Hare Krsna
Please accept my humble obeisance. All glories to Srila Prabhupada
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
For lecturing, any one of our members can speak. Simply one has to memorize the purports and then speak in one's own language. For anyone who chants and follows the rules and regulations, where is the anxiety? You are an old, experienced devotee, so you behave like this and teach her to do so wherever you may stay. (Letter to Revatinandana Swami. 7 November 1975.)
Please continue your devotional service, cooking, etc., and you can also keep giving Bhgavatam class if you like. Women in our movement can also preach very nicely. Actually, male and female bodies, these are just outward designations. Lord Chaitanya said that whether one is brahmin or whatever he may be, if he knows the science of Krishna then he is to be accepted as guru. So those who give class should read and study regularly and study the purport and realize. They should not add anything or concoct anything. Then they can preach very nicely. The qualification for leading class is how much one understands about Krishna and has surrendered to the process, not whether one is male or female. (Letter to Malati Dasi. 25 December 1974.)
So far as the women distributors who have left New York and Boston temples and have gone to New Vrindavan, they should return immediately and resume their original service. In Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's movement, everyone is a preacher. Whether man or woman, it doesn't matter. I don't know why he is encouraging our women devotees not to go out on sankirtana for book distribution. Everyone should go out. (Letter to Karandhara. 6 October 1973.)
I am especially proud of how my householder disciples are preaching Lord Chaitanya's mission. This is a new thing in the history of the sankirtana movement. In India, all the acaryas and their descendants acted only from the man's side. Their wives were at home because that is the system from old times. But in Bhagavad-gita we find that women are also equally competent like men in the matter of the Krishna Consciousness movement. Please therefore carry on these missionary activities and prove it by practical example that there is no bar for anyone in the matter of preaching work for Krishna consciousness. (Letter to Himavati. 20 December 1969.)
Lecture is also kirtana, so just like a morning kirtana is there, similarly morning lectures can also be delivered. In New York, or even San Francisco, when I was present I too was giving lectures in the morning. So as far as girls or boys lecturing in the morning, that doesn't make any difference. Either girl or boy devotees may deliver lecture if they choose to do. We have no such distinction of bodily designations, male or female. Krishna consciousness is on the spiritual platform. As such, anyone who is a devotee of the Lord, following in this line of disciplic succession, can deliver a lecture on the teachings of Bhagavad-gita, Srimad Bhagavatam, etc. (Letter to Syama Dasi. 21 October 1968.)
Regarding lecturing by women devotees, I have informed you that in the service of the Lord there is no distinction of caste, creed, color, or sex. In the Bhagavad-gita, the Lord especially mentions that even a woman who has taken seriously is also destined to reach him. We require a person who is well-versed in the knowledge of Krishna, which is the only qualification for speaking. Materially, a woman may be less intelligent than a man, but spiritually everyone is pure soul. On the absolute plane there is no gradation of higher and lower. If a woman can lecture nicely and to the point, we should hear carefully. That is our philosophy. But if a man can speak better than a woman, the man should be given first preference. A sincere soul should be given proper chance to speak, because we want so many preachers, both men and women. (Letter to Jaya Govinda. 8 February 1968.)
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