Celebrating the WOMEN
It’s heartening to acknowledge that women possess unique qualities essential to society’s well-being, such as resilience, compassion, and nurturing abilities. They are not ordinary individuals but embody divine strength. Women have long been revered as strong beacons of spirituality. Their spiritual fervour has inspired generations and demonstrated the transformative potential of faith and devotion.
However, we cannot ignore the fact that malpractices like dowry, female infanticide, rape, and violence against women continue to plague societies worldwide, defying decades of progress towards gender equality. These issues cause immense pain and suffering to women, and we must address them with empathy and urgency.
Harming daughters in any way brings misfortune upon us. It is our collective responsibility to protect women from crimes like rape and misconduct and to safeguard their chastity. As a society, we must work towards creating a safe and nurturing environment for women, where they can thrive without fear or discrimination.
Social evils like the dowry system perpetuate inequality and materialism. We must eradicate these practices and treat marriage as a sacred union based on love, respect, and mutual understanding rather than material exchange. We must educate and nurture our girls, providing them equal opportunities and respecting and honouring them as divine beings. Only then can we hope to build a more equitable and compassionate society?
Are Men Superior To Women?
It is wrong. Whoever says this is ignorant. The greatest Mahatma, Shri Sukhdev Ji, sings the glory of the Gopis of Vrindavan. In Bhaktamal, all the most interesting characters come from these Mahabhagyavati Vaishno Devis. No one has been born without a woman, including the god himself, Ram Avatar or Krishna Avatar. A woman is the mother of all. Somewhere or another, he took shelter from the mother, even though he had manifested his divinity. Sachchidanand Paramatattva drank the breast milk of mata Kaushalya, mata Devaki, and maiya Yashoda. God himself is in female form; there is no one else. If you want to look into spirituality (bhakti marg), women are not a step behind men either. Devoted Savitri shook the Dharma Raj. By the power of Pativrata Dharma, Devi Anasuya transformed the tridevs Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesh into six-month-old babies and cradled them. If someone considers a woman to be ordinary, then it is wrong. There is no great power like a woman on this planet Earth. Srimad Bhagwat Puran narrates the story where param bhaagwat Uddhav Jee tries to explain the Gyaan Marg to Gopis of Vrindavan to which they replied saying we have worshipped, and prayed for 1000s of years to become the gopis to participate in the Sri Krishna leela (incarnation). Sanatan Dharma preaches that you have to be lucky to birth a girl in your family. Not everyone is deserving and hence won’t get baby girls as offspring. This is the might of being a woman.
Glories of Gopis of Vrindavan
Who does not want to become the dust (charan dhooli/ raj) of the feet of the Gopis, be it Sanak, Sanatan, Naarad, etc? Great sages worshipped the charan raj of the feet of the Gopis. The Brijvasi Gopis were in the female form. There is no great saint who has not sung praises for Gopis. Bhishma ji also remembered the Gopis in his last moments. Supreme celibates like Bhishma ji, Sukhdev ji, and many mahatmas have worshipped the charan raj of Gopis.
Distance (Maryada) has been created in the scriptures to be free from attachments. Don’t condemn or insult women. Only by drinking their sacred milk can a person become a Mahatma, a warrior, no matter how great a sacrifice he may make. God himself exists in both forms, male and female. This difference between men and women appears due to our bad tendencies. If we ever feel that we should maintain distance from a woman, it is only for detachment and not out of jealousy or hatred. Spiritual seekers, whether female or male, should keep their distance from each other.
Skewed Gender Ratio: Family Pressure To Birth A Boy
Are girls, not children? Ideally, this shouldn’t be a question. This is the problem. You don’t have to listen to anyone. Girls should be considered equal to or even more than boys. The intelligence of the people is corrupted. If we consider the present, the president of India is a woman. She is the President! If the mothers were not there, then where would boys come from? If you have a perfect house, all the arrangements are perfect, but there is no mother or sister there, you will see that it will feel like ruins. And if the house is made of mud walls, with a shed, and there is a mother, she will keep it beautiful. There is a reason why women are called Griha Laxmi (Goddess of Prosperity).
In today’s time, when the son pushes the parents away, the daughter takes care of them. I feel the awe and reverence that we once had towards the daughters in our country is getting reduced. People think they will have to pay a dowry if they have daughters. This is a sin and whoever does this is no different than a sinner. A daughter is God’s divine energy; don’t look at her like that. Some families curse the daughter-in-law for birthing daughters. Do you have the ability to create a son? Do you have the ability to create a son or daughter? All this happens as per God’s legislation.
Our daughters and sisters are succeeding in every field, so remove these negative feelings. Educate them nicely and make them prosperous (which will result in your prosperity as well). We should always be satisfied with God’s legislation. Whatever God gives, son or daughter, with all humility and affection, you should love them.
Women in Spirituality
When one is on a spiritual journey, the almighty God accompanies. There are many examples. When Karmaiti Bai Ji came to Vrindavan, she applied raj (holy dust of Vrindavan) on her entire body and sat on the trees the whole day. She would come down at night, get food and water, and then engage in bhajan. The name of Mata Sabari echoed everywhere in the dense forest of Dandakaranya; even today, the light of the name Sabari is present in the hearts of the devotees. Mata Sabari eventually received a lot of love and param pad (eternal togetherness with god) from Prabhu Ram. Great meditating yogis feel respectful towards Shabari Ji. Look at the love of Vidurani Ji, the love of Meera Ji, Karmaiti Bai, and Shri Ratnavati; there are many examples.
Gargi ji used to preach in the meetings of great scholars. She used to answer the questions. Women have been successful in all fields. A Yogini entered Dasharatha Ji’s mind and sat there. Dasharatha ji asked her, what are you doing here? Yogini said that an empty mind is the resting place of yogis. That’s why I came here. If a woman wants, she can do anything. Prabhu Ram said to Kakabhushundi Ji: “Men, transgender, women, animals, or plants, which approach me after abandoning malice, are beloved to me.” This means that God loves everyone equally. He does not differentiate between men and women.
“पुरुष नपुंसक नारी वा जीव चराचर कोई, सर्व भाव भज कपट तजि मोहि परम प्रिय सोई।”
