We should not underestimate the power of women By Sri.Sri.Muralidhara Swamiji.

[Guest guest]

Radhe Krishna To All,

 

Swami Vivekananda, in one of his speeches abroad, said, 'For India to grow, we

have to admire, accept and utilize the power of women.'

 

Once, a female disciple of Swami Vivekananda happened to meet the great Tamizh

poet, 'Mahakavi' Subramanya Bharati, in a freedom-struggle gathering when she

was on a visit to Tamil Nadu.

 

She enquired of the poet's wife Chellamma and asked him why she did not make it

to the meeting. Bharati replied that she was at home. The disciple quipped,

'Your talks are revolutionary and stress on women's liberation, but you don't

bring your wife along. Only if you recognize the power of women and use it for

the sake of the country can we attain independence and nurture growth.' The

great poet humbly agreed.

 

Beginning with our scriptures, throughout history, we see the importance that

has been accorded to women. Never have our scriptures, at any point, failed to

portray the prominence and power of women.

 

In the Brahadaranyaka Upanishad, Sage Yagnavalkya decided to renounce his family

and go to the jungle for penances. He turned to his two wives and asked them how

they wanted his property to be shared between the two. One of them jumped

forward and demanded the riches and the most expensive of his wealth.

 

Maitreyi, the other wife said, 'You have decided to renounce these riches and

embrace an ascetic life. Would someone do that without any rhyme or reason? To

me, that verily indicates that there is something more valuable than these

material riches. Pray impart to me that knowledge before which these possessions

are but trifling.'

 

Yagnavalkya was pleased at the quest of his astute wife Maitreyi and taught her

the supreme Truth of the Vedanta.

 

In Ramayana, Soorpanaka wanted Sri Rama alone. She was injured by Lakshmana.

Ravana wanted Sitadevi alone and he too met his end. Hanumanji wished to have

darshan of Sita-Rama and therefore He remains as a chiranjeevi to this day and

revered by one and all. Ramayana thus shows the importance of worshipping Devi

along with the Lord.

 

Long ago, there was a great scholar in Andhra Pradesh by name Bilwamangala. One

day, he met a beautiful maiden by name Chintamani and fell in love with her at

first sight. He started leading a licentious life and always longed for her

company. On a terribly stormy night, he wanted to have her company and risked

his life to meet her. As soon as she saw him, she rebuked him for having led

such an amorous life and advised him that if he expressed even a fraction of the

longing and devotion that he had for her, towards Sri Krishna, the Lord will

appear before him.

 

Great realization dawned on Bilwamangala and he immediately fell at her feet,

beseeching her to accept him as her disciple. With the feeling of guilt writ

large in his mind, he pierced his eyes with a needle and blinded himself. Later

he went to Brindavan and became an ardent devotee of Krishna and subsequently

had His darshan too.

 

Bilwamangala, who later came to be known as Lila Suka, composed a spectacular

work called 'Krishna Karnamrutham' which is a mellifluent masterpiece on Lord

Krishna.

 

But for Chintamani, we would not have had the great Mahan by name Lila Suka in

our history, nor his glorious work on Sri Krishna.

 

Goswami Tulasidas lived the life of a householder and loved his wife very much.

One evening, after he returned from a tour, not finding his wife at home and

learning that she was at her parental home, he rushed to see her in the middle

of the night. Seeing that Tulasidas came to see her unmindful of the grave

perils of the night, instead of reciprocating his fervour, she admonished him,

'You have so much love for this fleeting body, which is nothing but a bag of

flesh and bones! If you had the same passion and thirst for Sri Rama, you would

have see Him face-to-face!'

 

Tulasidas took these very words of his wife as Upadesa. The rest of his life was

spent in Rama Dhyana.

 

We should realize that it was verily his wife who made a Saint of the otherwise

commoner. But for his wife, we would not have got the great Tulasi Ramayana

today.

 

In the recent past, we see the life of Janaki Mata, a great Rama Bhakta from

Tanjore. She was a standing example to the fact that even women can attain

Realization in spite of being in family life. We see the same being illustrated

in the life of another great woman-saint, Andavan Pichai too.

 

There have been so many such instances where women have been great Mahatmas or

have played important roles in the lives of great Mahatmas.

 

It is high time that we revived our glorious past by upholding, celebrating and

utilizing the power of women and using it for the welfare of the world.

 

Let us bring this latent power to the fore and use it to propagate Mahamantra

Kirtan throughout the world.

 

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Regards

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

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