SANATANI (INDIA'S) FEMINISM · January 2, 2025
Absolutely CRUSHING every misconception related to Females and Hinduism. (Part 1— Answering claims + General Declaration)
यत्र नार्यस्तु पूज्यन्ते, रमन्ते तत्र देवताः। यत्रैतास्तु न पूज्यन्ते, सर्वास्तत्राफलाः क्रियाः।। Where women are worshipped, there the gods rejoice and dwell. But where they are not worshipped, all actions become fruitless. —Manusmriti: Chapter 3: Verse 56 Note- ****I am a 13 Year old individual named Aditya Raj Singh, I manage all my works alone and thus, there was a delay in this post.**** Let’s begin. Shall we? (This is a long post, please read it entirely: each and every word) Claim— Menstruation makes women impure according to Garuda Purana and some other cherry-picked verses. Response- The immense purity of women has been declared in a multitude of Hindu scriptures: Both husband and wife, if united in the act of sexual intercourse, become unclean. As soon as the woman gets up from the bed, she becomes pure, but the man remains unclean. —Narada Purana: Part 1: Chapter 14: Verse 16 Somadeva himself have blessed women with personal purity: सोमस्तासामदाच्छौचं गन्धर्वः शिक्षितां गिरम् । अग्निश्च सर्वभक्षित्वं तस्मान्निष्कसमाः स्त्रियः ॥ Somadeva has blessed women with personal purity; the Gandharvas have given them pure speech; Agni-deva has allowed to them the privilege of eating any kind of food without restrictions. Women are, therefore, without faults. —Brihat Samhita: Chapter 74: Verse 7 Women are considered to be the direct manifestation of Maa Lakshmi; how can they be impure or anything as such? mattanurvanitā sāksād yogī kasmānna pūjayet | na kuryād vṛjinaṃ nāryāḥ kuvṛttaṃ na smaret striyāḥ || 71 || Knowing women as my (Lakshmi) direct manifestation, how can a yogi refrain from revering them? One should never hurt women, and should never even think of wronging them. —Lakshmi Tantra: Chapter 43: Verse 71 Adding to these, even Atri Smriti goes one step further to say that the purity of a woman should NOT be discussed for she IS always Pure: The purity (or otherwise) of a cow-shed, a boilerhouse, an oil-mill, a sugarcane-press, women and diseased persons should not be discussed (i.e.. they are always pure). —Atri Smriti: Chapter 1: Verse 188 Brihat Samita eventually declares that women are PURE due to their menses: स्त्रियः पवित्रमतुलं नैता दुष्यन्ति कर्हि चित् । मासि मासि रजो ह्यासां दुष्कृतान्यपकर्षति ॥ Women (strī) are exceedingly pure and are without faults. For, the menses remove their blemishes every month. —Brihat Samhita: Chapter 74: Verse 9 Thus, it is clear that women are always pure and Hinduism does not raise any claim over Her impurity. Claim-2: Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 6.4.7 proves Marital r*pe and domestic violence. The Madhvā school has quite properly explained this verse as such: sāevamupāmaṃtrā strī | asmāī pumase | kāmama upāyaasamana ḍaiḍyāaccheta.ha enama strīmavakrinīyāta.ha śikṣāāṃtarama cāha | sā cediti | atikarāmeta.ha | atikramya tyaktvā gaccheta.ha | gamane vaktavyamahā |'iṃdriyenā' iti | madiyena indriyena yaśasā te yaśā adade gṛhanāmiti vācyamityārthaḥ | tatahayaśā eva sā bhavatitīrthaḥ Thus the woman has to be approached by the man. If she is not willing, the man has to offer pleasing things to her and approach. If she still does not concede, just leave herand go. While going the man just says 'using my indriya shakti (power of indriyas), I draw out your fame' – meaning 'since you refused to have a good progeny, which I was willing to offer you, you lose the fame of having great progeny'.” Also, the actual translation of the verse is given below, in Devanagri: Thus, it is clear that the verse does not tell a man to beat his wife, it is just like a quarrel and a way of convincing the other gender for mating. But, the question remains. Is Marital r*pe allowed in Hinduism? Answer- No. Vishnu Purana directly states: नास्त्रातान्तु स्त्रियं गच्छेन्नातुरां न रजस्वलाम् । नानिष्टां न प्रकुपितां नाप्रशस्तां न च गर्भिणीम् ॥ ११२ ॥ नादक्षिणां नान्यकामां नाकामां नान्ययोषितम् । क्षमां नातिभुक्तां वा स्वयञ्चैभिर्गुणैर्युतः ।। ११३ ॥ He should not approach his wife if she is unbathed, sick, menstruating, unwilling, angry, un-recommended, pregnant, unskilled, in love with another, lacking in libido nor committed to another, nor if she is hungry or over-fed. He too should also be free from all these imperfections. —Vishnu Purana: Book 3: Chapter 11: Verses 112 and 113 Thus, an unwilling wife should not be forced into intercourse. So, Is domestic violence allowed? Answer- No. Maha Nirvana Tantra states: The householder should never punish his wife, but should cherish her like a mother. (Maha Nirvana Tantra 8:39) If a man speaks rudely to his wife he must fast for one day, if he beats her he must go without food for three days (supposed death), and if he cause bloodshed then he must fast for seven days (die). —Maha Nirvana Tantra: Chapter 11: Verse 64 Claim 3: Rig Veda 8.33.17 declares that women have limited intellect. Response: Lets first see the verse: इन्द्र॑श्चिद्घा॒ तद॑ब्रवीत्स्त्रि॒या अ॑शा॒स्यं मन॑: । उ॒तो अह॒ क्रतुं॑ र॒घुम् ॥ Now, many misinterpret and confuse the word (Raghu-one who is swift or quick) with (Laghu-small). Raghu is even the name of a celebrated King of Solar Dynasty, why would he be named Raghu if Raghu meant small? Raghu actually means swift or quick as rightly translated: Even here, it is stated like that: Let us understand the context. In this verse, Lord Indra stated that it is very difficult to take control of the mind of women; Because their resolve is unstoppable. Now, if the intellect of women were limited, it would be easy to control her mind. But, here the intellect of women were stated to be quick or swift making it difficult to control their mind. Thus, through logical evidence and support from Shastras, the verse says that women have a swift intellect. Issue: Through cherry-picking, one can find other verses where women are supposedly criticised in Hinduism as Hinduism has unlimited scriptures. So, I will declare a general premise. Response- Women are of three kinds based on their virtues and actions: कृत्या स्त्री त्रिविधा जातिर्ब्रह्मणा निर्मिता पुरा I उत्तमा प्रथमा सा च मध्यमा घाघमा व्रज ।। २६ ।। O lord of Vraja, in earlier times Brahma divided the race of krtya women into three parts; the first among them was known as uttama, the second one madhyama and the third one was adhama. —Brahma Vaivarta Purana: Krishna Janma Khanda: Chapter 84: Verse 26 Thus, whenever women are criticised, the women of Adhama kind are criticised, and whenever they are praised, the women of Uttama kind are praised. So, the generalisation of any random cherry-picked verse is foolish. Now, generalisation of all women is directly criticised: न वत्स दुष्टाः सर्वाच योषितः कमलाकलाः । स्वर्वेश्यांशाश्च कुलटा असद्वंशसमुद्भवाः ॥ १२ ॥ O son, all the ladies cannot be wicked because they happen to be the rays of Laksmi. Only the limited ones who goes to many men (at once) and who is raised in wicked families are evil. —Brahma Vaivarta Purana: Brahma Khanda: Chapter 24: Verse 12 Let me show you a practical example: In Skanda Purana: Nagara Khanda: Chapter 81, Garuda criticises all women in general: नाग्निस्तृप्यति काष्ठानां नापगानां महोदधिः । नांतकः सर्वभूतानां न पुंसां वामलोचना ॥ Fire is never satiated completely with fuel, nor the great sea with the rivers flowing into it. The god of Death cannot be surfeited with all living beings nor a woman with men. But, just one verse after he criticises all women in general, both wings of Garuda fall from his body and he becomes equal to a mass of flesh: सूत उवाच । एवं तस्य वचः श्रुत्वा शांडिली ब्रह्मचारिणी । मौनव्रतधराऽप्येवं हृदि कोपं दधार सा ॥ On hearing these words of his, Śāṇḍilī, the celibate woman, had in her heart the surging emotion of anger, although she was under the vow of silence. एतस्मिन्नंतरे तस्य पक्षिनाथस्य तत्क्षणात् । उभौ पक्षौ गतौ नाशं रुण्डाकारोऽत्र सोऽभवत् ॥ In the meantime both the wings of the Lord of the birds got destroyed and he became mutilated in shape. Source- Skanda Purana: Nagara Khanda: Chapter 81 The same story is also narrated in Garuda Purana. This shows the respect of women in Hinduism. The wings of even a being like Garuda (mount of Lord Vishnu) get destroyed when Garuda verbally criticises all women in general. So, the generalisation of cherry-picked verses is of no use because whenever women are criticised, the women of Adhama kind are criticised, and whenever they are praised, the women of Uttama kind are praised. Hope everything is clear. To conclude, yatra striyo 'bhipūjyante ramante tatra devatāḥ / saṃpadaś ca prajāḥ śuddhāḥ kriyā ca saphalā bhavet // Where women are honored and revered, there the deities delight. Prosperity, pure progeny, and fruitful actions will also prevail in such a place. —Brihaspati Smriti 1,25.5 कलहो यत्र सततं प्रेतास्ते तत्र भुंजते । न यत्र जामयो गेहे पूज्यंते न वराः स्त्रियः ॥ Goblins enjoy at houses where indecent language is used and there where the daughters and sisters are not honored, so also where excellent women are not honored. —Padma Purana: Patala Khanda: Chapter 94: Verse 94 ~ Ram Lakhan Prasad Sinha (Aditya Raj Singh) Hare Rama, Jai Mata di, Respect all women.
