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MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING.Wednesday,Apr 4 2007, 11:00:25 AM(Last updated: Thursday,Apr 5 2007, 08:28:22 PM)
Recently, there had been much uproar over the entry of a woman into the Holy Shastha temple at sabarimala and a lot of blame game went on as to who was actually responsible for the ‘mishap’. For ages, young women have been denied entry to the Shastha temple at Sabarimala.There is a wonderful story behind the establishment of the temple and the ‘Ayyappa’ who resides there is a Brahma Chari Now, who is a Brahmachari?
In India,’Brahmacharyam’is one of the four stages of life. One avoids all thoughts of lust and greed and during this period his mental horizon widens. He has true love for all the beings on earth and has a sense of disattachment towards everything prevails in his mind.
India is a blessed land which has given birth to Brahmacharis like SriRamakrishnaparamahamsa, Swami Vivekananda etc. SriRamakrishnaParamahamsan saw GoddesssShakti-theMother Herself in every woman. He saw the Mother in the pariah woman, the Brahmin woman, in a young girl, and even in the whores of Kolkatta. It is incomprehensible that a Brahmachari should whine and weep if a woman touched him-unless he saw her just as a woman -her skin and flesh and that, his mental horizons weren’t wide enough to see the Mother Herself the divinity in her who had come to him with tears and her bundle of troubles and worries.
Hinduism is a unique religion. You can’t point out a single person as the founder of this religion.Hinduism just refers to the way of life that people in India once led.
Hinduism has certain unique principles like -’Tatvamasi’ .It means that ‘You are the supreme’-The God Himself. The Parabrahma or the Greater soul fills up this universe. The human soul is like an extract from this Greater soul. This Atman, which prevails in every body, is pure of all evils and is sexless. So that ends up all the differences between the sexes, and the notion that there is an advantage in being a man and a certain disadvantage in being a woman. And it is greatly unfortunate that such a high level of discrimination of sexes should exist in a country like India, where such magnificent theories had been in the run for ages.
As Swami Vivekananda proclaimed in his ‘Address at the World’s Parliament of Religions’, this religion has taught the world tolerance and universal acceptance. But over ages, this religion has fell into the hands of priests who have degraded this great religion into mere shopkeeping, and bundled it up into a set of rituals and customs. They have turned this wide religion into a watertight compartment. They try to sell everything –even moksha, and they themselves forget the ideals of this ages old religion.
Ideal Brahminhood is long lost in India. Hinduism must free itself from the tight grips of the priests who fatten upon the fears and ignorance of the masses. Hinduism has the concept of a Loving God and it abhors fear. God is a servant at the feet of His Bhakta-this is the Hindu ideal;of the love of God.
There isn’t a thing like public worship in India. Hinduism urges people to worship their ‘Ishta’ in their own environs. It is the same Omnipresent Brahman that manifests itself in each individual. Only the external garb -the body varies. It isn’t really God’s wish or intention that women should not be allowed into the temple. It was a carefully designed rule put in by some clever, cunning person, adding holy stories around it, thus enwrapping the entire thing in a mystic cover so that few would dare break it or even think in the contrary.
It is high time that we stopped this distorted version of Hinduism circulating among the masses today, undermining the morale of a large section of our society. Let’s bring back the true concept of this ages old great religion, which has contributed much to the world, rather than breaking each other’s heads over baseless issues, which even the God Himself, might not matter. Let’s do away with uncaring, narrow-minded shop keeping and the orthodox sexist views, which adulterates our religion.