Mother India

Mother India

Women are the main asset in the Indian family. After marriage, a wife does not go empty-handed to live in her husband's home, but he goes to her house like a beggar to fetch her. She manages all the expenses of the marriage. She brings cooking utensils, suitcases, a cycle, a rickshaw, a scooter, a car, a T.V, a video set, an audio set, jewellery plus a minimum of sixty thousand rupees in cash. She comes as Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity, and he keeps her there as his servant. This is the biggest mistake of Indian society.
I have been a supporter of women and girls for many years. My ashram thrived because I trained females and gave them responsible posts. Women are very sincere. They do not have the habit of smoking, drinking and gambling. A woman will try to become stable wherever she goes, whether it is at her in-laws, in an office or in an ashram. A stable person with a focused mind and body is needed to manage any institution. If men try to run the household, they will fail because they are not good managers.
Male and female have different natures. The creator has embossed 'animal' on the head of the male and 'goddess' on the head of the female. A woman is Shakti, energy, power, but she is easily exploited. Women are not weak and defenseless by nature; it is the male who has made them that way in order to exploit them. If a girl becomes strong, she can never be exploited. A strong wife will never allow her husband to misbehave. A woman must have such authority, such power, such rights.
In developed countries women have fought for and seized their rights. Western women had the same social restrictions as Indian women, but they have seized their legal, political, professional and social rights, even the right to change the marital laws. The laws in India are made by men, with men in view, but nobody understands women's problems. When it comes to obtaining their rights, women have no social exposure or experience. For social and political reasons women are segregated from men for a very long period of time and as a result they have been unable to uplift themselves and overcome the limitations imposed on them by society. Every woman must know how to seize her rights. To obtain one's rights one must deserve them, and those qualities are developed by social interaction.
In India, women have always been neglected and relegated to an inferior class. In marriage, property and inheritance laws, they have been regarded as second grade. A widow becomes an outcast, but that is not the case with a widower. A widower can remarry, but a widow cannot. This is how society thinks. For centuries, nobody challenged or opposed this social code, but today it has become a bid social issue. Can a woman leave home and make her own future independently? Can she decide about her education, her fortune and her destiny? Yes, she can.
People say that sadhus and sannyasins should have nothing to do with the female sex that they should not even talk to women. I say," Why not?" No society can progress without paying their dues to women. No country will ever enjoy prosperity until it makes its womenfolk stand on their own two feet. Years ago I realized that all the women in the world, including young girls, are my mothers. Whether eastern or western, modern or traditional, young or old, companion or secretary, urban dweller or villager, all women represent our mother. We have to respect, love and protect women and give them everything that we have to give, because we are their children. Whether a woman is your wife or daughter, her nature is that of a mother. The credit for creating my life goes to my mother, not to my father, because he was only a medium.
Woman is a precious gem, yet such a worthy part of society is reduced to a nonentity. Many women cannot go to school, or mix freely in society. A village woman has no means of education, advancement or legal protection, and we who have deprived her of all these things have a duty to help and support her. This is of primary importance to the spiritual aspect of woman as mother. Therefore, in Rikhia we started providing educational opportunities for girls, good luck kits for the young brides, work opportunities for village women and support for the widows, to help them to stand on their own two feet and become independent. We must educate, encourage and inspire girls to be confident and assertive. Then the next generation is automatically educated. This is nurturing and sustaining society for times to come.
Women must have equal rights with men. Girls should be allowed to grow strong from early childhood and must not be kept under restraint. They should be properly educated and trained to be self-reliant. In the past girls had only one future, which was to get married and produce children. Now they have a future on many fronts. They can study, acquire knowledge and obtain a degree, become doctors, lawyers, accountants, engineers, learn about computers, electronics, biotechnology and then find a job and stand on their own two feet. Then they can get married if they wish. Marriage is not the only future for a girl. Now their future lies in higher education.
Deoghar is the seat of Devi's heart. It is also the birthplace of the new Devi. The message for the awakening of women will go out from here. Therefore, give a proper education to the women in your house, to your daughters, mothers and sisters, and make them Chandi. In the coming age the women of India must become Mother India, and it is our duty to see that this happens.