Many people claim that women should not study Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, and various other scriptures.

Is that true? Are women really barred from studying Vedas and other scriptures?

Seems like, these people who claim that haven’t read Rigveda.

Rigveda is full of Rishikas (female Rishis), who have contributed to writing various ‘riks’ (Rigved shlokas are called riks). 

Not only that, but there are also stories of various Rishikas like Maitreyi, Gargi, who participating in debates in King Janaka’s court, and no-one ever bats an eyelid.

Even after the Vedic period, universities like Taxila allowed female students. 

During the debate between Adi Shankara and Mandan Mishra, ‘Ubhaya Bharati’ was the judge, due to her impartiality and deep understanding of scriptures.

This way, any woman, who was interested, was always allowed to pursue the studies.

Having said that, in the last Millennium, where attackers started treating women as loot, many restrictions were put on women, but that was never a norm.

So, coming back to answer the original question, if women can write Vedas, how can they be barred from studying it?