Laurie L. Patton

Hindu Rituals on Behalf of Women: Notes on First Principles

In recent research I came across a young woman who told me how she recited the Rāma-raksa, or “protection of Rāma” mantra, during childbirth. I was struck by the integration of Sanskrit, and this small ritual, into her everyday life. Her Hindu world, and her performance of Sanskrit, included the labor and delivery room in a major city in India. While this was not a properly “Vedic” ritual, it was still modeled on the gāyatri mantra and understood by many as Vedic. The baby was a girl, welcomed by all in the family. When I discussed this practice with another colleague, also a woman Sanskritist, I further commented that Sanskrit seemed to be a language of the heart as well as the head. She replied, “It is artha that matters—one’s goal in life and in ritual. Everything should be subject to artha, and analyzed accordingly.”