History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c29.61
History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c29.61
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v2.c29.61.1
One interesting question is whether the practice of *purda* now in vogue among Moslems and also among Hindus in certain provinces of India prevailed in ancient times. Ṛg. X. 85. 33 (used in the marriage rite) expressly calls upon people to look at the bride. 'This bride is endowed with great auspiciousness; assemble together and see her; having given her blessings of good luck you may go to your house'. The Āśv. gṛ. I. 8. 7 prescribes that at each halting place when the bride-groom is returning to his village with his bride he should look at the spectators with the verse Ṛg. X. 85. 33.¹⁴⁰² This shows that no veil was worn by the bride and she appeared in public without one. Though in the marriage hymn there is a blessing (Ṛg. X. 85. 46) that the bride was to dominate over her father-in-law, mother-in-law, sister-in-law and brother-in-law, it appears that that was only a blessing and the heart's wish, but the reality was somewhat different. The Ait. Br.¹⁴⁰³ (12. 11) says that the daughter-in-law is abashed in the presence of the father-in-law and goes away concealing herself from him. This indicates that there was some restraint for younger women when they were in the presence of elders. But in the gṛhya and dharma sūtras there is no reference to any veil for women when moving in public. Pāṇini III. 2. 36 teaches the formation of 'asūryampaśyā' (who do not see the sun) applied to queens.
v2.c29.61.2
That only shows that royal ladies did not leave the precincts of the palace and come under public gaze. In the Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa¹⁴⁰⁴ (33. 8) it is said 'people walking on the public road see to-day Sītā who could not formerly be seen even by aerial beings'. Similarly it is stated in the same kāṇḍa (116. 28) 'the appearance of a woman in public is not blamable in misfortunes, difficulties, in wars, in svayaṁvara, in a sacrifice, and in a marriage'. In the Sabhāparva¹⁴⁰⁵ 69. 9 Draupadī exclaims 'we have heard that ancient people did not take married women to the public assembly-hall; that ancient and long-standing practice has been contravened by the Kauravas'. She says this after referring to the fact that, since she was seen at her svayaṁvara by the kings, she was never seen again by them till the day she was brought to the assembly-hall when Yudhiṣṭhira gambled and lost everything. This shows that women, particularly high-born ladies, did not appear in public except on certain occasions, but it does not follow that they always wore the veil. When the Kauravas were routed the Śalyaparva (29. 74) laments that their ladies whom even the sun did not see in their palaces were seen by the common people who had come to the capital. *Vide* also Sabhāparva 97. 4-7, Śalyaparva 19. 63, Strīparva 9. 9-10, Āśrama-vāsi-parva 15. 13.
v2.c29.61.3
In the Harṣacarita (IV) princess Rājyaśrī, whom the intended bride-groom Grahavarmā came to see just before marriage, is described as having her face covered with a veil of fine red cloth. In another place, while describing the country of Sthāṇvīśvara (modern Thanesar) Bāṇa says 'where bees drawn by the fragrance of the breaths of the ladies (and hovering round their faces) served as a charming veil for their faces and the veil actually worn by them became a mere redundancy worn because it was the practice of high-born ladies to wear one'. In the Kādambarī also (para 99) Bāṇa describes Patralekhā as covering her face with a veil of red cloth. In the Śākuntala¹⁴⁰⁶ when Śakuntalā is taken to the court of Duṣyanta she is described as wearing a veil. So it must be conceded that ladies of high rank did not appear in public without a veil, but ordinarily women did not wear any veil. It is probably after the advent of the Moslems that the wearing of a veil, which was not quite unknown, became general among Hindu women in Northern and Eastern India. Vide Indian Antiquary for 1933 p. 15, where a passage is quoted from the Sāṅkhyatattva-kaumudī of Vācaspati (9th century A. D.) referring to ladies of good family not appearing in public without a veil and Pathak Commemoration vol. *p.* 72 for references from Buddhist works about the practice of *purda*.