Gārgī Vācaknavī
Late Vedic age · Videha · Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad
Gārgī, daughter of the sage Vacaknu, is one of the great women philosophers of ancient India. In the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad she stands up twice in King Janaka’s assembly of learned men to question Yājñavalkya.
She asks on what everything is “woven, warp and woof” — water, air, the worlds — pressing further at each answer, until he speaks of the akṣara, the imperishable, by whose command sun and moon hold their places. Her sharp, fearless questioning is remembered as a model of honest enquiry, and she is often cited as evidence of women’s learning in the Vedic age.
Woman philosopher · Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 3.6, 3.8 · Questioned Yājñavalkya