Women Seers of the Rigveda

Contents: Preface. 1. Introduction. 2. Traditional Exposition vis-a-vis Modern Interpretations of the Concerned Rgvedic Hymns: Some Major Differences. 3. Socio-Cultural Aspects of the Select Hymns and the World-view of the Women Seers. 4. Mythological Aspects of the Select Texts.5. Liturgical Peculiarities of the Select Texts. 6. Literary Appreciation of the Select Text and the Poetic Imageries Therein. 7. A Study of the Language and Stylistics of the Text. Epilogue. Bibliography. Index of English Terms. Index of Sanskrit Terms.

This volume brings forth an in-depth study of Rgveda from the socio-cultural perspective, analyzing the various aspects of hymns ascribed to the women seers of the “root Veda”. Though modern scholars from the East and the West have made many an attempt in interpreting the hymns of the Rgvedic poetesses, those lacked a thorough study from the socio cultural perspective.

While providing detailed accounts of the women seers of Rgveda, this volume discusses the traditional expositions vis-à-vis the modern interpretations of those accounts. It minutely explains the socio-cultural aspects of the select texts, thus exposing the world-view of those women seers. Their personal traits and compositions on the basis of the mythological data available in the Vedic and subsequent literatures enrich the volume further.

Apart from the liturgical peculiarities and literary analysis of the hymns of the women seers, and the languages and stylistics of the texts from a linguistic point of view, the book deals with a study of the sentence patterns which, normally lacks in Sanskrit research works.