What can we, as Hindu students today, learn from the stalwart philosophers of the past? And how many of us, as young Hindus, know that some of our most influential thinkers were women?<\/span><\/p>\n Click on the tabs below to find out more!<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_tabs _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ tab_font_size=”14.5px” sticky_enabled=”0″ background_color=”#FFFFFF”][et_pb_tab title=”Gargi” _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default”]<\/p>\n Gargi, also known as Gargi Vachaknavi, was one of the most renowned philosophers and scholars from ancient Vedic times. Born to Rishi Vachaknu, estimated to have lived around ~700BCE, the young Gargi was extremely astute and curious, having a deep knowledge of the Vedas and Upanishads from a young age.<\/span><\/p>\n In an episode documented in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (Book 3), Gargi, amongst many other scholars, was invited by King Janaka to his Rajasuya Yagna. Janaka, being impressed by the massive gathering of minds, decided to propose a challenge – the most learned of scholars, who would prove themselves by being undefeated in debate, would then win themselves a substantial prize. Among these scholars was the mighty Rishi Yajnavalkya. Seeing himself as the most knowledgeable, Yajnavalkya engaged in discussion with scholar after scholar, until finally, Gargi herself approached.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0Their debate was on deeply metaphysical topics, as Gargi pressed Yajnavalkya on the foundations of reality. She asked him about the nature of the sun, moon, nature, and the Devatas, with her sequence of questions delving into answering the interconnectedness of existence.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0Still not satisfied, Gargi then asked:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cO Y\u0101j\u00f1avalkya, That which is above heaven and below the earth, which is this heaven and earth as well as between them, and that which people call the past and the present and the future – by what is this all pervaded?\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Yajnavalkya answered: Akasha, or \u2018space\u2019.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n (3.8.3)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0Considered the fifth element in Dharmic philosophies, it is the space in which all other elements come as one, and thus regarded as the basis and essence of all things in the material world.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0Her following question, showcasing her sheer brilliance, is wondering that if Akasha is the base of all that is visible, then:<\/span><\/p>\n kasminnu khalv\u0101k\u0101\u015ba ota\u015bca prota\u015bceti?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cBy what is this Akasha pervaded?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>Yajnavalkya responded \u201cAkshara,\u201d the immutable and imperishable Reality, also known as Brahman.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u201c\u200b\u200bThis Immutable, O G\u0101rg\u012b, is never seen but is the Witness; It is never heard, but is the Hearer; It is never thought, but is the Thinker; It is never known, but is the Knower. There is no other witness but This, no other hearer but This, no other thinker but This, no other knower but This. By this Immutable, O G\u0101rg\u012b, is the Akasha pervaded.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n (3.8.11)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n As she proclaimed that Yajnavalkya, her opponent, was indeed the highest of the learned in the court, it dawned upon everyone that Gargi had no ego in this exchange – Gargi\u2019s aim was to not obtain the prize, but to further her knowledge.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0As such, Rishika Gargi is widely renowned as one of the biggest representatives of Hindu philosophy within her time, and is venerated with the title \u201cBrahmavadini\u201d – a woman who knows Brahman, striving for the highest Truth. It is her unconventional thinking, her thirst for knowledge, and her search for true pure thought, that makes her one of the most revered Rishikas, as well as the exemplar of a brilliant mind, even to this day.<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_tab][et_pb_tab title=”Sulabha” _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default”]<\/p>\n Sulabha is an emblematic figure in Hindu history. An intellectual renunciant. Though born to a royal family, she chose to wander over the Earth alone as an ascetic. Her mention is recurrent in several texts widely separated by time. These include the Mahabharata, the Kaushitaki Brahmana and even the Saulabha Shakha of the Rigveda Samhita is attributed to Sulabha.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Despite the Rishika\u2019s significance, most modern discussions of the epic Mahabharata do not mention the debate between Sulabha and King Janaka or give it the importance it deserves! This raises the question why less attention has been paid to women\u2019s participation in intellectual and philosophical conversation.<\/span><\/p>\n Sulabha hears from many ascetics of King Janaka\u2019s claim to having achieved liberation whilst also being a king. Intrigued, she decides to meet him. While she is welcomed and treated as an honoured guest in the court, Janaka is in awe of her extraordinary beauty. But then he poses three questions at Sulabha: <\/span>Who are you? <\/span>Whose are you?\u00a0<\/span>Where have you come from?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAs lac and wood, as grains of dust and drops of water, exist commingled when brought together, even so are the existences of all creatures.\u201d <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n This is a statement of the philosophical position that the primal elements are the same in all bodies and beings, and the same consciousness pervades all existents, therefore if Janaka were truly knowledgeable, he would not ask her who she is, as he would know that she and he are essentially the same. To regard his own self as different from the self of other beings is to lack wisdom.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0He defines a woman by her ties to men, and if he cannot do so, he becomes very uncomfortable. Hence his anxiety to know \u201cwhose\u201d Sulabha is.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0As the conversation turns into a debate, Janaka arrogantly tries to prove that she is not a genuine renunciant. He appeals to conventional notions of gender roles, whether a woman can be autonomous, a man\u2019s intellectual equal or superior and can attain emancipation independently.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In response to being challenged rather crudely by Janaka in the presence of eminent scholars, she uses Samkhya (reason\/logic) to successfully establish that there is no essential difference between a man and a woman, and that the Atman is genderless. She also demonstrates (as in her own case) that a woman can achieve liberation by the same means as a man in every right.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIndeed, as thou thyself seest thy own body in thy body and as thou thyself seest thy soul in thy own soul, why is it that thou dost not see thy own body and thy own soul in the bodies and souls of others?<\/strong> If it is true that thou seest an identity with thyself and others, why then didst thou ask me who I am and whose? If it is true that hast, O king been freed from the knowledge of duality that (erroneously) says–this is mine and this other is not mine,–then what use is there with such questions as Who art thou, whose art thou and whence dost thou come?\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n From Sulabha\u2019s dignified response and knowledge of the Atman, Janaka is silenced by truth. This is unlike Rishika Gargi who in her debate with King Yajnavalkya is silenced.<\/span><\/p>\n Interestingly the academic study and observation of woman\u2019s agency and resistance in epics has focused mostly on the premise of protest. Ironically the goddess of the intellect, Saraswati, although prominent in Indian popular culture is scarcely given much attention in modern discussions of female agency.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The representation of a female figure winning a debate, which is a battle of words, arguably works as a more imitable model than the representation of a female winning a battle with weapons. Sulabha\u2019s triumph teaches us that for a woman to exercise her agency, she did not have to pick up her sword. She can use her pen, debate and ultimately her intellect.<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_tab][et_pb_tab title=”Karaikkal Ammaiyar” _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _module_preset=”default”]<\/p>\n Born as Punitavati to <\/span>a wealthy merchant family<\/span>, Karaikkal Ammaiyar is one of the eminent figures of early Tamil literature. She lived during the 6<\/span>th<\/span> century and was <\/span>a devotee of Bhagavan Shiva since childhood, a strong Bhakti that continued even after her marriage. She became one of the three women of the 63 Nayanmars, a group of realised saints devoted to Shiva, whose works and hymns were compiled in the 12-volume Thirumurai, a foundational Shastra of Shaiva traditions.<\/span><\/p>\n According to her biography by the saint Sekkizhar, <\/span>Karaikkal Ammaiyar utters her first poem once her husband had accepted her as a Devi upon witnessing the miracle of obtaining mangoes after just a prayer to Bhagavan. It is said that she wished to shed her beauty and wither her flesh away to attain the skeletal body of the Ganas, the ghouls who reside with Shiva. She embarks on a pilgrimage to Mount Kailasha, Bhagavan Shiva\u2019s abode, and the biography tells us that people remarked on her strange form with both admiration and fear. After witnessing the genuine Bhakti, it was Shiva Himself who gave her the name \u201cAmmaiyar,\u201d meaning mother<\/span>. <\/span><\/p>\n “She who comes, is like the mother in taking care of Me. She worshipped and got this form of fame.”<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n She is believed to be the first to write devotional poetry to Shiva Ji in the Tamil language. Her beautiful poetry presents the path of love and service that brings liberation. Her works reflect a strong filial love for the Lord and form an important part of the literary canon of the Tamil Bhakti (devotion) movement that helped in the early growth of the Shaiva philosophy of Hindu Dharma.\u00a0 Interestingly, she refers to herself as \u2018Pey\u2019 (ghost), who yearns for freedom from the bondage of existence (<\/span>samsara<\/span><\/i>), and watches with happiness, the ecstasy that her Shiva displays as He dances among the dead on the cremation ground.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cA female ghoul with withered breasts, bulging veins,<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n hollow eyes, white teeth, shrivelled stomach,<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n red hair, two fangs,<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n bony ankles, elongated shins,<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n stays in this cemetery, howling angrily.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n This place where my Lord dances in the fire with a cool body,<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n His streaming hair flying in all eight directions,<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n is Thiruvalangadu.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Thiruvalangadu, where she later lived, is home to one of the five holiest Mandirs dedicated to Nataraja.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n What is fascinating is that she absolutely defies all patriarchal norms of beauty, taking a fearful and reverential image. She rejects a body that is socially validated, \u2018<\/span>a form recognisable to men<\/span><\/i>\u2019, a form that is associated with mediation and commodification. She places no value in beauty or appearance if Ishwara can recognize her, and her entire journey of life is an act of surrender to the love of Shiva.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As the youth of today, we can take inspiration from Ammaiyar\u2019s journey of life that exhibits qualities of courage and determination to stand for your beliefs despite the many challenges one may face. In today\u2019s world, one that is filled with many distractions and \u201cset standards\u201d of beauty, we lose our self-belief in an attempt to meet these societal expectations. If we were to follow the lessons of Karaikkal Ammaiyar and believe that if our morals and consciousness are clear and devoted to Bhagavan, it does not matter what society labels you and as Ammaiyar mentions \u201c<\/span>If Shiva recognises me, why would I need a form recognisable to men in all directions who remain mired in ignorance?<\/span><\/i>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nhsf.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/gargi.png\")
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