Invitation to World Religions

Hinduism as a Way of Life  149

One of the most important contemporary female gurus is Mata Amritanandamayi Devi (b. 1953). Known to her followers as Ammachi (“Mother”) and popularly re- ferred to as “the hugging saint,” she is believed by her devotees to be the embodi- ment of Devi, the divine mother. In contemporary South Asian and Southeast Asian Hindu society, women are regarded as the custodians of traditional beliefs and ritual for the family. Generally, the social roles of men and women are expressed through clothing and other out- ward signs. While men wear contemporary slacks, dress shirts, and ties, women prefer traditional modes of dress. Although many men eschew sectarian forehead markings except on ritual occasions, most Hindu women, especially those who are married, adorn their foreheads with the bindi. In addition to performing puja at the home shrine, observing festivals, and encouraging regular temple visits for the family, women also perform pujas for the spiritual welfare of their husbands and children on certain holidays. They also commonly take vows— vratas —which we now consider. Vrata  A vrata is a vow of temporary self-denial usually undertaken by a woman. This generally involves a short period of fasting, but a vrata can also be a vow of si- lence or a short-term renunciation of anything to which one is attached. A woman usually undertakes a vrata for a specific purpose, such as to ensure the health and well-being of her husband and family. There are many special vratas observed at specific times throughout the calendar year. One of the most popular, observed by married women throughout southern India, always falls on a Friday in early August. This vrata involves a period of purification and fasting, after which the woman in- vites the goddess Lakshmi into her home. The hope is that Lakshmi, goddess of wealth and good fortune, will bring these things to the home. All vratas are vows taken by women on special festival days. Hindu Environmentalism In an earlier section of this chapter (“The Divine in Nature”), we noted that, al- though Hinduism has a long history of reverence for natural entities, this has not always translated into ecological awareness and activism. Recently, a new emphasis on Hindu environmentalism has emerged. True to the wide variety of ways of being Hindu, such activism takes various forms. Here we consider two, both aligned with prominent religious approaches: the ascetic approach of renunciation, and the path of devotion, or bhakti marga.

As we have seen, renunciation, which characterizes the fourth stage of life, that of the sannyasi, is understood to be the most effective life situation for achieving moksha. In a manner similar to that of the Jain ascetics and their focus on ahimsa, or nonviolence (see Chapter 6), the ways of the sannyasi also are extremely environ- mentally friendly. Hindu renouncers practice environmentalism through denying themselves the various enjoyments in life that threaten in one way or another the PROPERTY OF OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS