! effeminate wimp?

February 3, 2000

Hare Krsna Mother,

That you would find such a statement as insulting is understandable - indeed

it is! However that does not change the fact that the statement is

absolutely correct. As I pointed out in my first letter to you, there are

many wonderful positive attributes that can be possesed and exhibited by the

fair sex but there are some very detrimental qualities as well. Even in

Mahabharata, there is a wonderful exchange between Narada and Urvasi,

wherein Narada requests Urvasi to enlighten him as to the negative and

cunning qualities of a woman. She declined, saying, "because she was a woman

herself, she could never speak honestly, so in fact it should be Narada who

enlightened her as to those qualities shared by all women who have not

achieved Krsna Consciousness!"

The fact that you find this simple characteristic of women as not

particularly admirable and thus view my pointing it out as "insulting" is

actually very nice. (Never mind the fact, that what you will say is

insulting, is the fact that I am stating as fact - something which you

consider as untrue) If you see this comment as insulting then by all means

prove me wrong - and go out there and demonstrate your realizations by

bringing hundreds of women to Krsna Consciousness with the full commitment

to dedicate their entire life to the mission of Guru and Gauranga! No

thoughts for their own future - ready to renounce once and for all, any

desire for the association of men and money and family and fancy clothes and

beautiful saris and comfortable house etc. etc. etc. But I suspect that you

will find it rather difficult to convince many women to take up such a life.

I would suggest that you carefully read Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati's

elaborate description of precisely how he expected his sannyasis and

brahmacaris to conduct themselves in the ashrama. It is my humble opinion

that there are simply not very many women who would be interested in such

simplicity and austerity.( If that were the case then Svavas and Tadit's

temple store in New Dwarka would be out of business in a week!) If you will

recall you opened up this dialogue with me over my comments as regards

Harikesa prabhu and his NOT being an effiminate wimp of a preacher. In that

letter from which you extracted that statement, you will note that I

emphasized that Harikesa was no longer available to exemplify the type of

simplicity and renunciation which is expalined by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta

Saraswati Thakur as "Absolutely Essential" for the prosecution of Lord

Chaitanya's Samkirtan Movement. But if you disagree with me and feel that

"women in general' are every bit as interested and capable of exhibiting and

most importantly thriving in an environment of such simplicity and

renunciation - then instead of trying to "argue" the point or make some

silly protest ("I find your comments insulting and patronizing") show me

tangible proof that what I am saying about women in general is incorrect.

This you cannot and will never be able to do. It is a fact of life and you

would do well to learn how to face the truth and thrive in it's revelation

and it's power to uplift and purify!

I remember when I was first becoming interested in Krsna Consciousness. My

dear friend Udayanada Prabhu called me at my apartment (He was Randy then!)

at one o'clock in the morning one night and said, "Hey get out your Gita

now!" I was rubbing the sleep from my eyes and shouting at him about the

time of the night etc.etc. He interuppted me, " I don't give a rat's ass

about that. GET OUT YOUR GITA NOW!" I obliged him and said sarcastically,

"OK! Oh wise and holy one - what now?" He said, "Open it up to the 16th

chapter and start reading out loud - verse and purport!" We read the entire

chapter in an hour or so. When we were done - there was a hushed silence -

and then he asked, "You know what this means don't you? I responded in a

state of mild shock and "reluctant" but "honest" admission, "Yeah - we're

demons!" He said, "That's right!" We both remained silent for a few

seconds - contemplating the TRUTH which His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada

had just laid so threadbare for our edification. At that moment we both

agreed that we had to surrender to His Divine Grace and renounce our

identification with the demons of this material world and become Devotees

and serve Srila Prabhupada and his devotees. It was a golden moment of

honest submission that even today, when we recall it together, brings great

joy to us both. Both of us see that as "the moment" when the seed of bhakti

was actually planted in our hearts!

So the fact that mundane women need and love flattery and a sugar coated

presentation of reality is a simple truth. That is not to say that there

have not ben many instances where they have transcended that and performed

almost Herculean tasks in service to mankind. And as they age and gain

experience etc. they naturally give up some of that tendency. But we are

talking general tendencies here. So your finding it as insulting to women is

not surprising - but the solution is not to wrangle with me over the "truth"

of my statement! That will not serve your real interest nor the interest of

women in general. The solution is to give as many women as possible the

opportunty to associate with the Lord's Pure devotees and His Holy Name!

That will help them to completely transcend any general bad qualities that

may be part and parcel with a woman's nature. Just like any man can

transcend the bad qualities that always seem to "hitch a ride" on our backs

and make surrendering the position of Purusa back to it's rightful owner so

damn hard from the moment we are born!

Ever your loving brother and servant,

Praghosa Das

Maria Ekstrand <ekstrand (AT) slip (DOT) net>

praghosa (AT) datastar (DOT) net <praghosa (AT) datastar (DOT) net>; ISKCON.India (AT) bbt (DOT) se

<ISKCON.India (AT) bbt (DOT) se>; Varnasrama.development (AT) bbt (DOT) se

<Varnasrama.development (AT) bbt (DOT) se>; India.Open (AT) bbt (DOT) se <India.Open (AT) bbt (DOT) se>