Q. 282: Gurudev, why fasting and other rituals are mandatory for women only and not for men? Is our religion also gender biased?

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

It is not so! Probably men made the rules and so they imposed many on women. Actually women are at home and they have a lot of time and so they take on all these rituals by themselves. What has happened is, that the men don’t follow all the rules and rituals. Women keep all the rituals religiously because she is more sentimental and she is the binding force at home between everybody. So she cares for the welfare of everyone. But men who go out and work, in ancient days they also had Ekadashi fast. It is all common to everybody. Men are also supposed to do it, though sometimes they don't do it. Even men are supposed to wear tilak, and married men are supposed to wear two sacred threads. So in this country men and women both have to follow certain rituals.

In fact women have one step higher honor in this country. Like we first say Radhe and then Shyam, first Sita and then Ram, Gauri and then Shankar. Women were honored much more from ancient times. So men and women are equal; rather women are kept one step higher than men in this country. You know there is something called ‘Sthreedhan’ in ancient India. In the whole continent, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Singapore, men would keep a certain amount of money with women at home and nobody would touch that money. That was called ‘Sthreedhan’. That is the money that she would grow at home. Women were respected more than anything else. Female feticide is a very wrong thing that is happening in this country now. In a country where women were given the most respect.

It is said, the most sinful act is killing a cow. If you kill 100 cows, it is equivalent to killing one scholar; killing 100 scholars is equivalent to killing one saint, and if you butcher 100 saints it is equivalent to harming one girl child. What does this mean? Killing 1 lakh cows is equivalent to harming one girl child. So, this way, women were always kept at a very high position.

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