5i. Female Education

[Full title: 5. Women in the Atharvavedic Society, (i): Female Education]

So far the question of female education is concerned, the Atharvaveda is not totally silent. While describing the qualities of a Brahmacārin,^[1] i.e. a celibate, the Atharvaveda^[2] states that a maiden can obtain a youthful husband only after the successful completion of the period of her studentship. Through this context, the Upanayana or the initiation into the Vedic lore is ordained for the girls also, which is supported by Sashiprabha Kumar, the eminent scholar.^[3] Women’s participation in higher education may also be known from the perception of the Vedic mantras by women seers, such as Āmbhṛṇī Vāk, the daughter of the seer Ambhṛṇa.^[4] In fact, the intuitive knowledge of the women seers continues from Ṛgvedic period and the Sarvānukramaṇī, as observed by Altekar,^[5] enumerates as many as twenty women seers of the Ṛgveda.