Gayatri Mantra

[Ashish Chandra]

On Fri, 17 May 2002 06:36:09 -0400, Vishal Agarwal
<vishalagarwal at HOTMAIL.COM> wrote:

>
>From a Hindu religious perspective, the Vedas are endless and beginningless
>in time. At the beginning of this cycle of Creation, Ishvara revealed them
>to the Rishis and Rishikas (or alternately they revealed these hymns to
>mankind after inspiration in their spiritually elevated selves) and
>thereafter, the texts were transmitted in an unbroken succession of
teachers
>and disciples, down to the present days. Even the Hindu religious
traditions
>has a faint memory, as evidence from citations of lost Yama Smrti for
>instance (in later Dharmashastra digests) that 'women of the yore recited
>the Vedas and wore the sacred thread' but that this practice has lapsed for
>aeons.
>

[...]

>
>So, to decide this issue, we need to figure out why we want to resolve this
>question at all.
>
>Do we want to decide of women are eligible to recite the Vedas today? Or do
>we want to limit ourselves to a svadhyaya of our sampradaya's shastras, in
>the sampradaya's traditions? Or do we want to combine the two approaches?
>

Vishal

The issue should not be one of ego - whether women have a right to do this
or that. Sruti is a direct way of approaching the truth and the Smritis are
an indirect way. Women have recourse to the latter and in their Sannyas
stage, women can also study the Upanishads.

The Taittiriya Samhita was learnt by the students of Vaishampayana from
Tittiri birds (partridges). Now should one make that as part of a right
that partridges should accepted in Vedic Pathshalas?

>As for the effect of Vedic recitations on 'fatherhood' and 'motherhood', we
>need to define the terms first. Is a Srotiya who is busy with his Vedic
>recitations at all times, and neglects his children consequently, a good
>father?
>

I was talking about an effect of chanting mantras on the Veerya, not about
a social impact.

>Is fatherhood merely procreation of children?

No.

Anyway, since Ravi has already pointed out that this is an un-resolvable
issue, I would terminate my comments here.

ashish