GREAT
WOMEN PHILOSOPHERS OF ANCIENT INDIA.
In Hinduism, the wordShakti means power, which is
feminine. All power comes from the
feminine. Therefore, we find Hindu scriptures referred to as Mother
Shruti , and Knowledge itself comes to life as feminine goddess Saraswati
meaning the one who gives the Spirit (Sara) of our own Self (Swa). She
sits on a lotus which represents that the teacher understands the personal
knowledge of the Truth. She holds the sacred scriptures in one hand which
indicates that she upholds that scriptural knowledge alone can take us to the
Truth. Patanjali & Katyayana suggest that women were educated Vedic
knowledge (education at that time). The
esteem which women enjoyed in ancient times, were Seers, Sages and philosophers
. Devi-sukta section of Rigveda is a courtesy of Vac (daughter of sage
Ambhrna).
The greatest contribution of India to the world is her material
and spiritual science. No civilization, however old it is, has ever attained
the level of sophistication, reached by the great ancient Siddhas, Yogis Rishis
and knowledgeable women of India in material and spiritual science. The
idea of equality was most forcibly expressed in the Rig Veda (Book 5, hymn 61.
verse 8). From birth till death, Hindus perform hundreds of ceremonies and not
a single of them can be performed without the presence of the wife/mother/women
(Rigveda-5.102) The commentator explains this passage thus: "The wife and
husband, being the equal halves of one substance, are equal in every respect;
therefore both should join and take equal parts in all work, religious and
secular." No other Scripture of the world have ever given to the woman
such equality with the man as the Vedas of the Hindus. Swami Vivekananda had
also said “that country and that
nation which did not respect women have never become great nor will ever in
future”. Swamiji’s words bring us to a conclusion that the status assigned to
women in any society reflects the nature of its cultural richness and the level
of its civilization standards. A study of the history of status of women has
therefore great importance to understand the cultural richness and the
civilization standards of a particular society.
Women of the Vedic period (around 5000-1200 BCE(before common era)) were epitomes of intellectual and spiritual attainment. The Vedas have lots to say about these women, who both complemented and supplemented their male partners. When it comes to talking about significant female figures of the Vedic period, four names – Gargi, Lopamudra, Maitreyi and Ghosha, come to mind. The ideals of Indian womanhood are also embodied in the tales of the ancient Puranas such as the Srimad Bhagavatam.
GARGI
Women of the Vedic period were prominent with their exemplary
intellectuality and supreme spiritual attainment. Gargi is one of those
exceptional women and one of the well known scholars and prophetess. Gargi is
often cited and referred to in discussions about the place of women in Hindu
and Indian tradition as the Vedic prophetess.
Gargi was named after the sage Garga, in whose lineage she was born; her last name comes from her father Vachaknu. She composed several hymns and is an author of “Gargi Samhita”.in which she questioned the origin of all existence. When King Janak of Videha/Mithila organized a 'brahmayajna', a philosophic congress centered on the fire sacrament, Gargi was one of the eminent participants in the world's first conference on philosophy, as she was one of the Navaratnas in the court of King Janaka . She challenged the sage Yajnavalkya-( A.Brahmarshi blessed by the Sun God - the master mind that introduced 'Shukla Yajurveda',) with a volley of perturbing questions to a public debate on the soul or 'atman' that confounded the learned man who had till then silenced many eminent scholars. Her question - "The layer that is above the sky and below the earth, which is described as being situated between the earth and the sky and which is indicated as the symbol of the past, present and future, where is that situated?" - bamboozled even the great Vedic men of letters. She came there merely to know from Yajnavalkya about the Supreme Reality and not to vanquish him or to examine his knowledge.
LOPAMUDRA
Agastya the Muni, was born of both Gods and Varuna, from Urvashi and is believed to be the
first sage to cross the Vindhya Range. Agastya needed
to marry and wanted a son, in order to fulfill his duties to the Manus. Once he
resolved upon doing this, Agastya pursued an unusual course of action: by his
yogic powers, he created a female infant who possessed all the special
qualities of character and personality that would be appropriate in the wife of
a renunciate sage. At this time, the noble and virtuous king of Vidarbha (an area in south-central India,
just south of the Vindhya mountains), was childless and was undertaking
penances and offering prayers to the divinities for the gift of a child. Having
come to know the plight of the king, Agastya arranged for the transformation of
the child he had created form the most graceful parts of different animals He
gave her name Lopamudra which is explained as signifying that the animals
suffered loss (lopa) and by her engrossing their distinctive beauties
(mudra), as the eyes of the deer, etc. She was also called Kaushitaki and Varaprada
After creating her, Agastya secretly introduced Lopamudra into the palace of
the King of Vidarbha to be born as
the daughter of that noble king of Vidarbha. The child thus born was named
"Lopamudra".
Upon her attaining marriageable age, Agastya approached the king
and sought the hand of his daughter. The king was initially chagrined to hear
such a suggestion from a renunciate sage, but found that his daughter, who had
already exhibited extraordinary standards of mind and character, was insistent
that he should accept the proposal. She was utterly intent upon renouncing the
royal palace of her father and set out to live in forest at the hermitage of
Agastya. Lopamudra and Agastya were duly
married and lived a life of extraordinary happiness and bliss. It is believed
that they had two sons - Bringi & Achutha. In Mahabharata (Vana
Parva: Tirtha-yatra Parva), there is mention of their penance
at Gangadwara (Haridwar),in Uttara Khand
State in India, with the help of his wife, Lopamudra (the princess ofVidharba)
Lopamudra attained the rank of one of Mahapativrathas(Noble exalted
wife), in the world by her dedication to worship her husband Agastya, and
remained with other Pathivrathas like Mandodari (Ravana's wife),etc.
The Rig Veda ('Royal
Knowledge') has long conversations between the sage Agastya and his wife
Lopamudra that testifies to the great intelligence and goodness of her. A hymn
is attributed in her name. After serving her husband faithfully for a long
period, Lopa grew tired of his austere practices. She wrote a hymn of two
stanzas making an impassioned plea for his attention and love. Soon afterwards,
the sage realized his duties towards his wife and performed both his domestic
and ascetic life with equal zeal, reaching a wholeness of spiritual and
physical powers. A son was born to them. He was named Dridhasyu, who later
became a great poet. Agastya and Lopamudra together were renowned for
spreading the eminence of Lalita Shahasranama or thousands name of the Divine
Mother.
.
MAITREYI
The Rig Veda contains about one thousand hymns, of
which about 10 are accredited to Maitreyi, the woman seer and philosopher. She
contributed towards the enhancement of her sage-husband Yajnavalkya's
personality and the flowering of his spiritual thoughts. Yajnavalkya had two
wives Maitreyi and Katyayani. While Maitreyi was well versed in the Hindu
scriptures and was a 'brahmavadini', (an expounder of veda) while Katyayani was
an ordinary woman. One day the sage decided to make a settlement of his worldly
possessions between his two wives and renounce the world by taking up ascetic
vows. He asked his wives their wishes. The learned Maitreyi asked her husband
if all the wealth in the world would make her immortal. The sage replied that
wealth could only make one rich, nothing else. She then asked for the wealth of
immortality. Yajnavalkya was happy to hear this, and imparted Maitreyi the
doctrine of the soul and his knowledge of attaining immortality.Yajnavalkya
taught Maitreyi the system of logical
induction. There is a proposition; there is an argument and there is a
conclusion. The proposition was the great teaching of Yājñavalkya to Maitreyī, and it was
substantiated by arguments of various kinds. The arguments were studied in the
form of conversations and lastly they came to the conclusion that the
proposition is correct. Teaching of Yājñavalkya to
Maitreyī, where he explained that all love
was love of God. All love is love of the Absolute, and there is no love other
than that.Yājñavalkya sums up his teaching to
Maitreyī, saying that in the state of
liberation there is no external consciousness; there is no desire of any kind;
there is nothing to be seen or sensed or understood or thought, because of the
fact that all beings are consumed in its own Existence.
GHOSHA
Vedic wisdom is encapsulated in myriad hymns and 27 women-seers
emerge from them. One of them is Ghosha . Granddaughter of Dirghatamas and
daughter of Kakshivat, both composers of hymns in praise of Ashwins. Rig Veda
describes them as God of hundred powers who strives for others to do good. They
are Vedic gods symbolizing the shining of sunrise and sunset, appearing in the
sky before the dawn in a golden chariot, bringing treasures to men and averting
misfortune and sickness. They are the doctors of gods and are devas of
Ayurvedic medicine. Ghosha has two entire hymns of the tenthmandala
(book) of Rig Veda, 39&40 each containing 14 verses, assigned to her name.
The first hymn was in praise formally and eloquently of the Ashwins, the
heavenly twins who are also physicians; the second hymn is a personal wish
expressing her intimate feelings and desires for married life. But Ghosha was
suffering from an incurable disfiguring disease, probably leprosy, and remained
a spinster at her father's house. Her implorations with the Ashwins, and the
devotion of her forefathers towards them made them cure her disease and allow
her to experience wedded bliss.
Other than these four great women of ancient India there some
other names also Surya, Yami, Indrani,
Apala, lilavati etc. highlight the
esteem which women enjoyed in ancient times. Deterioration of position of woman
in the society: When we read the lives of above philosophers we see that Women
enjoyed an equal status with men in ancient India. Women were educated, had a
say in family matters, took important decisions of life and were free to choose
their own husbands. The ancient system of "Swayamvara" is mentioned
in holy scripts and also in many epics. A woman in ancient India was respected
and was given due importance in the society. Child marriage was unheard of. With time, women started to lose their importance and their status began to
wane. The freedom given to women was curtailed slowly and was not allowed to
voice their opinions in public matters in a society. Though it is difficult to
specify the exact chronological time as to when the deterioration in women’s
status started, gradual changes started
detoriating around 1500 B.C. and by the age
A.D.500 to A.D. 1800 the status had deteriorated considerably.
The status of women further
declined with the advent of Islamic invasion and then Christian era, curtailing the women’s freedom &
rights. Since life, property & chastity of women barely had values to invaders,
each community put walls of social norms to protect their women-resulting into
child marriages (before a girl could be of an age attractive enough to be
abducted),the shaving of widows heads (to make them look unattractive), Purdah
pratha, Dudhpiti, the practice of Sati, Jawhar vrata etc. Since then, women have not been able to
enjoy the same liberty as they used to have. But Indian women were not deterred
they started to gain their lost glory from pre-independence period.Rani Laxmi
bai of Jhansi did not remain under veil,
she went to battle ground and fought till her last breath. Kadambini Ganguly (Gangopadhay, nee Basu)
(1861- 1923 , the daughter of Brajakishore Basu, an enthusiastic Bhrama leader
and a pioneer of the women’s liberation movement, became the first Indian lady
doctor of India. Capt Laxmi Saigal born in 1914, doctor by profession fought
for Indian independence shown the path of freedom to Indian women who were in
the dark veil of customs and ignorance.
Since independence, successful endeavors have been made to gain
back the same liberty and status of women. The constitution of India guarantees
equal status to women with that of men. And as history repeats itself, woman
metamorphosed & saw herself, again, marching shoulder to shoulder with
males in every sphere of the life. Though much has been done, we still have a
long way to go before we shed our blind beliefs, taboos or social stigmas and
start recognizing & respecting her individuality.
Swami Vivekananda words can never fail. He said that Holy Mother
Sri Sarda devi is the highest manifestation of power (Shakti), from her power
many more Gargis, Maitreyis will be born and now we can
see how women of our country have
progressed to become Rocket woman -Tessy Thomas propelling rocket, Sunita
Williams the space traveler. Kalpana Chawla who dedicated her life for space
research, and so many women have taken
part in the research of finding God particle. Ending a note with a quote
by PB Shelley – “Can man be free if
woman be a slave?”
Ref.
Vedic literature is divided by tradition into two
categories: Shruti – that which is heard
(traditionally understood as revelation) and Smriti – that which is remembered (stemming from human
authors, not revelation). The Vedas constituting the former category are
considered sacred texts or scripture by many
followers of Hindu religion. The post-Vedic scriptures form the latter
category: the various shastras and
the itihaasas, or histories in epic Sanskrit
verse. Holding an ambiguous position between the Upanishads of the Vedas and
the epics, the Bhagavad Gita is
considered to be revered scripture by most Hindus
today.
Mahendra Kulasrestha (2006). The Golden Book of
Rigveda. Lotus Press. p. 221. ISBN 978-81-8382-010-3.
Kadambini Ganguly (Gangopadhay, nee Basu) was the daughter of Brajakishore
Basu, an enthusiastic Bhrama leader and a pioneer of the women’s liberation
movement.
ALPANA GHOSE
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