!!! Sadachara Smruti and Stree Dharma !!!

[Guest guest]

!!! Sri

Gurubhyonamaha !!!

!!! Sri Parama Gurubhyonamaha !!!

!!! Srimad Anandatirtha Bhagvatpadacharya Gurubhyonamaha !!!

 

Namaskara Sri Hari Bhaktas,

 

The two day programme conducted by ITMS - Hyderabad between 22-23 Mar 2008

concluded very well in spite of Lord Varuna Devara aashirwada (rains were almost

there for two continuous days). Inspite of this people attendance was very good. Thanks to their

interest and patronage.

 

We at ITMS are very thankful to Sri Pt. M.S.S. Gangoor Hanumeshacharya

Jalihal.Here M.S.S stands fro Madhva Shastra Sampanna. Acharya has explained SadacharaSmruti

and Stree Dharma very well. Hats off to his proficiency and knowledge aboutour

great shastra.

 

I am herewith making an humble effort to write out summary of what Acharya

hassaid in the 2 days pravachane. I request the learned people and the attend

audianceto correct me and post their feedback if I missout something or

trnaslate which was not part of the 2 days pravacnahe.

 

Sadachara Smruti

=============

This is one of the compositions of Sri Madhvacharya and part of the 37 granthas

whichcompiles to Sri Sarvamoola Grantha. Every Madhva should have a Sarvamoola

Grantha in his house (either in Kannada / Sanskrit / English / telugu / tamil /

marathi or any other language). Whether he can read/understand it or not it is

a must to keep this pavitragrantha in our house. Besides

Mahabharata/Bhagavata/Puranas etc.. we should also keep this in our

house. Basically Sadachara Smruti teaches us about how to perform our day-todayactivates.How we should follow and practice our dharma and rituals.Its

likea ready reckoner for people like us. It teaches us about what to do from

the time we awake to the time we sleep.

 

I am herewith trying to write some important things which Acharya has explained

and which I remember. One of the most important thing Acharya stressed about is

the daily Sandhavandane ritual which a brahmana has to do compulsorily. To

perform any kind of Shubhakarya/Pooja/Vrata/Upavasa it is copulsory that one

perform Sandhyavandane and Gayatri Mantra other wise whatever we perform or do

does not yield proper punya.

 

Sandhyavandane is again broken into 3 parts.

 

1) Achamana - Marjana - Punar Marjana

 

2) Arghya (One has to anusadhana of Suryantargata Sri Narayana while doing

this), Bramhayagna (One shoud offer tarpana to Deva / Rishi) - Pitru tarpana is

not part of Sandhyavandane so we should not do it.

 

3) Upasthana and Gayatri Mantra then Gotra Uchharana and close the

Sandhyavandane.

 

Arghya : One has to stand and give arghya in morning and noon. There is a

relaxation to do the same in evning. Arghya is one of the very important part

of Sandhyavandane. One has to give arghaya while there are stars in the sky in

the morning time. That means he has to do this before 5:30 AM. Afternoon it is

between 12:00 noon to 4:00 PM and evening arghya should be given exactly while

sun sets. When sun turns RED in colour while sunset. Relaxation is that we can

do this upto 09:00 PM. Upon questioning Acharya informed that some people do

evening sandhyavandane till midnight. The timing from Midnight till 3:00 AM are

not useful for doing any karya. They are called mailige hours. If anybody

perform any thing in between this timing is it no useful according to shastra.

If one is not able to give Arghya at proper timings then he needs to give one

more Arghya towards Pryaschitta.

 

Gayatri Mantra : Only Males are allowed to chant Gayatri Mantra.Ladies are not

allowed to chant this.There is also counting procedure prescribed for this

pavitra Mantra. One should atleast do 1000 OR 100 OR 10 (min). There is a procedure also to count this mantra. One should not use any kind of beads or

mala for doing this mantra. One has to count this on his fingers only. The

procedure can be found out from any books or learned guru. One has to perform proper pranayama / nyasa / digbandhana before and after performing this

mantra. One has to also perform 3 times more Narayana Ashatakshari mantra japa

along with Gayatri Mantra. All other Japas of other devatas can be done afterwards by again performing proper pranayama / nyasa / digbandhana.

One more important things about this japa is that it should not be performed while

travelling / eating / standing / walking / running etc....

This has to be done by sitting in a

proper place after doing aasana suddhi. This japa has to be done in total

concentration and we should try to maintain and follow that we do not chant

this mantra loudly and do it chant it in our self and see that we also not talk to anybody while performing this Japa.

 

Acharya also informed that we should not add a OM in between and chant this Mantra.

One can prefix and suffix OM while performing this Mantra. Sandhyavandane is

permitted upto Arghya if one is in Vriddhi or Sutaka. One should not do Gayatri Mantra Japa in those days. After performing

Sandhyavandane Devara Pooje has to eb performed with lot of Shradha Bhakti. He

didnt went into details of pooja padhati but did informed very brief about the

same. One more important thing he explained was Agnikarya and Oupasana. It is compulsory

that Bramhacharis perform Agnikarya and

Grahastas perform Oupasana (Vishadeva etc) daily.We should pray Lord Agni to

give us more strength to learn earn (earn means earning knowledge). If one performs

this daily he is sure to have a winning day daily. Agni is such powerful that it makes you to be

winner in whatever you do. This will improve our VAKPATUTVA (command over speech) / Smarane

(keeping things in mind and will not make us absentminded) and its for sure that nobody will be able to corss your words. That's the reason those

Agnihotris are very powerful. Even today we can find people who are agnihotris

and perform Agni Upasana by performing Homa/Havana daily twice.

 

Acharya says when we get married we do all these rituals and we forget that we

are suppose to do this daily. We infact carry agni in our body and we need to

see that we maintain this and dont allow it to get vanished from us and to maintain it we are suppose to do oupasana.

 

As far as possible a Brahmin has to perform his rituals daily and he has to spread

his religion by doing pata and pravachane,

if not possible then he should at least do sharavana and satsanga.

 

Stree Dharma

==========

People have a wrong information and feeling that one will have a female janma

if he/she does more Paapa (sins). Actually manava janma itself comes after

doing paapa in last janma. If we attain Mukti then there is no re-birth at all.

So it is insane to think or imagine that Stree janma is becuase of paapa. Stree

is very important part of the family. She not only does Uddhara of the family

where she takes birth but also does uddhara of the family where she goes into or married into. Without here there is no further addition to the

family tree. She is the main pillar for Dharma to prevail. Without her co-operation

and co-ordination dharma will not prevail.

 

What is Stree and what is her importance was very well explained by Acharya. He

also answered to all questions raised by the ladies wing of the audience. Acharya

says a Stree has some limitations as far as doing shastra adhyana. She is not suppose to do undergo Veda Adhyana. Veda mantra are no no to

a stree. Then one can as how can she attain Jnana ? How can she attain Aparoksha

Jnana ? How can she attain Mukti or Moksha.

 

To this Acharya explains she should do Shravana of great epics like Mahabharata

/ Bhagavata /Purana / Upa Purana etc.. from her husband or a learned Guru. A

stree should always maintain and follow the Rajaswala dharma (monthly periods days) without fail and should not mix up in general. In

olden days this was followed very carefully and strictly. In these days she get

purified and renew herself for doing all daily routines for the next month. It

is also advised that in this sensitive period women should not touch any trees.

Thats the reason they are not allowed to do pooja of Tulasi tree. Acharya also

mentioned that one english scientist made an research on this issue and he also concluded that english people dont allow ladies to touch

or visit their ROSE gardens in this period.

 

A stree is being relaxed for bathing from her neck in day-today routine and on

only certain days she can take head bath. Where as males should to head bath

daily without fail. After taking bath everyday a Madhva Stree should wear Urdhvapundra Gopichandana Dharane with Gada/Padma mudra and then put on vermilion

(kumkum). She should chant the Guru Mantra given to her in upadesha by Gurus.

Later do Gowri pooja and then pray god to give her strength and thank him for

giving an oppurtunity to cook Naivedya for him. ACharya also explained a very

beautiful story for Indra Loka. Once all Devatas goes to Indra Devaru king of

Devatas and ask him for their food Amrutha which was getting exahusted day by day. For devatas Amrutha is the daily

food and it was almost exhausted as they comsume the same daily. To this Indra

has given a very beautiful boon to gods. Indra says whenever Ladies bring Agni for Yagna purpose devatas receive Amrutha from her head.

Lord Sri Mahalakshmi herself stays in females head. Thats the reason they

are not suppose to do daily head bath.

 

Why do females cannot do Veda Pathana ? To this Acharya explains they undergo

lot of changes in the Rajaswala period and for some point of period they cannot

perform their daily routines and break comes in between. They are also very sensitive in nature and cannot withhold the stress and strain. One

can chant vedic Mantras only after Upanayanam. One has to wait till the first

Upakarma to complete to get the rights to learn Vedas.

 

THE ACHARYA EXPLAINED THAT THE FEMALE BHAKTAS DO NOT TAKE THIS AMISS. THERE NO

DEGENERATION OF GENDER HERE. IT IS SIMPLY WHAT ROLE ONE PLAYS. EACH ONE OF US

HAVE TO DO SOMETHING TO BE ENGAGED. THIS SOMETHING IS A SUPPORT TO ANOTHER AND

VICE VERSA. THIS IS WHERE THE HINDU SYSTEM SCORES OVER ALL OTHER SYSTEMS

WHEREBY HIGHEST IMPORTANCE WAS GIVEN TO FUNCTION/JOB PROFILE AND NOT THE COLOUR OF THE SKIN, MENTAL CAPABILITY, PHYSICAL CAPABILITY,PERSONAL

INTERESTS, GENDER ETC.What would happen if such a via media is not take? then

utter chaos. Any other basis other than FUNCTIONALITY / JOB PROFILE /CORE

COMPETENCY would be unfair and biased.

 

By observation of what nature had already intended in the external, internal,

physical, physiological, psychological at all levels, the Shastrakara found

that man had physical / external capability for hard physical work and his

physical limits could also be stretched. By contrast women were comparatively

with a different disposition. Especially, during the 3 monthly days, and also during pregnancy from the 4th

month till the 13th month extensive rest, care, delicate physical, mental,

emotional handling had to be there. So women could not be subject to hard physical Labour or their physical and mental limits stretched beyond a point

without damaging their internal organs and causing emotional instability

THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR

WHICH ENABLED THE SHASTRAKARAS TO FIX THE TRADITION OF MEN CHANTING AND WOMEN

SUPPORTING MEN IN THEIR JOB WAS THE SANDHYAVANDANA WHICH HAD TO BE STARTED AT

3:30 EARLY MORNING, EXACTLY WHEN THE SUN WAS IN THE TOP AT NOON AND JUST BEFORE

DUSK IN THE EVENING WITHOUT LET, WITHOUT BREAK, FOR LIFE.

 

Therefore, the woman though not permitted to chant the Vedas is considered not

inferior but superior. The great Peethadhipatis can see and bless anyone elder

or younger, male or female, except the MOTHER. Once he ascends the Mutt seat he becomes impersonal to all, except his Mother. There were

sundry reasons also for women being chosen for a different calling. The Vedic

chanting, Sandhyavandanam etc. were to be performed bare chested. Most temple

priests and pooja etc. are done with the torso being left bare with the Sacred

thread shown prominently. Also, since the thread was considered Sacred, while

attending to nature's call and on some other occasions, the thread had to be

worn differently in a safe manner.Performingthis while wearing a 9 yard saree

with upper cloth etc. would be some what unfair to women folk.

 

Women are therefore referred in Vedic parlance as " Dharma patni " . There

is no word as " Dharma-pati " . She is the wife of Dharma i.e.that which

is upright. She is the supporter of Dharma and since her opposite is engaged in Dharma, she too is putting her bit and helping. If one goes back to marriage or

if one is undergoing marriage a very special

and important mantra is chanted in front of elders and learned people. The

Mantra which wife chants is like this Dharmecha / Arthecha / Kamecha

Naticharami. So here wife says that in performing all Dharma Karyas I will support you. In whatever you earn monetarily I will make myself satisfied

and I will also fullfill all your sexual desires. So for this reason it is also

informed that a Male has to get back to his wife and see that he does obey and

understand her needs and full fill all her requirements. If one performs this

there will be no more Aids and other viral diseases. There will be no divorces and there will no differences between

couples.

 

The only thing which both of them dont promise each other is Mokshecha. Dharma

/ Artha / Kama / Moksha are very important part of life. But to get Aparoksha

Jnana if the other partner does not support or does not permit one has to strive himself/herself to attain Moksha. Here both are not binded by any

promise.

 

Acharya also gave many examples where people say that Woman can chant Sri Vishnu

Sahasranama etc... and can replace OM (Pranava Mantra with Sri) which is

prohibited according to shastra. So it is compulsory and necessary that woman does not chant any veda mantras. He also gave a fantastic example

where in a Pontiff plans to have

Darshana of Rama Setu at Rameshwaram and visits a Bhaktas house in between before

going to Rameshwaram. Their the Brahmanas wife while taking Teertha from Swamiji

looks at the Teertha given to her in her hand and laughs and then partake it.

Swamiji was surprised to see this and thought why does the woman smiled and

took the teertha. He tne proceeds for the Yatra further and he performs nitya

patha and Pravachane of Sarvamoola Grantha / Mahabharata Tatparya Nirnaya

etc... written by Sri Madhvacharya with lot of Bhakti and shraddha. While on

his return he again stops at the same Brahmana house and this time while taking

the Teertha the lady takes it with lot of Bhakti and bows to Swamiji. He then

calls the Brahmana and the lady and enquires about the previous and present

episode. To this the lady answer that before he went to Yatra there was no

presence of Sarvamoola Patha power into the teertha and upon his return the

same was found just by sipping the Teertha. So this is the power of Ladies.

 

I made an humble effort to write what I have heard and also added some more from

the known sources. My sincere request to all learned members to correct me

wherever I went wrong.

 

!!! Haraye Namaha !!!

 

--

Kale Balkrishna

Mobile : +91-9849042501

my blog : http://kalebala.wordpress.com/