Feminism has different connotations for different people.  For a mute and neutral bystander, it could mean either many reels of real abuse of women and how they tolerate it in the name of religion/ sacrifice or it could also mean how women use the loopholes in the material laws of the land to get back at men in different ways.  For instance,  a colleague that I have know for long, forwarded to me an anti-feminism website run by a group of male rights activists who very strongly feel that marriage is a total waste of time and a disaster when women get to walk away with both the money and kids in what they termed as ‘feminist courts of law’.  This is an alarming trend and very detrimental to the well-being – physical, emotional and spiritual – of both men and women.

To understand and address this issue, we must first examine the Vaishnava definition of the word “femisim” – as described by scriptures and our beloved Guru, Srila Prabhupada

The first and foremost instruction that Srila Prabhupada gave everyone is, “I am not this body”…”I am the spirit soul”.  This is the starting point of our understanding.  He says, “As Vaishnavas, we are not concerned with male of female position in life. That is simply bodily concept of life. It is not spiritual. Whether one is male or female, it does not matter, simply chant Hare Krishna and follow the four regulative principles and your life will be perfect.” (Letter to Jennifer, 1975)

This brings us to the point – how then are we supposed to behave in our God-given material bodies, with a defined gender-role.  And does the gender have anything to do with intelligence?  Many people misquote Srila Prabhupada on his comment on women’s intelligence.  A woman is less intelligent doesn’t mean she is a fool.  It is indicative of her role of subordination.  Factually, every living entity (jiva) – man or woman – is the prakriti or feminine parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord Krishna.  He is the ONLY Purusha – or man.  We all are subordinates to Him eternally.  However, when we accept a material body- especially in the human form, then we must understand that it is the Supreme Lord’s Will and arrangement to train us up in the art of subordination.  This training exercise works perfectly and most efficiently, when we are in the woman’s body.  It is the prodding of Krishna to execute on His Will in the sincerest way possible.  The more efficiently we play our role as women, the happier Krishna – our Eternal Lover, Master and Best friend – will be.  The harder we fight our position of submissiveness, the more evident our rebellion to the Lord’s Will and Plan.  This is the real understanding which Srila Prabhupada wanted us to have.  And in the light of this understanding, we should realize that Srila Prabhupada never limited his description of intelligence to male or female bodies but described intelligence as one who has good memory and good discrimination.  So when we apply intelligence on this platform, we are more and not less intelligent.  On the Krishna consciousness platform, a woman is neither less intelligent nor a competitor.

The application of this understanding is heightened in the realm of married life.  A real woman is expected to be very chaste and submissive in her approach, with true love and devotion in her heart for her husband.  Srila Prabhupada says, “According to the Vedic law, .. a woman must be trained to be submissive to the will of her husband. Westerners contend that this is a slave mentality for the wife, but factually it is not; it is the tactic by which a woman can conquer the heart of her husband…“(Srimad-Bhagavatam, 9.3.10).  If the husband is already a devout and Krishna conscious person, he can and will attain much higher destinations and simply on the strength of his wife’s chastity.  A wife can save her husband who indulges in sinful activities by the power of her chastity.  The most powerful role which a woman plays is that of a mother and she is programmed to naturally take very seriously, the unparalleled service of raising a child in Krishna Consciousness.  All this under the protection of her husband.

This power is derived not by any material means or by performance of yoga – but by pure devotion and acceptance of the desire of the Lord for the human society, where a woman plays a role.  It is exactly what it is meant to be – a ROLE.  The more perfectly we play our part, the more we advance in our spiritual lives.  The good news is that this role play is independent of bad performance of anyone else – as long as the woman is cautious about her role.  Such a perfect, actor-woman will have even greater power when she always endeavors to see Lord Krishna and His will in each incident of life.  Just like the man becomes powerful by the power of celibacy, a woman becomes powerful by chastity.  This the the secret revealed to all power-seeking ‘jivas’ in the body of a woman.

This ever-increasing power remains with women, as long as it is not not brazenly displayed and is carefully concealed with the best gift of nature to women – shyness. (SB 1.10.16).  The moment it gets exhibited in arrogance or pride, it is reduced to nil and the jiva becomes truly unintelligent

By Divya Rupa Devi dasi

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