Talk:Gṛhasthāśrama:Aupāsana and Women
By Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Swami
I said that members of all castes must perform aupāsana. The husband and the wife must do it together. Even when the husband is away, the wife must perform it by offering unbroken rice grains in the sacrificial fire. The Veda-s themselves have given women such a right.
Aupāsana is the only Vaidika right that a woman is entitled to perform on her own. Of course, there are so many Paurāṇika vrata-s and pūjā-s that she can perform according to the śāstra-s, but these belong to a different category. Besides, she naturally has a share in all the works of her husband. Apart from caring for the household, she does not have to perform any rite (other than aupāsana). Even if she does, it will not yield any fruit, for such is the rule according to the Vaidika dharmaśāstra-s.
We hear people talk of "rights". It is my wish to create an awareness among women about their right—the right to aupāsana. I should like every home to become bright with the sacred aupāsana fire. Women should fight for this right of theirs and impress upon their husbands the importance of performing aupāsana. "Even though you have given up all scriptural karma, you must at least do the Gāyatrī-japa to retain your tenuous connection with the Vaidika dharma. If you do not do this japa or even forget the mantra, one day you will feel repentant over it thinking of the upanayana saṁskāra you had", women should tell their husbands. "As for me, I have had no upanayana, nor am I entitled to mutter the Gāyatrī. If at all I have any right according to the Veda-s, which are the source not only of our religion but of this world and of creation itself, it is this aupāsana. If you refuse to perform it, I will be denied my Vaidika right." In this manner, women must fight for this sacred right of theirs and make their husbands perform aupāsana. Aupāsana is indeed their one great Vaidika "property".
Women must bear in mind the importance of aupāsana and agnihotra (like aupāsana, agnihotra must also be performed twice a day). "So many fires are burning in the home", they must tell themselves. "We make coffee on the fire and cook food or make the water warm to bathe. By not performing aupāsana we will be extinguishing that fire which was witness to our marriage."
The sacred fire must be kept burning by adding rice husk to it now and then. In many ways it is advantageous to pound rice at home for, apart from the husk, we will have nutritious hand-pounded rice to eat. Also, the poor labourer who does the pounding will get a little cash or a few handfuls of rice for his or her sustenance. (For the unbroken rice grains offered in the fire, the housewife must pound the rice herself. This is a piece of work done to the accompaniment of mantra-s.)
It does not cost much to perform aupāsana nor does the rite take long to go through. All you need is the will to do it. Hand-pounded rice is also good for your health. Milled and polished rice is not good. Besides, in hand-pounding, there is something of the Gandhian ideal too.
The aupāsana fire will keep away all evil spirits and afflictions of all types. Many Brāhmaṇa-s today have exorcist rites performed by others with neem leaves or bamboo sticks. They go to a mosque for relief, or they come to me praying for help. Aupāsana is a remedy for all ills, and wearing the aupāsana ashes is a great protection.