By Kalakantha das
Fifty years ago, after Srila Prabhupada brought them to Krishna consciousness, his American- and Canadian-born disciples helped establish ISKCON Latin America, Europe, India, Africa, Russia, the Far East and Australasia. This pioneering generation, now growing old, is well on its way back to Godhead.
While the ISKCON tree has flourished in many parts of the world, for the past thirty years ISKCON has struggled in its native soil. Today there are precious few American- and Canadian-born preachers to replace their aging spiritual uncles and aunts.
Educated young men and women in North America often like Krishna consciousness but dislike ISKCON because of what they perceive as its demeaning attitude towards women. While local ISKCON leaders can help them understand and accept various statements about women from Srila Prabhupada’s books, when perceptive young people complain that ISKCON’s Governing Body Commission denies women the top spiritual leadership role in ISKCON, preachers can only say, “We are trying to change that.”
The glorious GBC members have the heaviest and most thankless task in ISKCON. Since Srila Prabhupada entered samadhi, often at great personal sacrifice they have steered the ISKCON ship through many dangerous storms while sustaining and spreading Krishna consciousness all over the world. Yet the GBC will be the first to admit that they sometimes make mistakes. In terms of reaching the hearts and minds of educated young people in North America, the GBC’s present stance—disallowing Vaishnavis to initiate disciples—has been a devastating blunder.
Four Pro and Con Arguments
Though we stand together in service to Srila Prabhupada, some of my friends and Godbrothers oppose Vaishnavis serving as diksa gurus. Here, in brief, are some of their arguments and this proponent’s replies:
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For Vaishnavis to initiate would contradict the social role of women in Vedic dharma. Srila Prabhupada again and again eschewed Vedic dharma in favor of preaching. As a sannyasi, he crossed the ocean, lived in the homes of meat-eaters, performed marriages and initiated women and opened ashrams for them. He then asked those women to minimize their dharmic duties of caring for family and children so they could open temples and distribute books, a major transgression of Vedic dharma that was wholeheartedly supported by ISKCON leaders of the day. Yet today, if a few of those same women want to continue their preaching services by initiating disciples—a right Srila Prabhupada several times directly stated his female disciples would have—some ISKCON leaders refuse them, saying it is against their dharma. This argument is therefore both hypocritical and destructive to Srila Prabhupada’s work and legacy.
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Although Srila Prabhupada said his female disciples could initiate, when he appointed eleven ritviks to initiate on his behalf when he was ill, none of them were women. ISKCON should therefore do what Srila Prabhupada did and not what he said. At that time (1977), Srila Prabhupada’s female disciples were virtually all of child-bearing and child-rearing age. Despite their spiritual advancement, at that age most of them would naturally be preoccupied with family duties. And today? If a few of those faithful female disciples, after a lifetime of study and sadhana as well as the invaluable human experience of raising a family, now want to reach out, recruit and train disciples, does anyone really believe Srila Prabhupada would trample their enthusiasm because of their gender? Or would he encourage and facilitate their desire to preach?
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ISKCON should not bend to the social customs of North America. Srila Prabhupada, who succeeded like no one else in reaching North Americans, wrote this in response to similar criticism:
“An äcärya who comes for the service of the Lord cannot be expected to conform to a stereotype, for he must find the ways and means by which Kåñëa consciousness may be spread. Sometimes jealous persons criticize the Kåñëa consciousness movement because it engages equally both boys and girls in distributing love of Godhead. Not knowing that boys and girls in countries like Europe and America mix very freely, these fools and rascals criticize the boys and girls in Kåñëa consciousness for intermingling. But these rascals should consider that one cannot suddenly change a community’s social customs. However, since both the boys and girls are being trained to become preachers, those girls are not ordinary girls but are as good as their brothers who are preaching Kåñëa consciousness. Therefore, to engage both boys and girls in fully transcendental activities is a policy intended to spread the Kåñëa consciousness movement. These jealous fools who criticize the intermingling of boys and girls will simply have to be satisfied with their own foolishness because they cannot think of how to spread Kåñëa consciousness by adopting ways and means that are favorable for this purpose. Their stereotyped methods will never help spread Kåñëa consciousness. Therefore, what we are doing is perfect by the grace of Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu, for it is He who proposed to invent a way to capture those who strayed from Kåñëa consciousness.” (Sri Caitanya Caritamrta, Adi-lila 7.31-32).
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In Srimad Bhagavatam, 4.12.32, Srila Prabhupada writes, “Sunéti, however, being a woman, and specifically his mother, could not become Dhruva Mahäräja’s dékñä-guru.” This took place in a different society, millions of years ago. And Suniti was not a disciple of Srila Prabhupada.
Arguments and counterarguments will go on. So to my respected friends and Godbrothers on the other side of this issue, this incompetent and struggling preacher simply says this: many of you are from North America. Our mission is suffering in your native lands. Please, before they all leave this world, bless a few of Srila Prabhupada’s beloved daughters to initiate a few disciples. This will enormously help our preaching in North America. What can it possibly hurt?
One Example
Some may ask, “Is ISKCON in North America suffering?” Here is a stark example: of the nine thousand pilgrims on ISKCON’s recent international Navadvip Mandala Parikrama, only five were North Americans. What would Srila Prabhupada say about this sad state of affairs?
The International GBC’s present stand on disallowing Vaishnavi diksa gurus sends a strong message that the social customs of the North Americans, and by inference the preaching field of North America itself, merits little concern. Such a message cripples North American preachers who want to develop in educated young people a deep and lasting interest in ISKCON.
Which is the Greater Good?
While the policy of refusing Vaishnavi diksa gurus may please a few North American ISKCON leaders, it alienates most friends and devotees in North America from ISKCON, especially educated young people, who find it ridiculous. When the GBC enacts a policy that so conspicuously goes against Srila Prabhupada’s express statements on a subject, it weakens the faith of knowledgeable devotees, male and female, in the GBC. Also, and perhaps most significantly, Srila Prabhupada’s dear female disciples, most of whom are from North America, have widely become discouraged about and estranged from ISKCON due in no small part to such insensitive leadership policies.
On the other hand, allowing a few Vaishnavis to initiate would encourage nearly everyone concerned, enhancing faith in the GBC and helping reinvigorate ISKCON in North America.
“She Can Become Guru.”
The film, “She Can Become Guru,” aims to shed light on the need for Vaishnavi diksa gurus from several points of view, including the negative impact on preaching of the GBC’s present stance as well as its conflict with Srila Prabhupada’s well-documented compassionate and progressive mood. Please watch this eleven minute film at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k99idDaGOY.
If you would like to express your views on the subject of Vaishnavi diksa gurus, please also take a survey at:
https://bitly.com/Vaishnavigurus.
Srila Prabhupada ky jaya!
Respectfully,
Kalakantha das, ACBSP
Temple President, Krishna House/ISKCON of Gainesville, Florida, USA
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This is the response to the above article:
Can she become a guru?
Can the Vaishnavis also accept disciples, initiate and serve as diksha gurus in our movement?
This is a sensitive topic and at present, is the source of serious contention in our society.
As the upheaval of equal rights ethos is at its peak in the western countries , devotees are not spared from its influence. What do we say to modern, senses oriented, thus completely disoriented society ? What is our stand on equal rights between man and woman?
In a recent interview with the news reporter, a devotee presented our stand on this “hot topic” in a cool headed and Krishna Conscious way:
Reporter: What do the Hare Krishnas think of equal rights between man and woman?
Devotee: Yes, we give equal rights to both man and woman, for we are not these bodies, but spirit souls, eternal parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord. Thus both souls in male and female bodies have undisputed right to chant the holy names of God, follow the regulative principles, honor Krishna’s Prasadam and serve Him with love and devotion, and ultimately develop love for God. This is the teaching of our Founder-Acharya His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
Reporter: Wow, that sounds liberal. So your Guru had given equal opportunities to both men and women?
Devotee: Yes, on the spiritual platform both are equal, there is no difference.
Reporter: Wow, great. So how many female temple presidents had your Guru appointed?
Devotee: Oh, Srila Prabhupada never appointed even single female disciple to serve as a temple president.
Reporter: How many female GBC’s had your Guru appointed?
Devotee: Srila Prabhupada never appointed even single female disciple to serve as a GBC?
Reporter: We have heard that your Guru had appointed 11 disciples to initiate on his behalf and authorized them so that in the future they could accept disciples on their own. How many were the females out of 11 appointed?
Devotee: Srila Prabhupada never appointed even single female disciple to initiate.
When asked could females become Gurus in our society, Srila Prabhupada had answered : “Yes, but not many.” Then he quoted an example from Gaudiya-vaishnava history – Jahnava Mata, the wife of Lord Nityananda prabhu, incarnation of the Lord…Another time Srila Prabhupada had said : Yes, females can become acharyas, but in special cases.”
Reporter: Well, this sounds contradictory. It seems that there is some discrimination in regard to women in your society.
Devotee: No, there is no discrimination. Both male and female devotees have equal rights to serve and surrender to Krishna, but their social roles are different. As long as we are in this material world, we are prone to illusion which is in sanskrit called “Maya” . Maya keeps us in ignorance of our constitutional position, and bewilders us with sensual allurements, thus prolonging our sufferings in the cycle of repeated birth and death. And the strongest illusion, the main binding force for a soul to this material world is the sex attraction between male and female. Thus Vedic society protects spiritual interests of both sexes, buy clearly delineating their social roles, and thus restricts unnecessary association of men and women.
Women are advised to take traditional roles as mothers, housewives, and are not encouraged to accept the roles of an authority (leadership positions) in the society. But they are protected by their fathers in the young age, then by their husbands and in the old age by their elderly sons, so there is no anxiety for them at any part of their life. They engage happily in a variety of service to Krishna, train our children in Krishna Consciousness, cook for Deities, make flower garlands etc.
They are happy in Krishna Consciousness, otherwise why would thousands of young and intelligent ladies join our movement. As Srila Prabhupada says “Our ladies do not want equal rights with man. This is due to Krishna Consciousness. They never say that: I have to go for preaching to Japan like Prabhupada”.
You can ask them yourself and you will see that they are much happier than your so called modern, bold, independent, carrier ambitious, and overall sexually exploited and frustrated lonely beings .
So who is more happy, our chaste ladies or your modern ones?
Reporter: Well I agree that modern society has created more mess than peace and security for everyone. Still, it is a bit difficult for me to accept whatever you had said, but yes, in one way it does make sense.
Particularly when I see the bright smiling faces of your Hare Krishna ladies, I tend to believe you.
Devotee: I have given you just a brief answer. For more details please read Srila Prabhupada’s books.
Chant Hare Krishna& be Happy.
Your servant
Gokula-candra Das