Education is necessary for both men and women. But, education
for women has to be in accordance with their special needs.
Educated women are really the promoters of Dharma for the whole
world. Parents too must co-operate in getting them equipped with
proper education. Women should not be given freedom in certain
matters. I will not approve of their being given such freedom.
They must be made into ideal women; their education must be so
shaped.
Unbridled freedom is destructive of Dharma; besides, women
will, by this means, harm themselves. Mixing in society without
any discrimination will produce results that are ruinous. Of
course there were educated women in the past also, but they never
gave up their Dharma, they never forgot the goal of Atmadharma.
Vidya or education must be built on the basis of Viveka or
Discrimination. Sulabha, Savithri, Anasuya, Gargi, Nalayani and
other such models of chastity, devotees of the Lord like Meera,
yoginis like Choodala, all were born in this Bharathadesa and by
their adherence to Dharma, they strengthened Dharma. Once, when
Sulabha was discoursing on the Atma with all her scholarship and
experience, even Janaka was astounded! It is through the example
of such great and holy women, with their character and conduct
inspired by Bhakthi and Jnana, that even today simplicity,
humility and devotion shine in the hearts of the women of
Bharathadesa.
Women should draw inspiration now from them; efforts must be
made by them to live as these did in the past. The Hindu woman
must ever have before her as her guide the ideal of Dharma and
progress in spiritual discipline. She can master any subject
related to the objective world which has gained prominence today;
but the welfare of the spirit should not also be forgotten; she
must get interested in Vedanthic study which cultivates the Inner
Vision. A woman without this training is a rock without support, a
danger to herself and others, a very unbalanced individual.
Sulabha and others who pursued such studies became Brahmavadins of
great fame. India produced several such saints and scholars, among
women. Pundits and Vidwans used to approach such women for
inspiration and guidance.
On what is progress based? The progress of the nation, the
community and the family, depends on the proper education of
women. The country can be lifted to its pristine greatness only
through women mastering the Atmavidya, the science of Realisation
of the Reality. If the nation must have lasting prosperity and
peace, women have to be trained through an educational system
which emphasises moral conduct, moral qualities. The cause for the
present fall in moral standards and absence of social peace is the
neglect of this aspect of women's education. The earth and sky are
still the same; the change is in the ideal of education from
Dharma to Adharma.
The education of today is spoken of as Vidya, but that is
merely a way of calling it. It does not deserve that name, if you
consider the present actions of the educated and their personal
traits. The educated person must be capable of imbibing the inner
joy of the Atman, irrespective of external circumstances; he must
have grasped the purpose of existence; he must be aware of the
discipline of Realisation. The Grace of the Lord was the Diploma
which every student sought to secure in the old days. That Diploma
was awarded to those who were proficient in the cultivation of
morality, the knowledge of the Atman, the sublimation of
instincts, good conduct, pure habits, control of the senses,
restraint of the mind, and the development of divine qualities.
Today, however, things are different. Diplomas can now be gained
by mugging up a few books! By going through modern schooling one
cannot acquire moral and spiritual training.
Every woman must be given education in a well-planned manner.
She must be able to understand the problems of the country. She
must render such service and help as she can, within the limits of
her resources and capacity, to the country, the community and the
family. No nation can be built except on the culture of its women.
The coming generation is shaped by the mothers of today; this
generation is so full of adharma and injustice, because the
mothers who brought it up were not vigilant and intelligent
enough. Well, what is past is past. To save at least the next
generation, women have to be warned in time and guided to take the
ancients as their model.
Past, present or future, for all time, women are the backbone
of progress; the heart of the nation, the very breath. They play
the chief role in the dharma of life here below, a key role that
is charged with holiness. Her mission is to lay down the canons of
rightness and morality. She must provide children with moral and
spiritual training. When the mother is imbued with Dharma, the
children get the benefit and they get similarly saturated. When
she is skilled in morals, the children learn to be moral.
Therefore, the level of education among women decides whether a
country is to prosper or decline. Her acts and conduct are crucial
factors.
The responsibility of the elders and the parents is very great
in this. Take the students of today; no trace of culture can be
seen in them; matters of the spirit and talk of the Atma raise
laughter among them! A majesty of words, a servitude to tailoring
- these have become the fashion. This is not genuine culture. The
educated women of today are helpless when it comes to managing a
home. Home to them is but a hotel; they are so helplessly
dependent on the cook and the maid. The educated woman is but a
painted doll, decorating the modern home; she is a handicap to the
husband, a weight around his neck. He is squeezed by her insistent
demands for spending money on all kinds of objects. She does not
share in the tasks of house-keeping and so by sheer idleness, and
eating and sleeping without exercise, she develops illness which
leads her quickly to death.
The wanton behaviour of women has enveloped the world of today
in an atmosphere of declining Dharma. Women are harming themselves
by running after fleeting pleasure, regardless of the need to
develop good character and elevating qualities. They are enamoured
of the pseudo-freedom, which feeds their conceit. To get fixed up
in a job, to earn degrees, to move about with all and sundry
without distinction and discrimination, to discard respect for
elders and give up fear of sin and evil, to over-look the claims
of the good and the holy, to force the husband to dance to one's
tune, to deny the tribute of repentance to one's errors, are these
the signs of education? No; they are all the monstrous shapes of
Avidya, the uneducated egoist attitudes that make a person ugly
and repelling.
If the wife feels that the husband's home is sacred, then that
home itself will endow her with every skill and qualification.
There is no place anywhere which excels such a home for her. One
saintly poet has sung that it is her temple, her school, her
playground, her political arena, her field of sacrifice, her
hermitage.
Educated women can do useful service to the community around
them according to their skill, taste, inclination, desire,
character, educational status, mode of living, discipline or
scholarship. They should avoid tarnishing the reputation of their
parents, their family or themselves. A woman without a good
character is as bad as 'dead'; so women must be ever vigilant when
they move about in the world. They should avoid flippant talk or
free mixing. The discriminating woman will engage only in such
acts as will add to the luster of her husband's fame and honour,
never an act which will tarnish it. That is why it is said,
"Sadguna or virtue is the sign of the educated person, the thing
which makes education worthwhile."
I do not declare that women should not be educated or that they
should not move in society. Wherever they move, if they are
endowed with good qualities, and if the good qualities are
accompanied by good actions and good habits, and adherence to
Sanathanadharma and Sadhana, then their study is really worth
while and society is indeed benefited. Study and society are not
harmful in themselves; they react with the nature of the persons
who make use of them and yield good or bad results. The cat holds
the kitten as well as the rat in the self-same mouth, but with
what a difference? The kitten, it fondles; the rat, it kills. The
bite is neutral, it is the rat or kitten that decides how it
behaves.
So too, knowledge can develop discrimination, inspire the
springs of service, prompt inquiry into the Reality, promote the
search for the Absolute, and even pave the way for attaining
Paramahamsahood. On the other hand, it might feed and strengthen
the roots of falsehood, hypocrisy, cruelty and injustice; it might
teach man newer means of deceit and ruin the career of man on
earth. It might turn Love into poisonous hatred and Truth into a
bone of contention.
Therefore, whatever subject a woman might have studied and
mastered, whatever the degree she has won, whatever the status of
her husband or of herself, she must hold fast to these truths;
real charm consists in good character; morality is the very breath
of woman; modesty, the very live force; adherence to truth is her
daily duty. She must plant the seedlings of fear (fear of sin,
fear of the Lord) in her heart and cultivate the charm of
humility. In the religious, moral and physical fields, she must
adhere to the strict dictates of Dharma, and take that as the
essence of all Vidya. She must be prepared to sacrifice even her
life for the sake of maintaining honour; she must nourish and
preserve her chastity and her adoration of the husband. This is
the Chief Dharma of woman. This is the reason for her very birth
as Woman.