Conclusion of women in Vedic society

In every Hindu family women of the house are formally worshiped before celebrating major events like wedding.  They especially worship female children. Women of the house light the lamp in the prayer room every day; this act is a symbol of the power women have to chase ignorance from society. They bring enlightenment and prosperity to their family. A family that has no female children is considered to be unfortunate. It is said that a house without female presence looks dull and sad like a graveyard. Many families pray to be blessed with female children. To give an example, my great great grandparents went on many pilgrimages and specifically prayed for a girl child and were blessed with my great grandma. My grandma was the favourite child of my great grandparents. They doted on her. My grandma when she was pregnant with my mother arranged for someone to come home and chant “Lalita Sahasranamam”on goddess Durga. My mom is considered to be a blessing of the Goddess. Similarly when my mom was pregnant with me, my grandma had a dream in which goddess Durga turned in to a girl and went home with my grandma. As a result of this dream everyone in my family considers me to be the blessing of the goddess as well.  Almost everyone in my family has prayed specifically to get a female child. There are many rituals and festivals to celebrate women. The Navarathiri festival is a time for everyone to worship and celebrate women. Women get gifts, they spend time with their friends and enjoy singing or listening to music. There are also many rituals in which sisters and daughters are worshiped so that the entire family can be blessed by these living human goddesses.

To conclude women held a high position in society and were respected by everyone. As a result of the position they held in society they had certain responsibilities and protocol to follow. They had to live with dignity. They followed proper dress code. Even in modern day society people holding responsible position in society follow proper dress code at all times. Most probably we will not see a judge, doctor, teacher or professors in a bikini or in skimpy clothing. They wear clothes that represent their position in society; clothes to represent professionalism. They also maintain professional behaviour at all times. Similarly, the women following Sanatana Dharma strictly followed the code of conduct expected of them. They were put on the pedestal by society and were worshiped by everyone in return the women made sure that their behaviour showed traits of divine quality at all times.  Good character and moral behaviour were essential for women. To the women, good character was an ornament that just enhanced their divine qualities.  It can be seen that Sanatana Dharma is the only major religion centered around goddess worship. The only major religion which celebrates women and gives them the respect and importance they duly deserve.

Female Children are a Blessing

Selective infanticide where parents kill female children was and is not a part of the teachings of Sanatana Dharma. Every parent who is a true follower wishes to be blessed with a female child. There are even proverbs which states that only sinners are not blessed with female children. The people of the Vedic Age knew about genetics. They knew that 50% of a baby’s genes comes from it’s mother & the other 50 from the father. Hence, they knew that their family line & name could be carried by their daughters as well. To give an example, my great great grandparents went on many pilgrimages and specifically prayed for a girl child and were blessed with my great grandma. My grandma was the favourite child of my great grandparents. They doted on her. My grandma when she was pregnant with my mother arranged for someone to come home and  chant “Lalita Sahasranamam”on goddess Durga. My mom is considered to be a blessing of the Goddess. Similarly when my mom was pregnant with me, my grandma had a dream in which goddess Durga turned in to a girl and went home with my grandma. As a result of this dream everyone in my family considers me to be the blessing of the goddess as well.  Almost everyone in my family has prayed specifically to get a female child.

 Parents under stressful conditions often murder their children. Infanticide was very high in 19^th century England. In 1966 there were 10,920 children who were murdered and one out of every 22 of those children were murdered by their parents. The major risk factors for committing infanticide especially of female children include young maternal age, poverty lack of education, low level of employment, and signs of psychopathology, such as alcoholism, drug abuse or other criminal behaviour. Female infanticide in India is carried out in regions where the population suffers from alcoholism, poverty and high level of illiteracy. People from these communities consider children to be an economic commodity; they could send their male children to work as a hard labourer but the female children would not be able to earn sufficient wages. The people from these regions are not only illiterate; they are not educated in theology either. They cannot grasp any religious concepts and dwell in other tribal superstitions. Statistics from these tribal regions cannot be used to represent the outlook of Indians in general and especially not Hindus. It is often forgotten that India has a large Multi-Cultural society with people following numerous cultures and religions. Not all Indians are Hindus who are true followers of Sanatana Dharma; it is erroneous to blame female infanticide on Sanatana Dharma. Majority of the present day population is not religious as well; they suffer from materialistic attitudes and surviving poverty on a daily basis is their major goal. Having said this, infanticide is not present just in India. It is a major problem in almost every country in the world. Even today, the United States ranks high on the list of countries where children are murdered. The following are the infanticide statistics for the U.S.A, ranks 1^st for ages 1 through 4, Ranks fourth for ages 5 through 14. Most children under the age of 5 were killed by their parent. Some more statistics for the U.S.A are given below. Of the children murdered between 1976 & 2005, 31% were killed by their fathers and 29% by their mothers. (Ref: http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/homicide/tables/kidsreltab.cfm )

Given the above statistics, why is it that negative media attention is only given to India? It is not fair to blame infanticides on Hinduism; the murder of any living thing is prohibited by Sanatana Dharma; many Hindus are vegetarians because they believe in the equality of all living creatures. No religion for the matter would promote infanticides; If infanticide in India is blamed on Hinduism since it is the major religion in India wouldn’t it be logical to blame infanticides in U.S.A on Christianity?

If a female child visits someone on a Tue or a Fri, the host considers her visit to be a blessing and offers flowers & sometimes dress material or bangles as gift.

Motherhood in Sanatana Dharma

A mother is considered to be the first guru of a child. She has a bigger responsibility in guiding the child to follow the right path. It was quite common to address a child using the child’s mother’s name. for example Arjuna in Mahabharata was often called as “Partha” which means Pritha’s son (Kunti’s other name was Pritha). He was also called as Kaunteya which referred to Pritha’s other name Kunti. It is mentioned in the Mahabharata that a person is protected by his or her mother. The absence of mother deprives a person of protection.  Even if a mother is disabled, she still protects her children. She is called “dhatri” because she carries her children in her womb, “Janani” because she is the chief cause for the birth of her children, “amma” because she nurses her children’s young limbs, “sura” because she looks after her children. Sanatana Dharma trains all men to consider women to be a form of the Divine Mother. The Manu Smriti mentions that mothers are superior to fathers and that they deserve more respect . A mother's words have to be obeyed. She has the highest authority in the house and she corrects and guides her family with great affection. She wishes for her children to succeed in life and takes an interest in their education and upbringing. She gets full credit when her children are successful  and turn out to be good citizens. To this day mothers are worshiped not just by her children but by the entire community. Celebrating motherhood is not a one day event like the "Mother's Day" celebration but the celebration and worship goes on for a lifetime. Unlike in N.America where women had no right over their children, women in the Vedic Culture had more rights compared to their husbands. Women had no right over their children in N.America almost till the middle of 20^th century; Children were viewed as the property of their father in N.America and the women were expected to be subservient and  were not considered to be equal to their husbands. 

The following question from the Yaksha Prashnam chapter of the Mahabharata illustrates the importance given to a mother in the Vedic culture.

The Yakshan asked Yudhishtirar, 'Name that which is heavier than Earth?'

Yudhishtirar answered that a person’s mother is heavier than Earth.

 The word guruthara is used in Sanskrit for heaviness. This word also refers to respect. Hence, Yudhishtirar answered that a person’s mother is greater than Earth. She has to be worshiped in the same manner in which a person worships the Devas. Sage Apasthamba mentioned that mothers are greater than fathers. The Vedas give permission to people to abandon their father if their father is immoral, gambles, is an alcoholic and is a nuisance to the family. The same Vedas however mention that even if a person’s mother does not have good character, she must be protected and worshiped. During the Gaya Shradham, 1 pindam is offered to a father whereas 16 Pindams are offered to a mother praising every sacrifice she made to raise her children. A mother readily forgives her children. Like the Earth, she is very patient and tolerates the mistakes of her children. Hence a mother is greater than Earth.
The following question & answer from the Yaksha Prashnam episode also establish the superior position assigned to mothers.

What is the soul of a man?

 
A man’s son is his soul.  The word atma means that which attains everything it wishes for in Sanskrit. A man’s child is his soul as the father expects his children to achieve the things which he never achieved. The gestation period of human beings is considered to be 12 months by the Vedas. This is because the child resides in the heart of its father for 2 months before residing in its mother’s womb for ten months. A wife is called as “jaaya” in Sanskrit which means that the husband takes birth through her as their son. Immediately after a child is born the wife should be treated with respect as a mother by the husband.

Sati

Sati, the practice of burning widows on the funeral pyre of her husband was voluntary during the Vedic Period and it was not forced upon widows. It was an approved method of suicide allowed for only those grieving widows who couldn’t even think about facing life without their husbands. Many widows chose to remarry in ancient times and they were not forced to enter the funeral pyre. Sati was prohibited if the widow had children to care for. Fire is also considered to be the portal into other worlds and hence it was believed that the widow’s soul would travel along with her husband. Women in general and princesses practiced sati only when their kingdom fell into the hands of the enemy and all the kings & princes have been killed in war. They preferred death over living as slaves in the harem of the enemy. India has been tormented by many invaders in the past. The invaders only came to rape & pillage. Many women were abducted along with other treasures especially during the Arab and Persian invasions carried out by Mohammad of Ghori & Mohammad of Ghazni. During later periods, the Hindu kingdoms were under attack by the Mughal army and other tyrannical rulers who tried to force every other kingdom to accept Islam. This was the reason sati was more prevalent during the reign of the Mughals in the Rajput kingdoms. During invasions if women were unable to protect themselves, they braved death. To them death was better than living a hellish life in the harem of the invader. Since they knew from all the theological studies that they are not the “body” & that they are the” soul” within the body, they were willing to sacrifice their bodies to save their souls. This to them was similar to casting off one’s dress that had caught fire to save their skin. Rani Durgavati commanded an army and fought bravely against the Mughals ; when she was defeated, she took her own life since she preferred death over being captured by the Mughals. Sati is different from the witch burnings in Europe. The Europeans hunted down women who were free thinkers and burnt them on a pyre because they wanted to destroy all free thinking women; whereas, Sati was offered as a choice to women who wanted to escape a hellish life in the hands of Muslim invaders. Like casting off ones dress that had caught on fire, they cast of their bodies to save themselves.
The word sati per the Vedas refers to anyone who is close to God. "Sat" is a name of God. "Sati" is a person man/woman who belongs to only God and is close to God.