Can a Woman be Brahmana without a Brahmana husband?

12-30-1999, 12:39 AM

On Wed, 29 Dec 1999, COM: Guru-Krsna (das) HDG (Alachua, FL - USA) wrote:

> [Text 2893163 from COM]
>
> On 30 Dec 1999, Sraddha dd wrote:
>
> > I am asking for that one. I gave you direct quotes which say that woman's
> > varna is different from the husband's, like in the pratiloma and anuloma
> > marriages. I didn't see any direct quote by SP that says what you are
> > saying. Could you please provide that one?
> >
> > Ys. Sraddha dd
>
> I cannot provide them, because I don't possess them on file, nor do I have
> Vedabase. If I recall correctly, the one I'm thinking about was during a
> conversation about Varnasrama college, in which SP gives a reason why women
> would not attend--basically, because their varna is determined by the
> husband's. Perhaps Janesvara Prabhu can help you with that. Also, on July 9,
> 1975 in Chicago similar statements are made. But if you directly ask Mother
> Sita at , she'll provide them for you.
>
>
>
> --gkd

Hare Krsna dasi comments:

Practically all of the women who joined Srila Prabhupada's Krsna
consciousness movement in the West were daughters of meat-eaters. Thus,
there is no possibility that they could be considered brahmanas because
they were born in brahmana families.

However, Srila Prabhupada did give some of his unmarried women disciples
brahmana initiation. And, he gave them the service of going on the altar
to worship the Deities.

This can only mean one of two things:

1. A woman can be a brahmana without having a brahman father or a brahman
husband. (Because she has her own nature, she also has her own
appropriate varna even before becoming married.)

or

2. Srila Prabhupada allowed people who were not really brahmanas to
go on the altar and perform worship to formally installed Deities of the
Lord.

To me, only the first answer is an acceptable reflection of the
character and leadership of Srila Prabhupada.

By his practical example, our Founder/Acarya demonstrated that it a woman
can become a brahmana without a brahmana father or husband.

*******************

When Srila Prabhupada says that the woman has the same varna as her
husband, that should be taken as a general principle and not an absolute
to cover every single circumstance, because Srila Prabhupada himself
demonstrated repeatedly that a woman could become a brahmana without a
brahmana husband.

Srila Prabhupada also states that a sudra is "less intelligent." This
should also be taken as a general statement and not an absolute to cover
every single circumstance. Otherwise, we would have to consider Ramananda
Raya as "less intelligent" which was clearly not the case. On the
contrary Lord Caitanya took spiritual instruction from Ramananda Raya just
to demonstrate that even if a person has a job in a sudra occupation, he
can be guru if he understands the science of Krsna consciousness.

Generally, a sudra is less intelligent -- but not always. Generally, a
woman's varna may be determined by her husbands --but not always. This is
not an absolute, it is a generality, as demonstrated by Srila Prabhupada's
own actions.

In a number of his purports, Srila Prabhupada states that the boy and girl
should be similar in character before they are allowed to be married.

This is a good recommendation for successful marriage. The boy and girl
should be of similar character.

Another good recommendation from Srila Prabhupada is "Varna first, then
Asrama." This guarantees that the boy has occupational training before he
takes a wife.

Thus, he can support her, and their character is similar. That kind of
marriage would have a very good chance of succeeding.

The alternative is asrama first, then varna. Let the boy get married
first, and then frantically struggle for a job for which he has no
training. And, on top of that, we can pretend that the young
woman has no qualities or character -- that she is simply clay. Then, as
soon as the marriage collapses due to character incompatibility and the
stress of having no reliable source of income, we can point our finger at
the young girl and say she wasn't "faithful" enough.

Why should we insist on beating our heads against the wall like this, when
Srila Prabhupada has presented such a common-sense formula for success?

your servant,

Hare Krsna dasi