00:00My mom doesn't allow me to come into the pooja room, doesn't let me touch goddesses during
00:06my menstrual days. So that has been there since when I was a kid. So when I came out
00:13and started working and I have murtis in my room, I do whatever I want. I don't bother
00:19about all that. But when she gets to know about it again, she warns me like you shouldn't
00:26be doing that. Like that fear factor she tries to push into my head. And it's been there for
00:32so many years that even I find it difficult to even if I do that in my room, I voluntarily
00:39would never go to a temple on my menstrual days. So I don't know if I like why such thing has
00:49started, but I find it difficult to break that pattern. Like is it is there something to it
00:55or should I not bother about it at all?
00:57It started purely from reasons of hygiene. There is nothing more to it. But then it takes
01:10a much more concrete form and gets fossilized over time. As long as basic personal hygiene
01:23hygiene is being maintained, what is there to bother about?
01:34The genesis of the whole thing is in physical purity and that refers not merely to the menstrual
01:44discharge but also to all kinds of discharges that the body emits.
01:56I'm pretty sure that if one is continuously vomiting,
02:01one wants to take care of that first before entering
02:04a serious place, a sacred place. If that has been taken care of, obviously
02:17God is not prohibiting anybody to come to Him.
02:22And if one is physically unclean, for any reason, it may or may not pertain to the
02:36menstrual cycle. Let's say somebody has been wallowing in mud.
02:43You don't even want him to enter your living room, do you? You say you first go and wash your feet.
02:48Don't you do that? Why do we keep these rugs outside the entrances?
02:58Because we want people to at least clean their feet before they enter our living places. That's all.
03:08But that has been turned into a big taboo for no reason.
03:12And as you said, it has become something that weighs upon several women's mind, unnecessarily.
03:24Totally unnecessarily.
03:26But the temples themselves, they put posters like this, so I...
03:30Ignorance. Totally ignored.
03:32So should I consider it as a private property and follow their rules,
03:36or should I not bother about it because temple belongs to everyone?
03:41Irrelevant. If you want to go, go.
03:50If sometimes you feel like honoring the wishes of the ones who are putting up those things, don't go.
03:57It's not a big matter at all. Religion is essentially a very private thing. It is between you
04:04and the one who represents your liberation.
04:08He's called God. It's a very private thing. Who is any temple owner or manager or priest
04:17to mediate in the relationship?
04:21Who is he?
04:21Who is he?
04:22Who is he?
04:23In that sense, you do not even need a temple.
04:30But if you do decide to go to a temple, then it's your own wish.
04:34But that wish has to be based more on aesthetics and hygiene than on religious considerations.
04:43Are you getting it? It's not a matter of spirituality. It's a matter of aesthetics.
04:52If you feel like, enter. If you don't feel like, don't enter.
04:57It depends on your own inclination and mood. You know your body best.
05:02It's a non-issue. It does not deserve the kind of attention it gets.
05:17And it's quite unfortunate that it has become a taboo with so many women.
05:24It's a prakritic thing. What can one do about it?
05:27One goes to God to get liberated of the prakritic bondages. They exist. What can one do about them?
05:37One didn't call it. One didn't invite it. One didn't consciously choose it. It just happens.
05:46No. It's almost like saying, if you have five fingers, then you are a sinner.
05:52I mean, did I choose to have five fingers? No woman ever chooses to menstruate. It happens.
06:02So how can then she be held responsible or guilty or unclean or whatever?
06:07So if you have to make a decision, I said, make the decision on considerations of hygiene and aesthetics.
06:24Hygiene and aesthetics. That's the criteria. No other criteria.
06:28Do you need any
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