Vada in Theory and Practice: Studies in Debates, Dialogues and Discussions in Indian Intellectual Discourses c11.s14.1

c11.s14.1

Paṇḍitā Ramabai was born one year after the Sepoy Mutiny, i.e. in 1858. Her father Anant Shastri Dongre was a Koṅkanastha “Chitpavan” brāhmaṇa and himself a great *paṇḍit*. He was subjected to condemnation for his attempts at women’s education. He tried to teach Sanskrit to his first wife and did not succeed in the attempt. His second wife along with her two daughters used to learn Sanskrit with him. Anant Shastri was severely criticized for this, but he dared to challenge the orthodox *paṇḍits*. A *dharmasabhā* was held to take him to task. During the course of a prolonged debate he silenced the opponents by citing 300 references from the Dharmaśāstras to prove that teaching Veda to women is permitted in the law books. Even though the fundamentalists were defeated in the debate, Anant Shastri was cast out by the society.