[Advaita-l] rAmAyaNa quotes with regard to stree upanayana

[Satish Arigela]

>This is a type of "sandhya" but it not the same as reciting gayatri with  arghya 
>etc.

LOL. A type of sandhya? :-))

>The presence of Brahmanas who are "vedasaMpanna" strengthens the  interpretation 
>that she was >presiding over the agnihotra not actually  performing it. 
>

One more instance of this "urge" to "explain away"? 

> Even there a lot of interpretive imagination has to be used to fit the  
>evidence to the thesis. 
>

Agreed that sometimes bogus arguments are made, like as you noted the quote from 
Apastamba

I will also add that, images of pArvatI-svayaMvara kalA till a certain century 
showed the yaGYopavIta while the later ones do not show it. Please note that I 
am -not- one of those who argue that women should be made to learn veda-s, 
perform vedic rituals etc. One of my teacher also notes that women in the past 
did have the yaGYopavIta and performed vedic rituals but he for sure will not 
teach veda to any woman.

Please see pages 2,3 & 4 of 

http://vishalagarwal.voiceofdharma.com/articles/thaah/THAAF-05.pdf

See the following references in those pages: Perhaps some of these can be 
explained(and hence erased as references on this issue) but surely a few of 
these references stand like for example:

"Puraakalpeshu naariinaam maunjiibandhanishyatey. Adhyaapanam cha  vedaanaam 
saavitrivaachanam tathaa." Is this from the yama smR^iti..?

2 e.g., Madhyandina Yajurveda 5.17; 3.44‐45 etc.
3 e.g., Katyayana Shrautasuta 5.5.10 etc.
4 Gobhila Grhyasutra 1.3.15; Khadira Grhyasutra 1.5.17‐18 etc.
5 Ramayana 2.20.14
6 Ramayana 5.14.49
7 e.g., Aitareya Brahmana 2.9 cites the opinion of Kumari Gandharva‐grihita on 
the Agnihotra ritual.
8 Manusmriti 2.67 says that the wedding rite is the only Vedic rite of women, 
and domestic work is like performance of agnihotra rite for women. 
Interestingly, as late as the 15th century, the commentator Kullukabhatta noted 
several additional verses in manuscripts of Manusmriti found in his times. Right 
after 2.67, he noticed an additional verse (excluded in vulgate text) according 
to which wives were actually responsible for performing the daily agnihotra, 
clearly contradicting the preceding verse but consistent with numerous old texts 
such as Gobhila Grhyasutra 1.3.15; Ashvalayana Grhyasutra 1.9
9 Gobhila Grhyasutra 2.1.9
10 ‘dvividhaa striyah. Brahmavaadinyah sadyovadhvascha. tatra 
brahmavaadiniinaamupanayanamagniindhanam svagrhe bhiksacharyeti.’
11 Puraakalpeshu naariinaam maunjiibandhanishyatey. Adhyaapanam cha vedaanaam 
saavitrivaachanam tathaa.