MOTHER WOMEN AND MARRIAGE AND GRACE IN VEDAS PART 1
KR IRS 24624 25624
Here is an attempt to get behind these powerful gods and grasp the ‘power;
of which they were the manifestations. A well-known hymn says: ‘that Being
is one which the wise call by various names as Agni, Yama, and Matarishvan’.
It is difficult to pinpoint the origin of the mother goddess idea in the
Vedas, but the fact that deities like Aditi and Saraswati are described by
rishis as ‘motherly’ shows that the idea of the mother underlying such
Puranic deities as Uma, Durga, Parvati, and Lakshmi is undoubtedly of Vedic
origin. The Vedic seer worships divinity in various devotional moods, the
most elementary being that of child towards its mother. We find this
manifest in such Rig Vedic phases as ‘Pita mata sada minmanusanam; Agni is
always father and mother to humans’ (Rig Veda 6.I.5 ); ‘mateva yadbharase
paprathano janam janam; (Agni) sustains all beings like a mother’ (5.15.4)
and ‘vayam syama maturna sunavah; (O Usha!) let us be dear to you like sons
to a mother (7.8i.4).
The Mundaka Upanishad also speaks of seven female powers----kali, karali,
and so on---personifications of the flames of the sacrificial fire. The
Svetasvatara, a later theistic Upanishad, refers to the ‘innate power of
the Supreme, concealed by its own nature. The sages realized that this
power, maya, is none other than Prakriti or primordial nature of infinite
variety, with knowledge and action as its natural forms’ (4.10;6.8)
References
1. The complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, 9 vols
(Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama, i-8, i989, 9, I997)
2. Rig Veda ,
3. Taittiriya Aranyaka,
4. great women of India, ed. Swami Madhavananda and Rameshchandra Majumdar
( Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama,
5. Shvetashvatara Upanishad
6. Mahabharata, ‘Virata Parva, chap.6
7. Mahabharata, Bhishma Parva, chap. 23
8. Brihaddevata, 2.74-9
II Manu Smriti 2.227. That trouble (and pain) which the parents undergo
on the birth of (their) children, cannot be compensated even in a hundred
years.
2.228. Let him always do what is agreeable to those (two) and always (what
may please) his teacher; when those three are pleased, he obtains all
(those rewards which) austerities (yield)
2.229. Obedience towards those three is declared to be the best (form of)
austerity; let him not perform other meritorious acts without their
permission
There is no Sastra superior to the Vedas; there is no elderly person
superior to the mother; and there is no friend superior to charity both in
this world and in the next. *But what is given to an unworthy person,
consumes the family up to the seventh generation*. (149) Atri Smriti
According to Manusmriti Chapter 2, Mother is more venerable than Father and
Guru.
The teacher (akarya) is ten times more venerable than a sub-teacher
(upadhyaya), the father a hundred times more than the teacher, but the
mother a thousand times more than the father.
Of him who gives natural birth and him who gives (the knowledge of) the
Veda, the giver of the Veda is the more venerable father; for the birth for
the sake of the Veda (ensures) eternal (rewards) both in this (life) and
after death.
Bhishma said same thing in Mahabharata.
One Acarya is superior to ten Brahmanas learned in the Vedas. One Upadhyaya
is again superior to ten Acaryas. The father, again, is superior to ten
Upadhyayas. The mother again, is superior to ten fathers, or perhaps, the
whole world, in importance. There is no one that deserves such reverence as
the mother. In my opinion, however, the preceptor is worthy of greater
reverence than the father or even the mother. The father and the mother are
authors of one’s being.
In the same chapter he said;
The father and the mother, however much they may offend, should never be
slain. By not punishing a father and a mother, (even if they deserve
punishment), one does not incur sin.
The child must follow his/her parents.
"Bhishma said, 'The worship of mother, father, and preceptor is most
important according to me. The man who attends to that duty here, succeeds
in acquiring great fame and many regions of felicity. Worshipped with
respect by you, whatever they will command you, be it consistent with
righteousness or in consistent with it, should be done unhesitatingly, O
Yudhishthira! One should never do what they forbid. Without doubt, that
which they command should always be done.
Skandamahāpurāṇam Verse 7.1.1.25-26
25-26. Just as Maheśvara, the Lord of Devas, is the most excellent one
among Suras, just as Gaṅgā is the greatest of all rivers, just as Brāhmaṇa
is the greatest of all castes, just as Oṃkāra is the foremost among all
Akṣaras (syllables), just as mother is the greatest among those worthy of
adoration, just as father is the greatest (most respectable) of all
elders,...
2. Padma Maha-Purāṇa Verse 3.51.34-46
For life’s sake he should never talk hatefully with the elders. Even though
excellent in other virtues, a man who hates his elders, falls down.
35b-40a. Out of these, five are to be specially respected: Out of these the
first three are the greatest, and out of these (three) the mother is the
most venerable. He who desires his welfare, should specially respect, with
all efforts, even by casting his life, these five.
*As long as the father and the mother remain unchanged (in mind or
attitude), a son should, giving up everything (else), be attached to them.
If, by the good qualities of their son, the father and the mother are well
pleased, then, the son would obtain all religious merits.
40b-45a. There is no (other) deity like the mother, and no (other)
venerable person like the father. There can never be in their case doing
good to them in return. He should always do what pleases them by means of
deeds, thought and words. Without being permitted by them, he should not
follow any other course of conduct except (in the case of rites having)
liberation as their fruit or the obligatory and occasional (rites).
*In this world, a man attains greatness by serving his mother.*
Thus, a Mother is the greatest person in an individual life and she must be
respected despite her any sort of behaviour, as per the scriptures.
Some ideal sons in the Scriptures -
Now let me provide some examples from the scriptures, about sons who
respected and catered to their parents despite all sorts of hardships.
The foremost example is of God Sri Râma. It's needless to say what all
Kaikeyi did to the Lord, and even her husband. Even so then the Lord set an
exemplar example of an ideal son. He even sought forgiveness from his
father on Kaikeyi's behalf, as found in the Valmiki Ramayan Verse
7-119-25-27.
In a story found in the Padma Maha-Purāṇa Verse 2.4.15-45 a pious Brahmin
Śivaśarman's son named Somaśarman, kept up with his parents despite several
abuses and hardships.
To Conclude -
A mother is the greatest person for an individual who must be respected,
come what may. Even if she's abusive or rude, it's the foremost duty of the
son to take care of her, and support her, notwithstanding her
unrighteousness, since women are not allowed to work outside home, as per
scriptures. The two exemplar examples of ideal sons are a testimony to such
ideals and guidelines for a son.
*So, yes even if the mother is not right and causes trouble, we should
learn to adjust with her. That's correct.*
*III Women in Hinduism*
The writer has tried his level best to show Woman are highly revered
in the Vedas. How can they – THE NEGATIVE WRITERS OF THE VEDAS, QUOTE ONLY
NEGATIVE VERSES PARTLY EXTRACTED AS INSULT TO WOMANHOOD? LIKE:- that
Vedas say:
1 Women are devoid of intelligence,
2 she shall not inherit,
3 Women are like sly fox.
4 Women in Vedas is nothing but a commodity,
5 Yajur Veda 30.5 and 30.9 explicitly states that Ishwar has created
women for sexual enjoyment.
6 It doesn’t even pray for daughter let alone giving them equal rights,
7 Veda only prays for the birth of Son, it says daughter should be born
somewhere else,
8 When they couldn’t find verses that gives equal rights or praises women,
they used the verses addressed to Vedic Goddesses to show women are highly
revered in Vedas, they have also used verses which are to be recited during
Marriage ceremony.
9 Those verses can never be used to prove that women are given equal status
in Vedas, if Vedas really praises women, then Hindu apologists should
furnish references from Vedas that gives equal inheritance, verses praying
for birth of daughter etc.
10 He pretends to be quoting Arya Samaj Hindi translation but in fact
he has mistranslated the Hindi translations also.
K Rajaram Part 1 IRS 24624 25624 to be contd.
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