Dr. Balaji Ganorkar
Dr. Shefali Chaturvedi delivering her lecture
Dr. Shefali Chaturvedi delivered her lecture on ‘Position of Women in Ancient India' with special reference to the Jain Agamas in the 13th Monthly Study Circle's meeting of B. L. Institute of Indology, Delhi on 8th July 2006. She based her lecture on the Vedic, Buddhist and Jaina tenets. Beginning with the position of women as depicted in Vedic age, she focussed on the information found in Sanskrit, Prakrit and Pali sources. Women were considered an obstacle in the spiritual development in Jaina canon, but the induction of woman in order of Jina as nuns is the brightest aspect of Jaina tradition. Women in ancient India especially in Vedic period had the equal opportunity for education.
She also threw light on social, economic, political and spiritual status of women in different ages.
The Chairperson of the session Prof. Kamala Jain, emphasized in her scholarly address that women from the very beginning of the society were victim of the man dominated society. She quoted from the Manusmriti and other texts to depict the attitude towards the woman in ancient, medieval and modern society. She concluded that despite all odds, woman has proved her worth and is making her presence felt in all walks of life.
Dr. Shefali Chaturvedi (l), Prof. Kamala Jain (m) and Shri V. N. Dalal (r), president of BLII
The lecture commenced with chanting of Namaskar Mahamantra by Dr. Mohan Pandey and invocation of Saraswati by Km. Shalini Sharma. Dr. Ashok Kumar Singh conducted the proceedings. Dr. Balaji Ganorkar, Officiating Director of BLII appreciated the works of Km. Shefali and called scholars to work on our ancient texts to remove misunderstandings in the modern societies about our glorious culture and religion. He also accorded vote of thanks. On this event Shri V. N. Dalal, President, BLII, Shri Deven Yashwantji, Treasurer and Prof. J. P. Vidyalankar were present and expressed their valuable views on the topic.
Dr. Balaji Ganorkar expressing his views
Shri Deven Yashwantji, Treasurer and Prof. giving his views