Women reading Vedas (reading/learning the veda)

[Guest guest]

Namaste friends,

 

We are living in Kali yuga and Kali is becoming deeper. We cannot trust that

every standard convention is based on sound knowledge.

 

* * *

 

One of my favorite sooktas is " Devi Sooktam " from Rigveda. It is attributed

to Vagambhrani, a female rishi. She felt oneness with the Divine Mother in

Her undivided supreme form (nearly nirguna form) and the riks of Devi

sooktam were revealed to her then. Those eight riks are really fantastic.

 

There are other riks in Rigveda that were revealed to the world by female

rishis. We use those riks in our worship, meditation, homas and other

sadhanas. Yet, should we insist that women cannot recite Veda? If

Vagambhrani is amid us again as a woman, should we stop her from reciting

Devi sooktam?

 

* * *

 

Jnaneshwar (or Jnanadev) was a great saint from Maharashtra from about 800

years back. He was a great devotee of Krishna and was a fully self-realized

master at a young age. He reformed religion and corrected some corrupt

traditions. He once made a buffalo chant Veda.

 

He started to recite Veda and the head of the Brahmin council forbade him

because he was not " qualified " to recite Veda. Jnaneshwar insisted that

everyone had a right to recite Veda and the head of the council disagreed.

As he started reciting Veda, the Brahmins tried to stop him by closing his

mouth. Then a buffalo standing next to him took over and chanted Veda.

Astounded by the miracle, the Brahmins fell at his feet. The head apologized

and said, " we are masquerading as the keepers of Veda, but you have the real

understanding and mastery of Veda " .

 

Jnaneshwar taught the equality of all and did not distinguish between people

based on caste, creed or gender. He considered BhagavadGita as the essence

of Veda and wrote a fantastic commentary on it. His commentary departs from

the standard Dwaitic (dualistic) point of view adopted by most Vaishnava

gurus and uses a purely Adwaitic (non-dualistic) point of view. It is a

priceless and timeless masterpiece.

 

* * *

 

One Swamiji who was at my house last month had an interesting take. He said

that the belief that women cannot recite Vedas is based on a

misinterpretation. He said that the physical body we have is called the

" stree sareera " and the inner body we have is called the " purusha sareera " .

He said that the physical body comes from mother and the soul comes from

father and that is why they are called so. The soul or inner self is the

thousand-headed purusha within us (described in purusha sooktam).

 

He said that Veda is supposed to be recited with the purusha sareera.

According to him, it does not mean that women cannot read it. Whether men or

women, they have to read it with the purusha sareera, i.e. inner body, and

not just with the physical body. So, according to him, the standard

convention is based on a flawed understanding. According to him, one simply

reciting Veda with the mouth without the correct internal understanding is

only reading with the " stree sareera " and hence not doing the right thing.

 

* * *

 

In fact, reciting Veda and chanting the verses is one thing and

understanding them is quite another. When we make sound, there are four

levels of it - vaikhari, madhyama, pasyanti and para. Vibration of material

belonging to the gross body (sthoola sareera) produces vaikhari level of

sound and it is heard through the senses belonging to the gross body (ears).

But vibrations at the level of subtle body (sookshma sareera) and vibrations

at the level of astral body (kaarana sareera) are also there and can be

perceived thorough subtle perception.

 

If one is chanting " Om Namo Narayanaya " and thinking of some mundane

matters, the vibrations produced at levels above vaikhari will not be

auspicious. There is so much stress on what we do physically and people

forget that what happens at the other layers of existence is equally, if not

more, important!

 

If you produce the correct vibrations at all levels (not just physical)

while " reciting " any Vedic mantra, you can truly " experience " the mantra. A

full experience of a single Vedic mantra may be sufficient to alter one's

life! The mantras of Veda are most powerful. Unfortunately, so much of Vedic

scholarship these days is only superficial (but it has to be encouraged,

because it will keep atleast one level of knowledge alive).

 

Forget the man vs woman controversy. The difference between genders is only

in the gross body. When you go to the subtle body and astral body, there is

no difference at all. One should realize that the role of gross body is too

limited in the correct recitation/experience of a Vedic mantra. It is the

purity of the subtle body and the lightness of the astral body that are far

more important.

 

* * *

 

To be fair and balanced, I need to throw light on the other angle. Like I

said, Vedic mantras are too powerful. They are capable of producing a full

self-realization (actually the sole purpose of Veda is " to know self " ).

However, given the depth of Kali Yuga, it is difficult for it to come in one

shot. It comes in steps. When one is half way down the path, one has to be

careful and under the vigilant guidance of a sadguru.

 

When one is not fully realized and the gross body has a role to play, there

are some differences based on the gender that come into play.

 

If a lady carrying a baby in her womb has certain spiritual experiences

(which a good Vedic chanting is capable of bringing), there can even be an

abortion (or a great siddha being born, on the other extreme).

 

There is another subtle factor. Good Vedic chanting can bring an awakening

of Kundalini (i.e. an awakening of self-awareness) and an ascent of

Kundalini (i.e. an ascent of self-awareness). Though some people may have a

wrong impression about Kundalini because of the corrupt practices of a

section of so-called " Kundalini sadhakas " , the fact is that Kundalini merely

represents one's ego-consciousness. When one casually associates the body

one sees with " self " , Kundalini is asleep in the Mooladhara chakra. As one's

self-awareness becomes more and more refined, Kundalini ascends in the

sookshma sareera. As one has a perfect self-realization, Kundalini reaches

Sahasrara. Whether one thinks in these terms or not, Kundalini moves based

on how evolved one is. Whether one is into Bhakti yoga or Raja yoga or Karma

yoga or Jnana yoga does not matter. All paths lead to an awareness of a more

and more correct concept of self as time progresses and a full

self-realization finally. Accordingly, Kundalini rises more and more and

reaches Sahasrara at the end.

 

During the period when Kundalini is stuck in Swadhishthana chakra, sexual

drive can multiply. Several yogis get stuck in this stage and fail the tests

to progress further. In general, women have a higher drive than men. If that

drive multiplies, there can be a difficult situation. However, it really

depends on the individual and we cannot generalize.

 

Thus, there are some practical difficulties on the way, which may have made

some people come up with some rules. However, are those issues sufficient to

ban women from reciting Veda? I don't think so. In fact, the factors I wrote

above are probably irrelevant given the superficial understanding of Veda

present at this time and the superficial recitation of Veda that we find

these days.

 

But, if you want to be sure and do not want to misguide anyone, it is better

to not give any advice. Leave it to one's sadguru. If you have a sadguru who

is guiding your spiritual sadhana, surrender and do as your guru says! What

is good for goose may not be good for gander. What goose's guru taught to

goose may be good only for goose and not for gander. Gander will do well to

follow gander's guru.

 

I think I rambled enough for today... :-)

 

Best regards,

Narasimha

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" rohinipurang " <rohinipurang

 

Saturday, February 24, 2007 12:18 PM

reading/learning the veda

 

 

>A warm namaste to everyone!

>

> I have heard it said that women are not allowed to read/know/recite the

> vedas. Can anyone tell me if this is true? If so, is there any mantra

> (or evidence)in any of the Vedas which says this?

>

> I ask this not as a disrespectful argument but as a genuine desire to

> know what the text actually says, if it does indeed say anything at all

> on the subject.

>

> Also I have heard that a Brahmin who does have the right to recite/use

> the mantras has to follow a certain (very strict) way of life. Is this

> too mentioned in any of these 'books' (for want of a better word)?

>

> Regards

>

> Rohini