Belief, Betrayal, and the Silence of God

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.

In the name of God,

He betrays without fear.

She remains unmoving.

He reaches for power.

She folds into surrender.

He crowns himself divine.

She learns devotion as duty.

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.