The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation, from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day c17.s3.14

c17.s3.14

It has also to be pointed out that some of the grievances from which women were suffering during the last two thousand years were either theoretical or common to both men and women. Thus it was only a handful of Pandits, who under the influence of theological theories, regarded women as being of the same status as that of the Śūdras; to ordinary society, however, women were symbols of purity, religiousness and spirituality. They, and not men, were the custodians of national culture, and determined the details of religious rituals and ceremonies more authoritatively than the professional priest. It is true that literacy among women rapidly declined during the last two thousand years. But the the same was the case with men, though no doubt to a lesser degree. Outside priestly and commercial classes, literacy was not of great use either. The printing press was yet to come into existence. Books were very costly and almost unprocurable to men of ordinary means. The usual way of imbibing national culture and traditional wisdom was to listen to the village preacher (*Kathaka* or *Purāṇika*), and illiterate women had greater facilities and opportunities to do this than literate men. It is true that owing to the lowering of the marriageable age, brides lost all voice in the settlement of their marriages. But the same was the case with the bride-grooms also, who being only 14 or 15, could naturally have no effective say in the selection of their partners in life. It must be added that parents normally took all possible care to make the best possible choice. Moreover, it was an age when parental authority was instinctively obeyed; not even one bride or bride-groom in a million ever dreamt of nursing any grievance for being denied a voice in the settlement of the marriage.