Women in Hinduism – part -2

(continued from 

http://jayasreesaranathan.blogspot.com/2009/03/women-in-hinduism-part-1.html )

 

6.0 Women as Hindu Spiritual Leaders: The Women of God

 

Hindus have been blessed with a continuous, unbroken chain of women Saints, Yoginis, Nuns, Priestesses, Ascetics and Seers who roam all over the world to this day to preach the eternal message of our Dharma.  

 

Meera, Akka Mahadevi, Lalleshvari, Andal and other saintly women of medieval India are considered some of the foremost Hindu Sages. Their writings are treated as scripture, and chanted with great regard to this day. 

 

Meerabai (16^th century) was a Rajput Princess of Mewar who decided in her childhood that her husband was Lord Krishna. She was married to a Rajput prince, but forsaking all formal ties, she traveled between various religious centers associated with Lord Krishna. Her Hindi bhajans (devotional songs) in praise of Rama and Krishna are very popular even today. Meerabai’s soul merged with that of Lord Krishna in Dwaraka when she was 67 years old. Andal-Goda’s songs are recited daily in Shri Vaishnava Hindu liturgy in temples as well as in homes, in India as well as outside India. Her icon is frequently placed alongside that of Lord Vishnu and Devi Lakshmi in temples. 

 

Lalleshvari (14^th century CE) is considered the greatest saint poet of Kashmir. Her devotional verses highlight the divinity within our own selves, and exhort us to love the Shiva who dwells in our heart. Lalleshvari walked out of a traumatic marriage and roamed the Kashmir valley singing her mystical songs, demonstrating Yogic feats while lost in the bliss of Bhagavan Shiva. Her spellbinding songs are recited even today.                    

 

Akka Mahadevi (12^th century) lived and preached in Karnataka. Though married, she severed her worldly bonds and instead sought to merge in Shiva. She roamed the countryside of that region singing of Lord Shiva, and ultimately is said to have merged in him. Akka joined the Virashaiva community after her meeting with Saint Basavacharya and wrote 350 exquisite spiritual compositions. Akka and Lalleshvari defied the social norms by eschewing garments for they had surrendered their entire being to their deity and had no use for social norms. A late twentieth century woman ascetic named Mate Mahadevi drew her own inspiration from the ideal set by Akka Mahadevi.  

 

The Shaiva Siddhanta tradition has been blessed with several women saints such as Kaaraikkaal Ammaiyaar, Thilakavathiyaar, Mangaiyarkkarachiyaar, Paravaiyaar, Changiliyaar, Chembiyan Madheeviyaar, Auvaiyaar etc. Some of them led a saintly life dedicating their lives to spiritual pursuits. The others lead a family life while spreading of spiritual teachings of Shaivism in Tamil speaking areas. Likewise, the Sant tradition of Maharashtra has several feminine voices from Muktabai (13^th century CE) the sister of Sant Jnaneshvara, to Bahina Bai. Janabai (1298-1350) also wrote of abandoning social norms and offering herself to the service of God. The hagiographies of many of these women Sants occur in Mahipati’s Bhaktavijaya. Most women saints of this tradition were in fact housewives. Similar examples may be given from many other Hindu spiritual traditions such as Gaudiya Vedanta of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. 

 

In more recent times, Shree Shree Ma Anandamoyi (1896-1982), born in what is now Bangladesh, was a Hindu woman mystic whose own husband became her devotee, and who was held in great reverence even by Mahatma Gandhi. She traveled far and wide, preaching compassion and spirituality, and was instrumental in the setting up of many hospitals and other charitable institutions. 

 

In our times, Mata Amritanandamayi and Mata Nirmala Devi as Hindu women Gurus are well known today in the international spiritual circuit as teachers of Divine Love and of Yoga respectively.                     

  

Ammachi, as Mata Amritanandamayi is lovingly called by followers, was born in a humble Hindu harijan family of Kerala. From her childhood she was lost in Divine Love for God. Today, she travels all over the world preaching love for God and compassion for human beings. She is well known for embracing all the visitors who come to see her with patience and compassion, and with an eternal beatific smile that leaves a profound spiritual effect on them.  

 

Mata Nirmala Devi, born to a Christian priest, converted to Hinduism and discovered a simpler form of Yoga that she teaches to her devotees spread all over the world. Many other Hindu women Gurus preach in the West in our times, including Ma Yoga Shakti, Shri Ma, Anandi Ma and so on. 

Foreign women who adopted Hindu spirituality also made a significant contribution to our Dharma and society. For instance, Sister Nivedita (Margaret Noble) born in 1867 in Northern Ireland, met Swami Vivekananda in London in 1895 and became his disciple. She came to India in 1898. In India she engaged herself in running a school for girls and young women. After Swamiji's death she involved herself actively in the Indian Freedom Movement. She wrote several books that present different aspects of Hinduism and Buddhism in a very lucid manner for the lay readership. She died in 1911. 

 

Women have played an important role in other sacred traditions that have organic links to Hindu Dharma. For instance, one out of the twenty-four Tirthankaras (founding spiritual teachers) of the Jains was a woman. The heroine of a Tamil Jain didactic epic is a Jain nun named Neelakeshi. Guru Amar Das, the 3^rd Sikh Guru, entrusted two of the 26 regions marked out for his missionary activity to women spiritual leaders. Princess Bhrikuti, the daughter of Nepalese Licchivi King Amshu Varma (7^th century CE) married the Tibetan King Tsrong-tsong Gompo and influenced her husband to convert to Buddhism. She is also credited with the construction of several prominent places of Tibetan Buddhism such as Potala and Jokhang, as well as Buddhist shrines in Bhutan. Thus, she played a pivotal role in leading Tibetans to Buddhism and is therefore worshipped as a manifestation of the Tibetan deity Tara. 

 

Often, when male saints have died, their widowed wives or women disciples have assumed the spiritual leadership of his followers. As an example we may cite ‘The Mother’, who was the spiritual companion or the first disciple of Shri Aurobindo, one of the most influential Hindu Sage of our times. She had visions about him even before she met him and became Self-realized/God-realized following the Integral Yoga he was developing/teaching). Originally from France, she followed him to India, where she spent the rest of her life providing spiritual leadership to Shri Aurobindo’s disciples. 

 

Another example is that of Sharada Devi (b. 1853), the wife of Shri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, a Hindu Saint who lived in the 19^th century. After Ramakrishna Paramahamsa passed away in 1886, she continued to guide her husband’s followers till her own death in 1920.  Portraits of the two are worshipped together by followers of this Hindu saint even today. 

 

In our own times, Bhagwati Devi Sharma (d. 1994) provided spiritual leadership to the Gayatri Parivar, after its founder Guru Shri Ram Sharma Acharya passed away. 

It would be a fair statement to make that of all the organized global religions in the world today, women perhaps have the most visible and prominent presence in Hindu Dharma. Feminine spirituality is not something that needs to be grafted onto Hindu Dharma. It has always been a part of the core of our faith. 

 

7.0 Women Scholars and Poetesses:  

We have already cited above several instances of Vedic women seers, ritual teachers, spiritual teachers and so on. In this section, we shall mention some examples of women who were scholars from post-Vedic literature. In the Mahabharata, one reads of a profoundly spiritual nun Sulabha who studied under several teachers and has a philosophical debate with the philosopher King Janaka. Numerous texts of Sanskrit grammar indicate the existence of respected women teachers of grammar. Commenting on the authoritative grammar text Ashtadhyayi 3.3.21 of Panini (~400 BCE), Patanjali (~150 BCE) says that women commence their education after undergoing the sacred thread ceremony. He then derives the feminine forms of words denoting teachers, professors and so on. Likewise, commenting on Ashtadhyayi 4.1.14, Patanjali mentions that ladies studied the ancient grammar of Apisali and also the Mimamsa text of Kashkritsna.  

 

In the Uttararamacharita 2.3 of Bhavabhuti (~8^th cent. CE), it is mentioned that Atreyi goes from the hermitage of Sage Valmiki to southern India India to learn Vedas and Vedanta philosophy etc. In Kaadambari, the exemplary text on poetics authored by Dandin (~8^th centy. CE), a lady named Mahaashveta is described as adorned with a white sacred thread that shone like pure moonlight. 

 

Numerous ancient Hindu temples (such as the Lingaraja temple in Orissa or the Khajuraho temple in Madhya Pradesh) show women as teachers (with male as well as female students) and painters etc.  

 

Ubhaya Bharati, the wife of ritualism scholar Mandana Mishra, presided as a judge in a debate between her husband and the spiritual philosopher Adi Shankaracharya. After the latter won, she then challenged Adi Shankaracharya (8^th century CE) to a debate. The hagiography Shankaradigvijaya of Madhava states that she knew the Vedas, the six Vedangas (perquisite sciences for studying Vedas), poetics and several other branches of learning. When she debated with Shankaracharya, the audience was dumbfounded with the erudition and skill with which she marshaled Vedic citations, logical arguments and profound thoughts. 

Recently, a commentary on Tiruvaayamoli of Shudra saint Nammalvar authored by a woman named Tirukkoneri Dasyai (15^th century) has been discovered. The commentary is an exquisite work and shows familiarity with Vedic texts, particularly those of Taittiriya Yajurveda. It may be noted that the Tiruvaayamoli is accorded the status of Samaveda in the Shri Vaishnava community, and is called ‘Dravida Veda’ or the Tamil Veda. 

 

By and large however, it appears that (as with all religious traditions), women were not initiated into rigorous Vedic or religious study to the same extent as men. The noted social reformer Swami Dayanand Sarasvati cited Vedic testimony to argue that women are entitled to Vedic study. He founded the Arya Samaj in 1875, and its members soon established colleges for teaching Hindu scriptures to girls. Through the efforts of Lala Devraj several decades ago, women scholars were finally able to recite the Vedas and perform Vedic sacrifices publicly after several centuries.      

      

What was a rarity in recent centuries is now becoming an increasingly common spectacle. For instance, in 1931, Upasani Baba founded the Kanya Kumari Sthan in Sakori (Ahmednagar district, India) where women are taught Vedas and the performance of seven sacred Vedic sacrifices every year.  

 

Influenced by this endeavor, another institution named Udyan Mangal Karyaalaya was started in the city of Pune wherein women of all castes and vocations are learning to chant the Vedas and become priests. There are now thousands of Hindu women priests both within India and outside India (including the United States) and are in great demand because they are often considered more sincere, learned and pious then male priests.  

 

Coming to the modern academic study of religion, several Hindu women have distinguished themselves as scholars. The first non Judeo-Christian President of the American Academy of Religions (AAR) has been a Hindu woman Professor Vasudha Narayanan. 

 

Besides writing Vedic and other Hindu religious poetry as noted above, many women also excelled as authors of secular poetry. Several authors of poetry in the Sangam literature in Tamil are women. The Sanskrit epic ‘Madhuraavijaya’ is attributed to Gangadevi (14^th cent. CE). The epic celebrates the Hindu re-conquest of an area in southern India from invading Muslims who had indulged in large-scale massacres, cow-slaughter, desecration of temples and molestation of women. Many of the poems attributed to the famous medieval Bengali poet Chandidas were actually written by his wife.         

                            

8.0 Swayamsiddhā: The many achievements and talents of Hindu Women: 

 

Hindu society has produced numerous women who were able Rulers, Warriors, Poetesses, scholars, mathematicians, freedom fighters, musicians, artists and so on.  

 

8.1 Musicians and Dancers: Hindu music and dance has always had a very strong connection with women. Devi Sarasvati is the patron deity of all art, music, literature, drama and dance and her blessings are invoked whenever artists commence their work or performance. Most of the classical dance forms of Hindus such as Balinese (in Indonesia), Kuchipudi, Odissi, Bharatnatyam, Kathak and Garba are dominated by women performers today. Even in dance forms where women do not participate, their status is quite exalted. For instance, Kathakali dance of Kerala is traditionally performed by men who wear masks of different colors to denote different categories of persons. Interestingly, the masks for women as well as for all divine characters are painted white in order to indicate their holy, pure and exalted status.  

 

Many traditional folk dance forms such as Pandavani of Chhattisgarh are being promoted by women such as Teejanbai. 

 

Lata Mangeshkar, a devoted Hindu lady, is considered one of the foremost lady singers in Indian film industry. She is credited with singing hundreds of devotional Hindu songs in several Indian and non-Indian languages. She spends a considerable portion of her income on charitable causes such as repairs of temples and is presently engaged in the construction of a hospital in the memory of her father in the city of Pune.  

 

M S Subhalakshmi, who passed away recently, was likewise the greatest singer of the classical Hindu Carnatic Music style. For her soul stirring renderings of devotional songs from Hindu tradition, she has been honored by numerous prominent religious leaders. She played the role of Saint Meerabai in a celebrated Hindi movie on the life of the saint. A ‘low-caste’ Hindu, she has instituted scholarships for poor Brahmin boys engaged in the oral preservation of Vedic texts in southern India. 

 

Likewise, women such as Kishori Amonkar, Gangubai Hangal and so on are some of the greatest performers of other traditional vocal music styles such as classical Hindustani.  

 

Numerous traditional art-forms in Gujarat, Orissa and other parts of India are still sustained by the efforts of women of these regions.  

 

8.2 Dharmic Queens: Queen Kulaprabhavati of the Hindu Khmer Kingdom (in Kampuchea) was a pious Vaishnava queen who in the fifth century (c.475) made many donations to a Vaishnava ashrama. And there were several other Hindu queens--Kambujarajalakshmi, Jayadevi in that dynasty who excelled in charitable and social welfare works.  

 

In Indonesia, Gunapriya Dharmapatni (late 10^th cent. CE), the great-granddaughter of the Hindu King of eastern Java, married the Balinese Hindu prince Udayana and was instrumental in introducing Javanese traditions such as Tantric Hinduism into Bali. She was so influential that her name appears before that of Udayana in Balinese inscriptions. Goa Gajah, the Elephant Cave, near Bedulu, not far from Ubud, was built around this time, as a rock hermitage for Shaivite priests. 

 

Dozens of inscriptions from various parts of the Indian subcontinent also attest to pious Hindu queens and lady officials making endowments to temples, colleges, monasteries etc. These examples are too numerous to list here and only a few illustrations should suffice. An inscription in Afasarh states that the mother Shrimati Devi of King Adityasen established a religious school, whereas his wife Kona Devi had a pond dug up for the welfare of masses. From the Bheraghat inscription, it is apparent that Queen Alhanadevi, wife of a Kalachuri ruler, got a Shiva temple constructed. She also got a school and a garden constructed in the vicinity. The mosque at Bayana in Rajasthan occupies the site of a demolished Vishnu temple, which had been constructed by the daughter Chitralekha of King Saurasena. Likewise, the wife of King Tejpal repaired the sacred icons that were demolished or desecrated by invading Turk Muslims and also induced a Chauhan feudatory of her husband to make a donation for religious causes. 

Queen Ahalyabai Holkar (1725-1795) of the princely state of Indore in central India is often held as an example of an ideal Hindu sovereign. She inherited her kingdom from her father in law since her husband and her son were already dead. Ahalyabai ruled her kingdom with great ability, benevolence and compassion for 30 years. Numerous trusts and institutions founded in her memory by both her descendants as well as by others attest to her exalted status in the Indian society.  

 

She got numerous temples and other pilgrim sites constructed or repaired all over India even though they were outside her kingdom. Her reign saw increase in overall prosperity of the people, and she also helped widows get their rightful inheritance from their husband’s wealth.

 

Rani Rashmoni Devi (1793-1861) was the widow of a rich landowner (Zamindar) and managed his estate very efficiently after his death. Once when the Rani was on her way to a pilgrimage to Varanasi, Goddess Kali appeared to her in a dream and asked the Rani to return to Kolkata and construct a temple in that town. Thus was built the famous Dakshineshvar temple (later associated with Saint Ramakrishna Paramahamsa).  

 

She also repaired the sacred steps (‘ghats’) on the banks of the Bhagarathi river (distributary of Ganga flowing past Kolkata) and made handsome endowments to the Hindu College (now called The Presidency College) and the Imperial Library (now called The National Library) in Kolkata. She also had a road constructed from the Subarnarekha river (that flows past the town of Jamshedpur) to the Hindu pilgrim center of Puri for the welfare of pilgrims. 

 

Tarabai: After Rajaram, Shivaji's brother, died - his wife took over and continued the Maratha struggle. Under her leadership the capital was shifted to what is now known as Kolhapur. The struggle continued till Sambhaji's son, Shahu was brought back from the Mughals. 

 

8.3 Warriors, Warrior Queens and Freedom Fighters: Women warriors are mentioned in the Vedic texts. Vispala, the wife of chief Khela was an aggressive warrior who lost her leg in a battle. The Ashvins, celestial physicians, gave her a metal prosthesis as a replacement for her lost leg. Mudgalani drove the chariot of her husband in a battle. In the Mahabharata, Chitraangada, the wife of Arjuna, was an accomplished warrior in her own right. Carvings and statues in several ancient Hindu temples depict women warriors. As examples, one may cite the Khajuraho temples in Chattisgarh, or the remnants of the Vishvanath Temple embedded in Aurangzeb’s mosque in Varanasi. When Lord Rama was asked to proceed on fourteen years of banishment from his kingdom, it was proposed that his wife, Devi Sita, could rule as the queen in his absence.  

 

Queen Rudramba: She was the only daughter of the 6th King of the Kakatiya Dynasty of Andhra Pradesh (13^th century CE)  and succeeded her father to his throne. Her father got her educated fully in the affairs of the state craft. She made a mark of bravery while accompanying her father in the latter's victory tours. Thinking her to be a weak woman, the feudal lords and the area commanders revolted and neighboring rulers also found an occasion to grab her territory. But, Rudramamba defeated them all. She married the Chalukya king Virabhadra and they jointly ruled over the Kakatiya kingdom very effectively for many decades. 

 

The last Hindu ruler of Kashmir was a woman Kota Rani, who was the widow of Hindu king Uddyana Deo. She played a crucial role in warding off the Tartar invasion of Kashmir in the early 14^th century CE but was finally deposed by Shahmir in 1341 CE. Shahmir started the long lasting Islamic rule in the region that, with traumatic consequences on the Hindu population of the region.  Kalhana’s Rajatarangini mentions several other valiant Queens in pre-Muslim Kashmir. 

 

When the ruler Dalpat Rai of Gondwana died in 1548, Rani Durgavati became the regent Queen on behalf of her infant son Bir Narayan and ruled her kingdom ably for 16 years. The Moghul Emperor Akbar invaded her kingdom in 1564. She fought bravely and when defeat was imminent, she chose to commit suicide by plunging a dagger into herself. She may have lost her life in the battlefield but Akbar could not subjugate her loyal subjects completely. 

 

The legendary Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi fought bravely against British invaders in 1857 and died on the battlefield. She is considered the Joan of Arc of India and is glorified in several Hindi ballads and poems. The words ‘Khoob ladi mardaani, woh to Jhansi wali Rani thi’ from a poem in her honor written by the poetess Subhadra Kumari Chauhan are known to every school-going student in the Hindi speaking areas of northern India. An associate of hers named Jalkari Bai also distinguished herself in the war of 1857. She was credited with having killed a tiger herself in her teenage years, and resembled Rani Lakshmibai very closely. When Lakshmibai’s fort was about to fall to the British troops, Jalkari Bai dressed up as Rani Lakshmibai (allowing the latter to escape) and defended the fort for a long time before surrendering. Impressed by her bravery, the British set her free.                      

                             

Rani Chennamma of Kittur (1778-1829) received training in horse riding , sword fighting and archery in her young age. She was married to Raja Mullasarja of Kittur, a princely state in Belgaum in Karnataka. Her husband died in 1816. Her only son died in 1824. Chennamma adopted Shivalingappa as her son and made him heir to the throne. The British did not accept this and ordered the expulsion of Shivalingappa. The Rani defied the order. A great battle ensued. The Rani fought the British with great courage and skill. She could not, however, hold out for long. She was taken captive and lodged in Bailhongal Fort where she died in early 1829. 

 

Rani Avantibai: When Vikramaditya Singh, the ruler of Ramgarh State died leaving behind his wife Avantibai and no heir to the throne, the British put the state under court administration. Avantibai vowed to win back her land from the British. She raised an army of four thousand men and led it herself against the British in 1857. A fierce battle ensured and Avantibai fought most valiantly but could not hold out for long against the superior strength of the British army. When her defeat become imminent she killed herself with her own sword and became a martyr in March 1858.                                                      

 

Several Hindu women were also at the forefront of the Indian freedom struggle in early 20^th century. Of them, the most notable was Sarojini Naidu, often called the ‘Nightingale of India’ because of her excellent poetry. 

 

In the Sikh tradition too, women warriors and military generals played a crucial role in their battles against Afghan and Pathan Muslim oppressors.  

 

Women also played the role of spies. Around 300 BC, Emperor Chandragupta Maurya used a woman spy to assassinate his rival King Parvataka. 

 

Several Hindu women avenged the dishonor to our Dharma and our country by employing clever strategy, if not arms. In the year 712, the Arab invader Muhammad bin Qasim invaded the outlying Indian province of Sindh (now in Pakistan), killed its last Hindu ruler Raja Dahir, and sent Dahir’s daughters to Baghdad as a gift to the Caliph. The daughters told the Caliph that Qasim had already ravished them before sending them as a gift to him. Infuriated by this apparent insult, the Caliph had Qasim put to death, only to learn that the Princesses of Sindh had lied to him to avenge their father’s death. The two Princesses were tortured to death. 

 

In the early 14^th century, Ulugh Khan, a Muslim military general invaded the Vaishnava holy temple town of Shrirangam. He massacred several monks, desecrated the temple and looted its treasury. The Muslim army occupied the temple precincts and put and an end to Hindu worship. A temple courtesan, who fascinated the invading general, prevailed upon him not to destroy the temple altogether, and restrict his vandalism to the destruction of a few cornices. The Brahmins in the surrounding areas tried to perform the sacred rituals whenever they could, but were harassed by the occupying Muslim forces constantly. Unable to bear the harassment of the devotees by the Muslims, she enticed the Muslim chief, took him up a temple tower in the east, and in the pretext of showing him a famous icon from there, she pushed him down and killed him. Scared that she will be tortured by the Muslims as a result of her deed, she hurled herself also down and died. According to tradition, to honor her memory, the funeral pyres of temple courtesans were lit by fire brought from the temple kitchen. 

 

To finance the defense of their motherland from the invasions of the Turk Muslim ruler Mahmud Ghaznavi, Hindu women in what is now Pakistan willingly donated all their jewellery. 

 

It is relevant here to recall some rules of Hindu warfare that are enjoined in texts such as Manusmriti and Mahabharata. Women in general were considered inviolable, and were generally exempt from capital punishment. They could not be captured for use as concubines, and could not be assaulted sexually by soldiers.  

 

Looking at the past achievements of Hindu women, it is not surprising that the largest Hindu country namely India has had a Hindu woman as its Prime Minister for 17 long years, and that women have presided over state governments in the largest states of India. It may be noted that the Council and the Assembly are called the ‘two daughters of God’ in Hindu texts.

(to be continued)

Women in Hinduism – part -1

 

 

Posted here is a detailed analysis on the status accorded to women by Hindu dharma and how women were treated in the Hindu society in the past.

 

This is a 3 part series written by Sri Vishal Agarwal as a presentation of Facts about Indian woman, in the wake of the infamous California text book case.

 

It all started when the history book of Grade -6 in California was modified with some material on Hinduism talking of unfair treatment to women. This was opposed by all right thinking Hindus – who opted for legal course to make corrections. Unfortunately, this case taken up in 2005, has recently ended without setting right, the wrong information about Hinduism.  

 

 

The westerners have an agenda against Hindusim.

Hinduism and Hindus had been there in the past even before habitations sprang up in their countries.

Every evidence in modern science is pointing towards a rich and ancient culture of the Hindus which is difficult for them to digest.

This threatens their sense of superiority.

 

The kind of venomous aspersions that the westerners have for Hinduism can be tasted in this link.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Indo-Eurasian_research/message/12169

 

 

What is unfortunate is that our own countrymen in the garb of secularism are towing the line of vested interests of the West. They are waiting to spit venom on us if we speak for Hinduism. There is also a growing mindset that Intellectualism and Hindu thought can not go together.

 

 

But they are all wrong.

A dharma which is rooted in Universal facts about Life, Nature, Creation, evolution, co-existence and Emancipation can never die, nor fade away from human patronage.

As long as the solar system exists in the present mode,

this dharma also will live on.

Taking cue from my pet subject, Jyothsiha,

I can say that as long as Jupiter and Saturn continue to revolve as they do now,

Hindu dharma can not be wiped off.

These two planets are the indicators of human striving with respect to knowledge of the Brahman, of Dharma.

Hinduism will live on.

And there will always be somebody to show what Hinduism says.

Here we have one who has done good justice by bringing out the true picture of Hinduism with specific reference to women.

 

My sincere thanks to Sri Vishal Agarwal,

for granting permission to post his articles in this blog.

 

 

May Hindu wisdom prevail!

Glory to Hindu Woman in the image of Shakthi!

 

 

-jayasree.

 

 

************

 

 

 

http://www.ivarta.com/columns/OL_060113.htm

 

Women in Hindu Dharma and California Grade VI textbooks PART-I

 

By

 

Vishal Agarwal

 

 

 

0.0 Background:   

 

Equality of sexes is a modern is a modern ideal that is yet to be realized in our own times. How many Presidents of the United States of America have been women? None. 

 

Therefore, it goes without saying that all traditional and ancient societies, and all organized religions gave an unequal status to women and men. And yet, the proposed Ancient History textbooks for Grade VI for California students single out ancient India and Hinduism for its alleged unfair treatment, and for granting women 'inferior rights'. In discussions of all other religions, these (and Grade VII textbooks on the medieval period) either leave out this aspect, or carefully hedge negative statements with positive ones.  

 

0.1   Politicization of the Issue:  

To rectify this disparity, two Hindu groups namely the Hindu Education Foundation (HEF) and the Vedic Foundation (VF) worked with the California Department of Education (CDE) for several months, to bring the descriptions of role of Hindu women in ancient India at par with the corresponding descriptions of other religious societies. Predictably, the well known group of Hindu-hating (in my opinion) academics and politicians lead by Michael Witzel (Harvard University) and Ultra-leftist FOIL (Forum of Inquilabi 'Revolutionary' Leftists) politicized the entire constructive effort of HEF/VF by alleging a 'Hindutva' conspiracy. These people have even roped in right wing Christians and alleged in their political campaign.  

 

It is well known that the depiction of India and Hinduism in American textbooks is marked by a negative slant, and numerous errors. These self-styled experts have never done anything to correct these distortions in textbooks. But now that HEF/VF started to do something in this direction, the Witzel-FOIL gang is indulging in destructive behavior at the last moment of the textbook review process. Interestingly, these same experts have maintained silence on the ahistoricity of the many times more edits proposed by Islamic, Jewish and Christian groups. Since Witzel, FOIL and other organizations such as FOSA consider themselves as experts on 'South Asia', do we take their silence to mean that they do not consider Islam and Christianity as 'South Asian' religions? Or is their selective targeting of Hindus is motivated by something else? 

 

0.2   Pedagogical Issues: 

In this politicization of an academic issue by the Michael Witzel-FOIL gang, the following important points are being lost sight of: 

1. The textbooks are meant for impressionable school children in the sixth grade. These students are not graduate students who need to or who could assimilate nuanced and diverse viewpoints on each matter.
2. The treatment of Hinduism and ancient India in these textbooks is introductory. Therefore, it is essential that just as for other religions, these textbooks should focus on more essential, doctrinal aspects of Hinduism, rather than dwelling on clichés about women and Dalits. The narratives for these sixth grade students should be marked by a positive attitude and sympathy for the tradition being studied. Hinduism seems to have been singled out for a negative and unsympathetic treatment although it is probably the last time most students will ever learn about this religion.
3. Hinduism is not a history centric faith like Abrahamic faiths. Therefore it is all the more important to include emic ("insider's") viewpoints in its discussion rather than focus on etic or outsider historian perspectives. However, this is not seen to be the case, and questionable historical theories such as the Aryan invasion theory and its variants have been used to explain the very genesis and the very nature of Hinduism even though such theories do not find any place in the entire length and breadth of Hindu tradition.
4. The textbooks in question end their narrative around 550 AD for ancient India. This means that practices such as Sati and untouchability which were marginal before 550 AD should not be mentioned in what is clearly a brief description of Hinduism in these textbooks.
5. The audience of these textbooks is predominantly non-Hindu, and it may be necessary to put across Hindu doctrines to these students in using terms that are used in Abrahamic faiths. For instance, the sixth grade student in California is very likely to confuse the word 'Brahmin' (Hindu priest) with 'Brahman' (Supreme Being), and therefore words such as 'Supreme Being' or even God may have to be used.
6. The CA State guidelines on education mandate that no one tradition should be privileged over another, and different cultures should be taught in such a way that students belonging to these cultures should take a pride in their heritage. The current textbooks violate these guidelines only with regard to India and Hinduism, and Michael Witzel - FOIL group is trying to maintain this status-quo.
7. The textbooks fail to mention in the context of women rights in Hinduism that it is the only faith where 'God' is also 'Goddess' (i.e., the Supreme Divine Power is worshipped as female, neutral gender or androgynous entity as well) and many other things that I will detail below.

 

1.0 Summary:

Of all the organized religions of the world, women have perhaps the most prominent presence, both visible as well as invisible, in Hinduism. As the Divine Mother, the Supreme Being affirms to Hindus that It has either has no gender, or It has both. As Sages, women have borne the revealed word. As spiritual and religious teachers, Hindu women have sustained our Dharma in various ways down the ages. As noble queens and as warriors, Hindu women have protected our faith from disintegrating into extinction. As musicians, dancers and artists, they have been the embodiment of all that is beautiful. As mothers, they have been our first teachers. As wives, they have provided the locus around which family and social life revolves. As daughters, they have taught us compassion. And as our guides, they have made many men into great human beings. This essay is a celebration of the divinity, power, beauty, wisdom, erudition and leadership of Hindu women down the ages. It highlights the central role that women have always played in Hindu dharma, society, politics, humanities and other fields of scholarship, and in our families.  

 

The essay forms a sequel to an earlier article by Karthik Kalavai Venkat, who discusses how the Hindu-hating academic and politicians are insisting on an exceptional treatment of Hinduism that focuses on the 'inferior rights' of women.  Readers are requested to cross-check the scriptural citations in this compilation and notify the author in case of any errors (while noting that multiple editions of the same Indic text can often give the same passage in different address/location). The compilation is by no means exhaustive. 

 

 

2.0 Women and the Divine Word:- 

"Profound thought was the pillow of her couch,

Vision was the unguent for her eyes.

Her wealth was the earth and Heaven,

When Surya (the sun-like resplendent bride) went to meet her husband.

Her mind was the bridal chariot,

And sky was the canopy of that chariot.

Orbs of light were the two  steers that pulled the chariot

When Surya proceeded to her husband's home!" 

The close connection of women with the Vedas, the texts regarded as Divine Revelation (or 'Divine Exhalation') in Hindu Dharma may be judged from the fact that of the 407 Sages associated with the revelation of Rigveda, twenty-one are women. Many of these mantras are quite significant, for instance the hymn on the glorification of the Divine Speech. The very invocatory mantra of the Atharvaveda addresses divinity as a 'Devi' – the Goddess, who while present in waters, fulfills all our desires and hopes. In the Atharvaveda, the entire 14^th book dealing with marriage, domestic issues etc., is attributed to a woman sage. Portions of other 19 books are also attributed to women sages.  

 

Both male and female deities are extolled in the hymns of all revealed texts of Hindus and in the family prayers of all the 10 lineages of Vedic Sages. Numerous schools of Vedic tradition customarily offer homage to women sages during their daily prayers. The superlative epithets used uniformly to denote female deities like Ushas, Sarasvati etc., in the Vedas describe them as sweetly-smiling, the first or foremost of deities to whom worship is offered, the shining ones, splendid and beautiful, possessors of wisdom, teachers of mankind and as powers capable of fulfilling the desires of human beings. 

 

While it is true that the word 'man' is used in a generic manner to denote 'human beings' in the Vedas, authoritative grammar and ritual texts emphasize that this is merely a figure of speech, and that man and woman together constitute two halves of the same Persona while performing Vedic sacerdotal ceremonies. Vedic ritual texts emphasize that there is no difference between man and woman in so far as the right to perform Vedic rites is concerned. The language in which the revealed Hindu texts are composed, namely Sanskrit, has a neuter gender in addition to the masculine and feminine. In fact, the Ultimate Reality, the Supreme God of Hindus, is often described as gender neutral. Interestingly, in a famous verse of Rigveda that says that all the various deities are but descriptions of One Truth, the names of deities are all masculine but the phrase 'One Truth' ('Ekam Sat') is in neuter gender as if to emphasize that God is not male. The Gayatri Mantra, the holiest prayer of Hindus in the Vedas, is often represented symbolically as a Devi in classical Hinduism. She is thus a female deity, who is also often termed as the 'Mother of all Vedas', and giver of boons. 

 

It is common to read in scriptures of mankind God is like the husband of all human beings and of all churches. In the Vedas however, we even read that God is like a dear wife whom 'His' worshipper loves like a doting husband. The 'Divine Word' itself is likened to a beautiful maiden who manifests her beauty to the husband.  

 

As goddesses (devis), they are worshipped as mothers of even the most powerful male deities (devatas). Devi Aditi is thus the mother of all prominent devatas such as Varuna, Mitra, Aryaman, Rudras, Indra, of kings and many other excellent sons. She is invoked as the mistress of the Cosmic Order, omnipotent, every youthful, protector, mother of the devout worshipper and a wise guide of all humans. 

 

The Vedas hardly ever conceive of devatas without corresponding devis. Almost as a rule, the Sage, the worshipper and the ritualist invoke the devatas to manifest along with devis and partake of the sacred oblations poured into the sacred fire altar.  

 

3.0 The Divine Mother: 'God as Goddess'

Around 2000 years ago, Classical Hinduism, or Hindu Dharma as we know today, started crystallizing. Worship of the Supreme Being through icons and sacred symbols was aligned among five Hindu traditions of worship – Saura, Ganapatya, Vaishnava, Shaiva and Shaakta. The last three of these traditions encompass practically all Hindus today.  

 

Significantly, the Shaakta tradition specifically worships the Divine as the Mother of the Universe, to whom all the male deities also bow in reverence. Shrines of this tradition have perhaps a greater geographical spread than those of other traditions in the Indian subcontinent.  

 

In this tradition, the Divine Mother is termed as 'Shakti' or 'The (Supreme) Power', as 'Uma' or the Sacred Wisdom, as 'Mahesvari' or 'The Supreme Goddess' and so on. The Shaakta tradition has hundreds of texts (often termed generically as 'Tantras') and traditions considered authoritative by Hindus even outside that specific tradition.  

 

The Shaiva tradition is considered the 'male' counterpart of the Shaakta tradition and the two share numerous texts, liturgies and other sacred traditions. In numerous iconic representations, God is shown as 'ardhanariishvara' or 'God who is half woman', to emphasize that either God has no gender or he is both woman and man.  

 

Even male deities such as Lord Vishnu sometimes incarnate as women to serve the cause of Dharma. The Devi herself is often said to combine the powers of all male deities including Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. 

In the Vaishnava tradition, which is the most prevalent Hindu tradition today, God is worshipped as 'Vishnu' together with 'Shri', who is also addressed variously as 'Lakshmi'. They incarnate together, and their incarnations, namely that of Rama and Sita respectively, and so on, are also worshipped as a couple. Perhaps a good idea of the simultaneous and equal reverence that Hindus have for the feminine and the masculine aspects of Divinity may be gauged from the following quotation – 

Sage Parashar said:

O Maitreya! Always a companion of Vishnu and the Mother of this Universe,

Devi Lakshmi is eternal. Vishnu is omnipresent, so is She.

If She is speech, Vishnu is the object of description.

Vishnu is the Law, and She is the Policy.

Lord Vishnu is knowledge, she is intelligence.

He is Dharma, She is good karma.

If Vishnu is the Creator, She is the Creation (that abides eternally with Him).

He is the mountain, She is Earth.

He is the virtue of contentment, She is the all satisfying.

If Lord Vishnu is desire, She is the object of desire.

He is the sacred Vedic ritual, she is the priestly fee…

 

Lord Rama is worshipped with his wife Devi Sita. Lord Krishna is worshipped with Radha or with Devi Rukmini. In some sects of Vaishnava Hindus, Radha is actually accorded more importance with Lord Krishna. Independent Hindu spiritual texts with names such as 'Sitopanishad', 'Radhopanishad' and so on exist, which extol the greatness of the Devis in the divine pairs.  

 

It is important to note that when God is worshipped as 'Divine Couple' by Hindus, the name of the feminine typically precedes that of masculine. For instance, we say that we are worshipping 'Sita-Ram', 'Radhe-Shyam', 'Uma-Mahesh' or 'Shri Vishnu' and so on.  

 

In popular non-denominational Hindu prayers, whenever God is addressed as a parent, he is first termed as a Mother, and only then as a Father.  

 

In the Ganapatya tradition, the major focus of veneration is the Bhagavan Ganesh, well recognized from his elephant head. The followers of this tradition are not numerous, but all Hindus, irrespective of their sectarian affiliation, commence their prayers to God with an invocation to Ganesh. Interestingly, in the sacred stories of Hindu texts, Ganesha is considered more of his mother Parvati's son than his father Shiva's. In fact, some versions state that Parvati created Him out of her own power because she wanted a son whom only she could call her own. Ganesh is typically worshipped as a child, and is often depicted along with his brother Skanda together with their all-powerful mother. 

 

This we see that even in the male oriented traditions of classical Hinduism, the feminine aspect of Divinity occupies a very central position of significance. 

 

In numerous Hindu communities of Bangladesh, Nepal and India, the most prominent festival in the year is dedicated to the Divine Mother. During Diwali, the most important festival in northern India and amongst Hindu communities in the Caribbean, the main worship is offered to Devi Lakshmi. Diwali itself is often called 'Lakshmi Pujan'.  

 

A period of 9 nights every year is devoted to the worship of numerous manifestations of the Mother. It is celebrated as Durga Puja festival in eastern India and as Navaratri in Gujarat as the major festivals of these regions. 

 

Popular Hinduism also exhibits the concept of 'grama-devata' in which a local manifestation of the Divine is worshipped as the presiding deity of that place. Many Indian cities and towns, including several important pilgrim centers, have various forms of the Divine Mother as their 'grama-devi'. As examples, we may cite Amba who is worshipped in Kolhapur and Ahmadabad (formerly called Ambavad); Meenakshi who is worshipped in the pilgrim town of Madurai; a form of Sati, the wife of Shiva, worshipped in Jalandhar; and Dhakeshvari Devi of Dhaka (capital of Bangladesh). 

 

It is not surprising that words denoting the Feminine Power of God, such as Shakti, Kali and so on have become a part of the New Age vocabulary because there is a deficiency of such terms in other organized religions. There is even a perfume launched by the name 'Kali' in the west. 

 

 

4.0 Mother Earth, Mother Nature: 

For Hindus, God is not necessarily a fatherly figure. 'He' is Mother and Father combined. In Hindu Cosmology and Ecology, Nature and Earth are uniformly referred to as Mother Nature (Prakriti) and kindly Mother Earth (Prithvi Mata). In Hindu philosophies, God and Nature are sometimes depicted as Husband and Wife who create the inanimate and animate Universe together just as mother and father give birth to children. In a long hymn extolling the earth, the Sage concludes with the beautiful words – 

'O Earth, my Mother!

Establish me securely in spiritual and material happiness,

and in full accord with Heaven.

O Wise One! Uphold me in grace and splendor!

 

While today we normally assume that the 'husband is the breadwinner of the household', traditional Hindus say that it is Devi Annapuurnaa who is the presiding deity of Foodgrains. Likewise, forests that provide us with so many resources are said to be presided over by Devis who are known as Vanadevis (vana = forest).  

 

There are numerous Hindu rituals involving the veneration of trees, plants and forests in their feminine form. An example of such ritual is the Karama Puja done by Bangladeshi Hindus. 

It is Mother Ganga, Mother Yamuna, Mother Kaveri and so on who have manifested as rivers to feed mankind.  Rivers, their confluences, their mouths and their origins form prominent Hindu pilgrim centers. The evening worship of Ganga Ma ('Mother Ganges') in the pilgrim center of Hardwar with hundreds of lamps which are set afloat on the river in the night is a breath-taking spectacle. The trend of considering rivers as manifestations of the feminine aspect of the Divine Being has been carried by Hindu immigrants to other parts of the world as well. Sanskrit mantras have already been composed for worshipping rivers such as Mississippi in the United States, underlying the fact that in Hindu belief, the Supreme Being is all-pervading. Such recent developments parallel a similar transplantation of Hindu sacred geography to South East Asia several centuries back.              

 

One's country is always termed as 'Motherland', never as Fatherland in recognition of the fact that the land we live in nurtures us lovingly as our own mother. Indians often worship India as 'Bharatmata'. 

 

A popular Sanskrit verse attributed to Lord Rama says that one's mother as well as motherland are more exalted than Heaven. The source of this verse however has not been traced and it is presumed that an anonymous poet coined it in the 19^th century. Nevertheless, the verse has sunk deep into the contemporary Hindu psyche.            

 

When a family entered their new home, they invoked God and asked him to dwell therein in a benevolent feminine form to make it come alive – 

Queen of the mansion, our shelter,

Kind devi, you are indeed constructed by the devas.

May you, robed in grass, be gracious to us,

And give us brave children and wealth. 

Household women play a leading role in this ceremony and the wife is the first one to enter the new home. This is not surprising because the wife is regarded as 'grhyalakshmi' or the embodiment of Devi Lakshmi, presiding over the house and its welfare and prosperity. 

 

5.0 Feminine Spirituality, Feminine Rituals: 

The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, the longest text of Hindu spirituality, describes the proceedings of a marvelous spiritual conference in which the great Sage Yajnavalkya was locked in a debate with several Sages on the other side. Suddenly, a woman sage named Gargi Vachnavi rises and says that if Sage Yajnavalkya can answer her questions, all the other Sages will accept his doctrines. It is noteworthy that all the Sages present there accept her as their spiritual leader and allow her to represent them on their behalf. In the same text, Maitreyi, the wife of Yajnavalkya, motivates him to deliver a memorable sermon on the nature of God and soul. Modern India has honored these illustrious women by founding colleges bearing their names. In a long spiritual lineage given in this text, all the teachers and students are listed as sons of their mothers.  

 

In the Kena Upanishad, knowledge appears as Uma, a woman, to dispel the ignorance of Indra. This short text was considered so profound that it was singled out for not one but two commentaries by Adi Shankaracharya (8^th century CE), one of the greatest Hindu philosophers of all times. 

Scholars of Hinduism point out that in addition to the largely male-authored religious texts of our Dharma, popular Hinduism strongly adheres to non-codified rituals performed by women. Hundreds of thousands of villages in Hindu dominated parts of the world have well-frequented shrines in honor of Devi, the feminine aspect the Divine. Hindu women perform hundreds of small religious rites, keeping Dharma alive in their own way. Little wonder then that even orthodox Hindu texts hint that the study of the Vedas is completed only after we learn the 'religious knowledge of women'. 

 

In household religious ceremonies even today, it is not uncommon to see women take the lead role in organizing the entire function. There is no domestic ritual in which women cannot participate, whereas there are several popular Hindu rituals where the presence of men is either debarred, or is not desirable. The sacred rituals are said to bear the desired fruit only if men and women perform it as a pair. The intimate connection of women with Vedic rituals is seen from the fact that several sacred mantras from the Vedas are specifically meant for recitation by women, as is clarified by Shrautasutras – manuals of Vedic rites. Since the wife is indeed the pivot of the house, she was entitled to perform the sandhyaa, or the morning and evening rituals with the sacred altar and Vedic texts. In the Ramayana, Queen Kausalya performs the daily fire sacrifice (agnihotra) with Vedic mantras as do Tara and Sita etc. In the Mahabharata also, ladies such as Savitri and Amba likewise perform Vedic rituals with the recitation of Vedic texts. Some Vedic texts actually cite women as authorities on minutiae of Vedic rituals. Therefore, though women were debarred from reciting Vedic texts or from performing Vedic rituals in later times, their right to do so in ancient times is quite well established from the extant ancient Hindu literature. In fact, a lost Vedic text named Saulabha Brahmana is attributed to Sulabha, a woman. This text could have belonged to an extinct school of Rigveda which she must have founded. 

 

Although no sacred-thread ceremony has been performed for women in recent centuries, ancient texts affirm that women did undergo this ceremony in the past, or wore the sacred thread during various rituals. For instance, a text says that the bride should wear the sacred thread during her wedding. The Harita Dharmasutra, perhaps belonging to Maitrayaniya school of Yajurveda, has been cited in several texts (e.g., Hindu law manuals Nirnayasindhu) to the effect that women are of two types – Brahmavaadini (devoted to the Vedas and to the Supreme Being) and Sadhyavadhu (those who marry and settle down as housewives). Concerning the former, the Dharmasutra says that they undergo the thread ceremony, perform agnihotra, study the Vedas, and live by begging alms from their family members (just as male students, although boys have to leave home to live with their teachers). Later texts also cite the opinion of Yama to the effect that in ancient times, women also underwent the thread ceremony, studied the Vedas and recited the Gayatri and other Vedic mantras. However, these later texts somehow try to explain these old traditions away because they were perceived as anachronistic in later times.  

 

Hindu texts are unanimous in declaring that God does not differentiate between men and women. From a Dharmic perspective, adherence to Dharma alone decides who is great and who is lowly. In the Hindu philosophy of Bhakti, or devotion to God, the cowherd women (gopi-s) who resided in the region of Braj in northern India are held as exemplars for all mankind. In traditional enumerations of pious people who were saved by the salvific power of God, both men and women are listed without prejudice. Both men and women are said to be God's manifestations in several verses. In these verses, we often see that the Sanskrit word for women is given a graceful precedence over the word for men. The Ramayana, a Hindu epic, narrates the story of Shabari, a tribal Hindu woman, who was ecstatic upon hearing that Lord Rama would pass her hut during his forest sojourn. She hastened to collect wild-berries to offer to him To ensure that they were all sweet, she chewed half of each berry, discarding the bad ones. When Shri Rama arrived, he was so touched by her pure devotion that he ate her half-chewed berries without hesitation. This story is often taken as an example to illustrate the power of loving devotion to God in the Hindu doctrine of Bhakti. 

In the Hindu tradition, a pentad of five women 'panchakanyaas' is especially revered. The first two are from the Hindu epic Mahabharata, and the other three from the Hindu epic Ramayana. It is believed that a remembrance of these five women destroys great sins. It is not exactly clear why these five women were chosen, but their diverse background shows the catholicity of Hindu Dharma in venerating virtuous women disregarding their social and ethnic background. These five women are –  

• Kunti, the wife of King Pandu, and mother of the five Pandava princes. She was an accomplished scholar of the Atharva Veda.
• Draupadi, wife of the five Pandavas brothers, whose honor was preserved by none other than Lord Krishna
• Tara, the wife of 'vaanara' (tribal) King Vali, and after his death, of his younger brother King Sugreeva who assisted Lord Rama
• Sage Gotama's wife Ahalya who was tricked into adultery by Indra, but had her honor redeemed by Lord Rama
• Mandodari, the virtuous wife of evil incarnate Ravana, the King of Lanka. She prevailed upon him to spare Devi Sita of his lust.

Likewise, there is also a concept of five 'Satis' or virtuous women namely –

• Sita, who was born of Mother Earth and the Nepalese King Siradhvaja Janaka. She married Lord Rama, the prince of Ayodhya, and is considered an incarnation of Devi Lakshmi.
• Savitri, who is described below
• Sati, described below
• Arundhati, the pious wife of Sage Vashishtha
• Damayanti, the wife of King Nala

These five (or rather the first four) are worshipped by Hindus as divine women of Dharma, noted for unwavering devotion to their husbands and for standing by them through all the ups and downs in their lives. There are no corresponding pentads of illustrious men.

(to be continued)

 

God and I – by Dr K.M.Cherian

DR K.M. Cherian is a reputed heart surgeon and Padma Shri recipient who also performed the country's first infant cardiac surgery and the first heart-lung transplant.

His views on God as published in Deccan chronicle (Chennai edition) is posted here. It shows that the more a person is deeper into a science on the question of life and death, the more he is capable of feeling the presence of God.

In contrast to this is what Mr Charuhasan (brother of Kamal Hasan) said a couple of weeks ago in the same column in DC. His is also posted underneath this.

I attribute my success to the Almighty

( God & I –column)

K.M. Cherian

http://www.dc-epaper.com/DC/DCC/2009/03/07/ArticleHtmls/07_03_2009_009_005.shtml?Mode=0#

I BELIEVE in an ordained life that God has a complete plan worked out even before one is born. For instance, when my mother was expecting me she met a stranger.

The stranger told her that she would have a son who will become a doctor. He even predicted that I would be a doctor who would operate on the heart. And this was several years before cardiac surgeries were conducted.

I have always felt God's guidance and presence all through my life. I was ordained to become a surgeon and go abroad to pursue my higher studies. I could have settled in the UK or the US, but God's will drove me back to India.

I performed the first bypass heart surgery in the country in 1975. It could not have been anything but God's will that the path-breaking surgery was performed by me. I attribute all my success to Him.

(As told to Anisha Francis)

******************

Religion: Greatest fraud played on mankind

February 23rd, 2009

(God and I column)

By Charu Hassan

(Charu Hassan is an actor and lawyer)

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/god-%2526-i/religion%3A-greatest-fraud-played-mankind-666

I was born in an Iyengar family but my father was a progressive thinker. He kept his distance from the close-knit agraharam, the clusters of houses in a village where Brahmins live.

Since he was a freedom fighter, he was imprisoned with a Muslim, named Hassan, after whom he named his progeny — Charu Hassan, Chandra Hassan and Kamal Hassan. He even asked my mother to start wearing a white sari, depicting widowhood, inspired by Kasturba.

After qualifying as a lawyer, and enlisting in the Communist Party, I wanted to fight injustice in the manner of Che Guevara. I even opposed my father, a practising lawyer, in court.

I heard Periyar speaking many times and believed that his philosophy is: Nature is God. But when a mob threatened to break an idol in a temple close to my house, I was sent for by the priests. I challenged the mob to defile the idol first before breaking it or pass on the challenge to me. They dispersed after muttering about my insolence under their breath.

I believe that religion is the greatest fraud played on mankind.

(As told to T.K. Srinivas Chari)