Rigvedic women seers
Also called: Brahmavadinis, Women Vedic seers, Brahmavadini · Topic: The Vedic Age · NCERT: Class 9, Ch 5 "State and Society up to 1000 CE"
Meaning
Ṛigvedic women seers (rishikas, also called brahmavādinīs, "women who speak of sacred knowledge") were women to whom some hymns of the Ṛigveda are traditionally given. The best known are Apālā, Viśhvavārā, Ghoṣhā and Lopāmudrā. They are cited as proof that women in the Vedic age took part in learning and in composing sacred hymns. Women also performed some rituals alongside men and attended the sabhā. Later, women's position went up and down and even declined.
Example
Lopāmudrā, wife of the sage Agastya, is linked to a Ṛigvedic hymn in which she speaks to her husband. It is one of the hymns traditionally given to women seers.
Don't confuse with
- Gārgī: a woman philosopher of the later Bṛihadāraṇyaka Upaniṣhad, known for questioning Yājñavalkya in debate. She did not compose Ṛigvedic hymns.
- Vedic goddesses (Uṣha, Aditi): they were goddesses praised in the hymns. They were not women who composed hymns.