Vaisnava Amrta chapter 2 Female leaders in ISKCN

[Paramananda das]

chapter 2 of Vaisnava Amrta
Female leaders in ISKCON !
Srila Prabhupada was very clear about women leaders:
Television Interview -- July 9, 1975, Chicago
Woman reporter: There is one question I have for you. You say that a woman’s brain is smaller than a man’s.
Prabhupada:Woman?
Nitai:Woman’s brain is smaller than a man’s brain.
Prabhupada:Yes, that is a fact. In the history there is no woman who is a big philosopher, a big mathematician, big scientist, big educationist. We don’t find. They were all men.
Woman reporter:What about women who are leaders of countries such as your own country?
Prabhupada:Well, according to Vedic conception woman is never offered leadership. But experience has shown that woman’s leadership has not been successful.
Woman reporter:Do you think Mrs. Gandhi’s leadership has not been successful?
Prabhupada:Well, there is already trouble. There are many big, big men, they do not agree with her and she has taken emergency steps. So on the whole, the country is in trouble.
Woman reporter:What about Mrs. Meir, president of Israel?
Prabhupada:I do not say of any particular woman, but according to Vedic civilization, we have never seen in the history that woman has become a leader.
Woman reporter:Women have been leaders.
Prabhupada:They were not selected. The leader–formerly it was monarchy–the monarchs were selected by the advisory board of the first-class men. So they never selected any woman to become the leader of the society.
Woman reporter:What about women who are elected by the people?
Prabhupada:Well, people election… Just like you elected Nixon and then you wanted him to come down. So this kind of election has no value. Sometimes you elect and sometimes you pull down. So what is the value of this election?
Woman reporter:So a leader should not be elected.
Prabhupada:Elected, but not by this general public. They have no intelligence. They sometimes elect a wrong man, and again they try to drag him down. So what is the use of such election? Because that election is not sober, not mature. If the election was mature and sober, then there was no need of dragging him down again.
Woman reporter:We have talked to scientists who say that the size of the brain has nothing to do with intelligence. Do you believe that?
Prabhupada:I think that the scientists do not think like that. They keep the brain of a particular scientist to study. They keep the heart of a particular noble man. Why they try to study the heart and the brain if there is no difference?
Nitai:Sometimes they keep the brain of a great scientist to study because they think that he is so intelligent, there must be something we can learn from studying the brain. So if they are thinking like that, then there also must be a difference between a woman’s brain and a man’s brain.
Woman reporter:What they say is that there is difference, but it has nothing to do with the size.
Nitai:Then why do they keep great scientists’ brain to study?
Woman reporter:They keep many people’s brains to study.
Nitai:Especially great scientists, that they want to see what has made this man so intelligent.
Woman reporter:That’s not necessarily true.
Prabhupada:Then why they study the brain? What is the purpose of studying brain unless there is difference? You study different brains. Unless you feel that there is difference between this brain and that brain, why do you study. What is the meaning of study?
Woman reporter:To find differences among men. It’s not necessarily differences between men and woman.
Prabhupada:I don’t say man or woman. But I say you study different brains–why? Unless you think there is some difference?
Woman reporter:There is difference.
Prabhupada:Yes. So if there is difference, then what is the harm if there is difference between man and woman’s brain?
Woman reporter:They say there isn’t.
Prabhupada:They say, but the fact we have to study. As soon as you study the construction of different brain, then you must know that there is difference, different activities.
Woman reporter:In other words, you do not believe this, what they say.
Prabhupada:Then why do you study different brain?
Woman reporter:I don’t study them. I’m just telling you what the scientists say.
Prabhupada: So scientists, the psychologist… As I was a student of psychology and our professor, a big man, Dr. W. S. Urquhart, he said that “By studying the brains of man and woman, we have found the highest brain substance found in man, sixty-four ounce by weight.” You may deny. This is the statement of a big psychologist. You can shake your head, but this is the scientific words by big psychologist. You can note down his name, Dr. W.S. Urquhart, professor of psychology in the Scottish Churches College in 1918-20.
The fact is Srila Prabhupada never appointed one single female TP and GBC says it all.....what to speak of being a Diksa Guru.
1) Hari-bhakti-vilasa (11.708) quotes from the Visnu Purana (3.12.30) (regarding how a grhastha should work in this world):
yosito navamanyeta
na casam visvased budhah
na caiversur bhavet tasu
nadhikuryat kadacana
“A wise man should never insult women, nor should he trust them. He should never become jealous of women, nor should he ever appoint them.”
“As for behavior, there are many rules and regulations guiding human behavior, such as the Manu-samhita, which is the law of the human race. Even up to today, those who are Hindu follow the Manu-samhita. Laws of inheritance and other legalities are derived from this book. Now, in the Manu-samhita it is clearly stated that a woman should not be given freedom. That does not mean that women are to be kept as slaves, but they are like children. Children are not given freedom, but that does not mean that they are kept as slaves. The demons have now neglected such injunctions, and they think that women should be given as much freedom as men. However, this has not improved the social condition of the world. Actually, a woman should be given protection at every stage of life. She should be given protection by the father in her younger days, by the husband in her youth, and by the grownup sons in her old age. This is proper social behavior according to the Manu-samhita. But modern education has artificially devised a puffed-up concept of womanly life, and therefore marriage is practically now an imagination in human society. Nor is the moral condition of woman very good now.” (Bg 16.7 purport)
“In the Manu-smrti it is stated that a woman should not be given independence, but should be given protection by her father, husband and elderly sons. In all circumstances a woman should remain dependent upon some guardian. Presently women are given full independence like men, but actually we can see that such independent women are no happier than those women who are placed under guardians. If people follow the injunctions given by the great sages, srutis and smrtis, they can actually be happy in both this life and the next. Unfortunately rascals are manufacturing so many ways and means to be happy. Everyone is inventing so many methods. Consequently human society has lost the standard ways of life, both materially and spiritually, and as a result people are bewildered, and there is no peace or happiness in the world. Although they are trying to solve the problems of human society in the United Nations, they are still baffled. Because they do not follow the liberated instructions of the Vedas, they are unhappy.” (Bhag. 4.18.3 purport)
http://www.prabhupadavani.org/main/Conversations/009.html
Actually, Dhruva Maharaja’s mother, Suniti, was his patha-pradarsaka-guru. Patha-pradarsaka-guru means “the guru, or the spiritual master, who shows the way.” Such a guru is sometimes called siksa-guru. Although Narada Muni was his diksa-guru (initiating spiritual master), Suniti, his mother, was the first who gave him instruction on how to achieve the favor of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is the duty of the siksa-guru or diksa-guru to instruct the disciple in the right way, and it depends on the disciple to execute the process. According to sastric injunctions, there is no difference between siksa-guru and diksa-guru, and generally the siksa-guru later on becomes the diksa-guru. Suniti, however, being a woman, and specifically his mother, could not become Dhruva Maharaja’s diksa-guru.” (Bhag. 4.12.32 purport)
 
Historical Examples of Female Gaudiya Diksa-gurus
a) Sita Thakurani—The wife of Advaita Prabhu. According to the Prema-vilasa (vilasa 24) of Nityananda Dasa, Sita Thakurani gave diksa (krsna-mantra) to her two servants Nandini and Jangali. The vaikuntha-svarupas of Nandini and Jangali are the well-known gatekeepers Jaya and Vijaya (Gaura-ganoddeSa-dipika text 89). Their disciple-ship to Sitadevi, along with other interesting facts, is corroborated in the well-known and respected compilation named Gaudiya-vaisnava abhidhana and in the Sita-caritra by Lokanatha Dasa.
b) Jahnava Thakurani – The wife of Nityananda Prabhu. Jahnava Thakurani became one of the greatest leaders of our tradition in its second generation. Virabhadra and Ramacandra, the sons (biological and adopted respectively) of Nityananda Prabhu, were two of the most famous among her initiated disciples.
“Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura writes in his Anubhasya, ‘Virabhadra Gosani was the direct son of Srila Nityananda Prabhu and a disciple of Jahnava Devi.’” (Caitanya-caritamrta Adi-lila 11.8 purport)
“Yadunandana Acarya’s wife, Laksmi, was a very humble and submissive lady. She had two beautiful daughters named Srimati and Narayani. By the arrangement of Sri ISvari (Jahnava Devi), these two girls became the fortunate wives of Viracandra Prabhu. On the day of the wedding, Yadunandana took initiation from Viracandra, and Sri Jahnava happily accepted Srimati and Narayani as her disciples.” (Bhakti-ratnakara, ch. 13)
She is also confirmed as a diksa-guru both in the Gaudiya-vaisnava abhidhana (pg. 1246-47) and in the Prema-vilasa of Nityananda Dasa (vilasas 15 & 20).
c) Hemalata Thakurani – The eldest daughter of Srinivasa Acarya. Hemalata Thakurani, a contemporary of Jahnava, was one of the prominent leaders of the tradition at her time. Among her disciples, Yadunandana, the author of Karnananda, is particularly well-known (see Karnananda [ch.2 &3] and the introduction [pg 12] to Krsna-karnamrta by Sambidananda Das Ph.D). She also had a wayward disciple named Rupa Kaviraja. (see Gaudiya-vaisnava abhidhana pg. 1422)
“Now the disciples of Sri Hemalata shall be described. Sri Suvala Chandra Thakura, and his nephew Sri Gokula Chakravarti were her disciples. Sri Radhavallava Thakura from Mandala village, Sri Vallavadasa of the Gosvami family, and Yadunandana Vaidya dasa of Malihati village were all disciples of Sri Isvari. Kanurama Chakravarti and his two servants Darpanayana and Candi, Ramacarana, Madhu Miswas, and Radha Kanta Vaidya were other disciples of Hemalata. Jagadisa Kaviraja and his follower, who was the brother of Radhavallabh Kaviraja were initiated by Hemalata.” (Karnananda, ch.2, last paragraph)
“One day my spiritual master, Sri Hemalata, revealed the glories of Ramacandra to me.” “I shall describe another episode which I heard from my guru, Sri Isvari Hemalata.” (Karnananda, ch.3)
d) Gauranga-priya Devi – The second wife and disciple of Srinivasa Acarya (Gaudiya-vaisnava abhidhana pg. 1224) She was from a Cakravarti brahmana family, her father being Raghunatha Cakravarti, a resident of West Gopalapura. She initiated a number of disciples, one being Gurucarana Dasa, who wrote a book at her behest called Premamrta which is based on the Prema-vilasa (Gaudiya-vaisnava abhidhana pg. 1203).
“Srinivasa Acarya’s first wife, Srimati ISvari Thakurani, was a highly devotional lady. Gauranga-priya, his second wife, also possessed exalted devotional qualities. In due course of time many persons became disciples of Srinivasa Acarya and his wives.”(Karnananda, ch.2)
e) Gangamata Gosvamini – A disciple of Haridasa Pandita Gosvami, the sevaite of Govindaji mentioned in Sri Caitanya-caritamrta. Among others, King Mukundadeva of Jagannatha Puri and a number of Lord Jagannatha’s sevaites received diksa from her. She was also an eloquent speaker and explained Srimad-Bhagavatam to large audiences. Gangamata Gosvamini’s case is further confirmation that a woman can be a guru in a bona fide Gaudiya Vaisnava line. At least up to her point in the line, the line was bona fide because her guru is confirmed by Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami in the Caitanya-caritamrta (Adi 8.60). Her acceptance of disciples is confirmed in Gaudiya-vaisnava abhidhana (pgs. 1197-98) and by the present day mahanta, Balarama Das Gosvami, at the Gangamata Gosvamini Matha in Puri.
After Ganga Mata Goswamini that floated on the Ganga in Puri there has not been any bonafide female Diksa Gurus in our Gaudiya line