" yO dEvO agnaU yO apsu yO vishvaM bhuvanamAvivesha| ya oShadhIShu yo vanaspatiShu tasmai devAya namo namaH || sa vRikshakAlAkRitibhiH paronyo yasmAtprapancaH

parivartateyaM| dharmAvahaM pAdanudaM bgeshaM jnAtvAtmasThamamRitaM vishvadhAma|| shrimatparamahaMsaparivrAjakAcAryapadavAkyapra mANapArAvArINa ityAdi birudAnkita shrimadAtmAnandasaraswatibhagavat pUjyapAda swAmijis anEka praNAmas. I , vaishvAmitra, aghamarShaNa, kaushika tripravarAnvita gOtrotpanna, Son of Gopal, Ramakrishna , am making a vinanti to HH holiness that-H.H.has written to me that "Many of the mumbaikars have told Me some grave happenings about you. To clear up all those doubts please be present in person to explain or write to Us in detail within 15 days" As I have numerous engagements and very busy the time of 15 days given to me is very less and it is impossible for me to be present before HH within that time. So I am submitting my explanation through a written letter.

HH should note that even though the drinking of alcohol , eating of food prepared by christians has spread like wild fire in our GSB community these people who have complained about me are not concerned about it. Rather these same people tolerate them and mix with them. Therefore I dont think these people have complained to H.H. with an intention to protect dharma ! These people are not fit enough to be present before H.H. and complain about me. So though I dont have to worry about such people I am answering because I know that one can not trangress orders passed by H.H. who is my Guru. It is my conviction that remarriage of a women is well ithin the dharma as established by shrutis and smRitis. Manu says sAcedakshatayoniH syAdgatapratyAgatApi vA | paunarbhavena bhartA sA punassamskAramarhati|| If a female is in premenstrualage, or if she has left her husband in a very young age and after maturity has met the same man, that woman is fit to undergo marriage again. Saying this the female if akshata yoni and also if she is kshatayoni she is fit to be remarried.

vasiShTa says pANigrAhe mRite bAlA kevalaM mantrasamskRitA | sAcedakshadayoniH syAtpunaH samskAramarhati|| If the husband dies and the wife is at a very young age and is only mantrasamskRita and not yet had union with the man and if she is aviddhayoni, she is fit to be remarried. prajApati also says yadi sA bAlavidhavA balAttyaktvA&ThavA kvacit| tadAbhUyastu samskAryA gRihItvA yena kena cit || If she is a young widow or if she has been discarded by the man, she can be taken up by someone and remarried. Here the word "bAla" is upto 16 years as nArada says "tatrOnaShODashavarShA bAlA". kAtyAyana gives some exceptionalcases and allows remarriage without any bar to the age !

sA tu yadanyajAtIyaH patitaH klIba eva vA| vikarmasThaH sagotro vA dAso dIrghAmayo&pi vA || UDhA&pi dEyA sAnyamai saprAvaraNabhUShaNA | If the groom is of other caste, jnAtibhRiShTa, impotent, evil minded, sagotra, is a gulAma or is suffering from an incurable disease, the bride, even if has stayed with that man should be remarried to another fit person with all ceremonies. Even parAshara says naShTe mRite pravrajite klIbe patite patau | pancasvApatsu nArINAM patiranyO vidhIyate || If a man disappears, dies, becomes a sanyAsi, is impotent, or converts to another caste, in these five terrible circumstances the women can be remarried. These five exceptional circustances are also told by nArada. This is also present in manusmRiti as mAdhava quotes this from parAshara vyAkhyA. So it is clear that remarriage is permitted by all the three RiShis. These smRitivacanas have backing of shruti also. aitareya shruti says

"tasmAdekasya bahvyO jAyA bhavanti naikasyai bahavaH sahapatayaH" A man can have many wives , but a women cannot have many husbands *at the same time* The word "saha" clearly shows that a woman can marry again. This aitareya shruti vAkya only says that a woman can not marry many men *at the same time*. If such a meaning is not correct , then the saha in sahapatayaH is a waste. If the shruti intends to says a woman can not remarry it would have said " naikasyai bahavaH patayaH". In taittirIya AraNayaka there is clear mention of persuading a woman who has slept along with the dead body of the dead husband on the funeral pyre. udIrShva nAryabhijIvalokamitAsumetamupasheSha Ehi | hastagrAbhasya diDhiSho stvametatparyurjanitvamabhisambabhUva || Oh woman ! You who is sleeping by the side of your dead husband, please get up. Look at all those who are living. Please get up and make up your mind to marry the person who is wishing to hold your hands and accept you as his wife.

This shows that there is clear mention of marriage for a widow in veda. In aTharvaNa we find yA purva patiM vittvAThAnyaM vindate paraM | pancaudanaM ca tAvajaM dadAto na viyoShataH | ( ajau pancaudanaM dadatau punarUDHA punarvoDHA ca na viyujyate) The remarried vidhavA and remarried vidhura do not suffer separation when they feed panchaudana to aja. Here there is a very clear mention of a widow getting remarried. Therefore the smRitivAkyas quoted earlier by parAshara etc are to be acepted because they are based on shrutis.. And one has to accept these as dharma. Now if one asks what to do with those smRitivAkyAs which oppose widow marriage, it is said virodhe tvanapekshaM syAdasati hyanumAnaM. When one finds smRitis against the shrutis they should be ignored ! When we find two smRitis which declare opposite views, the one which is according to shrutis is the correct one.Also there are other ways in which these can be understood. When mAdhava is commenting on the parAShara has said UDHAyAH punarudvAhaM jyESTAmshaM govadhaM taThA |

kalau panca na kurvIta bhrAtRijAyAM kamanDaluM || once married woman, asking for a division of property that belongs to the elder brother, govadha in madhuparka,marrying the widow of elder brother and becoming a sanyaasi... these five should not be done in kaliyuga. Taking this purANa vAkya and saying that it is restricted to earlier yugas is also not correct. parAshara himself has said that kRite tu mAnavA dharmAstretAyAM gautamA smritAH | dvApare shankhalikhitAH kalasu pArAsharA smRitAH || In kRita manu smRiti, in tretA gautama smRiti, in dvApara shankhalikhita smRiti and in kaliyuga parAsahara smRiti should be followed. vyAsa says shrutismRitipurANAnAM virodho yatra dRishyate |

tatrashrautaM pramANaM tu tayordhvaide smRitirvarA When there is a contradiction between shruti, smRiti and purANa, shruti is strong pramaNa. And when there is contradiction between smRiti and purANa, smRiti is to be followed as purANa is weakest. So says vyAsa. If this is not followed and because of the purANa vAkya , the smRiti is restricted to the earlier three yugas, it should be noted that the same purANa vAkya says sanyAsa is also prohibited in kaliyuga. If there is no sanyAsa in kaliyuga it will be impossible to maintain dharma. Therefore it is a proved fact that widow marriage is allowed by shaastra and is dharma sammata. Now it is clear that the present custom we follow does not allow widow marriage. When there is contradiction between shruti, smRiti and the rUDHAcAra ( custom), these customs can not be taken to determine what is dharma and what is adharma. And one can never say that the prohibition of widow marriage is sadAcAra ! ------Dr. R.G. Bhandarkar next gives strong loukika reasons also. But this is sufficient for us at present as far as the actual vedic and smRiti l pramANas are concerned. I will condense

the remaining letter which is a bit emotional and pleading and ends with a declaration that ... "inspite of such strong shastra vAkyas if the decision is against me, I am not afraid of anything as I know the one who resides in my heart has given me the guidance. And I care only about Him."