Is girl child a bane? What Vedas Say?

“Udayji, I am the only son of my parents. I have two baby girls. My parents and relatives are still blaming my wife for not conceiving a male child. I regret to say that I was also blaming her. But your articles shattered my misconceptions and opened my eyes. Till reading your articles I didn’t know that the gender of a child is determined by the male partner,” a message from Akshay Sharma, a reader explaining his problems.
“Yes Akshay, that’s a scientific truth. As said, the gender of the child is determined by the male partner of the couple. A woman has two X chromosomes and thus gives either of her X chromosomes. The man has one X chromosome and one Y chromosome and can give either his X or Y chromosome. The egg (from the mother) already contains an X chromosome. Therefore the sex of a baby is determined by the X or Y chromosome of the sperm cell (from the father). A baby girl will result if there is XX, and a baby boy will result if the final arrangement is XY.”
“Also, I found some sort of solace when I came to know that you have three daughters only. But you’re blessed as no one blames your wife in your circles…”
“What circles? It is the same everywhere in India. Generally, people don’t enjoy uncertainties and changes in life. So, they remain superstitious and spread all sorts of nonsensical things, especially regarding gender and sex… Since I know the truth, I don’t lend my ears to them, that’s all…”
“But Udayji, in our locality and community, the girl child is considered to be a burden. The girl child is always looked down upon, while the son of the house is considered to be the treasure…How to convince my people here? I am not able to convince even my parents. Can you be a little more elaborate on this? Even my mother believes that a girl child is worthless…”
“You can’t blame them for their age-old conditioning and superstitions. Even if you show them the truth, people may not change as they are happy with their sweet superstitions. Many studies prove that in many fields girls excel more than boys.”
“But my people are still in the era of Savithri-Leelavathi…”
“That’s a selective cherry-pick from our Puranas. You must tell them the real story of Vishpala too. Her details are mentioned in Rig Veda shlokas, which means she might have lived more than 7000 years ago. She was a warrior, a young girl who is an orphan but is adopted by Rishis and taught how to fight. She is extremely good at fighting. The brave warrior queen lost one of her limbs in the battle of Khela during the fight.”
“What happened then?”
“She was given the first prosthesis in recorded history, an iron leg. Ashwini-Kumaras (Twins), the healers/ surgeons of that era gave the gift of the first ever (the earliest recorded) ancient document on the concept of Artificial Limbs in the history of the prosthesis. She has been fiercely trashing her enemies in the battle then…she fought like a tigress and slayed!”
“Oh, is it? I didn’t know.”
“We don’t know many facts. You must tell also them the story of Amaridevi – the princess who engineered her victory in the kingdom of Kampuchea (Cambodia) which then was a Hindu kingdom. There are umpteen powerful females in our history. Sita Devi is the best example…”
“But Sita Devi is portrayed as a meek and obedient woman, Udayji…”
“Aha – she was dedicated to Sri Rama because of love. That doesn’t make her meek and weak. She was the strongest warrior in her father Janaka’s Kingdom. We all know the incident of Rama breaking Pinaka of the bow. Many healthy huge warriors were not able even to lift it. But during her childhood, Sita used to lift the bow with ease and play with her sisters!”
If you follow Hindu Dharma, you must also know that the ancient Vedic period treated men and women as equals. Vedas declare that women are the embodiment of great intellect and virtue. The Vedas also place substantial emphasis on the girl child, particularly the education of girls. The Vedic literature not only encourages girls to be scholarly but also expresses that every parent has to ensure that their daughter is brought up and educated with great effort and care. Rig Veda says, parents should gift their daughters the intellectuality and power of knowing if she leaves for their husband’s home. The Atharva Veda particularly advocates for female empowerment, claiming that women are an integral aspect of society.
A lot of Female Rishis (Rishikas) equally contributed to Vedas. The Rig Veda mentions more than 30 Rishikas like Romasha, Lopamudra, Apala, Kadru, Visvavara, Ghosha, Juhu, Vagambhrini, Paulomi, Yami, Indrani, Savitri, and Devayani.
“Then how come the male-dominated and chauvinistic way of life developed in our society?”
“Probably through invaders and their Semitic ideologies, religions, and medieval European philosophy. Women were considered sex slaves in the Middle East. When invaders attacked and conquered India, they might have sawn these seeds too…I am not sure…Our genuine Vedic and Puranic literature do not discriminate against anyone based on sex, creed, race, caste, and beliefs…There are misinterpretations from the people with vested interests. But I haven’t come across any authentic scriptures that promote any sort of discrimination.” (Message number: 365)
Google search keyword: “B06X9CCJTZ”
To join Udaylal Pai’s WhatsApp Broadcast List send your name to +91-9447533409. But you will receive broadcast messages ONLY IF this number is saved in your phone’s contact list.