PRACTICE OF BRAHMACHARYAM : SECTION II : - 11.3. SWAMI SIVANANDA

=============================================================
Wednesday, August  26, 2020. 4:40.AM.
SECTION II. THE GLORY OF BRAHMACHARYAM -11.3.
11. WOMEN AND BRAHMACHARYA-3.
11.3. Loose life is not freedom
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.
The world is in dire need of such ideal women. I wish that the world may abound with
such glorious women. I do not condemn women. I do not oppose giving them education and
freedom. I have the highest veneration for women. I adore them as Devis or goddesses. But, I
am not in favour of such freedom for women as will ruin them. I am in favour of such education
and culture as will make them - immortal and glorious, as will make them ideal women like
Sulabha, Mira and Maitreyi, like Savitri and Damayanti. This is what I want. This is what
everybody would like.

2.
Loose life is not perfect freedom. Some women of India have ruined themselves by
taking advantage of this false freedom. There is no limit to the freedom, which the so-called
educated woman enjoys now. This freedom has caused many homes to be wrecked. It has
created disorders in society. It has brought shame on many respectable families. The girls, in
their insatiable craving for freedom, have overstepped the limit and lost that priceless possession
which the women of the past could keep untarnished.

3.
By mixing with men freely, woman loses her dignity, modesty, feminine grace, and the
sanctity of her person and character. A woman who mixes freely with men cannot preserve her
chastity for long. There can be, and there have been, exceptions. A woman who mixes with men
freely in public life and yet remains pure must be certainly superhuman. An ordinary woman
with her natural passion will soon succumb. Human nature will fulfil itself.

4.
What is there in a woman’s life if her purity is lost? She is only a living corpse if there is
no purity, although she may be rolling in wealth and moving in high circles in society.
Promiscuous mixing will lead to disastrous results. Even Rishis and Yogins who are clad in
rags, who live on roots in seclusion, will be pulled down by the dark forces of nature if they are
careless.

Then what to speak of women who eat daily dainties and sweetmeats, who are clad in
perfumed velvet and silk with lace borders, who are given to too much mixing, who do not lead a life of self-control, who have no religious training and discipline, who have no idea of the inner life and the religion of emancipation?

O wise reader! I leave this for your own consideration,reflection, cogitation and deliberation.

5.
Women should not do anything that can bring dishonour or infamy on them and their
family, and a blot on their character. Without character, a man or a woman is considered as dead
while living. Women should be very careful and cautious when they move in society. They
should avoid too much talking, too much mixing, guffaw and giggling.

They should always walk in a dignified manner and not with the swinging of the hips. They should never look at men with a flitting gesture. Clothes should not be too tight or revealing. Abandon make-up.

NEXT - 11.4. A call to spiritual life :

"O Devis! Do not waste your lives in fashion and passion. Open your eyes. Walk in the
path of righteousness. Preserve your Pativrata Dharma. See Divinity in your husband. Study the
Gita, the Upanishads, Bhagavata and Ramayana. Become good Grihastha-Dharminis and
Brahma-Vicharinis. Bring forth many Gourangas. ......"

To be continued ....

===============================================================