The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation, from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day c11.s1.10

c11.s1.10

The earliest reference to the Purda system is to be found in the present version of the epics. There we see that some kind of Purda was observed in certain royal families, which felt, probably on account of a notion of prestige, that royal ladies should not come within the gaze of vulgar eyes. At the time when Sītā set out with her husband for the forest through the public thoroughfares of Ayodhyā, a regret is expressed in the Rāmāyaṇa that a lady, who had so far not been seen even by the spirits of the sky, should now become the object of public gaze². A similar observation occurs in the Mahābhārata also at the time of Dhṛitarāshṭra’s departure to forest.³ The Rāmāyaṇa further observes that there is no objection if women come out in public on the occasions of marriages, *svayaṁvaras*, sacrifices and public calamities¹. It would follow from this that they should remain in Purda in normal life.