Varnashrama Dharma and the Question of Female Diksha Gurus

Varnashrama Dharma and the Question of Female Diksha Gurus: Understanding Srila Prabhupada’s Teachings

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Introduction

In this discourse, Basu Ghosh Das continues his examination of female diksha gurus through the lens of varnashrama dharma. Drawing from Srila Prabhupada’s purports, lectures, and personal exchanges, he presents a case for understanding these topics within the framework of Vedic tradition rather than through modern egalitarian ideologies.

The central argument is straightforward: Srila Prabhupada’s teachings in his translations and purports of Srimad Bhagavatam, Bhagavad Gita, and Chaitanya Charitamrita represent authentic Vaishnava tradition: not some newly concocted ideology without historical precedent.

The Foundation: Rama Rajya and Varnashrama

A pivotal verse from Srimad Bhagavatam (9.10.50) sets the stage for this discussion. The translation describes how Lord Ramachandra, upon accepting the throne, cared for his citizens exactly like a father, while the citizens—fully engaged in their occupational duties of varna and ashrama—accepted him as their father.

In his purport, Srila Prabhupada explains that people are fond of the pattern of Rama Rajya, with politicians sometimes forming parties under this name. However, he notes they have “no obedience to Lord Rama.” As Prabhupada writes:

“It is sometimes said that people want the kingdom of God without God. Such an aspiration, however, is never to be fulfilled.”

The key insight here is that good government can only exist when the relationship between citizens and the state mirrors the father-child dynamic exemplified by Lord Ramachandra. And this requires the varnashrama system.

What Makes Good Citizens?

Prabhupada is unambiguous on this point:

As indicated here by the words sva-dharma-niratā varṇāśrama-guṇān-vitāḥ, the people were good citizens because they accepted the institution of varṇa and āśrama, which arranges society in the varṇa divisions of brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya and śūdra and the āśrama divisions of brahmacarya, gṛhastha, vānaprastha and sannyāsa. This is actual human civilization.

The purpose of varnashrama, he emphasizes, is to enable people to become God-conscious—specifically, to become Vaishnavas.

Women and the Varna System

A crucial point in understanding the traditional framework is that women are not counted as part of the four varnas. Srila Prabhupada addressed this in a 1969 lecture in Los Angeles:

Māṁ hi pārtha vyapāśrityā ye ‘pi syuḥ pāpa-yonayaḥ. Never mind in whatever family one is born, sinful family. Never mind. Striyaḥ śūdrās tathā vaiśyaḥ, including woman and śūdras and vaiśyas, they are considered as less intelligent. They are considered as less intelligent.

Therefore, according to Vedic system, a boy born in a Brahmin family, he is allowed all the saṁskāras, reformatory, purificatory process, but the girl is not. Why? Now, because a girl has to follow her husband. So if her husband is Brahmin, automatically she becomes Brahmin. There is no need of separate reformation. And by chance she may be married with a person who is not a Brahmin, then what is the use of making her a Brahmin? That is the general method.

So therefore the . . . even born in a Brahmin family, a woman is taken as woman, not as Brahmin.

This connects directly to the question of diksha gurus. If women do not receive the yajnopavit samskara (sacred thread ceremony), which is the prerequisite for Vedic initiation and the study of Vedic mantras, the question arises: how can one who cannot formally take initiation give initiation?

The Example of Mirabai

Some argue that exalted Vaishnava women transcend these considerations. Yet Prabhupada’s own writings present a different picture. In his purport to Chaitanya Charitamrita (Adi-lila, Chapter 10, verse 137), Prabhupada describes Mirabai—one of the most celebrated female devotees of Lord Krishna—as “a woman.”

Despite her extraordinary devotion, Mirabai herself, as a follower of Vedic culture, expressed humility about the female position. This reflects the traditional understanding that was in place from the time of Lord Ramachandra through Lord Krishna’s appearance.

Clarifying the Kshatriya Dharma Question

A curious claim has emerged from some quarters that Krishna did not instruct Arjuna in Bhagavad Gita to be a kshatriya. This interpretation seems to miss fundamental aspects of the text.

Krishna instructed Arjuna: “Think of Me and fight.” The instruction encompasses both devotion (man-mana—think of Me) and prescribed duty (yudhya—fight). After hearing the Gita, Arjuna declares that his illusion is gone and he now remembers his duty as a kshatriya.

The Mahabharata narrative that follows—Arjuna’s arrows bringing down Bhishma, the great battle, the eventual victory—demonstrates that kshatriya dharma was indeed central to Krishna’s instructions. To suggest otherwise requires ignoring both the text and the subsequent events.

Prabhupada himself quotes Bhagavad Gita 4.13 in his purport: the four varnas were created by Krishna according to varying qualities and work. How can this be denied?

The British Distortion: Caste vs. Varna

A significant confusion has arisen from the British colonial period. When the British occupied India, they sought to denigrate Indian culture as part of their conversion agenda. They introduced the term “caste system” with its pejorative connotations.

Some modern leaders have unfortunately adopted this colonial framing, equating varnashrama with the corrupted caste system. This conflation ignores the essential distinction: true varnashrama is based on qualities and work (guna and karma), not merely birth.

That said, birth in a particular family does carry significance. Krishna Himself speaks in Bhagavad Gita (6.41-42) of the yoga-bhrashta taking birth in homes of “pure persons” who study the Vedas. There remains a tradition of brahmana families where Vedic learning continues, though these numbers are dwindling without kshatriya protection.

Prabhupada’s Vision for Varnashrama Education

In 1974, during discussions about the Varnashrama College in Vrindavan, the following exchange occurred:

Satsvarūpa: Śrīla Prabhupāda, is this school for women also, or just for men?

Prabhupāda: For men. Women should automatically learn how to cook, how to cleanse the home.

Satsvarūpa: So they don’t attend varṇāśrama college.

Prabhupāda: No, no. Varṇāśrama college especially meant for the brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, and vaiśya. Those who are not fit for education, they are śūdras. That’s all. Or those who are reluctant to take education — śūdra means. That’s all. They should assist the higher class.

(Varṇāśrama Walk, March 14, 1974, Vṛndāvana)

This was not a statement about non-devotees—Prabhupada was specifically addressing how his own movement should be organized.

Later that year in Italy, when asked about women wanting the same rights as men, Prabhupada responded:

“Everything will be satisfied. Just like our women, Krishna conscious, they are working. They don’t want equal rights with the men. It is due to Krishna consciousness… They are cleansing the temple, they are cooking very nicely, they are satisfied. They never said that I have to go to Japan for preaching like Prabhupada. They never say. This is artificial. Krishna consciousness means work in one’s constitutional position.”

The Mission: Spreading Vedic Culture

Prabhupada’s mission was explicitly to spread Vedic culture—both reviving it in India and establishing it worldwide. In Hyderabad in 1975, speaking to 10,000 people, he folded his hands and said: “Please don’t give up your culture.”

At the Nellore train station, after receiving a traditional reception with Vedic mantras and nadaswarams, Prabhupada turned to his disciples and remarked: “Vedic culture is more intact in South India.”

What did he want to spread? Varnashrama dharma. As he wrote: “Become a Vaishnava through the system of varna and ashrama.”

The Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu confirms this approach, citing the verse about following shastra, smriti, puranas, and pancharatra, without which bhakti becomes “a disturbance in society.”

Returning to the Source

The argument presented here is not about hatred or exclusion. The Vedic concept of vasudhaiva kutumbakam—the whole world is one family—remains central. The Rig Veda’s call to make everyone a follower of Vedic civilization represents the true missionary spirit.

However, adapting Prabhupada’s teachings to accommodate modern egalitarian principles, passing resolutions calling for equality that contradict the varnashrama framework, represents a departure from what he taught and what Krishna Himself instructed in the Gita.

When ISKCON faced attacks in the 1970s from deprogrammers, the movement defended itself by publishing evidence that it was a bona fide Hindu tradition, not a newly concocted cult. That same tradition—with its specific understanding of social organization, spiritual qualification, and the path to God-consciousness—deserves to be preserved.

As Prabhupada’s purports continue to guide devotees for thousands of years to come, careful attention to what he actually wrote and said remains essential. The goal is not to dismiss anyone, but to understand and apply the teachings as they were given.

This article is based on a lecture by Basu Ghosh Das. For the complete discourse with all references and context, please watch the original video. Watch the full lecture: Varnashram Considerations & FDG 2