Dharma Vahini, Chapter 5 - By Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba

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Chapter V

Education is necessary for both men and women. But, education for women has to

be in accordance with their special needs. Educated women are really the

promoters of Dharma for the whole world. Parents too must co-operate in getting

them equipped with proper education. Women should not be given freedom in

certain matters. I will not approve of their being given such freedom. They

must be made into ideal women; their education must be so shaped.

Unbridled freedom is destructive of Dharma; besides, women will, by this means,

harm themselves. Mixing in society without any discrimination will produce

results that are ruinous. Of course there were educated women in the past also,

but they never gave up their Dharma, they never forgot the goal of Atmadharma.

Vidya or education must be built on the basis of Viveka or Discrimination.

Sulabha, Savithri, Anasuya, Gargi, Nalayani and other such models of chastity,

devotees of the Lord like Meera, yoginis like Choodala, all were born in this

Bharathadesa and by their adherence to Dharma, they strengthened Dharma. Once,

when Sulabha was discoursing on the Atma with all her scholarship and

experience, even Janaka was astounded! It is through the example of such great

and holy women, with their character and conduct inspired by Bhakthi and Jnana,

that even today simplicity, humility and devotion shine in the hearts of the

women of Bharathadesa.

Women should draw inspiration now from them; efforts must be made by them to

live as these did in the past. The Hindu woman must ever have before her as her

guide the ideal of Dharma and progress in spiritual discipline. She can master

any subject related to the objective world which has gained prominence today;

but the welfare of the spirit should not also be forgotten; she must get

interested in Vedanthic study which cultivates the Inner Vision. A woman

without this training is a rock without support, a danger to herself and

others, a very unbalanced individual. Sulabha and others who pursued such

studies became Brahmavadins of great fame. India produced several such saints

and scholars, among women. Pundits and Vidwans used to approach such women for

inspiration and guidance.

 

On what is progress based? The progress of the nation, the community and the

family, depends on the proper education of women. The country can be lifted to

its pristine greatness only through women mastering the Atmavidya, the science

of Realisation of the Reality. If the nation must have lasting prosperity and

peace, women have to be trained through an educational system which emphasises

moral conduct, moral qualities. The cause for the present fall in moral

standards and absence of social peace is the neglect of this aspect of women's

education. The earth and sky are still the same; the change is in the ideal of

education from Dharma to Adharma.

The education of today is spoken of as Vidya, but that is merely a way of

calling it. It does not deserve that name, if you consider the present actions

of the educated and their personal traits. The educated person must be capable

of imbibing the inner joy of the Atman, irrespective of external circumstances;

he must have grasped the purpose of existence; he must be aware of the

discipline of Realisation. The Grace of the Lord was the Diploma which every

student sought to secure in the old days. That Diploma was awarded to those who

were proficient in the cultivation of morality, the knowledge of the Atman, the

sublimation of instincts, good conduct, pure habits, control of the senses,

restraint of the mind, and the development of divine qualities. Today, however,

things are different. Diplomas can now be gained by mugging up a few books! By

going through modern schooling one cannot acquire moral and spiritual training.

Every woman must be given education in a well-planned manner. She must be able

to understand the problems of the country. She must render such service and

help as she can, within the limits of her resources and capacity, to the

country, the community and the family. No nation can be built except on the

culture of its women. The coming generation is shaped by the mothers of today;

this generation is so full of adharma and injustice, because the mothers who

brought it up were not vigilant and intelligent enough. Well, what is past is

past. To save at least the next generation, women have to be warned in time and

guided to take the ancients as their model.

Past, present or future, for all time, women are the backbone of progress; the

heart of the nation, the very breath. They play the chief role in the dharma of

life here below, a key role that is charged with holiness. Her mission is to lay

down the canons of rightness and morality. She must provide children with moral

and spiritual training. When the mother is imbued with Dharma, the children get

the benefit and they get similarly saturated. When she is skilled in morals, the

children learn to be moral. Therefore, the level of education among women

decides whether a country is to prosper or decline. Her acts and conduct are

crucial factors.

 

The responsibility of the elders and the parents is very great in this. Take the

students of today; no trace of culture can be seen in them; matters of the

spirit and talk of the Atma raise laughter among them! A majesty of words, a

servitude to tailoring - these have become the fashion. This is not genuine

culture. The educated women of today are helpless when it comes to managing a

home. Home to them is but a hotel; they are so helplessly dependent on the cook

and the maid. The educated woman is but a painted doll, decorating the modern

home; she is a handicap to the husband, a weight around his neck. He is

squeezed by her insistent demands for spending money on all kinds of objects.

She does not share in the tasks of house-keeping and so by sheer idleness, and

eating and sleeping without exercise, she develops illness which leads her

quickly to death.

The wanton behaviour of women has enveloped the world of today in an atmosphere

of declining Dharma. Women are harming themselves by running after fleeting

pleasure, regardless of the need to develop good character and elevating

qualities. They are enamoured of the pseudo-freedom, which feeds their conceit.

To get fixed up in a job, to earn degrees, to move about with all and sundry

without distinction and discrimination, to discard respect for elders and give

up fear of sin and evil, to over-look the claims of the good and the holy, to

force the husband to dance to one's tune, to deny the tribute of repentance to

one's errors, are these the signs of education? No; they are all the monstrous

shapes of Avidya, the uneducated egoist attitudes that make a person ugly and

repelling.

If the wife feels that the husband's home is sacred, then that home itself will

endow her with every skill and qualification. There is no place anywhere which

excels such a home for her. One saintly poet has sung that it is her temple,

her school, her playground, her political arena, her field of sacrifice, her

hermitage.

Educated women can do useful service to the community around them according to

their skill, taste, inclination, desire, character, educational status, mode of

living, discipline or scholarship. They should avoid tarnishing the reputation

of their parents, their family or themselves. A woman without a good character

is as bad as 'dead'; so women must be ever vigilant when they move about in the

world. They should avoid flippant talk or free mixing. The discriminating woman

will engage only in such acts as will add to the luster of her husband's fame

and honour, never an act which will tarnish it. That is why it is said,

"Sadguna or virtue is the sign of the educated person, the thing which makes

education worthwhile."

 

I do not declare that women should not be educated or that they should not move

in society. Wherever they move, if they are endowed with good qualities, and if

the good qualities are accompanied by good actions and good habits, and

adherence to Sanathanadharma and Sadhana, then their study is really worth

while and society is indeed benefited. Study and society are not harmful in

themselves; they react with the nature of the persons who make use of them and

yield good or bad results. The cat holds the kitten as well as the rat in the

self-same mouth, but with what a difference? The kitten, it fondles; the rat,

it kills. The bite is neutral, it is the rat or kitten that decides how it

behaves.

So too, knowledge can develop discrimination, inspire the springs of service,

prompt inquiry into the Reality, promote the search for the Absolute, and even

pave the way for attaining Paramahamsahood. On the other hand, it might feed

and strengthen the roots of falsehood, hypocrisy, cruelty and injustice; it

might teach man newer means of deceit and ruin the career of man on earth. It

might turn Love into poisonous hatred and Truth into a bone of contention.

Therefore, whatever subject a woman might have studied and mastered, whatever

the degree she has won, whatever the status of her husband or of herself, she

must hold fast to these truths; real charm consists in good character; morality

is the very breath of woman; modesty, the very live force; adherence to truth is

her daily duty. She must plant the seedlings of fear (fear of sin, fear of the

Lord) in her heart and cultivate the charm of humility. In the religious, moral

and physical fields, she must adhere to the strict dictates of Dharma, and take

that as the essence of all Vidya. She must be prepared to sacrifice even her

life for the sake of maintaining honour; she must nourish and preserve her

chastity and her adoration of the husband. This is the Chief Dharma of woman.

This is the reason for her very birth as Woman.

http://beaskund.helloyou.ws/askbaba/dharmavahini/dharma20.html

Sathya Sai Baba Dharma VahiniTranslated from the Original TeluguPublished by Sri

Sathya Sai Books and Publications TrustIndex:

http://beaskund.helloyou.ws/askbaba/dharmavahini/index.html

 

 

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