Page 22 - Defending Prabhupada Words - By Harivlas Das
P. 22
According to Vedic civilization, women should be given
protection. Srila Prabhupada cites this scriptural advice
throughout his writings and conversations, but did he
think that it was absolutely essential to the practice of
Krishna consciousness for women to be under the control
of men? The answer is yes.
Brahma das has formulated two main arguments to
debunk Srila Prabhupada’s words. First, he attempts to give
some historical justification of Srila Prabhupada’s material
conditioning by quoting Bhaktivinoda Thakura who states
that an ordinary man greatly devoted to his homeland and
even great sages (who wrote scripture) were influenced
by this tendency. He is implying that Srila Prabhupada
may be like an ordinary man or a great sage devoted to
his homeland. There is an often quoted verse, SB 10.84.18,
which says; “A human being who identifies this body
made of three elements with his self, who considers the
by-products of the body to be his kinsmen, who considers
the land of birth worshipable, and who goes to the place
of pilgrimage simply to take a bath rather than meet men
of transcendental knowledge there, is to be considered like
an ass or a cow.”
Brahma das inappropriately introduces this insulting
idea that Srila Prabhupada is materially attached to his
country of birth like an ordinary man or sage. This is
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Defending Prabhupada Words insid