plays; question.

[Guest guest]

When I came to mangala-arati the next morning, the contrast became

especially clear. The New Dwaraka community had swelled to nearly one

hundred devotees, who danced before the Deities of Sri Sri

Rukmini-Dvarakadhisa, men to one side, women to the other, separated only by

a narrow aisle running from Srila Prabhupada's vyasasana to the Deities. In

our centers in India there had been only a few women, some of whom, Like my

former wife, were as renounced as their husbands who had taken sannyasa. By

associating with Indian women, they had adopted a reserved mood in the

presence of men. Indian culture, recognizing the strong attraction between

the sexes, tried as far as possible to relieve the agitation by training the

women in a mood of chastity and reserve, while the men were trained to be

protective towards them. I personally had experience of lecturing in large

assemblies where, out of respect for a sannyasi, the women completely

covered their heads, including their faces, with their saris. One might

argue that such behavior was suppressive or unnatural, but the Vedic culture

was not meant for "natural" material existence. It was meant for taking one

back to Godhead, and for no other purpose. Therefore I was unaccustomed to

seeing so many devotee women, many with their heads uncovered, dancing in

such close proximity with men. It made me feel uncomfortable and distracted

my attention from the mangala-arati performance.

 

>>> Ref. VedaBase => "SERVANT OF THE SERVANT" CHAPTER THIRTEEN