Consider the following statements:

1. The condition of women was the same during the Vedic and the later Vedic periods.

2. The Later Vedic period saw a rise in the extent of kingdoms as opposed to the Rig Vedic period.

3. The prominence of Indra faded during the later Vedic period and instead, importance was given to Prajapati.

4. The pattern of social system (Varna) continued as it is from the Rig Vedic to the Later Vedic period.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

• During the Vedic period, women were given equal opportunities as men for their spiritual and intellectual development. There were women poetesses like Apala, Viswavara, Ghosa and Lopamudra during the Rig Vedic period.

• Women could even attend the popular assemblies. There was no child marriage and the practice of sati was absent.

• However, with the transition to the later Vedic period, the position of women declined, as the society became more patriarchal.

• Women also lost their political rights of attending assemblies. Child marriages had become common.

• According the Aitreya Brahmana, a daughter has been described as a source of misery. However, the women in the royal household enjoyed certain privileges.

• The social divisions were not rigid during the Rig Vedic period, as it was in the later Vedic period.

• Larger kingdoms were formed during the later Vedic period.

• The four divisions of society (Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas and Sudras) or the Varna system was thoroughly established during the Later Vedic period. The two higher classes – Brahmana and Kshatriya enjoyed privileges that were denied to the Vaisya and Sudra. Many sub-castes, on the basis of their occupation appeared in this period.

• The two outstanding Rig Vedic gods, Indra and Agni, lost their former importance. On the other hand, Prajapati, the creator, came to occupy the supreme position in the later Vedic period.