“What Went Wrong? The Fall of Women’s Status from Vedic India to Now”

India has always been known as the land where the feminine is divine. We worship Durga for strength, Lakshmi for prosperity, and Saraswati for wisdom. Our epics, the Ramayana and Mahabharata, show women with high dignity, respect, and influence — from Sita’s moral power to Draupadi’s voice in the Kaurava Sabha.

They did not compromise.In the Vedic age, women like Gargi, Maitreyi, and Lopamudra were scholars and rishis. Education, freedom of choice, and dignity were their rights.

So, what went wrong? How did a civilization that once celebrated women’s power fall into practices like dowry exploitation, child marriage, female foeticide, purdah/ghunghat, and even bride-burning?

The answer lies in slavery, insecurity, and centuries of foreign domination.

Women in Ancient India: A Golden Standard

•Equal Education: Women studied the Vedas, debated philosophy, and participated in yajnas.

•Learning Yudh Kala: In ancient times, Hindu women used to learn Yudh Kala, and participating in war was common for them too.”

https://youtu.be/L4fUADQu3uE?si=vC_0hGHCobtByfXw

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•Freedom in Marriage: Practices like swayamvara gave them the right to choose their husbands.

•Stridhan, Not Dowry: Wealth given to women was their own property, not an extortion tool.

•No Ghunghat, No Oppression: Women were visible, respected, and honored as givers of life and culture.

•Sacred Marriage Timings: Weddings took place during Brahma Muhurta (early morning) or at Sandhya (evening), the times aligned with prayer and divine worship — never in secrecy or late at night.

The Turning Point: Invasions and Slavery

With the arrival of foreign invasions (Turks, Afghans, Mughals, and later British), Indian society faced constant insecurity:

•Purdah & Ghunghat: Adopted to protect women from abduction and exploitation.

•Child Marriage: Families married off girls young so they would not be targeted.

•Dowry Exploitation: Stridhan (voluntary gifts) got corrupted into forced dowry demands.

The word “Dahej” (दहेज) is actually of Persian–Urdu origin, not originally Sanskrit or Vedic.

📌 Word Origin

In Hindi/Sanskrit, the word for gifts to a bride is Strīdhan (स्त्रीधन).

The term “Dahej” comes from Persian/Arabic via Urdu, used during the Mughal period:

“Jahiz” (جاهز) in Arabic means “furniture, trousseau, or what a bride takes with her.”

This became “Jahiz/Dajhiz” in Persian → and in Urdu it evolved into “Dahej.”

So when Persian and Urdu became court languages under the Delhi Sultanate and Mughals, “Dahej” entered common use.

📌 Why this matters

The concept of Strīdhan (voluntary gifts to the woman, her property) is ancient and Hindu.

The word Dahej and the practice of forced dowry as a demand came from Mughal–Persian influence, and later spread under British law.

So:

Strīdhan = Vedic, positive, empowering.

Dahej = Persian/Urdu word, negative, exploitative, tied to Mughal & later British influence.

•Female Illiteracy: With gurukuls and universities destroyed (Nalanda, Takshashila, Vikramshila), women lost access to education.

•Night Marriages in North India: Out of fear of raids, weddings were held secretly at night instead of during auspicious hours.

•Jauhar & Female Foeticide: Extreme measures rooted in fear and social insecurity.

These were not our dharmic practices, but defensive reactions to centuries of slavery.

Why They Continued Even After Independence

One might ask — if slavery ended, why do some of these practices still survive?

The reasons are:

1. Psychological Slavery: Even after political independence, mental chains remained. People continued what they thought was “tradition,” without realizing its origins in fear.

2. Greed: Dowry became a way for some families to amass wealth. What was once stridhan for the bride turned into exploitation by the groom’s side.

3. Ignorance: Generations forgot that ghunghat, late-night marriages, or denial of education were never Vedic customs, but distortions.

The Path Forward: Returning to Our Roots

If we truly follow Sanatan Dharma, we must recognize that:

•Oppression of women is not Hindutva.

•Dowry exploitation is not Hindutva.

•Child marriage is not Hindutva.

•Female foeticide is not Hindutva.

•Late-night weddings are not Hindutva.

These are scars of slavery, not the soul of our civilization.

Sanatan Dharma teaches “Yatra Naryastu Pujyante, Ramante Tatra Devataah” — where women are respected, there the gods dwell.

It is time we shed the practices born out of fear, greed, and ignorance, and return to our true roots — a society that honors women, values education, celebrates life, and lives in harmony with dharma(i.e truth, justice and righteousness). 

Transgenerational Trauma: The Hidden Burden

For centuries, Indian women have endured violence .This suffering has not vanished with time; it has been passed down through generations.

This is called transgenerational trauma — when trauma is inherited, not just experienced.

Behavioral: Mothers teaching daughters silence and submission.

Cultural: Customs like ghunghat and dowry treated as “tradition.”

Psychological: Internalized inferiority — “I must tolerate, I am weaker.”

Even if today’s women did not face the original violence, they still carry its scars. This is why many women no longer silently accept injustice, but resist it — often causing friction in families that expect unquestioning obedience.

The Real Path to Harmony

A society cannot heal by demanding blind obedience from women. Peaceful homes will emerge only when sons and daughters are treated with equal love, respect, and rights.

✨ A daughter oppressed becomes a daughter-in-law who resists.

A daughter respected becomes a daughter-in-law who uplifts the whole family.

Call to Action

The time has come to drop the shadows of slavery and return to the light of  rationality and Scientific thought process. 

Before you follow a custom, ask yourself:

1. Is this truly rooted in dharma, or just a distortion born of fear and slavery?

2. Am I raising my daughters and sons with equality — or with the same chains that hurt generations before?

Real change begins when each family chooses respect over oppression, and equality over silence.