[Advaita-l] Re: Advaita-l Digest, Vol 36, Issue 2

[hemang Chamakuzhi Subramanian]

Jai Gurudev

>"vaidya'andhikaaraat" (women do.not have 'adhikaara' on veda) , >please note that i do not know the
>authenticity of this quote but have read it from 'gAyAtri mahAvijnAna by
>shrI rAm Sarma Acarya founder of Gayatri Pariwar (published in gujrati).
>If women are not allowed to study veda does that not go against the whole
>teaching of advaita.

All quotes/unquotes mentioned by acharyas and attributed to great teacher's are really matters avoidable by debate. Many of these words and sentences may be circumstantial(bound by time) and also contextual(place).

We could go on debating about these aspects...and still not come to a conclusion.
There are normally 3 ways by which you could confirm the truth yourself.
a) Written in the scriptures
b) Listen to the words of someone with authority(if you are blessed indeed, this person would be your Guru).
c) Personal Experience. (if in your experience you have confirmed (a) and (b) then  it could be safe to connote that this is the truth).
There is no fourth way...here

The more contemporary spiritual masters namely Mata Amrithanandamayi, Gurudev Sri Sri(who is also from the Puri-lineage of Swamijis), and Swami (sathya Sai)  have put no such bindings on any form of life, leave alone gender...

In fact Mata Amritanandamayi,  has women priests in the temples of the Mutts, who chant the vedas flawlessly and do all the Rituals needed for the Puja.

If we read the "Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna" or "the Divine Play of Sri Ramakrishna"...we will realize that the divine is most fondly adored in the form of the mother(or woman).

The logic that could potentially  have been used to prevent women from chanting the vedas, was very much out of the necessity at that point in time, to sustain society.

In the Gospel (as in the Bhakti sutras of Narada) there are discussions of 4 bhavas or attitudes a seeker should maintain-> That of a lover, that of a maid servant, that of a parent OR that of a Friend. For a woman all these four attitudes are normal and present in the make-up of the mind-body-intellect complex. 

Rendition of Mantras, or anything that could awaken and kindle these would lead to intense renunciation if not appropriately guided by the right teacher.
Ofcourse, the Tantras maintain the all inclusive philosphy of maintaining the attitude of a child, where the Divine is the Mother.

In the ancient days of the yore, there were no(or may be a few) educational institutions or systems where women were actually encouraged to follow the gurukula system.Hence chanting or learning of the Vedas would have been difficult. 

Anyway, our goal should be to hopefully find a master, and stick to him/her to reach the ultimate, rather than debate about the relevance of an acharya's writing in today's age.


JAI GURUDEV
-me