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At the Feet of The Mother

What is your take on menstrual restrictions for entering temples in Hindu tradition?

I am aware of the number of explanations especially related to energy transactions between man/woman and the kids, quite tortuous explanations in fact. It may apply in some specific temples or places because of the specific energy of certain deities. But such places, if at all are very few. To turn these things into a general rule does no good and in fact belittles the Divine by limiting His action and freedom that does not depend upon any external condition, in fact not even on internal states. Lord Rama spent 14 years in a forest along with Sita Mata. Both were Divine incarnations. Did they not see each other during certain phases of the cycle. So too there have been women gurus who did not restrict meeting devotees or giving darshan during certain days. And those women in the service of their Master, for example women who were in the service of the Mother did not take off on certain days because of the menstrual cycle. God in Sanatana Dharma is not so much a Rule-maker as He is Patita Pavan, whose touch purifies everything. What rules of pundits or books can bind Him who is forever free, what harm or anishta can come to someone who goes near the All-liberating Presence of the Divine. None of the core scriptures of Hinduism, the Upanishads, the Gita, even mainstream Tantra mentions these things. The emphasis is rather on inner purity. I am not saying that one should not follow these things. It is up to each one’s faith and understanding. But one should know that these outer restrictions belong to the infancy of the soul and not to its adulthood, they are peripheral and not central to the Hindu thought.

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