Devotion – an emotion that runs very deep in most of the Indian women. I have always wondered
why most of the women are drawn towards the concept of devotion and believing
in someone else naming themselves as Swamy – the barrier between a normal
person and a superpower called God.
Why is it mostly women? That question stayed with
me for a long time.
Women often take on a large share of childcare and housework, and it can be exhausting while men are not even patient enough to
simply listen to what their lady is trying to say. They deserve support, understanding, and time to care for themselves as well as their families. Even after being happily
married and having lovely children, a woman has experienced loneliness and despair due to male egoism, ferociousness, and the belief that
"I am a Man and I am never wrong." has made a woman feel lonely,
despair and alone even after being happily married and having beautiful
children.
Because of these patriarchal beliefs and systems, women
have developed a strength in God and a type of energy that is always willing to
listen. God never provides answers to people. He simply provides you with
tranquillity, time and mental stillness so that you can discover the answers on
your own. And hence, when women visit a temple, they stretch their hands to God,
recite a mantra, and their whole mind is for once away from family, tensions and
responsibilities. That's when they get what they want. It is not God providing
the solutions directly, but it is their subconscious mind finding different
ways to solve a problem. And sometimes people can call their subconscious mind as a powerful energy or precisely God.
I'm not criticising God; rather, I'm using psychology, or
the science of mind to understand the idea.
I am not an
atheist, nor am I someone who blindly believes in people disguised as Swamys. I strongly question those who exploit
faith—especially the emotions of women—by conducting so-called poojas and
homas, demanding unjustifiably large sums in the name of devotion. In such
cases, whose fault is it truly—the woman longing to feel closer to God, or the
man who manipulates her faith for his own gain? If God truly exists, then
surely those who betray belief in His name would find no rightful place in this
world.
When it comes to God,
my devotion is different. I have a different perspective on faith, hope, and
assistance. I believe in feeding people who have been starving for years,
aiding those who lack limbs or the strength to work and earn a living, and
praying with my heart and mind rather than simply idols. Everyone who knows me is aware of how
frequently I visit temples, temples dedicated to various locations and deities.
What amazes me most during these
visits is not devotion itself, but the brilliance of the architecture – the
mind that conceived the temple and the sculptor whose hands transformed stone
into divinity. One cannot help but wonder how gifted and blessed that sculptor
must have been to carve from rock the very form we now idolise and pray to.
Tell me this—no one
truly knows what God looks like, yet that sculptor imagined Him into being. So
are we really praying to the God within the idol, or are we bowing our heads
and folding our hands in silent gratitude to the artist who gave us a tangible
image of the divine?
God is both power and terror. We commit sins and pray to
God to cleanse us of them. Why would you do something bad if you were terrified
of getting punished by him?
As I spoke earlier about male ego, I am reminded
of a mythological belief that has stayed deeply with me. It is said that there
is only one true Man in the universe, Lord Sri Vishnu and that everything else
emerges from Prakriti, the feminine,
dynamic energy. In this belief, every soul, whether born into a man’s body or a
woman’s, is inherently feminine in essence.
When the soul attains
its highest form of peace through death, it does not end but moves on to another
body. This is why there is a Telugu saying: “మరణం
దేహానికే
కానీ ఆత్మకి కాదు”, which
translates to “Death is for the physical body,
not for the soul within.”
A man, too, is
capable of love, tenderness, and emotional depth because of this feminine
energy that resides within him. If that is so, why cling to ego when it holds
no true place in life? This belief may not align with logic or science, but it
resonates deeply with me—and sometimes, belief does not need proof to feel true.
If devotion is a refuge, it is because the world has failed
to be one. If women turn towards God, it is not out of weakness but exhaustion, an exhaustion born from carrying too much for too long without being heard. Perhaps true devotion is not found in rituals or idols, but in
unlearning ego, offering kindness, and choosing compassion towards others and
ourselves.
And if God exists, maybe he does not ask to be worshipped
at all – only understood.