Question

State two indicators of the declining status of women during the Later Vedic period.

Answer 1

The first indicator of the declining status of women during the Later Vedic Period is education being replaced by marriage and the practice of child marriage. In the Later Vedic Period, since education for girls was stopped, so was the sacrament of upanayana (thread ceremony), which initiated them into the Gurukul. It was replaced with marriage (vivaha) and child marriage. Marriage now became the only sacrament (samskara) permissible for women. The second indicator of the declining status of women during the Later Vedic Period is the practice of dowry. The birth of a daughter began to be looked down upon and there is evidence to suggest the beginning of the practice of dowry.