Women's role and intelligence

[Guest guest]

I very much appreaciate Mother Sita's comments. They make a lot of sense.

Her comments about astrologers is also right on, I perhaps may have made

similar mistakes in the past though I cannot remember doing so. It is simply

a result of cultural ignorance. We are fumbling in the dark in the absence

of Srila Prabhupada. It only now that some devotees are starting to do

deeper studies into the workings of Vedic culture and finding what the

actual standards are.

 

 

Shyama

 

 

Sita Devi Dasi [sitadasi (AT) sympatico (DOT) ca]

Saturday, June 15, 2002 11:27 AM

Shyamasundara Dasa

Cc: Krsna-krpa (das) SDG (BI) (Alachua, FL - USA); Ganga IDS; Brahmacarya;

pandava (AT) ev1 (DOT) net; Urmila.ACBSP (AT) pamho (DOT) net

Re: Women's role and intelligence

 

 

-

 

 

Women's role and intelligence

 

> I'd like to add a few things---

>

> There are several categories of prescribed duties.

 

>There are spiritual duties which encompass practical ways of engaging in

the

 

> nine processes and which are given by the spiritual master for

upliftment.

 

> These duties can be done by anyone, regardless of the body.

 

 

One's prescribed duties become spiritual when they are offered to Lord

Krsna.

 

 

> In this category, and in the category of duties prescribed according to

the

 

> psychophysical nature, there are three subcategories each--ordinary,

 

> emergency, and desired. While our ordinary duties take precedence,

 

>desired activities that are not sinful and are for the Lord's service can

certainly

>be offered to Him and are not whimsical.

 

What is meant by "desired activities" is not made clear in the Gita verse

wherein it is mentioned so it would be speculation to interpret it means one

can do what one desires and offer it to Krsna as long as it is not "sinful".

 

> Additionally, it is crystal clear in the sastra that women have varna.

> Therefore, women have duties in their varna as well as in their ashrama.

You

> have quoted the duties of women in the grhastha ashrama only.

 

A woman's duties are prescribed not according to her own individual "varna"

but according to how she is assisting her husband. It really bugs me that

some devotee astrologers (and teachers) take the liberty to advise girls

born to devotee parents to independently take up certain varna training

according to their gunas. It's irresponsible. Prabhupada never authorized a

program to train our girl children like this and neglect her natural social

position that is determined according to her father and later on, her

husband. The natural way is for a girl to be at home and learn from her

mother and father.

 

When a woman is married she assists her husband- she doesn't have duties in

her own varna. Even when a woman's husband takes vanaprastha, she still

assists him in his varna. If he dies or takes sannyasa, her main duties

don't change, they are transferred to assist her son and his family. These

days many women join ISKCON who are't under any man's authority (gurus not

included) and are already trained in so many fields. There are also many who

choose to remove themselves from a devotee father's, husband's, or son's

protection or they remarry. None of these are authorized by scripture. So

these women may be working in ways which are less than vedic. What to do?

Better she offer her actions to Krsna than not but as she makes spiritual

advancement and learns the philosophy, it would stand to reason that she

would take up more authorized womanly activities, even if she has to learn

them.

 

Your servant, Sita dd

 

 

> Finally, it is still the case that people come to the Krsna Consciousness

> Movement who are so attached and fixed in a particular way of life that

one

> has to engage them in service in a non-standard way without disturbing

their

> minds. Surely, such persons can make full spiritual advancement as long as

> they follow the basic instructions Srila Prabhupada gave us, and they can

> offer to Krsna their work, however much it may deviate from sastric

prescribed

> duties. For example, there's a divorced woman with two children and a job

as a

> lawyer. How will she follow sastric presribed duties? Does it mean that

her

> legal services for ISKCON aren't accepted by Krsna?

>

> In this regard, we need to consider that there are *many* women in ISKCON

who

> have neither father, husband, nor son to protect them. Some of these women

are

> older, many are not eligible for marriage for one reason or another, and

their

> external situation is most unlikely to lead to a sastrically prescribed

duty.

> What to do? Is everything they do "whimsical?" Is it the prescribed duty

of a

> thrice divorced woman with children from several marriages to again marry

so

> she can serve her "husband" according to Bhagavatam? Unfortuantely such

> situations are often more common than the ideal.