What’s a Woman to Do? Reflections on Women’s Services in Srila Prabhupada’s Hare Krishna Movement. Visakha Dasi What’s a Woman to Do? By Visakha Dasi: Photomacrography: Art and Techniques (as Jean Papert) Our Most Dear Friend: Bhagavad-gita for Children Bhagavad-gita: A Photographic Essay, a visual guide to the world’s greatest spiritual dialog Reflections on Bhagavad-gita: A Summary Study Women’s Services Harmony and the Bhagavad-gita: Lessons from a Life-Changing in Srila Prabhupada’s Move to the Wilderness Hare Krishna Movement. Five Years, Eleven Months and a Lifetime of Unexpected Love, a memoir Visakha Dasi Contents Dedicated to His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and his followers, generous souls who forever try to evoke the divine within us. Introduction 1 1. What do our scriptures say about women and their service? 3 2. How did Prabhupada translate service opportunities for women? 6 A. Touching on touchy topics 6 B. Classifications 12 C. Daiva varnasrama 14 D. What is protection? 15 E. The butter-fire principle 25 3. Conclusion and continuing on... 27 His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Acknowledgments 32 Founder-Acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness About the Author 32 Hare Krishna movement has been around for more than fifty years, we’re still sorting out this major aspect of our culture? Well, a number of factors contribute to the dissen- sion perpetually swirling around this topic. Among them are: * Male/female psychological tendencies: men tend to feel superior to women; women tend to defer to men. * When we came to Srila Prabhupada’s movement we brought with us different cultural, societal, familial, and personal expectations about what men and women can and cannot or should and should not do. * Our understanding of Srila Prabhupada’s statements, ex- ample, and mood related to women vary widely. * We may mistake some past and present values and cus- toms of traditional India as Vaishnava values taught by Srila Prabhupada. * The sexual attraction between men and women – we over- look or minimize it at our peril. With these major complexities it’s no wonder that we haven’t worked this issue out over the past fifty years. Yet for the future of Srila Prabhupada’s movement, it’s vital Introduction that we develop a mature understanding of the issue – that In early 2018, members of Pandava Sena, a dynamic group we work it out and thereby insure that every person in Srila of devotees in England, asked me to make a presentation Prabhupada’s movement thrives. Toward that end, we offer on women in Srila Prabhupada’s Hare Krishna movement. this booklet with the prayer that it’s true to Prabhupada’s To be frank, this is not one of my favorite topics, but in mood and teachings. a spirit of cooperation I agreed and began my research. Tension around this topic developed among devotees in the early 1970s. It has been discussed and written about as a subject of great concern since that time, and it remains so today. Srila Prabhupada left us a powerful, encompassing legacy, and the Vaishnavis in his movement are an integral aspect of that legacy. One may ask, Why is it that although the 1 2 1. What do our scriptures say about The result of a woman being chaste to and supportive women and their service? of her husband is that they gain great power; the demon Ravana was defeated by Sita’s curse. Similarly, Gandhari, When irreligion is prominent in the family, O Krishna, the Kunti, and Devahuti were illustrious, powerful women. women of the family become polluted, and from the degradation of Srila Prabhupada writes, “Gandhari, although a woman, womanhood comes unwanted progeny. (Gita 1.40) is no less than Bhismadeva in character.” Krishna Himself clearly says that women are eligible for the highest destina- This verse emphasizes the importance of women’s chas- tion (Gita 9.32). Srila Prabhupada confirms, “Draupadi at- tity. Women, Srila Prabhupada says, are the power of in- tained the same destination as her exalted husbands.” spiration for men and, as such, are more powerful than In Vaishnavism, qualification is not based on the body men. For example, mighty Julius Caesar was controlled but on an individual’s consciousness. by Cleopatra. “Such powerful women are controlled by shyness,” Srila Prabhupada writes. “Therefore, shyness is The wives of Kaliya were actually serious devotees of Lord important for women.” (SB. 1.9.27, purport) Once this Krishna, and according to the acharyas they had often tried to “control valve” is loosened, havoc and unwanted children – convince their husband to surrender to Him. Finally, finding him- children who disrupt their parents’ lives and may later dis- self in unbearable agony, Kaliya remembered his wives’ advice and rupt society – can result. took shelter of the Lord. (SB. 10.16.30, purport by the followers of Srila Prabhupada) To render service to the husband, to be always favorably disposed toward the husband, to be equally well disposed toward the hus- In another statement, Srila Visvanath Chakravarti Thakur band’s relatives and friends, and to follow the vows of the husband explains that Kaliya’s wives, who were great devotees of – these are the four principles to be followed by women described Krishna, “had been disgusted with their husband because as chaste. (SB. 7.11.25) of his demoniac activities.” They had been thinking, Srimad-Bhagavatam describes a patriarchy – a social system “Let this atheist be killed by the Supreme Personality of in which men hold power and their wives and daughters Godhead. We’ll be widows and engage in His worship.” remain in a supporting role. What results from a woman’s But after Krishna had danced on Kaliya’s hoods, his wives chastity and support of her husband? understood that Kaliya had taken shelter of the Lord within his mind and had become humble and remorseful. Not only was mother Sita powerful, but any woman who follows Then they thought, “Just see. Our husband is becoming a in the footsteps of mother Sita can also become similarly powerful. There are many instances of this in the history of Vedic literature. Vaishnava. We must try to protect him.” Although Krishna Whenever we find a description of ideal chaste women, mother killed other demons, He spared Kaliya. “Because Kaliya’s Sita is among them. Mandodari, the wife of Ravana, was also wives were great devotees of the Lord and offered Him very chaste. Similarly, Draupadi was one of five exalted chaste loving affection, Krishna withdrew both Kaliya’s offense women. As a man must follow great personalities like Brahma against the Lord’s devotee Garuda and that against the resi- and Narada, a woman must follow the path of such ideal women dents of Vrindavan, who were very dear to Him.” as Sita, Mandodari, and Draupadi. By staying chaste and faithful (SB. 10.16.64, cited in the purport by the followers of to her husband, a woman enriches herself with supernatural Srila Prabhupada) Such is the power of the Naga-patni power. (SB. 9.10.27, purport) Vaishnavis. 3 4 Another example from Krishna’s pastimes of how quali- 2. How did Prabhupada translate service fication is not based on the body but on the consciousness: opportunities for women? “Because the wives of the brahmanas were great devotees of the Lord, the foolish brahmanas received spiritual benefit Prabhupada transplanted an entire culture from one age and finally came to their senses.” (SB. 10.23.38, purport by and milieu to a different age and milieu. While he left the the followers of Srila Prabhupada) message of that culture intact, he also had to make the cul- Taking note of their wives’ pure, transcendental devotion for Lord ture practical and appealing to young people who had no Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and seeing their orientation to that culture, who had for the most part re- own lack of devotion, the brahmanas felt most sorrowful and jected the cultural values of their own society, and who had began to condemn themselves. (SB. 10.23.39) accustomed themselves to drugs and promiscuity. Although shockingly contrary to the mood of the day, The brahmana husbands noted that their wives, having per- from the beginning Srila Prabhupada encouraged his stu- fected their transcendental attachment for Krishna, did not dents to get married and be responsible. Prabhupada’s fol- have even a trace of attachment left for home, husband, lowers accepted his directives because they were convinced children, and so forth. Therefore from that day on, the that by doing so they could progress spiritually. husbands accepted those women as their worshipable spiri- tual masters and no longer thought of them as their wives. Clearly, the scriptures, like Krishna, direct us past bodily A. Touching on touchy topics. designations to the essence of each individual – to his or Let’s not shy away from the uncomfortable and controver- her bhakti. sial statements about women that we sometimes find in scriptural verses and in Srila Prabhupada’s writings. For ex- ample, Srila Prabhupada writes, Cornerstone laying ceremony, Juhu A man’s psychology and woman’s psychology are different. As con- stituted by bodily frame, a man always wants to be superior to his wife, and a woman, as bodily constituted, is naturally inferior to her husband. Thus the natural instinct is that the husband wants to post himself as superior to the wife, and this must be observed. (SB. 3.23.2, purport) As I also mentioned in my introduction, men and women have different psychologies.