Does a daughter have the duty to deliver her parents, as does a son?
Question from Shyamnila Prabhu. In the Vedic scriptures it is often said that the duty of the son is to deliver the father and the parents in general. So is it also the duty of the daughter or is the daughter also expected to deliver the parents? Answer.
In the Vedic scriptures we have three broad sections. Karma kanda, Jnana kanda and Bhakti. In Jnana kanda focuses on rejecting all relationships as temporary and illusory and just focusing on the solitary quest of the spiritual life.
So therefore no relationships are considered important on the Jnana path. But in the Karma Marga, the son is considered to be the deliverer of the parents and the son is assisted in the performance of Dharma by the wife. And in general, the wife, the woman, the daughter when she gets married and goes to the in-laws house, she is in the traditional, in Bhanu Samhita says that the women in the house are like the goddesses of fortune and where women are cared for and honored in those places, the gods reside and the gods bless those places.
So the woman's role is not so much in her own parents house as in her in-laws house where she assists her husband in his duty by which he delivers his parents. And in general, as far as the daughter's own family, as the woman's own family is concerned, in the traditional Karmakand system, the sister, the woman may have some brothers and the brothers deliver their parents. So the idea is that in Karmakanda, the normal place of the woman is as a partner of her husband and generally in the Karmakand section of the scriptures, women don't do any religious activities separate from their husbands.
And that's why according to some traditional Smartha circles, women don't even need to get initiated separately because the husband is considered to be the guru of the women and her duty is just to assist the husband and to the extent the husband performs dharma to that extent and to the extent she assists, they get elevated. However, the Karmakanda section, in this section, there are injunctions like when the wife serves the husband, then they can live together for seven lives as a husband and wife together and these sort of conceptions which don't focus so much on liberation as on material good fortune are there in the Karmakanda section. So, on the other hand, in the bhakti understanding of the scriptures, which is the highest understanding, all the relatives of a devotee get benefited.
So, if a daughter becomes a devotee in a family, then even when she gets married and goes to another family, it is not only that family that will be helped, but even the family in which she was born, she will be helped over there. So, it is not considered to be like an obligatory duty of a daughter to deliver her parents, but generally when a person becomes a devotee, one does much more than that. In the Vedic scriptures, generally if we look at Chitraketu Maharaj's pastime or other pastimes where the parents don't have a, where the king or the parents don't have a child, especially a son, their anxiety is twofold.
One is that who will continue the dynasty and the second is who will do the shraddha, the pinda for us so that we can be elevated in our next lives. So, that pinda is to be done by the son generally speaking and if the son is not there, then maybe grandson or some other male relative. So, specifically within the karmakanda section, which is with its great emphasis on rituals, including the shraddha ritual, which is to be performed by the son, the role of the son is defining, it's critical, not so much of the daughter, but the daughter's role becomes more as the ardhangini, as the dharmapatni of the husband in her role at the in-laws.
But as a devotee, in any relationship of any sort, Vita Vaishnava is always auspicious for the relatives, although that auspiciousness may not be immediately apparent in case the relatives don't appreciate the person's devotion. But within devotional circles, because every soul directly has a relationship with Krishna, just as it is said that for the sake of Krishna, one can give up all other relationships, na ayam kinkaror na runi carajan, the 11th canto Bhagavatam says that one doesn't have any other runis if one can become devoted to Krishna. sarvaatmanaya saranam saranyam gato mukundam parirutte kartum So, similarly, even the souls who are in female bodies right now also have direct relationship with Krishna and that's why in Vaishnava circles, women are also having direct initiation from the spiritual master and although they serve their husbands, but they also have their own relationship with the spiritual master and their own relationship with Krishna.
And they can practice spiritual life, even if their husbands are not practicing or even if their parents are not practicing, but just by their practicing devotional service, they get elevated. So, it's not a duty or responsibility of a woman to elevate her parents. Her duty and responsibility is to assist her husband in his dharmic duties.
But if she becomes a devotee, then she benefits even her parents as well as her in-laws.