Female Heroes of Vedic Era (Elaboration)
If you had to imagine a Sage, you’d probably think of an old guy with long hair like this, correct?
But what the media doesn’t tell you is that in our Sanatan Dharma, women or female sages have freely been at the forefront of not just learning Vedic knowledge but actually creating it.
So here’s the tea.
In Hinduism, women have held important spiritual positions equal & sometimes even higher to that of men. We had:
1) Brahmavadinis, women who not only received the sacred thread (Upanayana) but dedicated their entire lives to the study & teaching of Vedas.
2) Sadyovadhu, who received Vedic & primary education but married & participated in the household.
3) Rishikas, the seers, who had divine visions of Vedic hymns, composing them into our Vedas. We know of at least 25+ such unique Rishikas.
Also Upadhyayas who taught, and teachers belonging to specific lineages or schools like Kathi, Bahvrichi, etc.
Now coming to specific examples, who should be our role models:
1) Gargi Vachaknavi is found in two legendary passages of the Brihadaryanka Upanishad, in which she challenges her peer Sage Yajnyavalka twice to reveal the true nature of God and this world, giving us the most profound explanations of the impossible & unknowable.
2) Maitreyi is one of Yajnyavalkya’s wives, again engaging him in a deep discussion on the existence of this world & the nature of consciousness.
3) Vak Ambhrini, who wrote the Devi Sukta, one of Rigveda’s most profound mantrs, declaring Shakti as the Ultimate Goddess & Power walking with the Rudras, Vasus, Adityas, and Vishvadevas. She’s basically the ancestor of Shaktism, inaugurating the tradition that birthed Devi Mahatmya, Devi Bhagvata Purana, and Kashmir Shaivism.
4) Sulabha, a wandering ascetic, appears in the Mahabharata, providing one of the most sophisticated longest philosophical exchanges we’ve seen.
5) Ghosha has personal prayers dedicated to the Ashvin Kumaras, the divine physicians, who cure her disease & enable her to be healthy + marry.
6) Lopamudra also contributes to Rigveda, using authority to argue against excessive asceticism, of woman asserting her conjugal rights directly in verse.
7) Surya Savitri, records the Vivaha Sukta, which is recited in Hindu marriages to this day, making it one of the most widely heard mantras from the Rig Veda.
8) Vishvavara composed verses dedicated to Agni, as she was a Rishika of the Atri family which was a fire-worshipping clan.
Continuing the list, we had many other icons, like Katyayani, Romasha, Vadava Prathiteyi, Apala Atreyi, Ratri Bharadvaji, etc.
Taken together, it only shows the progressiveness our Dharma had, but unfortunately due to invasions & internal factors, with the age of marriage dropping, many women lost their rights & power in society - this doesn’t mean our Dharma itself is sexist, anti-feminist or wrong.
So don’t let pseudo-liberals shake your spiritual faith & share this with women & men who should know it!