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What's a woman to do? Reflection on Women's Services in Srila Prabhupada’s Hare Krishna Movement.
2. How did Prabhupada translate service opportunities for women?
<< C. Daiva varnasrama >>
 | “Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur wanted to reestablish daivavarnasrama. In daivavarnasrama there cannot be acknowledgment of social status according to birthright because in the Bhagavad-gita it is said that the determining considerations are guna and karma, qualities and work. It is this daiva varnasrama that should be established all over the world to continue a perfect society for Krishna consciousness. This may be astonishing to foolish critics, but it is one of the functions of a Krishna conscious society.
(SB. 5.1.24, purport))”
| | | We accept service in society not according to our birth but according to our qualities and the nature of our activities. If this straightforward, simple principle is enacted, it could help solve the current international crises of racism and sexism. It could also encourage people to do what they’re best suited for regardless of the body they inhabit and encourage them to see past the body and understand that they are spiritual beings. Srila Prabhupada’s Hare Krishna movement should be an exemplar of this principle, clearly given by Krishna Himself in the Bhagavad gita (4.13).
| | | For women, however, there are nuances to this principle of serving according to one’s qualities and activities:
| | | “Mrs. Wax: Could a woman be a temple president?
Prabhupada: Yes, why not?
Mrs. Wax: Glad to hear it.
Prabhupada: But because women are less intelligent, they should remain dependent on first-class father, first-class husband, and first-class son. Then she is first class. That is the injunction. Woman should remain dependent in childhood upon first-class father, in youthhood upon first-class husband, and in old age upon first-class son. Woman is never independent. If she becomes independent, her life is not very good. She must agree to remain dependent on first-class father, first-class husband, and first-class son— three stages.
(Room conversation, July 5, 1975, Chicago)”
| | | A “first-class” man is a man of integrity, kindness, courage, spiritual commitment, and maturity. That women can be temple presidents but must also remain dependent on such a man may appear to be a contradiction, but Srila Prabhupada doesn’t see it that way. From what he says here, women should remain protected and do a service they’re capable of. That women should be protected does not mean that women are forbidden from speaking, singing, managing, or leading. Let’s take a closer look at protection.
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