How Srila Prabhupada Viewed Women

Srila Prabhupada had a definite vision of the role of women – grihini – in society, and that FDG is NOT in concordance with that vision. And Prabhupada rejected it in his purport to SB 4.12.32

Woman, they are generally equipped with the qualities of passion and ignorance. And men also maybe, but man can be elevated to the platform of goodness. Woman cannot be. Woman cannot be. Therefore if the husband is nice and the woman follows, woman becomes faithful and chaste to the husband, then their both life becomes successful. There are three qualities of nature: sattva, rajas, tamas. So rajas, tamas generally, that is the quality of woman. And man can become to the platform of goodness. Therefore initiation, brahminical symbolic representation is given to the man, not to the woman. This is the theory. Therefore the combination should be that the husband should be first-class devotee, Kṛṣṇa conscious, and woman should be, woman should be devoted to the husband, faithful, so that she would help the husband to make progress in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Then their both life is successful.

Otherwise, if the husband simply becomes captivated by the charming beauty of woman and engages himself in the sex life, then his life is lost, and the woman, they are less intelligent, unless they are guided by proper husband, her life is also lost. So those who are not demigods… Here it is said, apāyayat surān. Sura-asura. Sura, those who are not developed to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, they are asura. So every husband should be a sura. Sura means devotee. And every woman should be religious. Religious means to become chaste, faithful to the husband. And the husband should become a devotee. Then both of them will make progress in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and that is the perfection of life.
If you train woman from the very beginning how to become chaste and faithful to the husband, they can become a very good mother, very good asset in the family.

(Lecture on SB 1.3.17 — Los Angeles, September 22, 1972)

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Padmanayana Krsna Dasa

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  • Master,you have to choose one thing either dharma or success. In this kali yuga hypocrisy is the virtue. If you try to remain in the path of dharma everyone your parents, teachers, friends will force you and encourage you openly to excecute adharma and criticise you. I have seen this and is seeing everyday in my life.if you speak the truth you will loose and if you deceive you will win.it is confirmed. The time of mahatma Gandhi is no more.now our holy mother land has completely polluted by western education and culture. So now the only way is to run away. See i am completely surrounded by ignorant people. I cannot run away. But you all have already left your bad association and hiding in temples. Women has been created by brahma from daitya maya to remove righteous people from the path of virtue and lead them to path of vices.in previous creation all women were virtuous, but in this creation women have been created for the above purpose. ( mahabharata anusasana parva). And now the whole world is ruled by women and their pet lions. So you cannot expect any dharma now.and for atheists those who says that vedic scriptures are fantasy, for them i say that these scriptures were written 5000 years ago and there all the predictions given for kali yuga has come true and are becoming true.if anyone can perfectly predict what will happen thousands of years later and it comes true words by words then you are bound to accept them as authentic no matter how much it hurts your ego.

  • In a purport to Srimad Bhagavatam and other places the psychology of women is described.
    Women, if married early become attached to their husband.
    If they are encouraged to remain unmarried they do not fix attachment on one man making their eventual marriage difficult.

    Women have a different psychology than men and create a false love, material love. Man should know this and not worry over it. In course of time he is expected to leave home and prosecute bhakti yoga alone.

    Women at that time should reside with grown up sons.
    Thus everything is foreseen in Vedic society.

    Men do not share the same psychological makeup as that of women, creating a false " love ". Men and women's subtle bodies are different.

    Therefore if men are trained and women marry early such men it makes for a good combination.

    All of this knowledge is new. It is brought to us courtesy of the acharya Srila AC Bhaktivedanta coming in the
    parampara. Without this knowledge we were living in the advancing darkness of Kali yuga.

    It is yet to be inculcated in many hearts therefore we see the GBC of ISKCON has been diverted to Female Diksa Guru.

    As stated in the quote in the above article women are not in fact second initiated though they be given gayatri mantra. Not being initiated logically they cannot initiate others.

    • He only gave them the mantra to appease the feminist radicals in ISKCON when it was young but he didn't give thread. He did this to indicate to future generations what the real intention was - not to give them the mantra either. So we should stop giving the mantra and that has already happened with some gurus, they don't give savitri gayatri their female disciples but only give the pancaratrik mantras.

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