Women in Vedic Society contd

Women in the Vedic society were well educated. As women were held responsible for raising their children to be good citizens and, as mothers were considered to be a child’s first Guru, education was considered to be a must for women. Important affairs of the household including the budget was handed over to the lady of the house. There have been many women known for their high knowledge of the vedas and the shastras; to name a few, Lopamudra, Maitreyi, Gargi, Meera Bhai, and  Andaal one of the 12 alwaar saints who rendered the essence of  Vedas in Tamil. In more recent years there have been many women famous for their knowledge and spirituality; to  name a few women from The Sri Vaishnava lineage we have, Andal  the mother of ParAsara Bhattar and the wife of KuratthAzhwAn who lived almost 2000 years ago, Parutthik Kollai AmmAl , Kongup PirAtti (AchArya RaamAnujA's disciple ) , Vangipuratthu Aacchi ( the disciple of AlawanadAr). 

In more recent times we have, Shakuntala Devi born into a Brahmin family in 1939 she was a prodigy in Mathematics. The famous poet Sarojini Naidu known as the “Nightingale of India” was born on February 13, 1879. She was the first woman to become the President of the Indian National Congress and the first woman to become the governor of a state in India . At the age of 16 her parents allowed her to travel to England to get higher education. Vijaya Lakshmi Nehru Pandit born on 18 Aug 1900 was a diplomat and a politician. She served as the Indian Ambassador to the Soviet Union, Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom . She was also the first woman president of the UN General Assembly. Indhira Gandhi who served as the Prime Minsiter of India. In the year 1886: Kadambini Ganguly  and Anandi Gopal Joshi  became the first women from India to be trained in Western Medicine . In 1951 Prem Mathur of the Deccan Airways became the first woman commercial pilot in India In  1966:Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay won Ramon Magsaysay award for community leadership (Ref:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_India)

 The list would go on but I will not be able to complete this list during my life time.It is evident that throughout the history of Sanatana Dharma there have been many prominent and powerful women who were well respected in the society.