Response to Allegation
BY: HH BHAKTI VIKASA SWAMI
Dec 26, 2011 — INDIA (SUN) — A godbrother recently wrote me: "How are you feeling these days with all the unwelcome spotlight you are in?" I replied that the spotlight is mostly on the Internet and thus somewhat surreal. In the real world that I live in, of active service in Srila Prabhupada's mission, I have interacted with hundreds of devotees in various places over the last few days, but not one devotee even mentioned to me about the accusations on Sampradaya Sun – which are just the latest tempest in the teapot minds of persons addicted to cyber-controversy.
In response to allegations concerning my allowing women to accompany their husbands in washing my feet, I sent the following email to some of my leading disciples: "Henceforth this [footwashing at Vyasa-pujas] should be done by only a few devotees, with no matajis anywhere near, to avert the kind of criticism that has recently been made." Caesar's wife should be above suspicion – although some cyber-vigilantes seem to be not merely suspicious, but antagonistic to the very principle of contemporary Vaisnavas being offered respect. However, Srila Prabhupada stated: "My glory will be when my disciples are worshiped all over the world." (told by Bhakta dasa Prabhu; Srila Prabhupada Tributes 2011, p. 153)
Skeptics will be appalled to learn that during my last thirty-four years of extensive preaching throughout India and neighboring countries, my feet have been touched far more times than I can remember. Not that I encourage it, but often it is difficult to prevent.
Bali Mardana: "...that the disciple should not let outsiders touch the feet of his spiritual master.
Prabhupada: Hm?
Bali Mardana: In the Caitanya-caritamrta, in the purport. But in India so many people try to touch. Should they be restrained?
Prabhupada: No, that is... Spiritual master should be respected. Where it is said that?
Nitai: The Seventeenth Chapter, one purport where it talks about a brahmana woman who came to touch the feet of Lord Caitanya; immediately He went and jumped in the Ganges. You remember that section?
Prabhupada: Oh, yes. That is... He's not a devotee. He's not a, he was not a disciple.
Bali Mardana: But in India there are so many people. They're not disciples; they're not initiated by you. So are they in the same category?
Prabhupada: No, that case was different.
Bali Mardana: So it is all right.
Prabhupada: Then the spiritual master has to go every time, to fall down? Because people will touch. That is natural. And he has to jump over the water every time?
Nitai: In the purport you gave recommendation that generally it is not a good practice to let them, unless they are at least your devotees.
Prabhupada: Generally, it is not practiced, but if people come, how can you check them?"
(Conversation, 22 Jan 1974)
As I described in My Memories of Srila Prabhupada, I personally witnessed an outsider touch the lotus feet of His Divine Grace. Seeing Srila Prabhupada walking with a group of disciples, the man spontaneously lunged forward and took Srila Prabhupada's foot-dust. No one tried to prevent him.
Daily, during guru-puja, Srila Prabhupada had young lady disciples (mostly unmarried) come right up to his lotus feet to offer flowers. He would regularly distribute prasada into the hands of men, women, and children. He would give beads into the hands of women he initiated. Of course, I cannot claim to be anywhere near the level of Srila Prabhupada, yet his allowing limited proximity to women is, in my experience, an accepted part of the spiritual culture of India as it is practiced today.
Earlier this week, at various points on harinam in a residential area of Chennai, housewives emerged from their homes and, standing directly in front of me, offered brief impromptu aratis with camphor lamps. Last night, after a public lecture in Salem (Tamil Nadu), several women came before me and bowed down. Those who tried to touch my feet were restrained, but no one tried to stop them coming close.
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, it is clear that women would generally remain at a distance from Lord Caitanya (e.g. Antya 12.42); yet it was acceptable that women serve prasada to sannyasis (at least for elderly women, in this case Saci Mata – Madhya 9.298). This does not mean that today's sannyasis should be served prasada by women, but it suggests that traditional culture allows restricted interaction between sannyasis and women.
A godbrother once told me that during a guru-puja he had observed how Srila Prabhupada did not look at the men who came to offer him flowers, but that he looked at the women, and that this had created a doubt in that devotee's mind about Srila Prabhupada's purity, until years later he realized that Srila Prabhupada had done so knowing that women especially need some measure of personal recognition.
In my admittedly far from perfect attempts to follow in the footsteps of Srila Prabhupada, I try to be circumspect yet not impersonal in dealings with my female disciples. The very least they deserve for their sacrifices, services, and struggles in Krsna consciousness is a little acknowledgment and encouragement from the person they have accepted as their main guide in the mission of Srila Prabhupada. Undoubtedly, it is difficult to ascertain how to reciprocate with them without inviting the scorn of persons who presume malintent.
I accepted sannyasa for the same reason as did Lord Caitanya, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, and Srila Prabhupada: to invite public respect, and to utilize that respectable platform to widely preach the message of sastra. The dichotomy of a Vaisnava accepting respect, and the criticism he invites for doing so, is discussed at length in my book Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Vaibhava.
Whether or not I am misappropriating the honor accorded me will be judged by those for whom it is meant: Srila Prabhupada, the previous acaryas, and Krsna. I do not intend to take a falsely humble position and drastically revise my present activities due to the hostile judgment of persons who have very little idea of what I am doing, what it entails, and why I am doing it.
