Sage of Kanchi –

Pranams at the lotus feet of Sri Paramacharya !

Veda praises the distinctive nature of a woman ‘Mathrudevo Bhava’, secondly ‘Pithrudevo Bhava’ and finally ‘Acharyadevo Bhava’, hence the rank of woman is considered as supreme, it is obvious that a woman do not require any comparison.   There are four types of Ashramadharma known as Bhramacharya, Grihasthashrama, Sanyasashrama and Vanaprasthashrama.  A woman takes stronghold in Grihasthashramadharma, she holds significant role in the smooth functioning of the family.   Husband and wife are considered as two wheels of a chariot, if anyone of the wheel gets damaged, it will definitely affect the functioning of the whole family.  The Sanskrit word ‘Griham’ derived from the word ‘Grihini’ who is  Grihalakshmi/Grihadevatha as well.  She is born with uniqueness like motherliness, compassion, forbearance, kindness, love and intelligence.  Our sacred scriptures highly praise the chastity of a woman, illustrious women like Ahalya, Seetha, Thara, Panchali,   Mandodhari, Dhamayanthi, Nalayani, Savithri and Maithreyi and many more chaste Rishi Pathnis who have earned highest of the status with their perseverance.  Therefore, Acharya firmly state that a woman should not take up any extra-ordinary position in the society other than leading prime role in her family, in this way she is contributing a good citizen to the society, protecting the righteousness and preparing the younger generation to carry out the responsibilities of Sanathana Dharma.  A woman should be a Karmayogi, it is her responsibility to contribute selfless service to the family and society as well.  Some may feel that they are well capable to manage social as well as family life, but the undeniable truth is that they cannot be ingenuous to both.  She is indispensable part of the family; none can carry out the spiritual as well religious rite in her absence, she is the main source of serenity, peace, and happiness in the family.  In the same manner men of the family should perform all those responsibilities for the smooth functioning.  Acharya relates woman as Universal Mother who is immeasurable, she is the source of Icchashakthi/conceiving ideas, Gnanashakthi/wisdom and Kriyashakthi/execution of tasks as well, and as a result she should not dissipate all those indescribable qualities, she should utilize all those qualities for the protection of righteousness/Sanathana Dharma and  bringing peace and serenity in the family.

Sage of Kanchi –

Pranams at the lotus feet of Sri Paramacharya !

Sri Acharya speaks highly about the Sthree Dharmam/duties of a  woman who is  stronghold and persistence of righteousness, hence woman cannot be compared with man in any matter, she is beyond comparison, scriptures and Veda highly praise the perseverance, duties and responsibilities of a woman, she was often compared to Mother of Universe and Goddess Annapoornna as well, she is the source of living force, she carries out smooth functioning of the family, serving the family members with sumptuous meal and taking care of all the necessities of elderly people in the family, she is  a pillar of righteousness who stands beside her husband in the performance of spiritual, religious, and  traditional family rites, none of the rites becomes impossible in her absence.  She takes complete control   of initial preparation for all the religious rites with utmost dedication and faith, she stands beside her husband throughout the performance of rites by providing relentless support, she is serving guests, Sanyasins, and Bhramacharins.  It is the duty of woman to carry out charities, she should make all the possible effort to spend one tenth of the family’s income for the charity purpose, a woman should not be a spend thrift or obsessive of worldly matters, she should have thorough knowledge of income and source of income, her expenditure should not exceed the income of the family.  She should strictly follow the daily rites and should be able to cultivate the habit of spiritual and religious practices in her children as well.  A mother is not a cook, she is all – in – all, she is the first teacher to her child, she is the one initiate her child to spiritual path and brings nearness to preceptor, she is Annapoornna who  serves sumptuous meal after offering to deity, and therefore it turns out divine and keeps the family members hail and healthy.    She should make sure to bring discipline, moral conduct, humility, simplicity, compassion, love, care and kindness, along with the formal education in her child’s life; she should be able to provide a responsible citizen to the society.  She should serve the elderly members of the family with respect, care and love.  She should serve her husband sincerely and provide all the assistance for the performance of various spiritual and religious rites.

Sage of Kanchi –

Pranams at the lotus feet of Sri Paramacharya !

Paramacharya describes the significance of homage to ancestors, it is more important than the worship of deities, sacred scriptures affirms that people who do not follow the  homage  to ancestors  would take birth in low class, we need perpetual blessings of our ancestors to have a peaceful, healthy, wealthy and happy life.  It is believed that during the fifteen days of Mahalayapaksha our ancestors hunger and thirst would increase considerably, therefore offering oblations to ancestors during these days are treated as highly propitious. Garuda Puranam describes Pithrus/ancestors are people who lived a self-less life, performed abundance of charities, service to humanity and sincerely performed daily rites to deities during their life on Earth, after the death they ascend to the abode of Pithruloka.  They have made lot of sacrifices during their life time on Earth; therefore it is our responsibility to show gratitude by performing homage during the days Mahalayapaksham and Amavasya after following strict austerities.  Offering charities of sesame seeds, salt, gold, cotton clothes, iron metal on Uththarayanapunyakalam, Shuklapaksha Pournami, Krishnapaksha Dwadhashi day during the month of Karthik is considered as highly auspicious.  Charities should be performed with utmost humbleness, any contributions made with pride or to attain fame or publicize the same will take away all the merits.  It is compulsory to worship ancestors before conducting any auspicious events like marriage and Bhramopadhesham in the family, in order to attain their perpetual blessings.  Person who performs homage to ancestors on Dwadhashi would attain gold as wealth, person who performs homage to ancestors on Thrayodhashi would attain supreme intellect, wisdom, cattle as wealth, good health, freedom of living, long life, prosperity, wealth and all kinds of auspiciousness, person who performs homage to ancestors on Chathurdhashi would please his ancestors died of accidents.   Mahalaya Amavasya is the most propitious day to worship ancestors, worshiper would be blessed with all kinds of auspiciousness, and person who performs homage on all these sixteen days of Mahalayapunyakalam would attain higher status in life, recitation of sacred chants while the performance of homage to ancestors are highly significant, performer should be aware of the meaning of these chants and pronounce it with good clarity and intense faith.  Performance of homage to ancestors on the sea shore, near the ponds or shrines would be treated as highly auspicious.