The Social and Military Position of the Ruling Caste in Ancient India, as Represented by the Sanskrit Epic c2.s6.48

c2.s6.48

Finally, we as cannot suppose for a moment that the Epic represents either chronological or geographical unity, we must always understand that ‘the women of India’ means the Aryan women approved of by the late redaction, when rules for conduct are given; since we read of women whose customs are directly opposed to those allowed by the Epic ideal, women who dance naked, and get drunk, and behave with open and unabashed immodesty;* and though we know that the practice of ‘guarding’ or shutting women up was of comparatively recent origin, yet we have to assume this as the custom for all respectable women of the ‘Epic age,’ the only exceptions being those of older traditional tales, girls in lowly circumstances, and country girls. City women of respectable character were neither seen nor heard. Yet the feasts and rejoicings of a still later epoch† show us women freely commingling with men, and we must suppose that absolute secretion of women was practiced only in the families of kings or of the highest nobles, and that the occasional return to a natural life was a temporary adoption of rules current in lower society.‡ Some women seem recognized as not restricted by the ordinary rules of seclusion.§