The Glory Of Womanhood

Everyone Calls His Country Motherland

Embodiments of Love!

Karma Marga (path of action) is a beautiful flower. Bhakti Marga (path of devotion) is a raw fruit, Jnana Marga (path of wisdom) is the ripened fruit with all its sweetness within. Without the flower, you cannot have the fruit. A raw fruit naturally leads to a fully ripened fruit. So, Karma (action) is the basis of Jnana (wisdom).

Reputation Of A Country Depends Upon Its Women

In this world, which is full of action, to be born as a woman is a great boon. But ignorant men do not recognise the greatness of women and consider themselves superior to them. Men have only three powers, but women are endowed with seven powers: reputation, wealth of virtues, sweet talk, intelligence, fortitude, courage and patience. The true nature of the woman is not understood by men, not only in this country but also by men in overseas countries. Men generally consider that women are weak and incapable of doing important work. They think that men are physically strong and capable of doing hard work. This is sheer ignorance.

The first quality of the women is good reputation. Whether it is home, community or country, good reputation of all these depends upon women. It is because of this that we call our country motherland; nobody ever calls it fatherland. Similarly, nobody asks the question, what is your language? Everybody asks, “What is your mother tongue?” Nobody will ask the question, “What is your father tongue?” So, be it the esteem of the country, the greatness of the language or the progress of society, they all depend on women. Everyone in this world says, “This is my motherland. This is my mother tongue. This is my religion.” Do you see anybody who does not declare like that?

Women Are Capable Of Tendering Good Advice

Women are very intelligent. They have a deeper understanding of religion and spirituality. If man wants to perform a religious ceremony, he will always consult the women in the house. If the husband wants to complete an important work successfully, he cannot do it without the cooperation of his wife. If he does not consult his wife first, the work undertaken by him will not be successful. Even if the husband is bad, his wife should give him good advice. She should act as a minister to tender sagacious counsel to her husband. Mandodari was the wife of Ravana. As we all know, Ravana was a wicked man. It was because of the advice of Mandodari that he was able to live for such a long time. She always counselled him, “Ravana, you have pride because you think you have physical strength, knowledge of scriptures and power. But if Sita determines to curse you, you will be reduced to ashes. Therefore, know the power of women and behave properly.”

Women Uphold The Prestige Of The Family

If man wants to perform Yajna, his wife should sit with him. Similarly, his wife should participate in all acts of charity that man performs. King Harishchandra considered the truth as most important. When he gave in charity his entire kingdom to Sage Vishwamitra, his wife Chandramathi was with him. Otherwise, he could not have been able to perform this great act of charity. So, a wife is called Ardhaangi (better half of the husband). Not only that, it is the woman who maintains the reputation of the family. That is why she is called Grihalakshmi (wealth of the house). Man may earn money, but it is the woman in the house who upholds the prestige and dignity of the family. It is she who cooks and serves food to everyone in the house. That is why she is called Sampada or wealth. Wealth is not only currency notes. Wealth does not consist of only money; it consists of good health, good qualities, purity and cleanliness also. Virtue is wealth, health is wealth, bliss is wealth, purity is wealth. All these are different forms of wealth. As a woman has all these qualities, she is known as Grihalakshmi. She always upholds the dignity and respect of the family as she has the quality of speaking sweetly and softly. In ancient times, if the husband was talking to another man in the drawing room, she would be in another room. It is the woman who upholds the respect of the family in this way.

Women Are Endowed With Great Power Of Discrimination

Another great quality of the women is their Buddhi (intellect). Women are more intelligent than men. They have better concentration and perform all tasks in a better way. Men have their discriminative ability only with regard to their job. But it is only women who act intelligently in all situations. For example, both men and women drive scooters, motorcycles and cars these days. Ask the police department who get involved more often in accidents. There are not many accidents when women drive. What is the reason? The reason is that women have better concentration. Not only that. You go to any university and enquire. Mainly it is the girls who score first class and first-rank. For Bhagawan, both men and women are the same, but if you really see, this is the true situation (laughter and applause).

Women always use their power of discrimination to discover what is good and what is bad. When the husband wants to give his daughter in marriage, he will look at the education and profession of the future bridegroom while his wife will check the family background and reputation. It is the woman who verifies the antecedents of the bridegroom and future prospects of the alliance. On the other hand, man takes decisions in haste and repents later. Haste makes waste, waste makes worry. So do not be in a hurry. Man shows his courage only in words but the woman has strength in her heart. When a man comes from the office exhausted, disappointed and depressed, his wife gives him the glucose injection of her sweet, soothing and encouraging words. Men know this but they will not openly admit (laughing and clapping).

Man prospers in life due to the support of his wife. Only women can understand all the aspects of a situation; men have only superficial understanding. In spite of many invasions of foreigners in our country, the culture of Bharat is still alive due to the women of this land.

Women Have The Qualities Of Peace And Humility

Women have the quality of peace. They maintain the peace of the family in spite of many problems they face due to some relatives. They quietly suffer within themselves but do not show outside to save the name and respect of the family. Men have inflated egos because they work in an office and earn money. Even though women also work and earn money, they do not have this kind of ego. They are always humble. Sometimes women also quarrel but they are mostly quiet and peaceful. The courage of man depends on the strength of his wife at home. Men only pretend that they are courageous, but women are actually more courageous than men. Many women occupied high posts in several countries. Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister of India for 15 years. Similarly, a woman was the Prime Minister of U.K. In Sri Lanka also the Prime Minister and President were women. So, women have immense courage to lead and protect their countries.

In devotion, women stand first, men slowly follow thereafter. Women are ahead in the spiritual path as well. Wisdom is woman, devotion is woman. Without devotion to God, one is nowhere. Many women attained liberation through their devotion to God. So, women are not weak or inferior. They deserve equal respect like men.

While the father earns money and maintains the family, the mother nurtures the children, keeping in view their education and behaviour. It is mainly due to their mother’s influence that children come up in life. All over the world, it is women who are powerful. There is nothing that they cannot do with their inner power. It was due to the tender care of Sita that Lava and Kusha attained greatness. Rama became God as He was born to Kaushalya.

Spiritually speaking, all are females in the world. God only is Purusha (male). In a way, the entire world is a girls college. When a drama is played in the girls college, the king, queen, ministers, servants, etc., are female, though they don the dress of a male as per their role. In this world, food, sleep, hunger and fear are common to both men and women; both eat, cry and harbour desires. The differences lie only in the body.

In order to show the qualities and capacities of women and showcase the difference between men and women, Krishna once enacted a drama. Krishna posted a watchman at the main gate of Brindavan and asked him, “See that no woman enters Brindavan.” One day when Radha came to the gate, she was refused entry by the watchman. When she asked him the reason, the watchman said that women were not permitted to enter Brindavan. Then Radha said, “Brindavan belongs to all, Govinda belongs to all.” She asked him, “Who are you and why are you here”? The watchman replied, “I am a man. That is why I am here.” Radha then said to him, “It is your imagination that you are a man. In this world, there are no men; all are women only. God alone is a man. He is the Purusha. All others are the creation of God, the Prakriti. The entire universe is Prakriti and God is the only Purusha.”

The world symbolises womanhood. Everybody calls his country motherland. All bodies are born from the mother earth. We call our country motherland. For everyone, mother is most important. Motherly feelings are supreme as they ensure the welfare of the country, the progress of society and the family.

The whole world symbolises womanhood. Therefore, one’s country is called motherland and the earth is called Bhumata (mother earth). All bodies have taken birth from mother earth. Mother is important for all, and motherly feelings are supreme which ensure the welfare of the family, society and country.

Mother’s Love Is Most Sacred

Once Sage Vishwamitra went to King Dasharatha and asked for his help in the performance of a Yajna he was conducting. He told Dasharatha that demons were creating hurdles in the performance of this ritual and asked him to send his sons Rama and Lakshmana to safeguard the Yajna. He added that he had the power to kill these demons but could not use it as violence was prohibited in the performance of the sacred ritual. Dasharatha felt sad because Rama and Lakshmana were of tender age and they had no experience of warfare. Vishwamitra then told Dasharatha that Rama and Lakshmana were highly divine who prayed to the Mother Goddess first and their father afterwards. When Vishwamitra thus convinced Dasharatha, Rama and Lakshmana followed Vishwamitra. While going with the sage, they paid respect to their mothers first, their father next and the sage afterwards. Why this order? It is so because it is the mother who gives birth and nurtures the child with extreme tenderness. She keeps awake day and night when her child has any illness. She will not eat food when her child has a fever. Such sacred love is found only in the mother. The mother takes care of the child with tenderness and gives intense love to the child.

It is a mistake to consider that women are fit for only inferior work. In modern times, both men and women go to work and earn money. So, they employ a cook, a driver and other servants for household work. But the salaries of the servants employed by them usually exceed the earning of the wife. If the wife gets a salary of two thousand rupees, the salary of the servants is three thousand rupees. This is like eating more pickles than the meal. Thus, the expenditure becomes more than the income. On the other hand, if the housewife remains at home, she will be able to take care of all the household matters. As the housewife goes to her job, the entire family is disturbed. Listen to this point carefully. The housewife cooks the food for the family with love and purity.

Food Influences The Thought Process Of Man

The Bhagavad-gita states three types of the purity of food: the purity of the cook, the purity of the process of cooking and the purity of the material. The person who cooks the food should not only have outward cleanliness but purity of heart also. Similarly, the vessel in which the food is cooked should be clean. The material used for cooking should also be clean and pure. The vegetables and other materials used for cooking should be in good condition. It is an ancient practice in Bharat that the food is offered to God by chanting the food prayer:

Brahmarpanam Brahma Havir 
Brahmagnau Brahmanahutam 
Brahmaiva Tena Gantavyam 
Brahma Karma Samadhina.

(Brahman is the ladle as well as the oblation. He is the sacrificial fire as also the sacrificer. And finally, Brahman is the goal of one who is engaged in the act of sacrifice.)

When one chants this prayer, the food becomes pure as Prasadam (sanctified food). Then all the defects in the food are removed. We may not know what type of material is used in the preparation of the food. We may also not know the thoughts of the cook who prepared the food. The purity of the food is thus ensured through prayer. Nowadays, the husband and wife quarrel on the dining table. One says yes, the other says no. What is the reason? One reason for this type of disturbance is the impurity of the cook who is more concerned with his salary than the welfare of the family.

But the housewife will cook food with purity, thinking always about the welfare of the family. Even in royal families, the queen herself served food to the members of the royal family. If there is an additional workload, one may have servants. But cooking and household work should be done by the housewife to ensure the safety and security of the family. If the family is secure and happy, the society will also be secure and happy. If the society is secure and happy, the whole country will be secure and happy. So, purity and happiness should begin with the individual. Here is a story to illustrate how impure food influences the thought process of man.

Once there was a businessman in Haridwar who lost his wife at the age of 60. As there was no one to take care of his family, he felt very sad. He had an aged clerk who worked in his business establishment. The clerk had a 16-year-old daughter who had lost her mother. The businessman asked him to give his daughter in marriage to him. The clerk was a greedy man and wanted money. So, he performed the marriage of his 16-year-old daughter with the 60-year-old businessman. The girl was very sad and cried day and night. As she was motherless, she was married to an old man. The husband is after money, the wife will always follow Dharma. The girl realised that all this had happened because she had no mother. The businessman usually came late from the office at night. One day, the girl decided to end her life due to loneliness and grief. As the businessman did not return home till 10 o’clock at night on that day, she thought that was the right time to commit suicide and end her life instead of spending all her life in misery. So, she jumped into the river Ganga and ended her life. On the 10th day of the death of his wife, the businessman served food and sweets to the inmates of an Ashram in Rishikesh. There was a young renunciant in this Ashram who used to meditate every day. Normally, he could meditate well but that evening he felt disturbed when he sat for meditation because he saw a young girl crying while he meditated. The renunciant sat in meditation again at night but saw the same girl again. He could not sleep the whole night and tried to know what mistake he had committed that he was unable to meditate. Somehow he spent that night.

The next day, he went to his Guru and told him how he was disturbed in his meditation. The Guru said, “You must be having bad thoughts. That is why you were having such an experience.” The renunciant told his Guru that he had no bad thoughts. The Guru meditated for some time and asked him, “What did you eat yesterday”? The renunciant then told his Guru that he had partaken of the food that was served by a businessman in the Ashram. When the Guru made enquiries, he came to know that the food was served as part of the ritual on the death of the businessman’s young wife who committed suicide because she could not bear the suffering due to her marriage with an old man. So, the young renunciant in the Ashram was disturbed in his meditation because he had eaten the food that the businessman served. Hence, we should not eat whatever food is offered to us. Since then the young renunciant of the Ashram stopped eating food offered in feasts by others and became content with whatever food was cooked and served in the Ashram.

Develop Devotion For God

Therefore, it is necessary to eat pure and sanctified food by offering it first to God. Where is God? God is within you. When you recite the prayer to offer food to God, He replies from within, “Oh mad man! I am present within you as Vaishvanara (digestive fire).” God is present everywhere at all times. He is in you, above you, below you and all around you. You are God; your heart is the altar of God. Love is His Form. Bliss is His food. You speak about energy. Many people ask Swami, “Swami! Wherefrom do You get energy? You eat so little.” I tell them, “I do not get energy. I am energy. Energy is a form of Divinity.”

Do not consider women as of little value. A house without a woman is like a forest. When the woman is present in the house, it is "for rest". Give due respect to women and take care of their needs and comforts. If a woman sheds tears, wealth and prosperity will not remain in that home. Therefore, do not cause suffering to any woman. A woman is the embodiment of love and devotion. At the Atmic level, there is no difference between a man and a woman since the same Atma is present in them. Both are the creation of God.

God is your old friend, not only friend but old friend. Old is gold. Worldly friends have a selfish motive. They will be close to you as long as you have money. Such friends change from moment to moment. They are friends today and may say goodbye tomorrow. But God is always with you. He is in you, above you, below you and all around you. So, love God. Develop devotion for God. This is the purpose of human life.

(Bhagawan brought His Discourse to a close with the Bhajan, “Hey Shiwa Shankara Namaami Shankara…”)

– Bhagawan’s Discourse in Sai Sruthi, Kodaikanal on 19th April 1996.