Talk:Gender
Bhakti Yoga is a uniquely accessible path to Moksha, open to all regardless of social or economic circumstances. Rooted in humility, love, devotion, and faith, it nurtures a personal and fulfilling relationship with Bhagavān, allowing every individual regardless of their gender to embark on a journey toward spiritual liberation.-
By devoting oneself to the service of Shiva, and seeking communion with His Name, men, women and even the impotent reach the Supreme abode of Rudra. Shivadharmottara Upapurāņa 2.166
Women Bhakta Tradition
Right from the Vedic times, when various Rishikā-s expressed their devotion to different Devatā-s in their Mantras, Hindu tradition has been blessed with a continuous stream of women devotees. In more recent times (Common Era), we have examples of Lalleshvari and Roop Bhawani of Kashmir, Andal and Karaikkal Ammaiyar of Tamil Nadu, Ammachi of Kerala, Molla of Telugu speaking areas, Janabai and Bahinabai of Maharashtra, Meerabai of Rajasthan, Akka Mahadevi of Karnataka, Toral of Gujarat, Sija Laioibi of Manipur, Sahajobai of the Hindi belt, Padmapriya of Assam, Madhabi Dāsī of Odisha, Ma Anandamayi of Bengal and so on[1]. In modern times, various Hindu Guru-s and the Hare Krishna-s[2] in the West have inspired numerous women Bhakta-s whose ethnically not from the Indian Subcontinent - the original cradle of Hindu Dharma.
Women as Gurus in the path of Bhakti
In the path of Bhakti, women are often regarded as Gurus of their husbands. Prince Rāimala of Jodhpur was a great devotee of the Lord. He spared no effort to serve other devotees who visited him. One day his wife asked him, "Why are you always engaged in serving His devotees, instead of serving the Lord Himself?" Rāimala replied, "The Lord gets pleased sooner when we serve His devotees." Thereafter, the wife too began serving visiting devotees with great faith and generosity. One day, she asked a visiting saint, "When will I get a vision of Lord Vishnu?" The saint replied, "If you follow me to a nearby place, I will show the Lord right now." The wife followed her, and the saint revealed His four-armed form of Lord Vishnu, who had come to experience her faith and hospitality in disguise. The wife was very overwhelmed and she said to Lord Vishnu, "It is due to my husband's instruction that I began to serve devotees, and got a vision of You thereby. Would you be kind enough to reveal your Divine Form to my husband as well?" The Lord agreed, and they went to meet her husband, where He revealed his Divine Form to him as well. But a sense of despondency overtook the mind of Rāimala. He felt small, that the Lord had appeared to him only due to the request of his wife, and not necessarily due to his devotion. The Lord read what was in his mind and said, "Do not feel insulted that your wife was instrumental in you seeing Me. You have labored hard serving the devotees all your life. Now, I will always be with you." The couple were overjoyed with the compassion of the Lord, and He lived in their hearts for their entire lives.[3]
Numerous stories are narrated in the Hindu tradition about women excelling on the path of Bhakti-
Akkā Mahādevī
Akkā Mahādevī was a beautiful daughter born around 1130 CE to a couple who were great devotees of Shiva and lived in the Indian state of Karnataka. From her childhood, she enjoyed worshipping Shiva and even wanted to become a Sannyasinī, i.e. renounce the regular life of the world and devote herself full-time to worship and meditate upon Shiva.
Mahādevī grew to become a beautiful woman. Kaushika, the ruler of her town, was attracted by her beauty and proposed to her. But she refused, saying that she had already married Shiva in her heart. But, Kaushika would not give up. Her parents were very worried that Kaushika being their King, would make their lives miserable. To console them, she said, "Please dress me like a bride, and send me to his palace. I will marry him if he agrees to become a Bhakta of Shiva." They agreed. Upon reaching the palace, Akka Mahādevī put her condition, but he refused, saying, "What do you think of yourself? You are my citizen and I can marry you by force if you refuse." He walked to her and started pulling her clothes. Akka Mahādevī prayed to Shiva to protect her. Miraculously, a ball of fire appeared between her and King Kaushika and started burning him. Frightened, he left her immediately. Akkā Mahādevī said to him, "I forgive you. But it is really sad that you only saw my physical beauty but were blind to the power of a Bhakta's soul that appeared as the ball of fire." Kaushika repented and fell at her feet to ask for forgiveness.
Akkā decided to live the rest of her life as a Sannyāsinī. However, the society around her did not agree with her decision because, in those days, women were not allowed to wander as ascetics and were expected to get married. But she heard that in the city of Kalyan in Karnataka lived another great Bhakta and saint of Shiva named Bāsava and his famous student Allāmā Mahāprabhu who were fairer towards women and poor and low caste Hindus. She appeared in front of them in their academy where several scholars had gathered to discuss spiritual matters.
They questioned her on her knowledge and experiences related to Shiva and announced that Mahādevī was a great saint. She became a disciple of Saint Bāsava herself and started living in a cave that was a few miles from the famous Shiva temple of Mallikarjuna.
Akkā Mahādevi composed beautiful hymns in praise of and for worshipping Shiva. These hymns are known as 'Akkā Mahādevī Vachanas and are very popular even today. She also wrote a few books on Yoga and Bhakti. Her writings show that she was a great scholar of Sanskrit scriptures, and had advanced a lot spiritually in her life. Her life teaches us to us that one does not have to be a man to devote our life to Bhagavān. Women are equally eligible because the ātmā inside us is neither male nor female.
King Madhukara Sāha and Queen Ganeshadei of Orchhā: King Madhukara Saha and Queen Ganeshadei of Orchhā in Central India were very pious Hindu Vaishnavas. They diligently served and fed visiting devotees of Lord Rama and offered them free boarding. Once, a saint who availed of the Queen's hospitality suddenly became overcome by greed. He asked the Queen, "You must have a lot of gold. Perhaps you can give it to me." The Queen, who led a very simple life said that she did not have any gold to part with. Displeased with her answer, the 'saint' got angry and stabbed her leg with a knife. Seeing her bleed profusely, he realized what a terrible crime he had committed in a fit of anger and fled immediately. The Queen thought, "If the King learns of this, he will lose his faith and will stop serving devotees." So, she quickly tied a bandage around her wound and retired to her palace. For the next few days, whenever the King tried to enter the palace to meet with her, she would refuse to meet him under some pretext or the other because her wound had not yet healed. After a few days, the King got worried and insisted on meeting her.
Upon meeting the King, the Queen narrated the entire incident but made him promise that he will continue to serve devotees of the Lord as before, and not lose his faith or bear ill will towards anyone. The King agreed and offered his respects to his noble wife.[4]
References[edit]
- ↑ Dasi, Krishna Kanta. Bhakti Blossoms – A Collection of Contemporary Vaishnavi Poetry. Golden Dragonfly Press, 2017, US.
- ↑ Desai, Subhadra. Indian Women Seers and Their Songs. Aryan Books International and IGNCA, 2017, New Delhi.
- ↑ Nābhādāsa (Nābhā Goswāmī). Śrī Bhaktamāla with Commentary by Śrī Priyadāsa. Translated by Bhūmipati Dāsa, edited by Pūrṇaprajna Dāsa, Rasbihari Lal and Sons, 2017, Vrindavan, India. Commentary on text 117 of Bhaktamāla.
- ↑ Nābhādāsa (Nābhā Goswāmī). Śrī Bhaktamāla with Commentary by Śrī Priyadāsa. Translated by Bhūmipati Dāsa, edited by Pūrṇaprajna Dāsa, Rasbihari Lal and Sons, 2017, Vrindavan, India. Commentary on text 104 of Bhaktamāla.