Tracing the Decline in the Status of Women from the Early to the Later Vedic Period

Author

Kanak Nandini Sharma


Abstract

 This paper studies the changing status of women across the Vedic period of ancient India. The Early Vedic period, associated mainly with the Rigveda, and the Later Vedic period, associated with the remaining Samhitas, the Brahmanas and the early Upanishads, are compared with respect to women's participation in public assemblies, their access to Vedic learning and their position within marriage. The decline observed between these two periods is argued to be connected not to one single cause but to four broader changes in Vedic society, namely a shift from pastoral to settled agrarian economy, growing complexity and specialisation of sacrificial ritual, the hardening of the varna system, and increasing political centralisation. Exceptions such as Gargi and Maitreyi are also discussed, since their presence in the Upanishads complicates any simple account of a uniform decline. It is concluded that the changes in the position of women in this period are best understood as a by-product of wider transformations in property, ritual authority and political power, a pattern that is found again in later periods of Indian history.



Keywords

Vedic Period, Status of Women, Rigveda, Upanayana, Varna System, Ancient Indian Society



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References


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