The big O is not orgasm

The big O is not orgasm.

 

The big O is oneness. It's not how great the bodies, how great the orgasm. It's, was that a loving experience where you shared with each other? Was it contributing to your oneness?

 

So many people think sex is about the pleasure, which it is, but it isn't. Or about the act itself, which it is, but it isn't. Sex reflects something far magnificence, far more beautiful. The problem is that people want to look more at the details.

 

What's okay and isn't okay in the bedroom. One of the most damaging myths is the husband and wife agrees to sexually be okay or is somehow going to be blessed by God. This idea that everything you do within the marriage bed, as long as the rings are on and it's with the one you chose, is okay. The marriage bed should be kept pure and undefiled.

 

We're basically talking about how to live out the Word of God. What is the truth God has about sexuality? How do you live that out for God? "But we love each other, so we should be able to do what we want." I encourage them to say, "Okay, God is love, capital L. So we must capital L love each other. We're going to express the One who is Love through this union."

 

So, for instance, let's say a husband wants his wife to have sex with another person. You can use scriptural principles to prove it's wrong. The wife can say, "Honey, this is not okay because Scripture says not to do that." He says, "Yeah, but I'm just fantasizing about it." She can respond, "Then let's look at the spirit of the act. If that's what you're thinking about as the two of us are becoming one and God hears and knows all, what is this act communicating to him?" I think the average couple can go, Huh, I never thought about it that way before.

 

The Fact is that when Man marries a woman, they become ONE. Two body but one soul. Wife become part of your body, once wife is your Ardhangani अर्धांग्नी, can you separate it.....? NO....Can you cut your finger away from your body. ....? NO....same way wife is part of your body and you are one (Husband, wife).

 

Once couples understand the heart of sexuality, they aren't concerned with those detail questions of How far can I go? And what can we and can we not do?

 

"There is no area of our being in which we can become more deeply wounded than our sexuality," "And within marriage, there's no area in which you can minister to a couple and bring greater healing and stability than in their shared sexuality. You'll impact both their intimacy together and their individual sense of wholeness as male and female, created in the image of God,

 

After meeting the well educated Sadhu साधू, Sanyasi सन्यासी and some knowledgeable people, I was overwhelmed by how fun they were. They're humorous, smart, kind hearted, and passionate about helping people discover God's unique and wonderful gift of sex. Not to mention they have some solid insights on how to have a great sex life.

Philosophy of Namaste

PHILOSOPHY OF NAMASTE:- The main point of all Indian Spiritual practices is to raise the Kundalini Shakti (The agent of soul expansion) from the Muldhara Chakra in the perineum to the Sahasara Chakra in the head, thereby enlarging knowledge and insight and opening up the world of higher consciousness. All the exercise found in our various systems of Yoga, namely, Bhakti, (Devotion,) Karma (action), and Jnana, (Knowledge), are based on Dharma (Righteousness) and are complementary in the process which is evolutionary in nature. This is the concept of Ardhanaareesware (Shiva   and Shakti   in one cosmic form).

 

Shiva is the Lord of Yoga in our tradition and the Shakti is Bio-Energy that is Creative power in us to realize the highest goal in life. Ardhanaareeswara is the one cosmic Form in which both the matter and spirit are perfectly united and integrated. We are reminded of this highest philosophy of life as and when we do NAMASTE in our day to day life because the wise people who introduced this Namaste in our culture knew that in this practice alone lays our real happiness. 

 

The literary meaning of Namaste is (नमः) I bow my head in front of you. The simple act on the part of a person of bringing the left hand and right hand together. Just over the breast is accepted as a humble greeting and reciprocated accordingly knowing or unknowingly, however helped themselves to make any progress in their lives and in the lives of the others did it in tune with the spirit of Namaste. Where ever the humility is absent and not expressed in any human forms of matter and spirit, whether it is in the relationship between employer and the employed, Student and teacher, rich and poor, man and woman etc. there remain tension and frustration in the life of man and woman and nation.

 

We do many things, which include criticizing and fault finding without knowing why and for what we are doing them. These actions produce no meaningful result compared to those of a man who acts with proper understanding. The gesture of Namaste embodies the efforts to know and act properly. The spirit of this simple practice does produce better understanding and genuine interest in human welfare, not only in our country but also in the whole world.

 

Namaste is part and partial of the system of self-culture of this land, which has been revived recently by Saints like Ramana Maharshi, Swami Vivekananda, Sri Aurobind, and others. Therefore in addition to cultivating a life according to its great philosophy, Namaste helps us to work out life in harmony with the progress of our evolutionary process. 

 

We can find in India millions of religious minded people doing Namaste to various deities in our temples, but many people now a days, do it quite mechanically without knowing its significance. That they are not sincere to the philosophy of Namaste may be due to their not knowing about it.

 

The purity that develops in us is based on the right understanding of two aspects of life symbolized by the folded hands in Namaste. The folded hands are always drawn towards the breast and placed right in front of the heart. What is the reason for this?

 

The body is a combination of chemical elements. Indian Rishis _f’k knew this fact thousands of years ago and it was clarified and taught by Kapila Maharishi through Sankhya Yoga. This was long before the discoveries of modern science in this line. He explained that all the forms are a combination of Earth (Solid), Water (Liquid), Fire (Gas), Air (Oxygen), and Ether (Subatomic Matter). Tantric School of Yoga without it no form can ever exist also recognized the source of Bio-Energy on which all these elements depend as Kundalini Shakti.

 

In the Kundalini Yoga system and tantric practice, stage of understanding have been linked with the knowledge of the chemical combination of this world and the spirit that keeps it going. The location of these centers of consciousness had been made on the Torso. A man can still live when both the legs and hands are amputated. But none can survive when the torso is cut apart. This proves the correct location of Bio-energy of Kundalini Shakti in connection with the special cord in living beings.

 

The energy of spirit is that which is important in man and it is to be maintained in harmony with the form. In this alone lies hope for progress in human evolution. This harmony is the basic theme of Namaste in our culture. This is also the cream of the teachings of various yoga systems. The sum total of this energy or spirit is called self or GOD and is one and the same to everyone in this world. It is so because the principles of functioning of the form and spirit are common to all mankinds.

 

The spiritual heart in man is recognized in Yoga systems as Anahata Chakra or air element. Consider the working of a turbo-generator. It though the co-operation of the solid form of the engine with the suitable steam form boiling water that results are achieved and work is done, Similar is the case with the body. It works because we take solid and liquid food and convert it to energy by digesting it with the aid of digestive fire, this stirs the heart to life and the relationship between cause and abstaining from food for a few days can test effect here.

 

The spiritual heat, which is made of the air-element, is the seat of feeling in us. To start with, it is this little feeling that helps us to expand emotionally and intellectually in thought, word, and deed. Therefore the simple silent Namaste remind us to recognize the important center of our life principle and communicate the feeling of welcome and friendship to the person when we wish it.

 

Now we can well imagine how significant is Namaste in our culture and how it can help us to attain cordial relations with one and all in this world. This Namaste creates a feeling of belonging, friendliness, and brotherhood among people and establishes a true welfare society where there is no dearth of basic necessities of life for common man. At the same time it makes us ponder our matter and spirit, life and death in humanity with feeling that keeps on expanding in every one of us in tune with nature.

 

Namaste is the cultivation of a new trend in our personality and integrated approach to life. It is like the negative and positive terminals that help to generate light. It cannot be cultivated by indulging in any one thing without any inhibitions.

 

Purity is the backbone of four spiritual progresses. Purity of body and mind are essential to make any progress in the field of higher consciousness or even to transcend our subconscious. Consciousness is ever pure and limitless and purity in life identifies us with it. We are neither sure of the existence of this nor do we have any knowledge of it as a thing in itself because our bodies and minds are not pure. But Namaste can helps us here, objective study can guide us to subjective understanding but it is practice and discipline which leads to reduction of impurity. This cannot be achieved through any kind of indulgence.

 

In Namaste we are integrated with purity of thought into oneness and with the proper understanding of matter and spirit embodied in the joined hands and humanity expressed by the bowed head, we attune ourselves to the unknown power consciousness with us.

 

Namaste is distinct from all other forms of greeting, such as the handshake, in that it helps us to transcend the self-imposed physical and mental limitations. Two people must be involved in the handshake for each to be satisfied. This imposes limitations and it become physically impossible to deal with large number of people, as in an assembly, but in Namaste one man can greet thousands of people. And simultaneously thousands in the audience respond with Namaste.

 

We also find our artists doing it as and when they come on the stage. This, no doubt, brings individual satisfaction to all. Namaste mentally takes shape in the heart and transcends beyond it, until it enables us to achieve unity in diversity is expended consciousness. Therefore Namaste helps to establish report with people without any inhibition or limitations. What so ever.

 

Repetition of our action establishes strong tendencies and from character and conduct. This process operates both for good and for evil. Therefore, if a custom like greeting with Namaste is done by us in our daily lives sincerely and humbly. After us in our daily lives sincerely and humbly, after knowing its philosophy and significance, it is bound to help us to mould our lives in tune with the true spirit of Namaste.

 

It is customary to do Namaste to one’s deity, parents, teachers, guests, friends, and holy men. This helps a man to extend it to all human beings who comes in contact with him. Gradually this practice even helps him to do Namaste to all living beings as all the living beings are considered to be within the family of one God, who is the real creator. Soon after the Aarti or showing of the light made of wicks of chamfer to the deity is over, it is customary for all the participants to do Namaste to the presiding deity. This is done to remind the devotees who take part in such congregations to surrender themselves to the source of life without any reservation. It is also a reminder to the people of the Namaste Philosophy. Many sculptures and paintings in our temples and museums indicate that this practice was prevalent in ancient India.

 

Self-surrender is the essence of devotion and faith and this faith develops out of the repeated performance of Namaste before any form of deity. In the matter of self-surrender, most people do it half-heartedly.

 

The self-surrender demanded by the practice of Namaste should not be mistaken for the surrender of the ego of a person to the ego of another person. It is surrender to the self or Bio-energy in both. It is the feeling of the unity in diversity that is achieved by the element of humility and surrender in Namaste.

 

When persons inimical to each other do Namaste in proper attitude, it is bound to reduce tension in mind and animate and help them to achieve cordially and friendship.

 

Though simple and easy Namaste is the higher form of Sadhana or spiritual practice containing the cream of selfless service, devotion, dedication and self-surrender for attaining the wisdom of unity in diversity. It helps a man to cultivate spirit of selfless service; devotion to God, dedication to noble causes self –surrender to divinity and a feeling or oneness and brotherhood of humanity in his relation to fellow beings in tune with Reality.  

 

A man is transformed into this attitude by doing Namste in it’s to spirit. But Namaste, if practiced sincerely, will definitely lead a person day by day nearer to the final goal while helping to maintain a harmonious relation with his surroundings and contact. Sincerely and humility in our daily practice of Namaste build-up honest in life.

 

Whenever any one succeeded in any undertaking material or spiritual, we find that he was always sincere, humble, and honest to his establishment or ideas. In the same manner, when ever we see the downfall of a powerful person who was pretending to be trying that he was lacking in these qualities.

 

Let us now discuss how this simple Namaste is practiced. The Mantra in this Sadhana is, of course, Namaste. The Mudra or pose is the joining of the palms and drawing them towards the breast while bowing the head in humility. In this we are to generate the feeling in our hearts that we are encountering God in the other person. We should be sincere in our thought. “I see God in you” while doing Namaste. This produces prosperity and progress in our material and spiritual life. Once we are introduced to its philosophy our life becomes smooth and happy.

 

In fact our ego melts in Namaste when we make up our mind to feel that there are many more universes yet to be discovered by us. The spirit of integrating elements in Namaste helps a millionaire to understand the plight of a poor man to appreciate the position of a rich man. Namaste, in fact, practically, helps us to integrate these two aspects in all walks of life. No methods however cleverly, logically and scientifically planned and designed for propaganda can ultimately produce better results if the Namaste spirit of integrating matter and spirit based on the minimum of qualifications needed for its practice is absent in our day to day life.

A Spiritual Thought of knowing own death.

A Spiritual Thought of knowing own death.

 

A spiritual conversation, the purpose of life on this planet where is it coming from and where is it going

 

Of many thoughts shared, the one that struck a chord was the story of a new-age guru who saw his own death scene being played out, he knew the date, time and place of his death. Was this an out-of-body experience? How does this work?

 

We are born of our parents and our parents are born of their parents and so it continued over generations in time. Extending this further, it could be assumed that future generations will come forth from us, and so the chain of physical human experience will likely continue, all other things being equal.

 

However, in this model, the future generation is already in existence somewhere in the cosmos and the chain would ensure that the existing generation perishes in order for the next to take over physical body and space.

 

Here’s one explanation: the cosmos has a major influence on all life on earth. Since the influence of the Sun and Stars that make up the cosmos take a certain time to reach the earth, it can safely be assumed that by the time the next set of rays and other influences of the cosmos reach earth the in-between period is history and is already concluded or in motion.

 

The Story of the Earth of our generation and many more generations after us keeping the cosmos time in view as Mahavira महावीर (The saint of Jain sect in INDIA) says is as follows: Whatever is happening has already happened. Visiting the death scene of a physical body of any particular lifetime does appear to be a possibility. This concept takes a little time to understand but seems quite plausible.

 

Did Abraham Lincoln see his own death? There is a story about Lincoln. In a dream he reportedly saw that he was murdered and his lifeless body was kept in a particular room in the white house and surrounded by mourners whom he readily recognised. He woke up disturbed and narrated the contents of his dream to his wife. They both had a good laugh and went back to sleep.

 

Three days later, Abraham Lincoln was murdered and his body was in the very same room he’d described to his wife from his dream with even the sequences of mourners matching what he saw in his dream.

 

Many renowned authors of metaphysical works have hinted at this possibility. Similarly, several Zen masters allude to this possibility. There appears to be a significant number of people who can help others to walk through this experience. Research on Past Life Regression and Future Life Progression work is therefore gaining in popularity as a way to possibly get a firsthand view of this intriguing phenomenon.

 

No one except highly evolved soul see the futility of living a life of greed, control or fear. When we are young, we see our parents aging before our eyes, yet we still feel that we will be invincible; we believe that pain old age, suffering death comes to others. We see and are still blind. We delude ourselves all the time therefore this existence is called “Maya माया.”

 

There are some Scientists who are working on the concept of human existence. It is believed there are 92 elements in the Universe and each living being is a composition of some of these elements. Science teaches us the atmosphere is made of Oxygen, Nitrogen, Argon, Carbon-di-oxide and some other elements. Human’s body is also made of certain elements. In some experiment it has been discovered that there are millions of Neurones in the human body including brain. A particular neurone may show activity to a particular name but may not show any activity to another name. It could mean we are just a bunch of elements put together. That is why cosmic rays could have influence over our mental makeup or life. As humans we call it destiny. May be those who are able to connect better with cosmic rays understand the past and future.

 

Normal mortal beings sometimes it is better not to know the future because if it appears happy we may become restless to get into the future phase and may falter in the present life. If it appears bad then we may again falter by worrying about the future.

 

I think it is not too great to think of past life or future. Better to live in the present and make the best use of our time. On the other hand it is better to know so that we can rectify or do so preventive measure to reduce the effect of the outcome of the happening. Time travels in only one direction, so does our life….

 

It is equally or even more amazing that people insist that only our ancestor knew the truth. And what more interesting is that people are ready to believe without a second thought that only Indian Civilisation and their knowledge is amazing!!

 

Is there any other civilisation that has thought as deeply and as widely as the Indian? Of course there are gems in other Civilisations like Ancient Greek, with philosophers like Socrates and Plato. But they seem to be faint echoes of what our Rishis ऋषि  have said. Indian thought on Spiritual matters is, I feel, the gold standard by which other systems are judged.

 

Truth cannot be branded either Indian or Western. But still in India, the teachings of Vedanta वेदांता have been preserved, practised and propagated throughout the world. There is truth everywhere according to degree of how much of it is to be found somewhere.

 

Where truth is to be found, we must bow our heads there. That is the proper behaviour. Sun, and Moon are neither Eastern nor Western, but wherever they manifest, they give their effulgence. Similarly wherever a great personality appears (Self realised Soul, or devotee of Supreme Lord) appears, they educate and uplift the mankind by their own shining example and the glory of God. Socrates taught the soul is immortal. Christ and Muhammad taught how to become servants of God. And there are also St. Francis, King Solomon and so many other great devotees everywhere.

 

But when we cite India’s spiritual gems, then we think we are being Indian or sectarian. But this is our problem. Maharishi Vedvyasa महृषि वेदव्यास has given so much profound devotional literature. And there are the Upanishada उपनिषद्, Vedanta Sutra वेदान्त सूत्र, Bhagwat भागवत which has been preserved by so many great personalities by their devotional examples. Even Germans have supported these contributions. Think of Schroedinger, Einstein’s dialogue with Rabindernath Tagore रविन्द्रनाथ  टैगोर, to name a few.

 

It is unfortunate that the so called intellectuals of India have no respect for what is being given to them, nor do they understand how that teaching in integrated with all other civilisations all over the world.

 

Greek and Roman came up much later than Indians so they did had influential and original thinking. Field like Science, maths, Astronomy, Astrology and Medical etc. did peak in Indian Civilisation but they didn’t originate in India. Things like Sun worshiping started in Sumerian Civilisation.

 

In spirituality Indians were surely ahead of other civilisation of the time. As far as Ramayana रामायण and Mahabharata महाभारत are concerned them are mythical stories told billions of time that it appears to be true.

 

Vedanta Sutra वेदान्त सूत्र is amazing for its time. The status of Bible and other supporting books are to Christians and Quran to Muslims is same as that of Vedas वेद, Upanishads उपनिषद् and Gita गीता. For them it is source of absolute Truth, the true words of God. Bible claims it is their God who created the Universe and everything contained in it. Similar claims are made by Quran also. Can you accept their Claims as the ABSOLUTE TRUTH ? If not why ? Can Christian and Muslims accept the claims made by Hinduism ? I think the answer is NO.

 

For me Gita गीता is good Moral and philosophical book. You wish to believe it as the Absolute Truth then it is our choice but do not say others are wrong. There are many 20^th Century Scientists who got influenced by Indian civilisation and so there are many who are influenced by western civilisation and played important role in the development of modern science. Why aren’t there are more Indians there if our scriptures tell the ultimate truth? Atoms are mentioned in Vedanta. It is said atoms cannot be divided but science shows it can be. Did Vedanta वेदान्त ever explain the internal structure of atoms ? As far as Metaphysics is concerned then science surely lags as it is hardly 50 years old. But even in this small time science has given jitters to the philosophy and religions.

 

Indian gave Zero and Decimal system to the world which made maths and calculations easy to handle. There are many more things gave to the world and in return learned quite a lot. Even till today almost all discoveries are made by west and European Countries along with Japanese and now Chinese too. How much are we contributing to the World Now..? Some are in favours and some are against India.

 

The point is not about which civilisation is better nor is the point that is more intellect, the point is that we should not reject science and it claims just because a certain theory hasn’t been proven yet. The same logic should apply to the believers of science.

Churning the ocean in search of the pot of the nectar of immortality.

Churning the ocean in search of the pot of the nectar of immortality.

 

The stories and the messages of Shiva शिव are innumerable; however, one of the most important is the story of how He – for the sake of humanity – swallowed the poison which emerged from the ocean.

 The Churning of the Ocean This Pic was taken from The Swaran Bhoomi International Airport, Bangkok (THAILAND)

The story says that the Devas देवता and their brothers, the Demons, were churning the ocean in search of the pot of the nectar of immortality. However, after a great deal of effort, what emerged was not nectar, but poison!! The Devas देवता and Demons knew that in order to continue churning, and ultimately to unearth the Divine nectar, they could not simply toss the poison aside. Someone had to drink it. But, naturally, no one was willing to drink the poison. Everyone had some excuse for why he or she was too valuable to be sacrificed. Finally, Shiva शिव came forward, very calmly and with serene poise. He said “I will drink the poison if it will preserve peace in the family and enable my brothers and sisters to attain the nectar of immortality.＂After drinking the poison, and thereby enabling the churning to continue, Shiva शिव held the poison in his throat – hence the name Neelkanth नीलकंठ which means Blue Throat – and sat peacefully in meditation for eternity.

 

This happens frequently in life as well. When we embark upon a divine plan or when we undertake a noble challenge, frequently before the nectar comes, before our effort bears fruit, we face failure or condemnation or seemingly insurmountable hurdles. Poison always comes; obstacles always come. We wait and wait for the divine nectar to emerge. As we worship Bhagwan Shiva भगवान शिव, we must pray for the strength to take his message to heart! Let us not only worship him, but let us emulate him. He who is willing to peacefully swallow the poison, he who is willing to sacrifice for the family, for the community and for humanity is the true Mahadeva महादेव. Shiva शिव went to the Himalayas हिमालय, to the land now called Neelkanth नीलकंठ to meditate after he drank the poison. The message is that when poison emerges in the home, when poison emerges anywhere in our lives, when we feel like if we swallow it we will die, but if we don’t drink it then the fight will continue – the secret is to meditate! You don’t have to go to the Himalayas हिमालय. Just create your own Himalayas हिमालय wherever you are. First, be the one to accept the poison. Be the one to sacrifice and concede humbly. Then go, sit and meditate peacefully. This is not weakness, but strength. The night of Shivratri शिवरात्रि is especially auspicious for winning this same battle within ourselves – the battle between good and evil, between right and wrong, between poison and nectar, between death and immortality “Don't seek God in temples. He is close to you. He is within you. Only you should surrender to Him and you will rise above happiness and unhappiness.” 

Lessons Of Square Watermelon

Lessons of the Square Watermelon:

 

Japanese grocery stores had a problem. They are much smaller than shops in other countries and therefore don’t have room to waste. Watermelons, big and round, wasted a lot of space. Most people would simply tell the grocery stores that the watermelons grow round and there is nothing that can be done about it.

 

That is how majority of people would respond. But some Japanese farmers took a different approach. If the supermarkets wanted a square watermelon, they asked themselves, ‘How can we provide one?’ It wasn’t long before they invented the square watermelon

 

The solution to the problem of round watermelons was not to solve as the farmers did no assume it was impossible – and simply asked how it could be done.

 

They found out that if you put the watermelon in a square box when they are growing, the watermelon will take on to the shape of the box- and grow into a square fruit.

 

This made the grocery stores happy and had the added benefit that it was much easier and cost effective to ship the watermelons. Consumers also loved them because they took less space in their refrigerators which are much smaller than those in other countries, meaning that the grower could charge a premium price for them.

 

What does this have to do with anything in life or at our job? There are a few Lessons that can you can take away from this story which helps you,

 

Don’t assume; the major problem was that most people had always seen round watermelons so they automatically assumed that square watermelons were impossible before even thinking about the question. Things that you have been doing a certain way your entire life have taken on the aura of the round watermelon and you likely don’t even take the time to consider if there is another way to do it. Breaking yourself from assuming this way can greatly improve your overall life as you are constantly looking for new and better ways to do things.

 

Question habits : The best way to tackle these assumptions is to question your habits. If you can make an effort to question the way you do things on a consistent basis, you will find that you can continually improve the way that you work. Forming habits when they have been well thought out is usually a positive thing, but most of us have adopted our habits from various people and places without even thinking about them.

 

Be Creative: When faced with a problem, be creative in looking for a solution. This often requires thinking outside the box. Most people who viewed this question likely thought they were being asked how they could genetically alter watermelons to grow square which would be a much more difficult process to accomplish. By looking at the question from an alternative perspective, however, the solution was quite simple. Being creative and looking at things in different ways in all portions of your live will help you find solutions to many problems where others can’t see them.

 

Look for a better way: The square watermelon question was simply seeking a better and more convenient way to do something. The stores had flagged a problem they were having and asked if a solution was possible. It’s impossible to finds a better way if you are never asking the question in the first place. Get into the habit of asking yourself, “Is there a better way I could be doing this?” and you will find there often is.

 

Impossibilities often aren’t if you begin with the notion that something is impossible, and then it obviously will be for you. If, on the other hand, you decide to see if something is possible or not, you will find out through trial and error. Take away the lessons from the square watermelons and apply them to all areas in your life (work, finances, relationships etc) and you will find out that by consistently applying them, you will constantly be improving all aspects of your life.

The Creation and Its Cause

The Creation and Its Cause

 

According to Brihadaranyaka Upanishad

 

In the beginning, this universe was the self alone, in the shape of a person. He reflected and saw nothing else but His self. He first said: "I am He." Therefore He came to be known by the name I (Aham). Hence, even now, when a person is addressed, he first says: "It is I," and then says whatever other name he may have. And because He, before  the whole group of aspirants, burnt all evils, therefore He is called Purusha. He who knows this verily burns up him who wishes to be Viraj in advance of him.

 

He was afraid. Therefore people still are afraid when alone. He thought: "Since there is nothing else but myself, what am I afraid of?" Thereupon His fears were gone; for what was there to fear? Assuredly, it is from a second entity that fear arises.

 

He was not at all happy. Therefore a person even today is not happy when alone. He desired a mate. He became the size of a man and wife in close embrace. He divided this body into two. From that division arose husband (pati) and wife (patni). Therefore, as Yajnavalkya said, the body before one accepts a wife is one half of oneself, like the half of a split pea. Therefore this space is indeed filled by the wife. He was united with her. From that union human beings were born.

 

Hinduism regards man and woman as the two halves of the eternal being, each constituting a vibrant, existential part, quite incomplete in itself. In the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, Prajapati, the primordial God, divides himself into two-man and woman, the symbols of cosmic polarity deriving sustenance from the same source.

 

In the cosmic scheme man represents Purusha (the Person, Spirit) and woman Prakriti (Nature, Primal Matter), both of whom unite to keep the world going. So goes the Vedic verse: ‘I am He, you are She; I am song, you are verse; I am heaven, you are earth. We two shall here together dwell becoming parents of children’.

 

An Equal Half

 

The Hindu woman as life partner has a fourfold character: she is ardhangini , one half of the her husband, metaphorically speaking; sahadharmini , an associate in the fulfillment of human and divine goals; sahakarmini , a part to all her husband’s action and sahayogini , a veritable cooperator in all his ventures. Husband and wife together are called dampati , joint owners of the household, sharing work in terms of their biological, psychological and individual dharma . The former provides the seed bija and the latter the field ksetra for its fructification, so that humans could be perpetuating in the cosmic process of evolution. Both have the joint responsibility of helping their children grow in all respects, but the contribution of the wife is always immense.

 

As life partner the Hindu woman has equal right to participate in religious right to participate in religious rites and ceremonies; in fact, certain sacrifices like the Sita harvest sacrifice, the Rudrayaga   for suitable sons-in-law or the Rudrabali   sacrifice for material prosperity are performed by women alone. Hindu lawgivers like Gobhila and Asvalayana ordain that no ritual or sacrifice can be complete (sampurna ) without the presence of the wife. Even Rama   had to order for Sita’s statue in gold to make up for her absence during this asvamedha sacrifice. In the Ramayana  , Rama’s mother Kausalya offers oblations to the fire god Agni  and Tara performs the Svastyayana ritual for the success of her husband Bali   against Sugriva  .

 

Women of those days were quite learned in the Vedic lore. Draupadi  was a brahmavadini  and Tara an adept at reciting mystic syllables. Oghavati, Arundhati and Sulabha possessed a thorough knowledge of the Vedas and imparted religious knowledge even to Rishis. The spiritual attainments of Savitri and Anusuya have become legendary. In the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad one meets women of wisdom such as Maitreyi and Gargi. The former abandoned wealth for wisdom and the latter entered into a debate with sage Yajnavalkya at the court of King Janaka. Much later, Bharati, the wife of Mandana Misra, carried forward the tradition by acting as judge in the philosophic debate between her husband and Shankaracharya. When she found her husband losing the debate, she emphatically told Shankaracharya that his victory would be complete only if he could defeat her, since she constituted her husband’s better half.

 

Where women are honored, there the gods are pleased; but where they are not honored, no sacred rites yield rewards,. ‘Offspring, (due performance of) religious rites, faithful service, the highest conjugal happiness and heavenly bliss for the ancestors and oneself depend on one’s wife alone’.

 

Manu declares that the perfect man is one who constitutes a trinity made up of his wife, himself and their offspring. The wife being a gift from the Gods, she ought to be supported to the end of her life. If Manu points out of seductive nature of women, he is equally unsure of the unbridled passion of men. He advises that wise men must not be in the company of even their own mothers, sisters or daughters in a lonely place, for they may deviate from the right path! Manu regards woman as a precious unit of the family and of society but denies them absolute freedom due to their physical vulnerability. He, however, distinguishes between the noble and virtuous and the degenerate women, and like other smrtikaras, criticizes those who are faithless, fickle, sensuous, immodest, quarrelsome and loose. ‘Day and night women must be kept in dependence upon males and if the attached themselves to sensual enjoyments they must be kept under one’s control’. Manu prescribes capital punishment for killers of women, exempts pregnant and old women from paying fines and suggests that as mater of courtesy, they should be given precedence when crossing the road.

 

He meant thereby that they were not different from each other. The Hindu scriptures lay emphasis on harmony between husband and wife that is so essential for family peace and prosperity. Harmony requires understanding, which can only be among equals. In the Rig Veda, the couples jointly pray: ‘May all Devas and Apas unite our hearts. May Matarisva, dhata, Destri all bind us close.’

 

The highest duty of man and wife says Manu, is to be faithful to each other. While the supreme duty of the husband is to safeguard his wife, to care for her needs and necessities, and to keep her happy with gift and presents, the wife is expected to be pious and chaste, sincere and faithful to her partner, gentle, suave, skilled and sweet- tongued.

 

Although the concept of pati-paramesvara (regarding one’s husband as god) has suffered erosion in the wake of women’s empowerment, respect for the husband continues, as is evident from the observance by Hindu women of such traditional vows as Vata Savitri, Haritalika and Karka Chaturthi - all aimed at a long and happy conjugal life.

 

Nowhere do the accredited Hindu scriptures ordain that women should be abused, disgraced, chastised without reason or divorced in ordinary circumstances. Yet expectations from women as life partners have been many and varied. The best female partner, according to a popular Sanskrit adage, is one who renders advice like a minister, obeys like a maidservant, feeds like a mother, pleases like the nymph Rambha, acts as a veritable companion, and has the forbearance of Mother Earth.