Svatantra

Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasized, "Your love for me will be tested how after my departure you maintain this institution.  —TKG Diary, May 23, 1977 "Your love for me," said Śrīla Prabhupāda, "will be shown by how much you cooperate to keep this institution together after I am gone." —Srila Prabhupada Lilamrta, 52 The above quote of Srila Prabhupada is one of the most popular among ISKCON devotees and leaders. To keep ISKCON together as one institute strong enough to spread Lord Caitanya’s Mission all over the world, it is imperative to follow this instruction; one cannot bypass it. However, to be able to correctly follow this statement it is imperative that we also properly understand the meaning of this statement. This is required because this is one of the  most misunderstood  statement of Srila Prabhupada. How? We will examine in this article along with its proper understanding. Summary of the Article: ·       ...

yo ṣ ito nāvamanyeta na cāsā ṁ viśvased-budha ḥ | na caiver ṣ yurbhavet tāsu nādhikuryāt-kadācana yo ṣ ita ḥ —Women; na-avamanyeta —should never insult; na ca —nor should; āsām —on her; viśvased —put faith; budha ḥ —an intelligent man; na ca eva —and nor should; īr ṣ yu ḥ —envious of; bhavet —should become; tāsu —of her; na-adhikuryāt —neither should appoint her; kadācana —at any time A wise man should never insult women, nor should he  trust  them.  He  should  never  become  jealous  of women, nor should he ever appoint them. (Hari Bhakti Vilasa 11.708) Commentary by Sanatana Gosvami on this verse: nādhikuryāt strībhyo ‘dhikāra ṁ na dadyād-ityartha ḥ |  nādhikuryāt here means that one  should  not  give  authority  to  women. [Note: Above verse is talking about devotee women as Haribhakti-vilasa is meant for the devotees] Despite such repeated warnings by Sastras like the Hari-bhakt...