Sharing a real experience. Once, a person asked a 3-year-old child, “Do you like your mother or your father more?” In response, she asked, “Is the shirt or dhoti better?” Although we all laughed at her answer, it made us realize that each thing has its own purpose and role. Children are guided by the cosmic law and do not have complicated memories. We, as educated adults, often fail to understand things because of our complicated memories.
When we think of equality between men and women, a question immediately arises: Is the mango tree or the jackfruit tree better? The mango tree gives us mangoes, and the jackfruit tree gives us jackfruits. What would happen if the mango tree thought it must produce jackfruits in order to become equal? Suppose the mango tree produces jackfruits instead of mangoes with the help of new technology—would we appreciate it? No, we would laugh at the mango tree. The duty of the mango tree is to produce good-quality mangoes, and by doing so, it earns our love and respect. There is no point in debating which is superior.
Similarly, men and women are loved and respected when they perform their duties properly. There is no need to think that men are superior to women or that women are superior to men. Women who believe equality lies in imitating men by dressing like them and doing the work that men do fail to realize the unique qualities, power, and greatness that women naturally possess.
Our understanding of equality expands when complicated memories are wiped out through SMS meditation. Then, we can understand the term “equality” from a broader perspective. At that point, we will realize that equality applies not only to men and women but also to animals, plants, rocks, and all creatures in the universe. This is something one must experience—it cannot be fully explained in words. When this realization comes, we will naturally feel only love and respect for all beings.
Regardless of whether a child is a boy or a girl, both are equal in the eyes of their parents. However, they have different dharmas (duties). Even though a lotus grows in mud, it does not become dirty. It produces beautiful flowers, even from that mud, and brings happiness to others. It remains unaffected—neither attached to nor detached from anything. Women should be like that—no matter how difficult their environment may be, no evil should ever affect them. Women should be selfless, impartial, self-illuminating, and always stand on the side of truth and righteousness. Only then can a woman fulfill her duty by nurturing a good generation, protecting her family on the path of truth and righteousness, and ultimately guiding them to self-realization. The great Sree Narayana Guru said, “It is not enough for women to be educated; they should also know how to manage their households. If they are wrong, everything will be in trouble. If they are right, everything will be good.”
This world, immersed in the darkness of ignorance, now needs self-enlightened generations who can spread the light of knowledge. Having attained the knowledge of Brahman (Brahmanjanam) and spreading the light of knowledge to this world, Sree Narayana Guru shows the world what a man’s duty is through his own life. Similarly, through the consecration of Goddess Sarada and the work of Bharya Dharmam, he teaches the world what a woman’s duty is.
