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Sri Swami Chidnandaji
The heritage of Indian womanhood has been a glorious
one. It would be no exaggeration to say that there has been no sphere
of human endeavour for the uplift of mankind, in which our women have
not gladly and efficiently shared the burden along with the men. Whether
it is on religious, social or political ground, nowhere have our women
been found lagging behind.
The Indian or Hindu concept is that man and woman, purusha and sakti,
are one and indivisible. Wife is ardhangini. She ever dwells in her husband.
She occupies half the body of her Lord. Sita did not think of herself
as a separate entity. She was in and of Rama. The Indian woman always
identifies herself completely with her husband in all domestic, religious
and social life. No religious ceremony can be performed by the husband
without his wife. The Vedic hymns chant of her: "Be an empress to
your father-in-law; be an empress to your mother-in-law; be an empress
to your husband's brothers and sisters." She is the queen of the
house. She illumines the home through the glory of motherhood. Woman is
the backbone or bedrock or the basis for sustaining religion and national
strength and prosperity. There is no difference between her and Lakshmi,
the Goddess of beauty, grace and prosperity. Manu says, "That woman
who does always good, who is efficient in work, sweet in speech, devoted
to her dharmas and service to her husband, is really no human being but
a Goddess."
The inspiring force of the home is the woman. The home is the origin and
the beginning of every form of social organisation. It is the nursery
of the nation. It is the sweet place where children are trained for future
citizenship. Good habits, right conduct, formation of character are created
in children spontaneously in a well-regulated home under the personal
influence of the mother. The loving kindness and the cultured gentleness
of the mother help the children to unfold their native talents and dormant
capacities quickly. Children absorb ideas by suggestion and imitation.
Early training and impressions are lasting. If the child is placed in
the hands of a paid servant, what can you expect when it grows up? The
child needs the constant contact of the mother. She is the first teacher
or guru. She alone can give to the child the milk of knowledge and culture
and shape its destiny. The rising generation depends entirely upon the
training given by the mothers. The improvement and strengthening of the
nation is in the hands of the mothers.
It is therefore the most important duty of parents to create religious
impressions in the minds of their children by telling them stories from
the Ramayana and the Bhagavata, by making them do kirtan and recite prayers.
They should make their sons perform sandhya regularly in the morning,
noon and evening. They should encourage the children to study the Gita,
the Ramayana and other scriptures. They should make them do japa daily.
Napoleon's mother always kept pictures of Greek and Roman
heroes with her and sang songs of these heroes. Thus the heroic spirit
was created in Napoleon even while he was in his mother's womb. Sachi,
the mother of Gauranga, rocked the cradle of her son with Hari's Name
on her lips-Hari Hari Bol, Bol Hari Bol, Mukunda Madhava Govinda Bol.
This infused in him the honey of devotion and brought forth to the world
a Gauranga who changed the mentality of India.
Women have got ample opportunities to improve and increase
the national health and prosperity. They really build the nation. They
can utilise their talents and abilities in making the home the cradle
of culture, character, personal ability and religious upheaval. It is
therefore wrong to say that their life is cramped or stunted by attending
to the duties at home and that no scope is given for evolution and freedom.
This is a sad mistake indeed! The life of a woman is as noble and serious
as that of a man.
If a woman is pure she can save and purify man. Woman
can purify the race. Woman can make a home a sacred temple. The Hindu
women have been the custodians of the Hindu race. The Hindu religion,
the Hindu culture and civilization still survives in spite of the many
foreign invasions, when other civilization have come and gone, on account
of the purity of Hindu women. The women are taught to regard chastity
as their most priceless possession. Religion is ingrained in the Hindu
woman from her very childhood. Hindu women illumine and enliven the house
through the glory of their purity. This is the secret of the endurance
of the Hindu religion, civilization and culture.
***
A Mother Charges Nothing
A mother found one morning at breakfast a bill made out by her small son,
Bradley, aged eight: "Mother owes Bradley: for running errands, 25
cents; for being good, 10 cents; for taking music lessons, 15 cents; for
extras, 5 cents. Total 55 cents."
Mother smiled, but made no comment. At lunch Bradley found the bill with
55 cents and another piece of paper neatly folded like the first. Opening
it he read: "Bradley owes Mother: for nursing him through scarlet
fever, nothing; for being good to him, nothing; for clothes, shoes and
playthings, nothing; for his play-room, nothing; for his meals, nothing.
Total: nothing."
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