237. Yoga practice, they say, is meant only for men, because it is they who require control. I wonder what work is assigned to women, then! Sit at home and breed children, I presume! But, is it a fact that only men need the Yoga practice? Can women not become great Yoginis in the same way as men become great Yogis? Or, does it depend on the sex also? Why has sex stood between women and spiritual greatness?

Queen Chudalai was a great Yogini. She had many higher Siddhis. She even converted her husband Sikhidhvaja and helped him in his salvation. Read the story of Chudalai in Yoga Vasishtha. Ladies lack in Vairagya and in the power of endurance. They have not got the same faculties as men have. Hence many Yoginis do not crop up amongst ladies. Ladies can have Darshan of the Lord easily as they have ingrained devotion in them, as the element of Sneha or love is predominant in them. Sex is no bar to spiritual greatness. Gargi, Madalasa and Sulabha were all reputed Yoginis.

238. How does a Jnani look into the objects? Describe his vision.

This is indescribable. This is one's feeling. Sometimes when you sleep, you scratch the body and drive off flies. If anybody asks you, "Do you remember the scratching, the driving off of flies, when you were asleep?", you will say, "No". Similarly, even though a Jnani sees, he does not see. He is always conscious of his Svarupa. If he likes, he can have a double consciousness and turn his vision that side and this side also. His activities are like those of children. Owing to the mental retentum— the force of the old Subha Vasanas and the Lesha Avidya or trace of ignorance— his activities are kept up. Just as the tin in which asafoetida or garlic had been kept emits the smell of these drugs even though the tin is washed several times and water, this trace of Avidya remains in the Jivanmukta till Prarabdha wears away. He is not doing actions at all from his own viewpoint. The bystanders think that the Jnani also is working. But we have to admit that there is Lesha Avidya or a trace of ignorance, because we notice that the Jnani also eats, bathes and answers calls of nature.

239. You have said in one of your lessons that the aspirant should fast only once a month. But Gandhiji and others have stressed the importance of fasting. They say that one should fast at least three or four times in a month. Moreover, they point out that fasting helps self-control. How is it that you do not allow frequent fasting?

Fasting does help in self-control. But, too much fasting weakens the body and the mind and retards spiritual Sadhana. I am also a strong votary of fasting. Fasting is a great Prayaschitta. It expiates any kind of sin quickly. It has got a tremendous purifying influence on the heart. Read Manu Smriti. As the vast majority are afraid of fasting too much, I have prescribed only a day of fasting in a month. Young, robust, plethoric people can fast twice or thrice in a month if passion troubles them much.