How can I respond to devotees who were hurt by Your message suggesting that the Lalitaa Sahasranamam is not to be recited by male devotees?

[Śrī Bharath Krishna asked: Padābhivandanaṃ Swāmi! I shared the recent discourse given by You about chanting the Lalitā Sahasranāmam in an online group of the devotees of AMMA (Mātā Amṛtānandamayī Devī). In that discourse, You have said that men should not chant the Lalitā Sahasranamam and You have also given the reasons for it. But the members in that group are arguing saying that AMMA tells everyone to chant the Lalitā Sahasranāmam. If it were not good for men to chant it, why would AMMA ask them to do so? Does it mean that AMMA has told something wrong? Also, the Lalitā Sahasranāmam was given as part of a discussion between two great men, named Hayagrīva and Agatsya Muni. They say that if we cannot chant the Lalitā Sahasranāmam, then we also should not chant the Saundarya Laharī, written by none other than Ādi Śaṅkara. Could You please clarify?]

Swāmi replied: Divine Amma, situated at a higher spiritual plane, belongs to the feminine gender and hence, She might not be giving much importance to this negligible point that applies to males belonging to the lower plane of creation. When She says all should chant the Lalitā Sahasranāmam, the word ‘all’ can also mean all females. Of course, a male having perfect control over the senses can also read the description of the divine mother. I only brought up this point to serve as a precaution, in the view of the trend of the present Kali age. One blessing is that many read these names, without understanding the meaning due to their ignorance of the Sanskrit language. In that case, this point might not pose a serious risk. But a Sanskrit scholar may face the problem, if he does not have much control over his senses.

One’s actual mother is different and treating the divine personality of the Goddess as one’s mother is different. In any case, I stress on this point because prevention is better than cure. Demons have slipped precisely at this point, even though they knew fully well that the Goddess is their mother too. A human being is said to be a mixture of divine and demonic natures. We do not know which nature will awaken in us at what time. This is only a precaution recommended by Me to prevent male devotees from slipping, even mentally, even for a fraction of a moment. If one is good at controlling his senses and is certain that he will never slip in this matter, such a person need not worry about My recommended precaution.

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