its philosophers about the nature and worth of the fair sex.

     The points mentioned above highlights the central theme that runs throughout the book. Altekar further compares the desire of having a son or daughter with Atharvaveda’s reference which essentially destroys the tag of hindu society being a patriarchal one. Altekar explains – “The Atharvaveda contains charms and rituals to ensure the birth of a son in preference to that of a daughter (III, 23; VI, 11). The latter's birth, however, was not a source of consternation to the family in the Vedic and Upanishadic ages. Nay, who finds one of the early Upanishads recommending a curtain ritual to a householder for ensuring the birth of a scholarly daughter (Brih. Up., VI, 4, 27). …..it clearly shows that cultured parents were often as anxious for daughters as they were for sons. Some thinkers have even pointed out that a talented and well behaved daughter may be better than a son (Sam. Nik., 111, 2,) In cultured circles such a daughter was regarded as the pride of the family.”

     Although the author didn’t mention the exact timeline of this varying socio – psyche scenario mentioned below, he emphasized the very same flow for every issue in this book. In the case of general conditions of women, he stated that “the importance of ancestor-worship increased gradually and sons alone were regarded as eligible for offering oblations to the manes; daughters could not perform this very important religious duty. Child marriages came into vogue from about the beginning of the Christian era and widow remarriages were prohibited. Inter-caste marriages began to be disapproved by society; and there came into existence hundreds of sub-castes all insisting upon mutual exogamy. The field of choice for the selection of a suitable son-in-law thus became very narrow, intensifying thereby the anxiety of the daughter's father about the selection of a proper bridegroom.  The growing prevalence of the Sati custom from about the 5th century A. D. added to the poignancy of the grief; parents had often to pass through the terrible ordeal of seeing their daughters burning themselves alive on the funeral pyres of their husbands. To become a daughter's parent thus became a source of endless worry and misery.” Altekar further added — “It will be thus seen that if there are passages in later literature showing that the birth of a daughter was unwelcome, the reason was not so much the hatred of her sex as the all-engrossing anxiety to see that she was well placed in life and enabled to lead it in comfort and happiness". 

     Altekar pointed out that the prevailing view of daughters being less desirable than the sons was not accepted by all social thinkers. There were some among them who realised that it was causing great harm to society and felt that it ought to be counteracted. They advocated the fact that no father is ever known to have been killed by a daughter. As this book delineates several instances from Mahābhārata, the author says “there are cases on record where daughters like Kunti and Lopamudra have saved their parents from dire calamities. In marriage it is the daughter, and not the son, who enables the father to get the great merit of prithvi-dana or the gift of the earth. She is thus really better than the son. One should not be, there-fore, elated by the birth of a son and depressed by the advent of a daughter (Kathāsaritsāgara, 28, 17 ff.).”

    Altekar explicitly and firmly stated further that “It must be, however, added that the feeling of dejection and dissatisfaction at the birth of a daughter was a fleeting one (momentary feeling); it did not lead to female infanticide in ancient India. There are no references to this evil custom in the Vedic, epic or classical literature.” The author underlines the misdeed of western sociologists by giving an instance of Max Weber, he had wrongly concluded that a passage in the Yajurveda referred to the custom of the exposure of new-born daughters. In reality, the passage has no reference to the abandonment of unwanted daughters. This teaches how a mistake in translation sometimes gives rise to an unfounded theory.

    On several places, author’s choice of words reflects intensity and perseverance pertaining to the righteousness of our rishis and scholars, Altekar says, “If female infanticide had at all been practised, it must have been confined to a very small section of society. If the evil had been fairly common, Smriti writers would certainly have denounced it very vehemently. When we note how eloquent they grow in condemning the conduct of a father who would sell his daughter in marriage, we cannot but conclude that they would have consigned to the most dreadful hell those parents who were guilty of exposing their daughters at birth, because they were unwelcome. Smriti writers regard the destruction of an embryo as the most heinous crime; the murder of a child born alive could not have escaped their thundering alive denunciation.”

    The author further advocates this welcoming approach towards daughters in Indian society by emphasising the fact. “The female infanticide, however, never obtained a footing in cultured families. The evil that was confined to a microscopic minority in society will become abundantly clear when we note that at each of the last five censuses the females between the age period 1-5 have exceeded the males of the same age. This will become clear from the following table:

 

            Age distribution of 10,000 of each sex in India:

 

Year	No. of boys under 5	No. of girls under 5
1931	1458	1665
1921	1202	1306
1911	1327	1433
1901	1254	1339
1891	1409	1527

 

 

 

The attitude towards women’s education :

    While delineating the contribution of women scholars in Vedas, Altekar states the fact that in prehistoric times lady poets themselves were composing hymns, some of which were destined to be included even in the Vedic Samhitas. In the Rigveda, several hymns are attributed to women scholars. Lopāmudrā is credited with Mandala 1, Sukta 179; Viśvavārā with Mandala 5, Sukta 28; and Sikatā Nivāvari with Mandala 8, Sukta 91. Ghoṣā is regarded as the author of Mandala 9, Sukta 81, Mantras 11–20. In Mandala 10, Suktas 39 and 40 are also attributed to women seers, while Suktas 145 and 159 are traditionally credited to Indrāṇī and Śacī respectively. He added further –

    “Among the authors and scholars to whose memory a daily tribute of respect is enjoined to be paid at the time of brahmayajña, a few ladies also are seen to figure; they are Sulabht Maitreyi, Vadavā Prñchiteyi, and Gärgi Vächaknavi (Apastamba Grihyasutra., III. 4. 4). Those ladies must have made real contributions to the advance of scholarship, otherwise their names would not have been recommended for daily remembrance by posterity for all time to come. It is a great pity that we should know nothing about these lady scholars except their names: their works have been all lost, probably forever.”

     Altekar talks about the classification of women students into two classes, Brahmavadinis and Sadyodvahas. The former were lifelong students of theology and philosophy; the latter used to prostrate their studies till their marriage. During the years that were thus available to turn for study, they used to learn by heart the Vedic hymns prescribed for the daily and periodical prayers and for those rituals and sacraments in which they had to take an active part after their marriage. There is ample evidence to show that, like men, women also used to offer regularly their Vedic prayers both morning and evening. For instance, in more than оnе place in the Ramayana, Sitä is described as offering her daily Vedic prayers. Brahmavadinis used to aim at a very high excellence in scholarship.

     The author tells that besides studying the Vedas, many of them used to specialise in Pürvamimänsä, which discussed the diverse problems connected with Vedic sacrifices. This science is a very dry and difficult one, perhaps more abstruse than mathematics; but still a very large number of ladies used to take deep interest in it. Altekar give reference of a theologian named Kāśakritsanas who had composed a work on Mimansa called Kaśakritsini; lady scholars, who used to specialise in it, were designated as Kāśakritsnās (Mahābhāshya, IV, 1, 14; 8, 155). Here Altekar raises an extremely valid question — “If lady scholars in such a technical branch of study were so numerous as to necessitate the coining of a special term to designate thom, is it not reasonable to conclude that the number of women, who used to receive general cultural education must have been fairly large?”

     The author further adds – “Every village had its own religious teacher (puranika), whose vernacular discourses on religion, philosophy and culture were listened to with wrapt attention by all the matrons of the village. Though unlettered, they thus became better and more faithful custodians of ancient traditions and culture than even literate men.”

Altekar mentions the prominent well known lady scholars like:

●      Gargi – In the philosophical tournament held under the auspices of king Janaka of Videha, the subtlest philosophical questions were initiated for discussion by the lady philosopher Gargi, who had the honour to be the spokesman of the distinguished philosophers at the court. She launched her attack on Yājñavalkya, the newly arrived philosopher, with an admirable coolness and confidence.

●      Maitreyi –  She was more interested in finding out the way to immortality than in setting new fashions in dress and ornaments.

●      Ätreyi – She was another lady student of Vedanta; she was reading under the sages Vālmīki and Agastya

●      The Sanskrit language found it necessary to coin a special word in order to distinguish them from wives of teachers. The latter, who were not necessarily scholars, were called Upādhyāyānis, but women who were themselves teachers, were called Upādhyāyās.  Some of these lady philosophers used to remain unmarried throughout life in order to carry on their spiritual experiments unhampered.

 

 

    Altekar, as mentioned earlier in this review, has given references of Buddhism on almost every issue. He clearly states that “like the Brahmavādinis in Brahmanical circles, several ladies in Buddhist families used to lead a life of celibacy with the aim of understanding and following the eternal truths of religion and philosophy. Some of them like Sanghamitra went even to foreign countries like Ceylon and became famous there as teachers of the Holy Scriptures. Among the authors of the Therigatha, who were all believed to have obtained salvation, 32 were unmarried women and 10 married ones.”    The underlined line proves the prevalence and precedence of women scholars under Sanātana culture before it was prevalent in Buddhism. Along with this, there were women scholars in jain tradition as well, as the author mentions, Jayanti, a daughter of king Sahasrānīka of Kaušāmbi, remained unmarried and received ordination at the hand of Mahavira after being convinced by him in discussion. “A Jataka refers to the story of a Jain father having four clever daughters touring about in the country and challenging all and sundry for a debate on philosophical matters.”  It may be pointed out that the tradition of lady scholars is known to Purāņas as well; the Bhagavata, for instance, refers to two daughters of Dakshayaņa as experts in theology and philosophy.

    Altekar draws attention to the fact that Sanātana tradition was never of an orthodox mindset unlike the theological religions, still it has been persistently painted as the one. He proves the point by describing how parents must have naturally sent their daughters to study under male teachers. This is clear from the example of Atreyi in the Uttararämacharita, who was reading under Välmiki along with Lava and Kusa, the sons of Rama. The stories of Kahoda and Sujātā, Ruru and Pramadvarā, narrated in the Purāņas, would also point to co-education and to love-marriages sometimes resulting from it. This shows the open mindedness of Sanātana Dharma.  

     The author explicitly mentions that during the Muslim rule, the percentage of literacy among Hindu women went further down with a great rapidity. Every village had its own religious teacher (puranika), whose vernacular discourses on religion, philosophy and culture were listened to with wrapt attention by all the matrons of the village. Though unlettered, they thus became better and more faithful custodians of ancient traditions and culture than even literate men.

The attitude towards women’s marriage :

    Now, comes the most heated – debatable topic of the last two decades i.e. marriage. Marriage has always been a questionable issue for brainwashed youth. What Aletkar says about this in the book is worth pondering. He emphasised the fact, till 500 BC, though marriage was considered desirable for both men and women, the society did not insist it should not be done at any cost. The Vedic literature often refers to the spinster; amājūh, one who grows old in one's parent's house, is the significant expression used to denote an old maid.

    The author throws light on the rationale of compulsion of marriage of women, he delineates, at the age of the Upanishads hundreds of youths began to enter the monastery without caring to marry, and some maidens like Sulabhā began to follow their example with a view to achieve spiritual salvation. The commentary on the Therigāthā shows that some women used to join Buddhist Sangha before their marriage…..but by about 300 B. C. marriage came to be regarded as obligatory for girls and several causes induced society to subscribe to this view. In the first place there was a reaction produced in society by maidens joining the Buddhist and Jain orders either without a genuine spiritual urge or without a free and spontaneous permission of their elders. Some of these were unable to live up to their high ideals, and their lapses were furiously commented upon by the public. Social thinkers began to feel that it would be better to prevent such abuses by making marriage obligatory for all girls.

     Altekar told one of the instances that Subhrū was the daughter of sage Kuņi. Her father wanted to give her in marriage, but she would not consent. She remained unmarried for all her life, practising severe penance. At the time of her death, however, she learnt to her great surprise that she could not go to heaven because her body was not consecrated by the sacrament of marriage. With great difficulty she then induced sage Śringavat to marry her, stayed with him for one night and was then enabled to go to heaven. A late Sūtra goes to the extent of declaring that the corpse of a maiden can be burnt only after a formal marriage even after the death. It is interesting to note that marriage was made obligatory for girls in contemporary Persia as well.

    While talking about the forms of marriages, Altekar says the eight forms of marriage recognised by Smṛtis are well known. There are, however, several other varieties and customs of marriage prevailing in the certain sections of Hindu society, which find no recognition in the Dharmaśāstra literature. Brahma, Daiva, Präjäpatya and Arsha are the four approved forms of marriage. It is only in a marriage by one of these forms that the union is completed from the religious point of view by bringing about the change in the gotra of the bride at the end of the Saptapadi ritual. The remaining four forms of marriages are disapproved of by Rishi Manu for certain reasons which are discussed in detail in the book.

Further commenting on the inter- caste marriage issue, the author highlights the fact

 “The caste also did not raise any insurmountable barrier in the way of marriage for a long time. Even in the days of Manu the system was much more flexible than it is today, both as regards inter-marriages and interdining…we may however observe that anuloma marriages i. c., marriages of males of higher castes with females of lower ones were not uncommon in society down to the eighth century A.D. Even Smriti and Nibandha writers regarded them as legal… down to the 14th century A.D. Dharmaśāstra authors further lay down rules governing the shares of inheritance of sons born from wives of different castes.

Epigraphical and literary evidence shows the same thing. The Brahmaņa king Agnimitra of the Sunga family had married a Kshatriya princess named Mälavikä in c. 150 B.C. A fifth century inscription records how a Brahamaņa of a respect-able family, Soma by name, had married a Kshatriya lady 'in accordance with the precepts of Srutis and Smritis', and not out of any frivolity; the Väkäțaka minister Hastivarman was descended from him. At about the same time a Kadamba ruler, though a Brähmaņa by saste, gave his daughter in marriage to the Guptas, who were Vaisyas.” 

Altekar’s solutions to maintain a traditional, dharmik and academic life:

Altekar seems pragmatic and sensible from biological perspectives while speaking that in Hindu society at present, ‘normally speaking’, the marriage of a girl cannot be conveniently postponed to beyond the age of 20. The author therefore presents an archetype of incorporation of academics and skills — better to say ‘kala’ –  in the courses of female education. His insight on this framework can be understood in the following points :

1. Primary education should take four years and be over at the age of 10.
2. The secondary course should extend over seven years only; if we adopt the mother tongue as the medium of instruction and slightly reduce the curricula in subjects like geography, mathematics and history, it will be possible to finish the course in seven years' time, Hygiene, nursing, domestic science, music, sewing, knitting and house-decorations should figure prominently in the school curriculum as subjects alternative with mathematics, geography and the second language. The secondary course would be over at the age of 17.
3. It should be followed by a college course extending over three years, which would be thus completed when the scholar is about 20. It will be easy to frame three years" courses in subjects like (A) Arts and Teaching, (B) Domestic Science, Medicine and Midwifery, (C) Music, Painting, and Photography, (D) Tailoring and Embroidery, which will be self-sufficient, and enable girl scholars not only to become efficient and cultured house-wives, but also to earn some money both in their spare time and in the case of need. In the last three groups there should be included a paper on Literature or History as well. Courses in Groups A and B will be obviously below the B.A., the B.T. or the M.B.B.S. standards.
4. Those girls, however, who have taken a diploma in these subjects, should be allowed to appear as private candidates for the B.A., B.T., and Intermediate M.B.B.S. examinations. This would remove the difficulty in the way of a girl scholar who has joined the women's college, but who eventually desires to devote a few more years to education in order to attain the highest efficiency in her subject.
5. The recasting of secondary and higher education of girls on the above lines would remove the defects in the present system and cater for the needs both of those who want to settle down in family life, as also of those who want to follow a career.
6. It is of course true that a cut in the normal curriculum has been suggested in the courses for girls, but that is necessary in order to equip them for their normal functions of intelligent and efficient wives and mothers. As the matters stand to-day, girls have to pass the same examinations as boys and to learn house-keeping at home as well, all the while having less physical strength than their brothers. This certainly puts too much strain upon them and is injurious to the future well-being of the race.

 These points exemplify the balance between cooperating tradition, dharmik and academic career. Although it was not the intention, Altekar debunks several narratives with his intense, insightful, factual and rational writing. Several topics have been discussed but as all the issues can’t be covered in a single book review, we will discuss the other vital ones — like marriageable age, divorce, education, scholarly women, women in administration and military, women and art, economic independence of women  — in the next part.

 

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