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The foundation of all our spiritual
practices is the Samhita literature made of the four Samhitās and
Upanishads. These books explicitly state that any one who believes
in the sanātana dharma is called upon to hear the vedic
mantrās and perform the worship to the best of his/her ability.
Shukla Yajurveda Samhita (26.2) states so explicitly. A
translation of this verse can be found by clicking on the
Yajurveda Samhitā in the main page and going to the section
'Translation'.
Again all women were
also entreated to recite the Veda mantrās and perform sandhya. The
quotation above is one such authority. The same idea is stated in
the Vālmīki Rāmāyaņa. The famous poet Bāņa of seventh CE states in
his famous work, kādambari, that all ladies were entreated
to become familiar with the text Brahma sūtrās, which deals with
the philosophy of the Upanishads.
All the rules
restricting the performance of Sandhya to certain castes and
groups come into vogue only during the last one thousand years or
so. As mentioned earlier, our ancient books of authority like the
Veda Samhitās and Upanishads do not support such
restrictions. |
