STREESHAKTI IN ANCIENT INDIAN KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS: POWER, PARADOX, AND PATHWAYS TO VIKSIT BHARAT THROUGH NEP 2020

Abstract

The concept of Streeshakti in Ancient Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) embodies a nuanced interplay of power, reverence, and constraint, reflecting the paradoxical position of women in early Indian society. Women were revered as goddesses, seers, scholars, mothers, and moral anchors, yet their lived realities were often circumscribed by social norms, ritual prescriptions, and institutional limitations. This study examines multifaceted representations of women across Vedic literature, the epics (Ramayana and Mahabharata), Dharmashastra texts, Buddhist and Jain scriptures, Sangam literature, and classical Sanskrit drama, integrating textual insights with archaeological, epigraphic, and numismatic evidence to illuminate women’s roles in religious, intellectual, political, economic, and cultural domains. While canonical texts often idealized women or imposed normative constraints that reinforced patriarchal structures, historical evidence demonstrates their active participation in governance, education, spiritual life, economic production, and social leadership. From the early Vedic period through the post-Gupta age, women experienced both empowerment and restriction, with alternative spaces for agency persisting despite societal constraints. Re-engaging with the empowering dimensions of Streeshakti through Indian Knowledge Systems offers culturally grounded pathways for gender justice, social equity, and holistic development. Aligned with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which emphasizes inclusive, value-based education and ethical grounding, such insights contribute to the vision of a Viksit Bharat—a nation where women’s intellectual, moral, and social agency is recognized, nurtured, and integrated into contemporary education and societal frameworks.