The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation, from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day c12.52

c12.52

It must be here pointed out that the exclusion of women from Vedic studies and sacrifices was not due to any deliberate plan to lower their status. Custodians of the Vedic lore honestly believed that no one should be allowed to recite and use the Vedic Mantras, who had not studied them properly. Women found it impossible to devote the necessary time for this purpose on account of their early marriages. It was therefore but fair that they should not be allowed to invite on themselves and their relations those dreadful calamities, which were honestly believed to result from an incorrect recitation of the Vedic stanzas¹. The desire was not to humiliate women, but rather to save them from dire consequences.