Guest guest Report post Posted January 20, 2003 Namaskaram, Just wanted to know if Durga Suktam can be readby women, I have heard it on Cd's it is by a male. Are there any slokas or shotras that should not be readby women. thanks very much for your time. Radhika Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest guest Report post Posted January 20, 2003 durga suuktam is from veda-s. Traditionally, chanting of veda-s is restricted to first three varNa-s and to only males who are initiated to upanayana and taught these mantra-s in person. If you write a letter to shringeri or kanchi maTha, this is what you will hear. You can do what you want, but you should understand that you will face the consequences. If your desire is to please God, there are easier and legitimate ways to do it. My 2c. Ravi , "gri1993 <gri1993>" <gri1993> wrote: > Namaskaram, > Just wanted to know if Durga Suktam can be readby women, I have heard > it on Cd's it is by a male. > > Are there any slokas or shotras that should not be readby women. > > thanks very much for your time. > > Radhika Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest guest Report post Posted January 20, 2003 Fundamental problem with your post is the confusion between vyAvahAra and paramArtha. This is the most common and serious error that leads to erroneous theories. You are brahman only when your upAdhi-s are removed. As long as you are in vyAvahara and subject to ignorance, the rules apply. You choose to break them, you will have to pay the penalty. But as Tamil Saint Valluvar put it, deva-s and thieves do not adhere to the laws that govern men. Former do not because they are not subject to it and latter merely violate it. (devar anaiyar kavavar ...). And if I throw dime, these days I will get 100 new-age opinions. I am sure we all know enough to break rules and give justifications. And most of us do that all the time. Our goal in this list is to learn what traditionally accepted values are, if asked for. Whether you follow it or not is upto you. Thank you for your understanding. And I hope you understand the concepts of vyAvahara and paramArtha, and the distinction. Ravi , "sivadancer <sivadancer>" <sivadancer> wrote: > AUM gaNapatye namaH > > I feel that one of the hardest barriers to Realiztion is the thought > "I have to follow the rules." > > Rules must be followed up to a point: for removal of doubts in the > sadhaka's mind or as an example to others of the "right way" so that > they are not led to lawless ways. > > But in the end, who makes the rules? Are you not THAT? > > The mahavakya goes: "Tat Tvam Asi" -- "Thou art That" > > Is this just an idle statement that we bandy about lightly? > Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest guest Report post Posted January 20, 2003 , JayBee <jaybee@t...> wrote: > > > This something of an anomaly. > One important school of SriVidya is propounded by > LOpamudra. One of the SUkthams has got a female as its rishi. > This suktham is read as a part of Durga Sapthasathi. A female > rishi almost defeated Yaagnyavalkiya. > Nobody has captured the essence of Kundalini Yoga > so very precisely in a short beautiful poem - Vinaayagar Agaval - > as Auvaiyaar. > And nobody has so succinctly delivered most of the > aspects of yoga in short verse forms as Auvai KURaL. Again > Auvaiyaar. > There is always something called the yuga dharma. > Time, place, and circumstance dictate what we do and what > we are do not/cannot do. > Are we following the vedic laws as they have been > propounded? > > Regards > > JayBee > It is well known that there were many woman scholars. And even the tradition acknowledges that there were vedic seers were women. This no secret. This matter was discussed in Advaita-l to a reasonable degree. To be a vedic seer, one need not be even human. The paradox is , even just by being a seer is not necessarily a qualification to formally learn and chant veda-s. But at least for known period of time, only men when initiated to upanayana and taught veda mantras. This is in vogue for many centuries. I know that now there are some schools which, teach veda- s for women. As far as this list is concerned, we go by what is traditionally accepted by shankara maTha-s. That is our reference point. And beyond a point this is not within the scope of this list. If you are further interested in this subject, I request you to join advaita-l and take the discussion there. Personally, I would suggest people follow what their respective tradition asks them to do. And my view is, one can worship God in his/her own words, which is more direct and reasonable, than being doing something and getting agitated whether it is correct or not. Thank you for your understanding. Ravi Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest guest Report post Posted January 21, 2003 --- Harsha Ramamurthy <harsha.ramamurthy wrote: > Re: Durga Suktam > Tue, 21 Jan 2003 14:02:13 +0530 > "Harsha Ramamurthy" <harsha.ramamurthy > <miinalochanii > > Dearest Ravi, > > A gentleman/lady forwarded a post of yours about Durga sukta and > asked my opinion about it. I decided that i should write to you > directly rather than reahing you through that gentleman/lady. I > really wanted to say something about this topic which has already > been elaborately discussed in some other e-group > > Some time ago, a friend of mine, who happens to be a worshipper of > Shanmukha, asked me the same thing. I told her, "If you want to > follow the Shastras, follow everything they say. Why would you want > to recite something from the Shastra itself, when you are not showing > it enough respect by going against the Shastra". She was still not > satisfied and wanted to chant Durgasukta, without even the knowledge > of Swaras. I had the good fortune of speaking to H.H. Sri Sri Bharati > Tirtha Mahasannidhanam of Sringeri Sarada Peetham regarding this. He > said, "There is no doubt that the Shastras clearly sanction the > authority of chanting the Vedas only to men of Trivarna. It has now > been scientifically proved that a pregnant lady chanting Gayatri > mantra affects her foetus. The ancients have laid down these > sanctions not to demean women or something. It is just that some > vibrations do not suit them. Even men who chant any of these suktas > without the proper knowledge of Vedic Swaras end up with subtle > complications for sure. But note carefully that they have not > forgotten the fourth Varna and women or their spiritual development. > There is Yoga, Agamas and Tantras for their overall development. They > can simply benefit by chanting Lalita Sahasranama Maha mantra or > Acharyapada's Saundaryalahari or Bhajagovindam. Also, special > consideration has been given to women by saying that the Punya Phala > of their husband's and son's good deeds also reach them. This proves > the special status that the ancients had given to women. Also, in > the same way that you cannot chant a mantra without receiving it duly > from a Sadguru through Diksha (he turned to me, smiled and said - You > must know this and agree with me.....your Guru always said this > right!) without Upanayana and Gayatri, one is not permitted to > commence Vedadhyayana. In the Vedic system, the roles for each and > every Grihastha, Grihini, Sanyasi, Brahmachari etc. are well-defined > and fixed. When this is followed with proper understanding, most of > the modern-day crisis will come to an end! It has ben our custom that > when we give upadesham of Shiva Panchakshari, we have been clearly > instructed by Sri Acharya padaH to exclude Pranava for women. But, > there are many great Upasakas of Srividya who chant Mahashodashi. And > you know it has a Pranava. But a person eligible to receive > Mahashodashi cannot be considered to be the same as a simple, devout > lady. Only Guru has the capability and authority to decide this. When > people speak of Gargi and others, what is to be noted is that they > were Brahma Jnanis. This is also the reason why some shastras > prescribe Tritari in Srichakra Varivasya contrary to Chaturtari that > we follow at the Matham. It is because they address even the fourth > varna and women. > It would not be correct to approximate every person as being equal to > great saints and Rishis. Did your guru Shankara Shastrigal ever give > Pranava with any other mantra to any lady other than Mahashodashi (i > said "i dont think so"). I know that he didnt. Revelation of the > Vedas by the supreme directly is something totally different than > learning and trying to understand them from Bhautika Indriyas. Until > you are limited to the latter case, stick to all the rules prescribed > by the Vedas. A fellow Shankaracharya Swamigal was assaulted by many > for having simply said this. Please understand the deep significance > behind every rule prescribed by the Shastra." This is the essence of > the diine words of Sri Mahasannidhanam. GuruH sarvakaranabhootaa > shaktiH ! People who accept and believe in the divinity of the > shankaracharya tradition will surely be satisfied with this reply i > suppose. Why simply lament on something we are asked not to do...when > we are hardly doing what we are allowed to and supposed to! I hope > not much discussion follows on this topic! Sridevi's dhyana and Nama > sankritana should any day be more productive than discussion on these > topics. I thank you very much for your patient reading. > > Jaya jaya shankara! Jaya jaya kamakshi! > > > **************************Disclaimer********************************************\ ****** > > > Information contained in this E-MAIL being proprietary to Wipro > Limited is 'privileged' > and 'confidential' and intended for use only by the individual or > entity to which it is > addressed. You are notified that any use, copying or dissemination of > the information > contained in the E-MAIL in any manner whatsoever is strictly > prohibited. > > ********************************************************************************\ ******** > > > > ===== ambaaL daasan Ravi sharaNAgata raxakI nivEyani sadA ninnu nammiti mInAxI http://www.ambaa.org/ http://www.advaita-vedanta.org Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sreekant 0 Report post Posted July 3, 2008 Namaskaram,Just wanted to know if Durga Suktam can be readby women, I have heard it on Cd's it is by a male. Are there any slokas or shotras that should not be readby women. thanks very much for your time. Radhika Actually, the truth of it all is the fact that women can actually do all the things and read everything that a man can. In fact, when they do it, it is more effective. Due to that, the priests and people of that time, put women down and restricted them so that they can get an upper hand. From then on, superstitions have been created to prove this to be true, but in fact it is perfectly fine for a women to chant the Durga Suktam. It is actually recommended because it would be 10 times as powerful as what a man would say. If you have the time, please go to the Rajarajeswari Peetam in Rush, NY, U.S. The temples website is srividya.org. They in fact promote the teachings of these slokas to the women. There is also one concern though, certain mantras like parts of the Rudram shouldnt be chanted externally by a women when pregnant because of the contraction of the stomach when chanting certain syllables and sounds. If you have any further questions, please email me at sreekant2k@hotmail.com. Hope this helped Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RadheyRadhey108 1 Report post Posted July 4, 2008 Why would a woman not be able to chant Durga Suktam? Durga is a female deity... why would SHE not want women to chant Her glories? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rajitha 0 Report post Posted February 10, 2009 Someone recommended that I read the following instead of Chandi path fully. 1) Argala stotram 2) Kilakam 3) Devi Kavacam 4) Siddha kunjika stotram 5) Aparadha kshmapan stotram. Can I read these since I did not recieve it from a Guru? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Maharishi 0 Report post Posted February 19, 2009 Why do you want to do that ? Do you know who Durga really is ? Do you know you want to be with her ? Durga means "The One who is NOT accesible/approachable"", so do not try to approach her. If you want you can say the following mantra " Aum, sarva mangal mangalye, shive-sarva-aarth-saadhike, sharanye,trayambake,gauree,naaraayanee, namostute" 11 times a day. This is enough for Durga. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Durgaputra 1 Report post Posted February 20, 2009 Dear Maharshi- that is the wrong interpretation. It means one who is difficult to approach. It definitely does not mean one who should not be approached.. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nimi 0 Report post Posted February 26, 2009 I agree with Durgaputra Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
