Brahma-gāyātrī for Women. (10/28/01)
P__ Devi Dasi,
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
I am very happy to receive your email below.
Do you give your female disciples Brahma Gāyatrī? What is the process for receiving Gāyatrī Mantra, should I ask you for it or should I wait for you to offer?
Actually, that is a controversial issue and would require some discussion. But I have given gāyatrī to some of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s disciples, but as for my disciples I do not. Due to circumstances, Śrīla Prabhupāda did like that, but in terms of our paramparā, the Brahma-gāyatrī, being a Vedic mantra, it is not given to women. It is actually meant for those who perform fire yajñas and study Vedānta-sūtra. But like I said, it’s a long discussion if one wants to come to the proper understanding.
It was also Śrīla Prabhupāda’s standard that householders should give fifty-percent of their earnings to the temple, or to be directly spent in Kṛṣṇa’s service (simply maintaining family life does not come into that category). So if you and your husband are ready to fulfil that standard also, then I guess I could give you Brahma-gāyatrī as Y___ Prabhu has suggested.
I have been contemplating the issue of ‘good association.’ The devotee community in the Marin/Sonoma area is very diverse. There seems to be a general harmony amongst everyone, which I really appreciate since I don’t deal well with politics, etc. Among this diversity are a few of X_Mahārāja’s disciples, who have been in the area looking to establish a centre in Santa Rosa. They have been attending the Mandala Wednesday night program, they were around for all of B___ Mahārāja’s lectures and programs and were even at R__ Prabhu?s home for the appearance day festival of Śrīla Purī Mahārāja. They are quite friendly with me, inviting me to come chant with them, offering me prasadām etc. I feel that I should avoid their association, but it is a difficult thing to do since they are always around and also I don’t want to be rude. How should I go about dealing with this?
Diverse community simply means a social event. No head, no fixed direction and no real service – that’s what happens in the diverse communities. The Hawaii project is similar and for that reason I doubt that I actually ever really become involved there although some devotees talk as though I might.
As for the X_Mahārāja’s followers, we do not mix or associate with them. Your situation however is quite different because you do not live in a community of fixed-up devotees, so you will have to make your own choices based what you think is necessary and on what you have to do.
I hope this meets you well.
With Affection,
Swami B.G. Narasiṅgha
