The stigma of impurity associated with menstrual days || Acharya Prashant (2019)

Acharya Prashant

‍♂️ Want to meet Acharya Prashant? Be a part of the Live Sessions: https://acharyaprashant.org/hi/enquir...   Want to read Acharya Prashant's Books? Get Free Delivery: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/books?...  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~  Video Information: Vishranti Shivir, 04.08.2019, Pune, Maharashtra, India   Context:   Is the issue of impurity related to hygiene? Why is Menstrual cycle considered impure? Why does the stigma still continues to exist today? What does menstruation have to do with real Spirituality? Why do people follow all these superstition?  Music Credits: Milind Date  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ .

Transcript

00:00My mom doesn't allow me to come into the puja room, doesn't let me touch

00:11goddesses during my menstrual days. So that has been there since when I was a

00:16kid. So when I came out and started working and I have murtis in my

00:21room, I do whatever I want. I don't bother about all that. But when she

00:28gets to know about it again, she warns me like you shouldn't be

00:31doing that. That fear factor she tries to push into my head and it's been

00:37there for so many years that even I find it difficult to, even if I do that in my

00:42room, I voluntarily would never go to a temple on my menstrual days. So I don't

00:51know why such thing has started but I find it difficult to break that pattern.

00:58Is it, is there something to it or should I not bother about it at all?

01:04It started purely from the reasons of hygiene. There is nothing more to it but then it

01:15takes a much more concrete form and gets fossilized over time. As long as

01:27basic personal hygiene is being maintained, what is there to bother about?

01:34The genesis of the whole thing is in physical purity and that refers not

01:48merely to the menstrual discharge but also to all kinds of discharges that the

01:57body emits. I'm pretty sure that if one is continuously vomiting, one wants to

02:07take care of that first before entering a serious place, a sacred place. If that

02:19has been taken care of, obviously, God is not prohibiting anybody to come to him and

02:32if one is physically unclean, for any reason, it may or may not pertain to the menstrual cycle.

02:43Let's say somebody has been wallowing in mud. We don't even want him to enter your

02:51living room. Do you? You say you first go and wash your feet. Don't you do that?

02:57Why do we keep these rugs outside the entrances? Because we want people to at least clean their

03:08feet before they enter our living places. That's all. But that has been turned into a big taboo

03:16for no reason and as you said it has become something that weighs upon several women's mind unnecessarily.

03:25Totally unnecessarily. But the temples themselves, they put posters like this. So,

03:35I… Ignorance. Totally ignore. Should I consider it as a private property and follow their rules

03:41or should I not bother about it because temple belongs to everyone? Irrelevant. If you want to

03:53go, go. If sometimes you feel like honoring the wishes of the ones who are putting up those

04:00things, don't. It's not a big matter at all. Religion is essentially a very private thing.

04:08It is between you and the one who represents your liberation. He's called God. It's a very

04:16private thing. Who is any temple owner or manager or priest to mediate in the relationship? Who is

04:27he? In that sense, you do not even need a temple. But if you do decide to go to a temple, then it's

04:38your own wish. But that wish has to be based more on aesthetics and hygiene than on religious

04:48considerations. It's not a matter of spirituality. It's a matter of aesthetics. If you feel like,

04:59enter. If you don't feel like, don't enter. It depends on your own inclination and mood.

05:06You know your body best. It's a non-issue. It does not deserve the kind of attention it

05:22gets and it's quite unfortunate that it has become a taboo with so many women. It's a

05:30prakritic thing. What can one do about it? One goes to God to get liberated of the prakritic

05:38bondages. They exist. What can one do about them? One didn't call it. One didn't invite it. One

05:47didn't consciously choose it. It just happens. No. It's almost like saying if you have five

05:56fingers, then you are a sinner. I mean, did I choose to have five fingers? No woman ever chooses

06:03to menstruate. It happens. So, how can then she be held responsible or guilty or unclean or whatever?

06:13So, if you have to make a decision, I said make the decision on considerations of hygiene and

06:27aesthetics. Hygiene and aesthetics. That's the criteria. No other criteria.

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