Naaree Shakti - International Women's Day

Today is International Women's Day. Seeing friends and colleagues wish each other, I cannot help but reflect on my roots and feel a sense of pride. 

I'm proud that I belong to a civilization where women have always been honored. From the over 20 women rishikas who contributed to the writing of the Vedas, the foundational texts of the Hindu Dharma, to the 9 day festival of Navaratri celebrating the feminine divine, women have always been respected, cherished and celebrated in Bharat. 

She is revered as mother, our first guru, from even before we are born. She is cherished as a sister or wife or daughter. She is worshipped as Saraswati (the goddess of wisdom & learning), Lakshmi (the goddess of wealth), or Bhavani (the goddess of power) or the benevolent mother of the universe, Jagadambaa who pervades every last particle in the form of energy.

Even the gods are known by their mother's or wife's names as Devaki Nandan, Yashoda Nandan, Kausalya Nandan, Sitaram, Janakinath, Ramaapati, Parvatipati etc. 

And yet, celebrating the feminine does not take away or reduce the importance of men in any way. They too have an equal place in the Hindu world view where the male and female compliment and empower each other as depicted by the Ardhanaarishwara form of Lord Shiva.

Lesser minds have often failed to see this magnanimity of thought and instead cherry picked and taken things out of context to attack this noble ideology so here are two verses from the same Manusmriti that is often maligned. I leave it to the reader to use their Sat-Asat buddhi, the discernment power of the intellect to determine if the same text that has such verses can ever be discriminatory in any way.

यत्र नार्यस्तु पूज्यन्ते रमन्ते तत्र देवताः ।
यत्रैतास्तु न पूज्यन्ते सर्वास्तत्राफलाः क्रियाः ।। मनुस्मृति ३/५६ ।।

Where women are worshiped (i.e. given the highest respect), there live the Gods, (i.e. divinity is manifested). Where they are not worshiped, all actions result in failure.

शोचन्ति जामयो यत्र विनश्यत्याशु तत्कुलम् ।
न शोचन्ति तु यत्रैता वर्धते तद्धि सर्वदा ।। मनुस्मृति ३/५७ ।।

The family in which women (such as mother, wife, sister, daughter) are full of sorrow that family meets its destruction very soon; while the family in which they do not grieve is always prosperous.

A very happy Women's Day to all the beautiful, wise, nurturing, nourishing, muti-tasking, brave, loving, selfless, strong Ashtabhujaa Naaree Shaktis!