What is Navratri, DurgaAshtami and Dussehra?

Navratri, DurgAshtami, Dussehra

As many people in different parts of the world celebrate Durga Ashtami it is important to understand the significance of Durga Pooja or Durga Ashtami.

“The term Prakriti is explained as follows in accordance with its root meaning.

In the Vedas Pra means superior or first and Kriti is creation. Pra again means Satwa, Kri Reja and Ti Tama.

Prakriti thus represents the all-powerful Sakti possessing the three Gunas. The Atma divided itself into two, the male on the right side and the female on left which is known as Prakriti. The two stands in the relation of fire and its heat, and the Yogis therefore do not recognize any difference between male and female.

In her act of creation, Prakriti is distinguished as of five forms.

1. Durga, the mother of Lord Ganesa, is the first form representing the underlying principle of all the
vegetable and other lives.

2. Lakshmi is the second form representing the glories observable in heaven and earth.

3. Saraswati is the third form representing the real knowledge that removes all doubts.

4. Savitri or Gayatri, the mother of the Vedas, Sandhya, Mantras and Tantras, is the fourth form
representing the Brahmaic lustre and energy.

5. Radha, residing in Go-loka in the form of a Gopi is the fifth form representing the five vital airs.

She is seen by the Yogis by meditation according to the methods prescribed in the Vedas. Sak means glory and Ti is valour. Sakti is the form of both. Bhaga means prosperity and Buddhi and Bhagavati is their form. Radha and Sarva-mangala allude to the power of granting liberation. Amba means mother of the Jagat.

Being created by Vishnu, she is Vaishnavi. Gowri means the Sakti pertaining to the Gurus or masters, namely Siva and Krishnaa. Parvati refers to the Parvas or the holy festive occasions on which she is worshipped. Sanatani means existing without Gunas at all times and places. Kritika refers to the Kalas of Prakriti representing the six Yogas.

Durga refers to the Sakti of Hari that destroys fear, enemies, diseases and sins. The Sakti that bestows the highest bliss is called Sivaa. Abhaya refers to the destruction of fear. The Sakti that bestows prosperity and liberation is called Maya and Vishnu-Bhakti. Narayani means born from half the body of Narayana. Jaya means granting victory.”

Durga also refers to knowledge. The four arms of Durga refers to managing the aham (ego), Gunas, the sword or mace to ward off evil and lower desires.

Similarly “Para-Sakti verily signifies Samvit or Gnana and nothing else. Therefore, she should ever be worshipped by man. Everything misconceived by man as different from her or as not belonging to Her, is technically styled Samsara. For the purpose of removing the miseries of this Samsara therefore, man should worship this goddess who is in the form of Atma and is free from the illusion of this ephemeral Jagat.

This goddess represents in reality the purified Budhi ( intellect) of a human which discerns correctly that the illusory Jagat in itself is but the manifestation of Siva or Atma.  She is technically known as Sivaa and Samvit.  No doubts should be entertained of this fact.”

Asuras and Rakshasas are not the so called demons or cannibals (Annie Besant’s mis interpretations in Sanatana Dharma) who eat the flesh of human beings and rule the nether world.  They are our lower desires which need to be destroyed by Pranayama (breathing out of the Asuras & breathing in the Devas).                

Mahisham in Sanskrit also refers to ignorance or lower desires. Rakshasas also denote the diminution in the duration of the day and metaphorically refers to the sins of man that obstruct the real knowledge of Brahman’.

Durga Ashtami refers to the knowledge acquired to kill ignorance to ward off lower desires. (Mahisasura-mardhini)

The Ten days of the festival or Pooja refers to the purification of the ten Indriyas- Five Karma Indriyas and Five Gnana Indriyas of human beings by the necessary spiritual practices symbolically pointed out during the festivities for the ten days.

Five Karma Indriyas (active expressions): eliminating, reproducing, moving, grasping, and speaking– Five Gnana Indriyas (cognitive senses): smelling, tasting, hearing, touching, seeing) 

The Vigraha of Durga or any ‘Vigraha’ refers to deep analysis and understanding that all that is here is Ishwara/Brahman and that Ishwara is "you".

• Trident represents the three Gunas; 
• Four hands signify Satwa, Rejas, Tamas and Ahamkara.  
• Sanka (conch) represents five subtle elements and is placed in the hand which denotes Rejas. 
• Chakra ( discus) refers to "Manas" ( mind" which is unaltered like that of a child, 
• Sarang (bow) represents Satwic Maya, 
• Mace ( gadha) which is always (to battle the  ignorance), 
• Lotus in the hand represents Viswam ( the 24 Tatwams), 
• Two  bright ear rings refers to the eternal regions.  

Unless this exact technical significance is understood at the time of performing Pooja, the "Vigraha" cannot serve its purpose. 

The different details of a Vigraha are the technical doorways provided for are insight into the true nature of the Deva.  The vigrahas are thus an artistic concretization of the extremely philosophical principles expounded in the Gnana-Kanda of the Vedas.

In the highest mental worship the Manas itself serves as a Vigraha.

Several names of the Devi are here explained mostly by their root meanings. They refer to the various stages of religious (read dharmic) development in human, each of them being technically important and distinct in its use. It is not therefore enough to explain, like the Pundit that all these terms apply to any physical Devi or a woman Goddess.

Every technical term in the sciences could otherwise be explained by any ignorant person as simply applying to the sciences. It will be clearly evident here that even single letters in the given names are separated into consonants and vowels and their Vedic significance explained.

When such detailed explanations on doubtful points in the religious literature are not forthcoming from the Pundit, the correct inference is that he knows them not, and not that the texts are silent in the matter…………                           

Source: Brahma Vaivartha Purana*

*Puranas refer to the technical commentaries of the Vedas and does not refer to any meaningless mythology or absurd Indian history.

To read more in details get a copy of the book  Inside  Out – a  philosophical enquiry of Hindu Dharma

https://www.amazon.com/Inside-Out-Philosophical-Enquiry-Dharma-ebook/dp/B0847Q81JQ/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=inside+out%2C+a+philosophical+enquiry+of+hindu+dharma&qid=1603559533&s=books&sr=1-1

Wishing you a very happy Navratri, Durga Ashtami and Dussehra.

K V Vishwanathan

11th October 2024

What is Prakriti?

 What is Prakriti?

“The term Prakriti is explained as follows in accordance with its root meaning.

In the Vedas Pra means superior or first, and Kriti is creation. Pra again means Satwa, Kri Reja and Ti Tama.

Prakriti thus represents the all-powerful Sakti possessing the three Gunas. The Atma divided itself into two, the male on the right side and the female on left which is known as Prakriti. The two stand in the relation of fire and its heat, and the Yogis therefore do not recognize any difference between male and female.

In her act of creation, Prakriti is distinguished as of five forms.

1.  Durga, the mother of Ganesa, is the first form representing the underlying principle of all the vegetable and other lives.

2.  Lakshmi is the second form representing the glories observable in heaven and earth.

3.  Saraswati is the third form representing the real knowledge that removes all doubts.

4.  Savitri or Gayatri, the mother of the Vedas, Sandhya, Mantras and Tantras, is the fourth form representing the Brahmaic lustre and energy.

5.  Radha, residing in Go-loka in the form of a Gopi is the fifth form representing the five vital airs.

She is seen by the Yogis by meditation according to the methods prescribed in the Vedas. Sak means glory and Ti is valour. Sakti is the form of both. Bhaga means prosperity and Buddhi and Bhagavati is their form. Radha and Sarva-mangala allude to the power of granting liberation. Amba means mother of the Jagat.

Being created by Vishnu, she is Vaishnavi. Gowri means the Sakti pertaining to the Gurus or masters, namely Siva and Krishna. Parvati alludes to the Parvas or the holy festive occasions on which she is worshipped. Sanatani means existing without Gunas at all times and places. Kritika refers to the Kalas of Prakriti representing the six Yogas.

Durga refers to the Sakti of Hari that destroys fear, enemies, diseases and sins. The Sakti that bestows the highest bliss is called Sivaa. Abhaya refers to the destruction of fear. The Sakti that bestows prosperity and liberation is called Maya and Vishnu-Bhakti. Narayani means born from half the body of Narayana. Jaya means granting victory.”

     Several names of the Devi are here explained mostly by their root meanings. They refer to the various stages of dharmic development in man, each of them being technically important and distinct in its use. It is not therefore enough to explain, like the Pundit that all these terms apply to any  physical Devi or a woman Goddess.

Every technical term in the sciences could otherwise be explained by any ignorant person as simply applying to the sciences. It will be clearly evident here that even single letters in the given names are separated into consonants and vowels and their Vedic significance explained.

When such detailed explanations on doubtful points in the dharmic literature are not forthcoming from the Pundit, the correct inference is that he knows them not, and not that the texts are silent in the matter…………                           

Wishing you and family the very best on this Navratri.

Source: Brahma Vaivartha Puranam

Read about this more in the book “ Inside  Out – an enquiry of Hindu Dharma

What is Krishna Ashtami or Janmashtami

The stage of Dharmic development in each individual when the lower desires and nature is destroyed is called Krishna - Ashtami. 

Krishna-Ashtami also refers to the rise of the half-moon at midnight after all the  wickedness of man is destroyed or reduced to complete darkness or nothingness. The various tendencies of the mind ( Kuru's) should be destroyed until they vanish together . 

Who is Krishna ? 

The  Kurukshetra war will continue as long as the plexus and Nadis exist in man. The Kurus( lower  desires)  can be destroyed only by Arjuna ( Satwik wisdom) guided by the Yogeeshwara ( Krishna). 

Krishna thus refers to the practical process of removing the sins of man. 'Krishi' means ' total' and 'na' means seed. The Brahman/Atma/Ishwara/Bhagwan which is the seed for everything is known as Krishna.

Where does Krishna reside ?

Krishna  resides in Mathura. 

Where is Mathura?

Mathura refers to our heart  and the Atma  resides within us and directs our brain based on our Karma. Basically we are the Atma.

Who was Devaki and Vasudeva ?

“Devaki praised by the Vedas is the daughter of Brahma. Vasudeva is Veda itself. The meaning of Veda is Krishna and Balarama.”

Devaki here refers to the Satvik Guna in man and Vasudeva denotes the knowledge of the Vedas. The quotation from the Bhagavatham pertaining to the Avatara of Sri-Krishna signifies in plain language that man should first study the Vedas and understand their real contents. That will give him the status of the Itihasic ( technical) Vasudeva.

vsu @eñy¡ dIVyte àkaZyte #it vsudev>,

That in which the wealth of knowledge is found, is Vasudeva.

Similarly dIVyte àkaZyte,

Devaki represents the purified Buddhi ( the nearest english equivalent is 'Intelligence' ) fit to receive the knowledge of the Vedas and retain it. Buddhi in Sanskrit is feminine gender and hence Itihasically described as goddess Devaki. The heart of this goddess is thus certainly the place for the Avatara to appear in. Vide Bramha Vaivartha Purana 

äüvEvtRpura[mœ,ùTpTmkaezaÎevKya hirraivbR-Uv h. 

Just after the thickest darkness of midnight, is said to be the proper time for the Avatara of Krishna.

inzIwe tm %ÑUte jaymane jnadRne. 

This Itihasically (technically) points to a stage of dharmic development in each man when his wicked nature becomes invisible by total destruction

This time is Itihasically pointed out as Krishna-Ashtami or the 8^th day of the dark fortnight when the moon rises after midnight. Vide äüvEvtRpura[mœ,

AxRraÇe smuTpÚe raeih{yamòmIitwaE, jyiNtyaegs<yu−e caxRcNÔaedye mune.

Those who are prepared to understand the Hindu religious ( read Dharmic) literature need to know that the divine Krishna is no human character in the ancient history of India, but the Brahman/Atman within us and around  us.

Chandogya Upanishad and Purusha Sooktha ( Rg Veda) says: Aham Evam Idham Sarvam. I am that Brahman. All that is here is Brahman/Iswara and you are THAT Eswara. Thatvamasi.

Wishing you a happy Krishnaashtami 

Adapted from the book- Inside-Out, An Enquiry of Hindu Dharma ( now available in Amazon, Notionpress, googleplay)

Source: 

1. Bramha Vaivartha Purana

2. Gopala Uttaratapi Upanishad

Was the term Bakri-Id adapted from the Pasu Medha/Ashwa Medha Yegnas? an enquiry. K.V.Vishwanathan

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Was the term Bakri-Id adapted from the Pasu Medha/Ashwa Medha  Yegnas of the Vedas?

To understand this we need to first know the meaning of the Yegnas, Sacrifice and Medhas as most Hindus themselves may have differently interpreted this.

All the Yegnas purely represent the concretized version of the teachings furnished in the Gnana-Kanda of the Vedas. The object of the Vedic Yegnas prescribed throughout the Karma-Kanda, is to sacrifice in the fire of Gnana all the gross conceptions and illusions of the unscientific cosmological conceptions of man, so that he may thereby secure the knowledge of Brahman. All other interpretations are sheer misinterpretations whether they proceed from the West or from the East, from the orthodoxy or the heterodoxy. 

The essence of the whole subject is explained in a single technical term called  Agnishomeeyam. It is the Pasu that pertains to the Agnishoma that has to be sacrificed.

A¶I;aemIy< pzumal-et, 

 ( Agneshomeeyam Pashumaalabheth) is the exact Vedic injunction

 given. pZytIit pzu>,  Pashyatheethi Pashuhu.

All the gross conceptions of the cosmos, logically reduced to 7 Jyotishtoma sacrifices refer to the sacrifice of the Pasu  ( Pasu refers to the  brute animal nature in man). 

Even the term Aal-et  (Aalabheth)  means only to uproot. It is  historically, philologically, etymologically and arithmetically certain that no butchering of dumb animals was/is ordained anywhere within the sacred Karma-Kanda of the Vedas. No  one in the East or West could be permitted to take undue advantage of the foolishness of a few ignorant Pandits and Dikshits, from whom the westerners had also learnt Sanskrit and the Vedas and to criticize The Dharma on that false pretext.

There is a black sheep in many a family. Nobody wants to deny it. There are even now murderers in every civilized country. None can deny it. No sensible Hindu in India in the past has ever sacrificed any animal in the name of religion; nor has he ( in the past) eaten the decaying flesh of dead animals. His Dharma ( referred as religion by the West) never permits such follies and cruelties much less orders them. In fact, the misfortunes of the Hindus all along may well be traced to (i) their vegetarian ancestry and (ii) to their owning a methodical and sacred religion ( to be read as Dharma) . Thus the Hindu became an eye-sore to every carnivorous nationality.

Many a nation attempt to establish somehow or other that the Vedic Indian was a flesh-eater. If flesh-eating is a sign and proof of civilization as it is practically reckoned among the Western nations, vegetarianism is doubtless another proof of the barbarism of the Hindus in India. Why not they condemn them boldly for their vegetarianism too? That would be an honest method of abusing. But they know very well that flesh-eating and butchering were and are not very respectable traits. 

Every alien nation is thus smarting under that guilt feeling or culpable defect. That may be the reason why the blessed historians and the Sanskritists of the West seems to be unanimously trying to pull down the vegetarian Hindu to their own carnivorous level. This is exactly the secret of dishonestly attributing animal-sacrifice to the Vedic Yegnas. That they are not prepared to leave off carrion-eating is also an established fact here. We could therefore in no way respect or recognize them either as interpreters of our sacred literature or as the historians of Indian affairs. In addition to this there are many Hindus who have started eating meat and flesh.

Now coming to the origin of the word Bakri-Id,  ‘Id’ is the same word as Ishti or Yegna and Bakrid or cow-killing would have been (ill) copied from Pasu-medha or Ashwa-medha .

 A¶I;aemIy< pzumal-et. Agneeshomeeyam Pashumaalabheth) "Root out the Pasu in the form of Agni and Soma.” This is a matter which many learned Vedic scholars would also agree and admit here. Agni and Soma refer to Vidya and Avidya, Mind and Matter, Prana and Apana etc.

pZytIit pzu>. Pashyatheethi Pashuhu) All those that are perceivable by the senses are Pasus referring thereby to gross material conceptions. For religious (read Dharmic)  advancement, man must soar above this gross materiality and secure higher, subtler and more philosophical conceptions of them. This is the significance of the Pasu-medha. 

Some illiterate  Pundits/Dikshits in the  past must have senselessly  misunderstood this as animal-sacrifice and substituted Aja or Sheep which term also they misunderstood without knowing its technical significance.  And, thanks to the mis-interpretations and ill copying of our sacred literatures, many dumb animals are killed, sacrificed and eaten off across. 

Ajs<}ain bIjain Dag< nae hNtumhRw. “(Ajasangyaani Bheejani Chaagam No Hanthumahartha) "Aja (A£j) here denotes seeds that have not sprouted, referring thereby to the Sanchita Karmas of man. No four-legged sheep which is also called Aja should therefore be foolishly butchered.” Whenever there are two meanings  for the same word, the context need to be ascertained.

The Pasu and the Aja as technically used do not therefore represent cows or sheep. The word Go also has similarly its technical meaning. It is too often confounded with cow or Pasu. Go in Sanskrit has several meanings. Vide Amara-kosa ( Thesaurus in Sanskrit by Amara Simha) Go is technically used to denote light or knowledge, as in Go-kulam, Gopi, Gopa, Go-vardhanam etc. It is misinterpreted as cow or Pasu in all of them. Pasu is technically used to denote gross materiality. But in the ill-copying and ill-borrowing both the terms Go and Pasu are mistranslated as cow. Prof. Max Muller & Co ( of the 19^th century fame) have mis-translated gvamyn<  (Gavamayan) as “Cow’s walks”. What better rendering could then be expected from these so called sanskritists ?

There were and are NO Yegnas commonly performed by Brahmanas where birds or animals are butchered.

‘Mriga Pakshi for sacrifice refer to the beastly passions and the Indriyas of man which should always be devoured by the Brahmana ( this has been wrongly interpreted as killing of birds or animals and few pieces of its flesh is eaten by the priest or the brahmanas-(sic!!))

Unless the material desires pertaining to the five gross elements basically described as Pancha Nakhas are swallowed up, the brahma Kshetram can never be perceived.

Ahimsa being the fundamental principle of Hinduism, the butchering of animals for food was/is not sanctioned, much less for religious purposes. The Yegnas as we have noticed refer only to the sacrifice of beastly passions and mean desires. 

ydÚa> pué;ae laeke tdÚaStSy devta>. (Yadannaaha Purusho Loke Thadannasthasya Devathaha) "The Deva should be offered only the same food the devotee eats.” 

No animal sacrifice is therefore permitted much less recommended in Hinduism. Killing cows, sheep or any other animal is strictly prohibited. 

          
Adapted from book- Inside Out- The Philosophical Enquiry of Hindu Dharma- now available at Amazon.

HariOm

A true understanding of Vastu

Vastu

In Sanskrit, Vaastu ordinarily means a dwelling house. It also denotes the plot of ground over which the house is built.

veZm-UvaRSturiSÇyamœ, #Tymr>,

Vastu-Pooja refers to certain religious (read dharmic) ceremonies performed soon after the construction of a Kshetram is completed. The necessity for this Pooja is extended to ordinary dwellings, palaces etc.

An *Itihasic story is narrated in the sacred texts to explain this highly abstract matter. The origin of Vaastu is thus narrated in the  suà-edagmmœ,  Let me reproduce the text  as follows:

vaStuivNyasmag¡ tu dzsUÇe[ deizk>, @kazIitpd< vaStu svRs<pTkr< n&[amœ, 

Asura [a< ihtaw¡ tu zu³> k«Tva mhatp>, mhatpis s<-Utae -Utakarae mhabl>, 

Aàyu−Sttae -Utae devEyRuÏ< àvtRte.

“The method of marking our Vaastu is by drawing ten lines. Ten lines horizontally and ten vertically over them mark out 81 parts, and that is very auspicious for men. Sukra the **Asura-Guru once performed great Tapas on behalf of the Asuras and Vaastu originated as a powerful Bhoota. As he was ill-used, he began to fight with the ***Devas.”

               

Similar account of Vaastu in greater detail is furnished in the Silpa-Sastras. The Devas being teased by Vaastu complained to ****Brahma about him. Brahma told the Devas that Vaastu is an Asura who is not easily destroyed, and advised the Devas to catch hold of him and throw him down on the earth. The Devas acted accordingly and Vaastu fell on the ground with his face turned downwards. His head was in the north-eastern corner, the legs being in the south-western corner. 

(Vaastu is thus marked diagonally from north-east to south-west in every plot of ground selected for house-building.)

When Vaastu fell down, the Devas in a body sat over him and pressed him down. He cried aloud and called out the name of Brahma who soon appeared at the spot. Brahma then gave him the name of Vaastu and said that all those who construct new buildings, palaces, Kshetrams etc should perform Vaastu-Pooja. This injunction of Brahma is being carried out even at present with great festivity everywhere in India.

Evidently the learned writers of the West on Indian Architecture have not taken serious notice of this Vaastu who is a big Bhoota lying diagonally in every ancient building in India. Without the proper Pooja to appease him, no building is fit to dwell in. Any account of Hindu Architecture without an explanation for this terrible Vaastu who keeps fighting with the Devas, is simply worthless as a literary, historical or scientific treatise of the sacred subject. The wicked Vaastu and his pacification are the most serious matters in Hindu Architecture.

Now let us understand the technical essence of the above paragraphs:

It could now be easily understood that the *itihasic story of Vaastu is no meaningless mythology for the simple reason that the western historian may be incapable of grasping its philosophical import and religious (read dharmic) utility.

Vastu undoubtedly refers to a serious Dharmic process of purifying man’s body so as to render it fit for the Deva to reside inside it.              

The Vastu-Pooja is thus, the first thing to be done to raise the construction of a building to the status of a holy Kshetram. Thus stately palaces of kings as well as the lowliest cottages of peasants are equally converted into Kshetrams in India by Vaastu-Pooja. Religiously, the rich and the poor, the king and the peasant are equally held responsible for the purification of their bodies and dwelling houses.

High-class philosophical religion is ingeniously made to penetrate into everything connected with the daily transactions of the religious Hindu.

*Itihasa               

Itihasa is not history as misinterpreted by many.

               

Itihasa and Puranas are authoritatively assured to be legitimate commentaries of the Vedas, furnishing detailed information on many a subtle and vital point in an 'exquisitely dramatic style so that the explanations offered might appeal to the ignorant masses.  There is absolutely no Indian history and no earthy geographies in the whole concern. Several abstract matters are explained in the 'guise' of human transactions with a view to render them understandable to the ordinary folk.

Every abstract subject could only be grasped mentally.  But when it is explained in a concretised form in strict accordance with the ordained rules by the help of Vedic terms it is called "Itihasa’. Iti-hasa (Iti-Haasya) plainly means 'in this funny manner'.  This process was adopted for the edification of the ordinary people. 

**Asuras and Rakshasas are not the so called demons or cannibals (Dr. Annie Besant’s mis interpretations in her book Sanatana Dharma) who eat the flesh of human beings and rule the nether world.  They are our lower desires which need to be destroyed by Pranayama through the strength of "Bhīma" (breathing out of the Asuras and breathing in the Devas).

               

Devas and Asuras denote two varieties of devotion. Devas refer to religious acts performed without any desire for material prosperity and Asuras to those acts performed without relinquishing worldly desires.

Rakshasas denotes the diminution in the duration of the day and metaphorically refers to the sins of man that obstruct the real knowledge of Brahman’.

Source:

Inside Out- a philosophical enquiry of Hindu Dharma by K V Vishwanathan

( available on Amazon, Kindle, Notion press,)

What is Ahamkara

What is "Aham" (“I")?

I refer to not self, including our body, mind, sense and intellect as all these are subject to change and destruction.  I cannot be destroyed or changed.  I witness even the mind and intellect...     .The Gita            

The Aham is a Tatwam (the philosophical analysis of the Paramatma ( Supreme Being within you) and it denotes a stage in which the gross ideas of the ego (I) are entirely destroyed and the Mahat- Tatwam above it points to a still higher stages of perception resulting in the experience of the exact reflection of Brahman.

When the elements, Indriyas, Manas and Buddhi belonging to man are converted into ‘Tatwams’ they are said to originate from the three divisions of Aham Tatwam.

This means that the unphilosophical ‘I’ or ‘Thou’ as a selfish human being are transformed into those of a purified Atma possessing only the Tatwams.

Whenever this purified Jiva turns it perceives but Tatwams or the essence of Brahman.

The reflection of Brahman is then experienced and the Aham or THWAM becomes ‘THAT’ from which we get “that are though” THATHWAMASI.

AHAMKARA – THATHWAM is pitiably misunderstood and misinterpreted  by all the Western scholars up to date and many of the Indian scholars and pundits as referring to the foolish unphilosophical egoism of the mere worldly man.  The ego (aham) is acceptable, but egoism is not acceptable. Ego is not egoism.

Tatwam means that-ness or the nature of Brahman, and the Ahamkara as a Tatwam refers to the religious ( to be read as Dharmic) meditation ‘I am Brahman itself and nothing else’.

The purpose of my writing this article is to eliminate the confusion between Ego and Egoism- Ahamkara is not Egoism as widely misinterpreted  but Ego. 

For Example if people asks do you have an Ego? Yes I do have an Ego. Every one has an Ego because Ego is “I”. Second example if a person says he is egoistic, has an egoism then its false pride, self boasting etc etc….. it is because people use both these terms loosely and it leads to confusion.

HariOM

Women according to Hindu Dharma... a brief perview

Indian Women as per the Sastras

Many people across the world and in India celebrate International Women’s day on March 8^th. Let us Introspect and ask  ourselves few questions :

®     do we need to  have a special day for women?

®     are they not special all 365 days in a year?

®     should the principles of equality be applied between a man       and a woman?

I would now like to dwell deep into how Ancient India treated women and what the sastras say about women. I have taken only the examples of how as per the sastra women used to play and important role and continues to play an important role.

Let’s start with applying the principles of equality in some of the Vedic rituals. Those who complain that women have no right to perform Yegna/sacrifices on their own must remember that men too have no right to the same without a wife.

If they know this truth they would not make the allegation that Hindu Sastras look down upon women.  A man can perform a yegna/homa/sacrifice only along with his wife. He does them for the well being of all mankind and for his own inner purity.  It is for this purpose that after the samavartana following the completion of his student bachelorhood, he goes through the samskara called marriage.

Marriage or vivaha is known as saha-dharma-charini-samprayoga.  It means (roughly) union with a wife together with whom a man practises his dharma.  The clear implication is that carnal pleasure is not its chief purpose, but the pursuit of dharma.  The Sastras do not ask a man to pursue dharma all by himself but require him to take a helpmate for it.  The wife is called Dharma Patni, Saha Dharma Charini, thus underlying her connection with dharma, and not with Kama or Sensual pleasure.  Here is proof of the high esteem in which the Sastras hold women.

Only a householder with a wife may perform the Yegna or sacrifice and not student-bachelors and ascetics.  If the wife were meant only for sensual gratification, would the Dharma Sastras have insisted that a man cannot perform sacrifices after her death?

Women’s “libbers, who note  that  a women cannot perform a sacrifice on her own, must also recognize the fact that the husband loses the right for the same without the wife and this is according to the Vedas themselves ( Patnivatasya Agnihotram Bhavati).

Our Sastras have thus given a high place to women in the matter of duties and works.

Just as society is divided according to occupations and the duties are different, so too there are differences between men and women in domestic life. Running a household means different types of work. By nature women can do the household chores much better than men. In truth there is no disparity between men and women, nor are women discriminated against as present-day women’s libbers or so called reformers allege.  Work is divided for the proper maintenance not only of home but the nation on the whole; and care has been taken not to have any duplication. There is no intention of lowering the status of any section in this division of labour.

The vocations have to be properly divided for the welfare of mankind.  If everybody paid attention to this fact, instead of talking of rights, it would be realized that the Sastras have not discriminated against women or any of the so called classes or castes.

Do women need to go out to work and earn?

When the marriage of girls got delayed and they had to stay at home doing nothing, the parents wondered why their daughters should not study, go to work and start earning.  The money would also come in handy when the girls were to be married.  Thus started the practice of women going to work.  

At first the parents felt a little embarrassed or a sense of shame about doing something they thought to be improper , that is depending on the daughters own earnings for her marriage expenses.  They were also worried and fearful about the girls being exposed to various risks and temptations.  But, in due course, this worry and fear vanished.  Also the parents came to think that there was no need to feel awkward about their daughters going to work.

At first we felt sheepish that our women went out to work, but, by and by we learned to accept it.  Now we take it as an advance, a step forward in our civilizations.  Most Parents have thrown all sense of responsibility to the winds and are not worried in the least about their daughters going out to work and, indeed, take pride in it.  

Has our Dharma sunk to such low depths?.

That women are receiving higher education and are working is a great step forward” proclaim reformists and women’s liberals.  A great injustice done to them in the past has been undone, they add.

No injustice was ever done to women in the past and if at all any injustice was done, it was to men.  

How does a man realise himself? 

He has to perform many religious ( read dharmic)  works, he has to learn the truth and feel it inwardly through nityakarmas and nitya sadhanas. In this way alone  will he be able to have control over his mind and purify the same.

A married woman does not need such difficult sadhanas or such ardent and intense practice to reach the same goal.  All she has to do is to support her husband in his pursuit of Dharmic work.  By respecting the wishes of her husband such a wife obliterates not only her wishes but all feelings of honour and dishonour and all ego-sense.  In this way she comes close to stilling her mind.  When the mind is utterly dedicated to another person in an attitude of surrender, should it not be close to being blotted out?  Is there any promotion for a woman higher than this?

A woman exalted by inner purity occupies a position far higher than another who earns a promotion in her office.    This is how many a woman in the history of this land won powers far greater than those earned even by the sages.  According to Tiruvalluvar if such a women says, let there be rain, it will rain, and it must rain. If she says to the sun, don’t rise, it will not rise. Such a women can retrieve her husband even from Death.  

Our Sastras, our traditions give these women a place more elevated than that accorded to any sage or deity.  We see from the Puranas that a woman of lofty character can transform even gods into little children by sprinkling water on them.  Our religious texts speak about how a woman may rise to true heights of glory and how she is enshrined in a temple and worshiped.  They do not ever condemn her to an inferior position.  It seems that it is the reformists and liberals who do so by preventing her from rising to the heights of glory.

If marriage is one of the many samskaras to render a man pure, for a woman it is the single samskara that gives her the ultimate fruits of all samskaras.  Now the essence of this samskaras is cast away and what remains, the refuse, is retained.  Marriage and the householder’s stage of life are not meant for carnal pleasures alone.  They constitute a path for liberation.  If this truth is understood people will appreciate that the role assigned to women by the Sastras is just and proper.

Few seem to have realized the undesirable economic consequences of women going to work.  This is on the unemployment problem.  Until some years ago parents had this excuse for their daughters going to work: Let her work till she gets married.  Otherwise she will have to stay at home brooding over things and being sorry for herself.  Going to work will be a way of spending the time.  Besides, the girl’s earnings will come in handy for the dowry and other expenses of marriage.  The idea then was to let the daughter work until her marriage and then asks her to resign her job.  The groom and his people thought it demeaning for the bride to work after the marriage.

This attitude changed not before long. How? During the past 50-70 years the Brahmin community has developed an increasing appetite for money.  Owing to this greed that grew with the years, girls going to work even after their marriage became a more widely accepted practice.  The result is that the noble duties of motherhood like child care are neglected in man houses ( not all).  

It is the same as in western countries and the warmth and sincerity governing relationships involving parents and children and other family members have rather come  down or coming down.( There would be exceptions to these in some family though)

On the economic front too the phenomenon of more and more women working has had a different consequence.  These days thousands of young men are unemployed.  At the same time, in some families both husband and wife work and earn.  If the husband alone worked, the wife’s   job would go to a young man who is without work.  Unfortunately, husbands no longer take pride in caring for the wife and family with their earnings alone; they want the wife also to earn.  At first the parents reluctantly sent their daughters to work.  Then the husband did the same perhaps half-heartedly.  As for the wife, she is now proud to be working.  In fact, she is so used to working outside that she does not like being confined to her home.  When she earns on her own she wants to spend as she likes without being questioned by her husband.( This does not apply to single Mothers who have to take care of her family 

To stay at home does not mean to be locked in.  There is no shortage of Sastras and Puranas in Sanskrit and in other languages.  If women develop a taste for them, they will keep reading them for a whole lifetime and find happiness.  They may form satsang groups and read such books by turns at home.  There is no need to form a club for this or for that matter a Kitty party or some other organisation nor any board.  The satsang may be held at home without any office bearers like president, secretary, committee members and so on.  This is basically to avoid contests and rivalry for positions.  To stay at home does not mean being caged in.  Besides, women will not lose their most precious possession, femininity. 

For women, surely this is far better than going to work out of greed and losing their femininity in the process, not to speak of earning the higher reward of Atmic well being.  It is also keeping with a women’s nature.  For a woman to work in an office on the pretext that she is otherwise confined to the four walls of her home may be the cause of so many problems, so many evils.  Though there is much talk of women’s liberation, what we actually see is that they have to work under so many people and have to be answerable to so many of them. 

• Is there peace in such a life? 
• In the liberation that is so much talked about, is there the bliss of domestic life?
• Are working women able to cook at leisure, eat in peace, and enjoy the warmth and affection of children?

Each man thinks of his own selfish interests and is least bothered about others.  People never pause to wonder whether others suffer on their account.  There is no feeling for others, no sense of justice.  In some families there is “double income” because both husband and wife earn while in some others even one member does not have a job and so has no income.  Isn't this a sad state?.  

There may of course be exceptions of some women who go to work to support their family due to her husband's inability to earn or in dire circumstances where feeding her dependents and taking care of an ailing or a disabled husband becomes priority.

If women decide not to work after their marriage it is possible that the vacancies thus created will be filled by the unemployed men.  Families without any means so far will then benefit.  Working women must think about this and those who try to bring equality between men and women ought to consider the logic behind this observations.

Nowadays people do not know where to apply the principle of equality and where not to.  Each entity or aspect of life has its own way of being, its own character; that is how life in the universe is ordained.  It is incorrect to contend that there must be sameness about everything, that all things must be equal.  To insist on such sameness and equality is to wreck the natural order of life.  Each finds its fulfillment and true happiness in being related to another as intended by nature and in promoting the common social life.  To pursue an arbitrary kind of equality instead of this means not only the denial of happiness on the individual level but jeopardizing family and social life.

Nature has assigned the job of child bearing ‘only to Women’.  However much we fight for equality we cannot change this fact of life.  It is the natural dharma of women to care for children and to be Grihalakshmis.  They do not lose anything by doing so, nor do they become superior in any sense by refusing to do it.  Equality in such matters has no meaning.

Please ponder over..................

HariOM

Some of the compilations and extracts are from the Voice of the Guru- Shri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi
- The late Pontiff of the Shankara Mutt, Kanchi