Should ladies offer full Dandavats?

Should ladies offer full Dandavats?

Iskcon Bhagavata Mahavidyalaya

As a matter of Vaishnava etiquette ladies are generally asked to offer half dandavats in the temple i.e offering respects with five parts of one’s body : knees, arms, head, intellect, and words. (Hari-bhakti-vilasa 8.361).

But here below we see that Aditi, the mother of demi-gods, after witnessing the Supreme Lord offers full dandavat with all the eight parts of her body.(SB 8.17.5)

taṁ netra-gocaraṁ vīkṣya
sahasotthāya sādaram
nanāma bhuvi kāyena
daṇḍavat-prīti-vihvalā
tam — Him (the Supreme Personality of Godhead); netra-gocaram — visible by her eyes; vīkṣya — after seeing; sahasā — all of a sudden; utthāya — getting up; sa-ādaram — with great respect; nanāma — offered respectful obeisances; bhuvi — on the ground; kāyena — by the whole body; daṇḍa-vat — falling like a rod; prīti-vihvalā — almost puzzled because of transcendental bliss.
Translation: When the Supreme Personality of Godhead became visible to Aditi’s eyes, Aditi was so overwhelmed by transcendental bliss that she at once stood up and then fell to the ground like a rod to offer the Lord her respectful obeisances.

 

Our scriptures and previous acharyas have explained the importance of offering dandavats. The Skanda Purana states:

“A person who bows down before Lord Vishnu is glorified on Vishnuloka for a period of time equal to a thousand years multiplied by the number of particles of dust that decorated his body as he bowed down.” (Quoted in Hari-bhakti-vilasa 8.371) And Rupa Goswami tells us that such a practice gives this result: “The person who has once offered respects, bowing down before the deity, will not come back to this world, because he will go directly to the abode of Krishna.” (The Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 9) Hari-bhakti sudhodaya states: “A devotee who falls down to the ground to offer dandavat obeisances to Lord Vishnu drops all his sins at that spot. They will never rise from there again.” What is perhaps astonishing is this statement: “A hypocrite who makes a show of bowing down before Lord Krishna, who holds the Sarnga bow, becomes purified of hundreds of sins. His sins are destroyed in a moment.” (Hari-bhakti-vilasa 8.370).

 

Can women offer full dandavats?
Yes, they can. Here in the above incident Aditi was alone in front of the Lord. She was not in a public place. She was in front of her own Deity. This can be known by the statement of the Lord wherein he says to Aditi to not disclose his appearance to anyone (SB 8.17.20)
naitat parasmā ākhyeyaṁ
pṛṣṭayāpi kathañcana
sarvaṁ sampadyate devi
deva-guhyaṁ susaṁvṛtam
O lady, even if someone inquires, you should not disclose this fact to anyone. That which is very confidential is successful if kept secret.

 

So in the situation where the matajis are alone in their house in front of their personal deities they can certainly offer full dandavats like mother of demi-gods, Aditi did. But in public or in temple as a matter of etiquette it is advisable to offer dandavat with 5 parts of their body i.e half dandavat.

 

Thank you
Your servant
Brajsunder Das

 

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