[Need Clarification] Can a married Tamil Brahmin woman also pray to her parents' kula deivam?

[Satyavageeswaran]

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Can a married Tamil Brahmin woman also pray to her parents' kula deivam?

 

[kgopalan]

you can also pray to your parents kula deivam.

 

[prasad1]

Can a married Tamil Brahmin woman also pray to her parents' kula deivam?

What will happen if you pray to anyone?

 

[Mani_Chennai]

Can a married Tamil Brahmin woman also pray to her parents' kula deivam?

What make HIM/HER o be angry if one worships different forms of the same. A person is a father, son, grand father and so on, so when one does a prayer or namaskram does it affect the person? There is a hidden fear that GOD will be angry. Unfortunately I have to quote: Karmanyeva atikaram asthu, ma phaleshu kathachana" - He has given free will and independence, thus actions are not affecting HIM/HER.
OK, please don't get angry. No one lives know from our sages time and every thing was simple then.

 

[prasad1]

by Jayaram V

Chapter 4 - Sloka 11​

ye yathā mām prapadyante tāms tathaiva bhajāmy aham
mama vartmānuvartante manusyāh pārtha sarvaśah

Meaning​

"In whatever (manner) they approach Me, in the same manner I reward them. O Partha, human beings follow My path in every way.

Commentary​

This verse gives the assurance that you can approach God in any way you want and you will be rewarded suitably. God is like a mirror. He is unconditional love, who reflects your thoughts, desires and attitudes exactly as you want. He will not decide what to give you, what you should want or what you should choose for yourself. That responsibility rests with you. It is up to you whether you approach him for material rewards, for spiritual liberation, or for removal of obstacles and difficulties. Whatever want you express to Him, He will manifest that for you.

In this verse, you have the assurance of God that He would not show any favoritism or preference to certain groups, nations and religions. He is not saying, “You follow this particular religion, prophet, scripture or guru and I will liberate you.” He is not telling you that you ought to follow Him against your wishes or in fear of Him. In these few words, He has conveyed amply that He would not impose any conditions upon you in how you may approach Him. You just have to knock on His door with a request, intensely and sincerely, and you will be rewarded. He will not decide what He should give you. You have to decide what you want from Him and make that clear to Him with right aspiration and faith.

However, since He does not interfere with your decisions, you must be clear in your mind what you seek. Those who blame God for not getting what they want are ignorant. They have to blame themselves for their miseries because they do not know how to ask God and how to pray to Him. If you are confused, confusion will prevail. If you are doubtful, uncertainty will manifest. If you are afraid of God, your fear of Him will grow and intensify.

The Bhagavadgita on How God Answers Your Prayers

In whatever way you worship, God responds accordingly. A commentary from The Bhagavadgita Complete Translation by Jayaram V

www.hinduwebsite.com

 

[prasad1]

Can a married Tamil Brahmin woman also pray to her parents' kula deivam?

The majority of Hindus do not have a Kula deivam.
They worship GOD, not a diety.
Arya Samaj Hindus do not even have diety. Ancient Hindus also did not have dieties.

by Jayaram V

Vedic people did not worship images or idols. They worshipped gods through prayers, chants, songs, rituals and sacrificial ceremonies. They envisioned them as divine entities who manifested upon earth as forces of Nature. However, it is also true that they envisioned them with specific names and forms, who in many respects behaved like humans and possessed the same strengths and weaknesses. While they possessed enormous strength and powers, they also depended upon humans for nourishment.

The History of image or Idol worship

Find out the origin and history of image worship or idol worship in Hinduism from the ancient times

www.hinduwebsite.com

 

[sowmiyavisu]

Can a married Tamil Brahmin woman also pray to her parents' kula deivam?

Yea. Both son or daughter, they should worship both side kula Deivam. The main concept of visiting the kula Deivam temple is because the aura of our ancestors would be present there in that specific temple that will bless us . So it is good to pray our maternal and paternal kula Deivam both to get utmost blessings. Thank you.

 

[renuka]

Kindly let Gopalan Sir guide the member who asked the question.

The rest of us who have different but valid views should not try to interfere as Hinduism is a complex yet simple dharma which has multiple expressions.

The member who asked the question could have a very specific reason for asking.

Since we do not know the reason of why the question was asked, so lets not offer resistance and let the member have the answer from Gopalan Sir.

 

[prasad1]

Kindly let Gopalan Sir guide the member who asked the question.

The rest of us who have different but valid views should not try to interfere as Hinduism is a complex yet simple dharma which has multiple expressions.

The member who asked the question could have a very specific reason for asking.

Since we do not know the reason of why the question was asked, so lets not offer resistance and let the member have the answer from Gopalan Sir.

I beg to differ. The knowledge is immense, we all know a portion of it. WE give our answers from our standpoint. It is up to the enquirer to accept or reject. Just as knowledge is immense so too is ignorance. My limited knowledge may help in that situation or give a perspective that the enquirer did not have. In the matter of religion, culture, or customs. I do not accept that anyone is the ultimate authority. Let the enquirer be the judge.

 

[renuka]

I beg to differ. The knowledge is immense, we all know a portion of it. WE give our answers from our standpoint. It is up to the enquirer to accept or reject. Just as knowledge is immense so too is ignorance. My limited knowledge may help in that situation or give a perspective that the enquirer did not have. In the matter of religion, culture, or customs. I do not accept that anyone is the ultimate authority. Let the enquirer be the judge.

There is no authority.
I too used to give such opinions once upon a time till it dawned upon me that us humans dont really share knowledge but we oppose for the sake of opposing.

We have no idea here why the person needs to find out about kula deivam.
What if we are doing more harm than helping here?

How are we sure we are right to try to stand in the way of one's worship.

The same Gita we quote does state that there are many modes of worship..some go to Supreme and some follow the individual worship ranging from deities to yantra, mantra and tantra.

I feel we always need to ask ourselves as why do we give different views?
Is it to help others or to help ourselves?

 

[sravna]

Renuka,

I agree with both You and Prasad. People should be allowed to give their views but more often than not they air it not to help others.

 

[prasad1]

Iyer Hindu Brahmin communities of Tamil are followers of the Advaita philosophy propounded by Adi Shankara and adhere to Smarta tradition. This is in contrast to the Iyengar caste, who are Vaishnavite Hindus. The majority of Iyers reside in Tamil Nadu, India.

Smarta tradition rejects theistic sectarianism and is notable for the domestic worship of five shrines with five deities, all treated as equal – Shiva, Vishnu, Surya, Ganesh, and Shakti. The Smarta Tradition contrasted with the older Shrauta Tradition, which was based on elaborate rituals and rites. There has been considerable overlap in the ideas and practices of the Smarta tradition with other significant historic movements within Hinduism, namely Shaivism, Brahmanism, Vaishnavism, and Shaktism.


Of Course, you can worship anything. All goes to the same God.

TB who migrated out of Tamil Nadu before 1900, did not have any Kula Devata. It has crept into Brahmin practice because of Non-Brahmin influence.

 

[prasad1]

There have been multiple threads with Kula Devem discussion.
There is no need to find one if you do not have one, on the other hand, you have a Kula devem, please keep worshipping it, as all reach the same God.

Do all Brahmins need Kula Dhaivam?

The answer is NO. They do not need one. It is not necessary. The concept of Kula deivam or Kula Devata is basically Non Brahmin in origin. The Brahmins mode of worship was Panchyathana or worship of five deities for Smarthas. For Vaishnavas it was Narayana or Vishnu. Non Brahmins did not...

www.tamilbrahmins.com

Do all Brahmins need Kula Dhaivam?

The answer is NO. They do not need one. It is not necessary. The concept of Kula deivam or Kula Devata is basically Non Brahmin in origin. The Brahmins mode of worship was Panchyathana or worship of five deities for Smarthas. For Vaishnavas it was Narayana or Vishnu. Non Brahmins did not...

www.tamilbrahmins.com

 

[tbs]

There is no authority.
I too used to give such opinions once upon a time till it dawned upon me that us humans dont really share knowledge but we oppose for the sake of opposing.

We have no idea here why the person needs to find out about kula deivam.
What if we are doing more harm than helping here?

How are we sure we are right to try to stand in the way of one's worship.

The same Gita we quote does state that there are many modes of worship..some go to Supreme and some follow the individual worship ranging from deities to yantra, mantra and tantra.

I feel we always need to ask ourselves as why do we give different views?
Is it to help others or to help ourselves?

hi madam,

i agreed with u....

 

[NATARAJAN PARTHASARATHY]

There is no any rigid hard&fast practice that, married women do not worship the kula deivam of their parental following. The married women as well pray&offer worship very much kuladeivam of both her parent's and
in-laws families. Getting married in to another family need not be construed that, the women
is cutoff totally from her parental side. It is ironical that, many do not even are aware of their kuladeivam in the present days.

Natarajan Parthasarathy
Selaiyur

 

[vrajagopalan57]

Can a married Tamil Brahmin woman also pray to her parents' kula deivam?

Om namo Narayanaya.
NamasSarvebhyah. There is NO or Nil restrictions in our dharmasastras or Neeti-sastras or in our constitution for a girl if she wishes to pray any God or practice any religion & culture. Please note that God is supreme positive energy and different names and forms are merely his manifestations. In my opinion, as a practicing R&D Scientist as well as Veda,Vedanta, Dharma sastras teaching and practicing Sri-vaishnava Brahmin, I sincerely request, you and everyone can / should see your (most liked or revered) deity in every deity, and pray with total surrender for real फलम् / result/ success. If so, please do not think much about dividing supreme energy (God) but do pray one or many, as you feel comfortable and try to get peace. However, our age-old culture and tradition says that the Kula deivam is a deity being worshipped by a family / fore-fathers for centuries and beyond. Every family should have one, like every individual has a father. The deity may be same for paternal & maternal side but need not be same many a times. The Kuladeivam is / should be visited with family frequently, to redeem to an extent the pitru runas and get their blessings for us and our children. As per our Dharma-sastras, when a girl's kanyadanam is done or she is married (through any one of the 12-modes permitted), her Gotram changes to the groom's Gotram (Please don't think it's male-domination. If has lot of scientific relevance too). This implies that her/girl's kuladeivam is her husband's/ father-in-laws' mainly.
However, the way rights and restrictions are to be practiced, as per sastras, by the married girl for any Subham/Ashubham happened at her parents place/family, the girl do have the right to / should visit her parents kuladeivam too with her children (her husband too can/ should join) and pray. I wish to reiterate that God is one (refer Viratta swaroopam in Srimad Bhagwad Geeta) and the Human race is one of the 84Lakh creations by him. There are only two jati (as our great Subramnya Bharati said) in this world, one is Male & another is Female, that's all. Varna sastra is not for dividing ourselves as best and worst but to understand our self potential and accordingly what jobs we can do efficiently for the benefit of a civilized living/society. Nevertheless, achara-vicharam do change as per the kriya being practiced, so the varnas.
Also, in gods too, at higher plane of spiritual practices, even this female & male components gets merged to one, i.e. SriNarayan, Shivashakti / Ardhanageswari. Please pardon me for my opinions and suggestions, if they are not acceptable, on this sensitive issues on beliefs and practices. Let kuladeivam of every human bless him / her and enlighten the truth of humanity to be followed for an overall Harmony & peace. Shubham bhuyaat.

 

[renuka]

Om namo Narayanaya.
NamasSarvebhyah. There is NO or Nil restrictions in our dharmasastras or Neeti-sastras or in our constitution for a girl if she wishes to pray any God or practice any religion & culture. Please note that God is supreme positive energy and different names and forms are merely his manifestations. In my opinion, as a practicing R&D Scientist as well as Veda,Vedanta, Dharma sastras teaching and practicing Sri-vaishnava Brahmin, I sincerely request, you and everyone can / should see your (most liked or revered) deity in every deity, and pray with total surrender for real फलम् / result/ success. If so, please do not think much about dividing supreme energy (God) but do pray one or many, as you feel comfortable and try to get peace. However, our age-old culture and tradition says that the Kula deivam is a deity being worshipped by a family / fore-fathers for centuries and beyond. Every family should have one, like every individual has a father. The deity may be same for paternal & maternal side but need not be same many a times. The Kuladeivam is / should be visited with family frequently, to redeem to an extent the pitru runas and get their blessings for us and our children. As per our Dharma-sastras, when a girl's kanyadanam is done or she is married (through any one of the 12-modes permitted), her Gotram changes to the groom's Gotram (Please don't think it's male-domination. If has lot of scientific relevance too). This implies that her/girl's kuladeivam is her husband's/ father-in-laws' mainly.
However, the way rights and restrictions are to be practiced, as per sastras, by the married girl for any Subham/Ashubham happened at her parents place/family, the girl do have the right to / should visit her parents kuladeivam too with her children (her husband too can/ should join) and pray. I wish to reiterate that God is one (refer Viratta swaroopam in Srimad Bhagwad Geeta) and the Human race is one of the 84Lakh creations by him. There are only two jati (as our great Subramnya Bharati said) in this world, one is Male & another is Female, that's all. Varna sastra is not for dividing ourselves as best and worst but to understand our self potential and accordingly what jobs we can do efficiently for the benefit of a civilized living/society. Nevertheless, achara-vicharam do change as per the kriya being practiced, so the varnas.
Also, in gods too, at higher plane of spiritual practices, even this female & male components gets merged to one, i.e. SriNarayan, Shivashakti / Ardhanageswari. Please pardon me for my opinions and suggestions, if they are not acceptable, on this sensitive issues on beliefs and practices. Let kuladeivam of every human bless him / her and enlighten the truth of humanity to be followed for an overall Harmony & peace. Shubham bhuyaat.

Dear Sir,
Thank you for a very informative post.

 

[vrajagopalan57]

Dear Sir,
Thank you for a very informative post.

Thanks. God bless all.