Apr 13, 2016 — INDIA (SUN) —
This book was banned by the GBC UK, GBC NA EC and VEB (Vrindavan Executive Board). We continue our serialized response to the Resolution by NA EC banning Women: Masters or Mothers? (WMM). For information on the background of this serialized response please read the Introduction.
[NA GBC] Clause 5
Whereas beginning on page 15 (In WMM 2nd edition it is on page 14, 2nd para.)
it is stated: "But a major objective of Srila Prabhupada's mission was to, as far as possible, reestablish pristine Vedic culture-including early marriage*), polygamy and a non-egalitarian social system. (*which he later establishes as age five years for female children);
Response
It is important to note that the main aim of this book, WMM is to question the direction of the movement and to show that one of the main aims of the Krsna consciousness movement was to introduce the Vedic culture, specifically varnasrama-dharma (VAD). Within WMM we see that Srila Prabhupada is quoted as having said:
"Unless in the human society the varnasrama system is introduced, no scheme or social order, health order or any order, political order, will be successful." (Conversation, 18th Oct 1977)
And:
" I have only done fifty percent of what I want to do. The farms have to be done. If they are established, varnasrama will be established." (TKG's Diary, 10 Aug)
There are many quotes on this topic and we have included one from WMM 2nd edition which appears on pg 22, taken from Teachings of Lord Caitanya, chapter 27:
"Those who strictly follow the rules and regulations of these eight social divisions can actually satisfy the Supreme Lord, and one who does not follow them certainly spoils his human form of life and glides down toward hell. One can peacefully achieve the goal of human life simply by following the rules and regulations which apply to oneself. The character of a particular person develops when he follows the regulative principles in accordance with his birth, association and education. The divisions of society are so designed that many people with different characteristics can be regulated under those divisions for the peaceful administration of society and for spiritual advancement as well. The social classes can be further characterized as follows: (1) One whose aim is to understand the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, and who has thus devoted himself to learning the Vedas and similar literatures is called a brahmana. (2) A person whose occupation involves displaying force and administering the government is called a ksatriya. (3) One who is engaged in agriculture, herding cows and doing business is called a vaisya. (4) One who has no special knowledge but is satisfied by serving the other three classes is called a sudra. If one faithfully discharges his prescribed duties, he is sure to advance toward perfection. Thus regulated life is the source of perfection for everyone. One who leads a regulated life centered around devotional service to the Lord attains perfection.
(TLC 27: Lord Caitanya and Ramananda Raya)
Therefore as mentioned by the author on pg 23 in WMM 2nd Edition:
"VAD is the natural, practical, and efficient organization of human society as ordained by the Supreme Lord, whereby people are engaged in work according to their individual propensities and dispositions, while also regulating their senses and offering the results of their labor for Krsna's satisfaction."
Early marriages and polygamy are part of Vedic culture. These were very common all over the world up until a few decades ago when laws were instituted against them.
The NA EC has given the mention of the above as one of the reasons for banning this book. It is interesting that the sentence immediately after the above one reads:
"To most people raised in the modern ethos, such concepts will seem unrealistic, bizarre, primitive, and repressive"
So, the author did predict that there may be a backlash to the statement above mentioning polygamy and child marriages, from those 'raised in the modern ethos'. What is surprising however is that the reaction came from our own society! And it actually came from the leaders of our society, no less, who are supposed to be representing Srila Prabhupada and propagating his teachings and desires. This does make us wonder sometimes whether we are following the same Founder-Acarya.
The following passage on page 14, first paragraph in WMM 2nd edition gives an insight why members of ISKCON (especially from the West) seem to have a problem with some of Srila Prabhupada's teachings:
"Knowingly or unknowingly, numerous devotees carry with them the baggage of worldviews developed from the speculations of various demons (Darwin, Marx, Freud, et al). For them, some of Srila Prabhupada's teachings, particularly those regarding gender roles and non-egalitarianism, are very difficult to accept."
That these are indeed Srila Prabhupada's teachings should not be a problem to accept for one versed in his books, lectures and conversations.
On pg 29-30 of WMM 2nd edition is the section titled; 'Srila Prabhupada Slowly and Carefully Introduced Vedic Culture'. This section shows how Srila Prabhupada gradually revealed aspects of Vedic culture '…according to the growing receptivity and awakening of his audience'. In the same way these aspects of Vedic culture need to be carefully introduced in society due to many laws against them and many misunderstandings of what these practices actually entail.
We have divided the response for this clause into two parts to be posted separately.
Part I : Early Marriages
Part II: Polygamy
Part I: Early marriages
This is a Vedic practice and something Srila Prabhupada spoke a lot about including by citing his personal example. Srila Prabhupada got married when he was 22 and his wife was 11 years old. His sisters both got married between 9-12 years old. The reason that Srila Prabhupada cites for the benefit of this system, especially for girls is:
Especially in women/girls the sex desire and menstruation is there from around age 12 and they are ready for marriage. (Room Conversation - August 15, 1971, London)
The psychology of a girl is that after the first menstruation, she will never forget the first boy she has sex with. Therefore if she has sex with someone else before marriage then she will never be a chaste wife. So it's better to get married as soon as she is ready. (Room Conversation - August 15, 1971, London)
It is the natural function of a woman to give birth to children after an early marriage and as a consequence of this she becomes more and more beautiful after each child she gives birth to. (SB 4.24.12)
According to Vedic civilization, a girl must be married before attaining puberty. There are so many injunctions about this. The responsibility for this lies with the father or in his absence then the elderly members or the brothers of the girl. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.15 - June 1, 1972, Los Angeles)
Early marriage meant responsible citizens. They won't go hunting for the opposite sex and create a nuisance. (TD 4-5: Sri Vrndavana-dhama)
From a very early age the girl learnt to serve and cook for the boy and the boy learnt to protect the girl. The relation develops from an early age over many years. In this way there are advantages. Firstly the girl is peaceful knowing from an early age that she already has a husband and vice versa. Secondly, after having a relation over so many years from an early age, the devotion increases, therefore there is no question of separation or divorce. (Lecture Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.26.41 - January 16, 1975, Bombay)
In an ideal situation the girl should get married before puberty and practices cooking for her husband but still staying in her own house. Only after her first menstruation does she move to his house. The husband is normally anywhere from 18 to 25 years or even much older or sometimes younger than that.
Some will argue that this would interrupt the education of the girl but an instructive quote by Srila Prabhupada on pg 152 in WMM 2nd edition points out that education for girls should revolve around two things only; how to be a chaste wife and also how to be an expert cook. These two things will guarantee her a happy married life. By these two things, even if she is not very beautiful, she will be liked by her husband. Further on this topic of whether girls should go to mundane schools and colleges, it is mentioned in WMM 2nd edition pg 155:
"What is to her benefit if a girl is highly educated but loses her chastity and dignity? What is the value of colleges if they are also places for picking up and using girls?"
And further down the page a quote from Srila Prabhupada:
"The basic flaw in modern civilization is that boys and girls are given freedom during school and college to enjoy sex life."
Therefore Srila Prabhupada taught that the most auspicious path for girls and for the purity of society is for girls to be trained in chastity and taking care of the home. For this they are ready psychologically and physically from around age twelve. If they are instead sent to schools and colleges and mix around with boys their dignity and chastity are destroyed and this creates havoc in society.
Quotes from Srila Prabhupada on early marriages:
"As soon as a woman attains the age of puberty, she immediately becomes very much agitated by sexual desire. It is therefore the duty of the father to get his daughter married before she attains puberty. Otherwise she will be very much mortified by not having a husband." (SB 4.25.42)
Kulasekhara: One barrister, one of the top judges in England, a top man, top doctor, he said children should have sex life at fourteen. He said this in the newspaper two days ago. He said children at fourteen should be allowed to have sex life. He said this should be made legal. He's a top doctor or judge.
Prabhupada: Children?
Syamasundara: Children should be allowed to have sex life at fourteen years old.
Prabhupada: Yes. That is psychological. They develop... Sex life, sex urge is there as soon as twelve years, thirteen years old, especially women. So therefore early marriage was sanctioned in India. Early marriage. Boy fifteen years, sixteen years, and girl twelve years. Not twelve years, ten years. I was married, my wife was eleven years. I was 22 years. She did not know what is sex, eleven years' girl. Because Indian girls, they have no such opportunity of mixing with others. But after the first menstruation, the husband is ready. This is the system, Indian system.
Syamasundara: So they are not spoiled.
Prabhupada: No. And the psychology is the girl, after first menstruation, she enjoys sex life with a boy, she will never forget that boy. Her love for that boy is fixed up for good. This is woman's psychology. And she is allowed to have many, oh, she will never be chaste woman. These are the psychology. So these rascals, Westerners, they do not know and they are becoming philosopher, scientist, and politician, and spoiling the whole world. They can be saved only by this Krsna consciousness movement. (Room Conversation - August 15, 1971, London)
"Generally a woman becomes more beautiful when, after an early marriage, she gives birth to a child. To give birth to a child is the natural function of a woman, and therefore a woman becomes more and more beautiful as she gives birth to one child after another." ( SB 4.24.12)
"According to Vedic civilization, a girl, before attaining puberty, must be married. There are so many injunctions about that. And the responsibility is of the father, or, in the absence of father, the elderly members or brothers. It is called kanya-daya. Kanya-daya means it is the obligation. You cannot avoid it. You can avoid the marriage of your son, but you cannot avoid the marriage of your daughter. That is Vedic injunction." (Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.15 - June 1, 1972, Los Angeles)
"Formerly there was child-marriage. Boys and girls were married at the age of ten years, twelve years. So at that time, there was no practically love. But the guardians, they induced the girl to go and offer her husband some eatables, to give her some service. In this way... That was just like regulative. But when they actually come in the platform of attraction, there is no need of direction." (The Nectar of Devotion - October 28, 1972, Vrndavana)
"Just like formerly there was marriage, child marriage -- a small boy, a small girl. But simply by association the girl understands how to serve the husband and the husband also understand how to give protection to the wife, and mostly, the life was very pleasing, happy. From the very beginning she knows, "Here is my husband," and he knows, "Here is my wife." At least we have seen in our India. There is no question of separation. There is no question of divorce. The love is there from the very beginning. The propensity was there, and immediately the object of love is there. A girl has got husband; a husband has got a wife. So the love continues spontaneously." ( Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.26.41 - January 16, 1975, Bombay)
"In the beginning a woman, childhood, she's trained up by the mother. Then as soon as she is married, formerly, child-marriage, so she's transferred to the care of mother-in-law. There she is trained up. Then she becomes a very good housewife, takes care of household affairs, husband, children, and home becomes happy." (Room Conversation - July 6, 1976, Washington D.C.)
In the clause (which appears in the beginning of this article) being responded to in this article we may note the asterisk which points to the sentence:
"..which he later establishes as age five years for female children"
The GBC is alarmed at the author is declaring that even age five is a perfectly suitable age for a girl to get married. So let us analyze whether the author or the GBC is following Srila Prabhupada on this point, in other words; whether it is OK for a five year old girl to be married or not.
A quote from Srila Prabhupada on this topic:
"Formerly the girl would be married to a suitable boy at a very early age, say six years old. But although a girl was married early she did not stay with her husband immediately, but was gradually trained in so many ways how to cook, clean and serve her husband in so many ways -- up until the time of her puberty. So all the time there was no anxiety because a girl would know -- I have got a husband, and the boy would know I have got this girl as my wife. Therefore when the boy and girl would come of age there was no chance of illicit sex-life." (Letter to Naiskarmi -- Bhaktivedanta Manor 28 July, 1973)
Above we see that Srila Prabhupada said age six is OK for a girl to get married. There is a one year difference from the age in question but the principle is the same. Let us also study the case of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur. In the book titled the Seventh Goswami by Rupa Vilas dasa the following section appears in the chapter titled: Marriage and Studies in Calcutta:
"Upon his reaching the age of twelve his mother arranged a marriage with a five-year-old girl from Ranaghat named Sayamani, the daughter of Sriyukta Madhusudana Mitra. She hoped to improve the family fortunes by this arrangement."
Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur got married at age twelve to a five year old girl. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura is a perfect personality who is a personal associate of the divine couple in Goloka. He is also known as gaura-sakti-svarupaya rupanuga-varaya, the transcendental energy of Caitanya Mahaprabhu and a strict follower of the Gosvamis, headed by Srila Rupa. So was he wrong to marry a five year old girl? No, in fact we now see that WMM is propounding pristine Vedic culture which is indeed according to Guru parampara. After so many years of following asuric culture and thought systems we now see Vedic culture (which we are meant to be following as members of ISKCON) as strange whereas it is our corrupted and perverted egalitarian and humanistic lifestyles which need to be changed.
The book Seventh Goswami explains the idea of child marriages nicely in that same section:
"Childhood marriages were not uncommon at that time in Bengal. Such marriages were generally arranged by astrological calculation so that the partners would be compatible, and the couple usually came from similar family backgrounds. The psychological reasoning behind these early marriages was that a girl in Vedic culture could feel secure knowing that her future was arranged and her protection guaranteed. The couple did not generally live together until they reached adulthood."
Will the GBC now ban Seventh Goswami by Rupa Vilas dasa for promoting child marriages, and in particular for stating that age five is OK for a girl to get married? If not, then why not? Will they also remove pictures of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur from the disciplic succession in all temple parampara pictures?
The hardest question of all we have to ask is: is the GBC, in particular the GBC UK, GBC NA EC and VEB (Vrindavan Executive board) representing the Guru Parampara and Srila Prabhupada in their values and philosophy of Krsna consciousness for finding fault with these statements which our Guru parampara accept?
What is strange is that the GBC UK banned this book for mentioning early marriages (although Srila Prabhupada advocated it), and yet Britain has the highest number of teenage pregnancies in Europe. This can be seen by strolling around malls and shopping centers on weekends when we see those young girls pushing their babies around in prams. Young girls start to become sexually active from as early as age 12 or most probably earlier and get pregnant and also move around with their unmarried partners, yet the GBC UK doesn't think they should be married. So how do they propose to solve that problem? Srila Prabhupada certainly had the perfect solution as does WMM. It behooves us as followers of Srila Prabhupada to preach this message as a way to change this diseased aspect of society and fulfill his desire or at least let us discuss it, and not continually try and hide these teachings and shy away from this responsibility.
Gradually by responding to all the points that the GBC made in their resolution for banning the book we will see that these points do not stand up to critical examination. The fact is that H.H. Bhakti Vikasa Swami is a victim of hate crime by the GBC and the book WMM which is simply presenting Srila Prabhupada's ideas and quotes on Varnasrama, was unjustly banned. For us of the second generation; to see our highest governing authority in ISKCON resorting to such heavy handed actions which are uncalled for and which actually amount to Vaisnava aparadha, is not pleasant to say the least. We are now questioning why those who are supposed to represent Srila Prabhupada and his glorious teachings are trying to distance themselves from his teachings and stop their dissemination instead of propagating them. Hare Krishna.
Women: Masters or Mothers? - Print Edition
Women: Masters or Mothers? - Kindle Edition
A full list of the countries where this book is available: www.bvks.com/wmm
