Ancient Indian Education: An Inquiry into its Origin, Development, and Ideals c5.107

c5.107

Thus it is said,⁵ 'Indra himself hath said, The mind of woman brooks not discipline, her intellect hath little weight'. And again,⁶ 'With women there can be no lasting friendship; hearts of hyenas are the hearts of women'. By the time the code of Manu was drawn up her dependent position was fully established. It is there written:⁷ 'By a girl, by a young woman, or even by an aged one, nothing must be done independently, even in her own house. In childhood a female must be subject to her father, in youth to her husband, when her lord is dead to her sons; a woman must never be independent. She must not seek to separate herself from her father, husband, or sons; by leaving them she would make both her own and her husband’s families contemptible.’