Women
of the Vedic period (circa 1500-1200 BCE) 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 - Ghosha, Lopamudra, Sulabha Maitreyi, and Gargi
- come to mind.
Ghosha
Vedic wisdom is encapsulated in myriad hymns, and 27 women-seers emerge from
them. But most of them are mere abstractions, except for a few, such as Ghosha,
who has a definite human form. Granddaughter of Dirghatamas and daughter of
Kakshivat, both composers of hymns in praise of Ashwins, Ghosha has two entire
hymns of the tenth book, each containing 14 verses, assigned to her name. The
first eulogizes the Ashwins, the heavenly twins who are also physicians; the
second is a personal wish expressing her intimate feelings and desires for married
life. Ghosha suffered 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.
Lopamudra
The Rig Veda ('Royal Knowledge') has long conversations between the sage
Agasthya and his wife Lopamudra that testify to the great intelligence and goodness
of the latter. As the legend goes, Lopamudra was created by sage Agasthya and
was given as a daughter to the King of Vidarbha. The royal couple gave her the
best possible education and brought her up amidst luxury. When she attained
a marriageable age, Agasthya, the sage who was under vows of celibacy and poverty,
wanted to own her. Lopa agreed to marry him, and left her palace for Agasthya's
hermitage. 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, and he later became a great poet.
Maitreyi
The Rig Veda contains about one thousand hymns, of which about ten 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',
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 to
Maitreyi the doctrine of the soul and his knowledge of attaining immortality.
Gargi
Gargi, the Vedic prophetess and daughter of sage Vachaknu, composed several
hymns that questioned the origin of all existence. When King Janak of Videha
organized a 'brahmayajna', a philosophic congress centered around the fire sacrament,
Gargi was one of the eminent participants. She challenged the sage Yajnavalkya
with a volley of perturbing questions on the soul or 'atman' that confounded
the learned man who had till then silenced many an eminent scholar. 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.
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