saharanAmam & gAyathrI mantram Q's

[Guest guest]

Could someone on th elist clarify the following:

 

Q1 Are there any arguments in support of the belief that

women cannot recite saharanAmam & gAyathrI mantram ??

 

Q2. The reasons being...that they contain something called

Beeja aksharAs - what are they?

 

om namo NamonArAyanAya

LakshmiNArAyanan

[Guest guest]

Re: women reciting sahasranAma

 

Rather than rehash this debate, I refer interested

readers to the rather fiery discussion we had on this

subject in January. Please visit the Bhakti archives:

 

http://www.best.com/~mani/sv/bhakti/archives/jan98/subject.html

 

Re: women reciting gAyatri mantram

 

The gAyatri is a mantra taken directly from the Vedas.

In the Vedic tradition as we have it today, only those

who undergo the sacrament of "upanayanam" are allowed

to learn let alone recite the Vedas. For quite a while,

women have not been initiated by virtue of upanayanam,

and consequently all Vedic recitation including the gAyatri

is not allowed.

 

There are, however, some hints that this was not the

case in the hoary past. A smRti text speaks of women

being invested with the sacred thread (purA kalpe narInAm

tu maunji-bandhanam ucyate). Gargi and Maitreyi are two

of the most interesting personalities in the Upanishads,

the concluding portion of the Veda. Valmiki refers to

Sita having performed sandhyAvandanam in the Ramayanam.

Whether or not she recited the gAyatri mahA mantra is not

stated.

 

Mani

[Guest guest]

Mani Varadarajan wrote:

> the concluding portion of the Veda. Valmiki refers to

> Sita having performed sandhyAvandanam in the Ramayanam.

> Whether or not she recited the gAyatri mahA mantra is not

> stated.

 

Can you tell me where this occurs? I found the same info in a book

called Om, Gayathri and Sandhya published by the RK Mutt. But, I could

not find this verse in my copy of the Ramayana. Perhaps I over looked

it. Two other references given in this book were spurious. So I was

suspicious about this bit also. Thanks.

 

Rama.