Daughter: Vedic Ritual Perspective

The Daughter is affection incarnate and it is as such that Vedic Literature depicts her. She has never been denied the rights her brother enjoys. A critical analysis will reveal that in the Vedic Ritual, the Daughter is just as important as the son, if not more; as a matter of fact, in many places it would appear as though in ancient India the Daughter was more important for the parents than the son.

If you are indeed following vedic way of living, you will pray for daughter birth. The daughter is for the parents the sum-total of purity, tenderness, affection, devotion and bliss. It is utter ignorance or devilish motive to term Vedic rituals/samskaras exclusively for Male population.

Take for example Pumsavanan Samskara. It has become popular belief by those who follow modern dictionaries written by British indologists that it is Samskara to beget male child and has nothing to do with female child. Utterly nonsensical! If the meaning of the word ‘Pums’ be limited to males only and the Pumsavana be a rite that must be performed, there remains no rite to be performed for the birth of a daughter. But the fact is that the birth of a daughter is most welcome. In Sanskrit literature the word ‘Pums’ does not exclusively mean males alone but is also found used in the sense of human beings in general. Thus, when Varaharnihira says the earth has veins just as the bodies of Pums’ have, the word Pums’ conveys necessarily the sense of human beings, as women too have veins in their bodies. Hemacandra in his Abhidhana-cintamani gives “martya: one who is mortal,” Bhu-sprs:”one who touches (is born on) the earth,” etc. as the synonyms of ‘Pums’. All these necessarily include the sense of women as well. In commenting upon a couplet quoted in the Bhamati which includes the word ‘Pums’ in the genitive plural, Bhatta Gopinatha in his treatise Upodghata says the word Pums means males as well as females. The Asvalayana Srautasutra too uses Pums in the same sense.

Thus, while describing rituals, sutra-kara(s) use masculine noun to represent पुरुषत्व. पुरुषत्व is gender-free quality, like प्रकृति is. In fact, there are places when special feminine mention is required, it is mentioned with specific noun. In fact, analysis of punsavan samskara shows that Girl child is that, sutra-kara(s) raise no objection to the birth of others of her sex, nay, more-they introduce a girl in particular, not a boy!

Here are some popular examples of rituals performed for longing daughter as child and nurturing her with highest divinity:

(1) Parents perform Kaamya-sraddhas on the second day of the moon in the hope of having a daughter.
(2) Desirous of having a daughter, the husband touches all the fingers of the wife except the thumb during the marriage ceremony.
(3) Longing for a daughter the bridegroom shows the bride after she has reached her new horme the Dhruva and other constellations.
(4) The parents deem it a favour of god if they can have sons as well as daughters by their side during the performance of sacrifices.
(5) The Rigveda praises the father of many daughters.
(6) The daughter claims her support from parents not for nothing, but for her devotion to them. They care for her as much as they do for their son; or it may be said-even more, as the father is found to worship the daughter (kumari) as an emblem of Virginity, as an emblem of Purity, of Tenderness. Devotion, and what not.

=======================
Conclusion:
=======================

Just as the Matrika-puja is to take place at the beginning of all Vedic rituals, the Kumari-puja is recommended to be performed at the end of all; and this latter worship, the Daughter-Worship, is impossible in the absence of a daughter as she is to be bodily present. The father wraps her up with new garments, entertains her with delicious dishes and walks round her. From her first year onwards she is worshipped as different deities; if she is one year old, as Sandhya: if two, Sarasvati: and so on. Thus as she grows, the parents find in her different manifestations of the Supreme Soul,-blessing them in every possible way. The daughter is indeed the embodiment of all blessings for the parents and the family.

=======================
Actions to be taken:
=======================

Inspire more and more healthy, sacred, responsible parents who can imbibe best of the best samskara to children, to beget daughter more than son. Daughters can create more and more dharmik families. Creating dharmik families is indeed need of the hour.