History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c46.61

v3.c46.61

It appears that even women could in rare cases adopt the ascetic's life in ancient brāhmaṇic times. The Mit. on Yāj. III. 58 quotes a sūtra of Baud. (strīṇāṃ caike) to the effect that according to some ācāryas even women could adopt the ascetic mode of life. Patañjali in his Mahābhāṣya (vol. II. p. 100) speaks of a woman ascetic (parivrājikā) named Śaṅkarā. Yama quoted in the Sm. C. (on vyavahāra p. 254) declares 'neither in the Vedas nor in the dharmaśāstras is pravrajyā enjoined for women; (procreation and care of) progeny from a male of the same varṇa as herself is her proper *dharma*, this is the established rule.'²¹⁶⁶ The Sm. C. gives in a far-fetched way absence of sexual intercourse as the meaning of pravrajyā here. Atri (136-137) lays down that six actions by women and śūdras lead to sinfulness viz. japa, tapas (austerities), pravrajyā (ascetic's life), pilgrimages, endeavour to secure miraculous power by repeating spells, sole devotion to the worship of a goddess.²¹⁶⁷ In the drama called Mālavikāgnimitra Kālidāsa describes the Paṇḍitā Kauśikī as wearing the garb of an ascetic (in I. 14). It must be said that the general trend of Hinduism is against women adopting the homeless or ascetic life. The Jātakas (e. g. IV. 392) rarely speak of cāṇḍālas as adopting the homeless condition.