This verse is not addressed to a common woman, it’s about people offering prayer to the Goddess, the correct translation is, Rigveda 2.41.16: O woman, you are the motherly force that provides direction to our life. Yajur Veda 20.85 “Vedic text, the impeller of truthful speeches, the inspirer of perceptions, expatiates on God.” Tr.
Yajurveda 20.85: Noble woman motivates us to be on path of truth, love and harmony. So this verse is not addressed to a women but to a Brick. ‘Thou art Ashadha, the conquering,’ for the gods thereby conquered the Asuras,–’conquer the enemies! conquer the hostile!’ as the text, so the meaning –’thou hast a thousand energies: do thou speed me!’ a thousand means In like manner the Sacrificer, after putting on that (brick), conquers (and drives) his spiteful rival from this universe (or, from everything here).Īnd there is one more verse from Brahmanas which is a commentary of the Vedic verse, The gods saw this invincible brick, even this earth they put it on (the altar) and having put it on, they conquered (and drove) the Asuras, the enemies, the rivals, from this universe and inasmuch as (thereby) they conquered (asahanta), it is called Ashadha. The gods and the Asuras, both of them sprung from Pragapati, strove together. He puts it on the fore-part (of the altar-site), for this earth was created first. He then lays down the Ashadha (invincible brick),–the ‘invincible one’ being this earth, it is this earth he thus lays down. The Satapatha Brahmana briefly mentions about Ashadha, It is a brick which the queen forms first. Here the word Ashadha or Ishtika is translated as Brick, and earth or speech by some. A thousand manly powers hast thou: so do thou aid and quicken me. Conquer our foemen, conquer thou the men who fain would-fight with us. Yajur Veda 13.26 Thou art Ashadha, Conquering One. Yajurveda 13.26: O woman, you do not deserve to be defeated by challenges. Food to him who explores the mysteries of nature, and to him who dwells in inaccessible mountain caves.” Tr. Homage to him who is skilled in mental deliberations, and to him who is proficient in diving deep into intricate topics. Food to the efficient couch maker, and to him who lives peacefully in his house. Yajur Veda 16.44 “Food to the expert in deeds, and to the manager of cow-pens. (Book: Vagambhraniya, Author: Dr Priyamvada Vedbharti) Let the women be encouraged to participate in war. This is why I will mostly be using Arya Samaj translation as well as orthodox translation of Shri Ram Sharma (Gayatri Parivar) for few verses. He pretends to be quoting Arya Samaj Hindi translation but in fact he has mistranslated the Hindi translations also. The writer is being deceitful to propagate his religion as taught by his guru Mulshankar (Dayanand). The reason behind making a response to his article is because he has misquoted the Vedic mantras and commentaries to suit is vested interest, to deceive the gullible people. This is a response to a Hindu fanatic’s article. Those verses can never be used to prove that women are given equal status in Vedas, if Vedas really praises women then Hindu apologists should furnish references from Vedas that gives equal inheritance, verses praying for birth of daughter etc. When they couldn’t find verses that gives equal rights or praises women, they used the verses addressed to Vedic Goddesses to show women are highly revered in Vedas, they has also used verses which are to be recited during Marriage ceremony. Some Hindu apologists instead of accepting oppressive verses, has tried to show equal status of women in Vedas by misquoting them, through means of deceit. It doesn’t even pray for daughter let alone giving them equal rights, Veda only prays for the birth of Son, it says daughter should be born somewhere else, this asserts that women in Vedas is merely looked as a commodity. Women in Vedas is nothing but a commodity, Yajur Veda 30.5 and 30.9 explicitly states that Ishwar has created women for sexual enjoyment. How can they claim that Vedas give equal status to women when Vedas are known for oppressing women, it says Women are devoid of intelligence, she shall not inherit, Women are like sly fox. The writer has tried his level best to show Woman are highly revered in the Vedas.