Varnasrama — Exceptions for Engagement Against One’s Nature

Varnasrama — Exceptions for Engagement Against One’s Nature

emergency work and desired activities are the two exceptions to routine work

Three Subdivisions of Prescribed Duties

Routine Work

In the result driven consumerist society, people are engaged based on skills since the objective is to get the job done with perfection and so whoever is capable of getting it done is hired.

Emergency Work

In situations of emergency when one is unable to earn a livelihood, members of higher varna can temporarily engage in activities of lower varna (with some restrictions) until the situation normalizes, whereupon one must return back to routine work based on one’s nature (Bhag. 7.11.16).

Desired Activities

In situations of social upheaval when qualified members of higher varna aren’t available to perform the desired activities or services needed for functioning of the society, the members of lower varna may temporarily engage in providing these much needed services (Bhag. 7.11.17).

Application of Exception Criteria

Thus this exception criteria can applied when livelihood of citizens is at stake or when requisite services that the society needs aren’t available. For instance when qualified kshatriyas aren’t available to protect the society, sudras who are skilled in warfare may temporarily take up the services of kshatriyas despite of such activity being contrary to their nature.

  1. That the conditions have significantly deteriorated (social upheaval) in recent past to warrant a change at this time (Bhag. 7.11.17)
  2. That on normalization of social conditions that led to this situation in the first place, Female Diksa Gurus will be relieved from being put into this dangerous situation (Bhagavad Gita, 3.35) of acting contrary to their nature
  3. That the dangers of acting contrary to one’s nature are sufficiently known to candidates taking up this important service during the time of social urgency established in point 2 above
  4. That the criteria for ascertaining normalization of social conditions and frequency of assessment thereof are determined at the time of approval of Female Diksa Gurus

Appendix

 

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  • "Srila Prabhupada’s desire in his letter to Hansadutta, to allow his spiritual daughters to become diksa gurus..." - it's not a fact that he actually had this desire. This understanding, however straightforward, hinges on parsing phrase "those possessing the title of Bhaktivedanta" to include "spiritual daughters" from the previous sentence, but this usage of "those" is somewhat ambiguous. It would have been much stronger if it was "all those", for example.

    Just a few days later, on January 12, 1969, Srila Prabhupada wrote two letters on the same subject, devotee examinations, to Kirtanananda and again to Hansadutta, and there's not even a hint of female devotees being allowed to initiate. To Kirtanananda he writes: "By 1975, all of those who have passed all of the above examinations will be specifically empowered to initiate and increase the number of the Krishna Consciousness population." Exactly the same plan as in the letter to Hansadutta, but no mention of females, which is a strong indication that reading women into "those possessing the title of Bhaktivedanta" from January 3 is not justified.

    Moreover, these letters were published in 1987, and I'm fairly confident that no one noticed this permission for females to initiate until they were included in Vedabase Folio, when search by words became ridiculously easy. If it was an actual desire rather than our interpretation Srila Prabhupada would have made it known in some other ways as well, but he didn't.

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