Womena and Gayatri Mantra

India is a home to several religions. Vast diversity is seen in this land. Different religions have different traditions.

One such tradition of Hindus is chanting of Gayatri Mantra, the most revered mantra from the Vedas. This Mantra is believed to be given by God to Brahmarshi Vishvamitra. Gayatri Mantra was cited prominently in many Hindu religious books like Harivamsa, Bhagavada Gita, Garud Purana and Manusmriti.

Goddess Gayatri is the Mother of the Vedas as per the Hindu religious scriptures. Any man can chant Gayatri Mantra at three ‘peher’- dawn, noon and dusk for spiritual benefits. It is restricted to chant the mantra except in the above specified times.

The pursuer or Sadhak should have pure heart and clear mind at the time of chanting Gayatri Mantra. It is believed that wrong chanting of Mantra would lead dangerous consequences and ill-effects.

It is also belied that women must never chant Gayatri Mantra. There are some reasons for this. According to ancient Hindu beliefs, women were believed to be not fit to adorn the religious thread due to menstruation. Another reason is that during their pregnancy, women were advised to stay away from ritual and religious practices.

Another reason why women are not allowed to chant Gayatri Mantra was believed as scientific by many people. This is the most primitive reason. Shastras consider chanting Gayatri Mantra influences the three chakras of human body known as Mulaadhar, Swadhishthan, and Manipur. According to science, pituitary and prostate are the two major glands that have an effect on the growth of gender. Since it was believed that chanting of Gayatri Mantra affects the working of both these glands, chanting of Gayatri Mantra would show negative effects in women.

Many people that’s why prevent women from chanting Gayatri Mantra as they believe reciting the Mantra can provoke growth of facial hair, changes in skin colour and irregular menstruation etc. It is also considered that if pregnant women chant this manta, they would experience complications in breastfeeding, serious muscular pain, difficulty in conceiving next time etc.

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