‘In freedom do thy will’ is key to Hindu thought

THE letter, “Religious codes affecting women”, by Dhayalan Moodley, POST, June 2428 refers.

He uses the term “religious dogma” to describe discriminatory practices against widows. Which scripture, pray, tells ignorant people to behave like insensitive yobs? These are not religious practices, but social practices.

He is wrong about generalising. There are many Hindu widows in South Africa and India who do not remove the thaali or mangal sutra after the husbands die. Some remove it privately on their own. The “unmarrying” nonsense is not in any Shastras.

The Arya Pratinidhi Sabha should be commended, but it was not the first or only group to use women as priests. Amma Thiroonagavelli Pillay (aka Mrs Dickson) was an ordained priest. She was the spiritual head of the Shree Aurugam Alayam in Jacobs Road, Clairwood, in the 1970s, and one of the founding members of the Clairwood Marthasungum group. She garlanded former President Nelson Mandela when he visited Chatsworth in 1994, and died in 2010 aged 104, all this according to POST, August 4-8 2010, “Amma passes on at 104”.

In Vedic times women participated freely in religious activities. Later the Bhakti movement in the 12th century initiated by Akka Mahadevi and other women in South India spread to other parts of India. Mirabhai of the 16th century is very well known even today. Then there were people like Swami Ramakrishna’s religious teacher, Bhairavi Brahmani, a Brahman nun.

Sri Krishna, after answering Arjuna’s questions, advises him to use his own wisdom and conscience to make his decision. “Ponder over them (Sri Krishna’s words) in the silence of thy soul, and then in freedom do thy will.” Bhagavad-Gita 18.63.

“In freedom do thy will” is what Hindu religious thought is all about. We must always discriminate between what is right and what is wrong, and not follow the rules blindly. So women should also use their heads, and refuse to participate in nonsense. KAMINI PRAKASH

Riet River