By cultivating shyness and by bearing children,
women become more beautiful.
women become more beautiful.
A shy woman
commands the respect of men: "Shyness is a particular extra-natural beauty
of the fair sex, and it commands respect from the opposite sex… This shyness is
a gift of nature to the fair sex, and it enhances their beauty and prestige,
even if they are of a less important family or even if they are less attractive…Half-naked
ladies in the street do not command any respect, but a shy sweeper's wife
commands respect from all." (SB
1.10.16 Ppt)
Srila Prabhupada tells a story from his own life of one such shy sweeper's wife.
Prabhupada: We
have got experience in our school, college days. I was sitting in a friend's house and one
sweeper woman, sweeper, with broomstick and with, what is called, covering?
Devotee: Shawl.
Prabhupäda:
She was standing, say, about twenty yards distant from our sitting place. So I asked my friend that: "Your, this
sweeper woman wants to come in. She's
waiting because we are sitting. She is
ashamed [shy] to come. So let us come
here." So we stood separately. That means although she was a sweeper woman,
still we had to honor her to enter. We
stood up separately. She was feeling
that, "How can I go between two men?"
This we have seen in our [youth]... So this is Vedic culture. (Lecture, Bg
1.40, 28/7/73, London)
Respectable ladies
Srila Prabhupada explains that cultured ladies keep their distance from men. He tells the story of Krsna's return to Dvaraka. "The inhabitants of Dvärakä were all owners of big palaces. This indicates the prosperity of the city. The ladies got up on the roofs just to have a look at the procession and the Lord. The ladies did not mix with the crowd on the street, and thus their respectability was perfectly observed. There was no artificial equality with the man. Female respectability is preserved more elegantly by keeping the woman separate from the man. The sexes should not mix unrestrictedly." (SB 1.11.24 Ppt) In another place, he mentions that when Krsna and Balarama entered the city of Mathura, "the ladies and girls immediately went up to the roofs of the houses to see Them." (KB 41, Krsna Enters Mathura) Srila Prabhupada uses the word "parda" to indicate "restricted association with men." He says that during the time Lord Krsna was here on earth, the cultured ladies observed this practice of restricting themselves from too much association and familiarity with men.
In the western countries, boys and girls, men and women, associate together freely and thus there is too much familiarity. Familiarity leads to illicit sex, which leads to unwanted children, which leads to so many problems. Animals mix freely and do not have restrictions. Animals don't sin. Animals just live out their karma and don't incur reactions for their behavior. But the human form of life, being a springboard to enable souls to escape the cycle of samsara, requires greater responsibility. We are supposed to follow restrictions so that we can purify our hearts and reawaken our love for Krsna, thus positioning ourselves to catch hold of the rare opportunity to go back home to the spiritual world.
Better and safer than a society which allows free-mixing of boys and girls is a society which keeps boys and girls separate from an early age. When boys are trained in brahmacarya and girls are trained to be chaste and faithful wives, good population can result. It is our responsibility as human beings to practice restricting ourselves from unnecessarily associating with the opposite sex and helping our children to see the importance of parda as well.
Shyness and child-bearing increase beauty
Girls want to be beautiful. They are also naturally shy when they are small and their shyness makes them more beautiful, more attractive, yet it protects them at the same time. We should encourage the shyness of girls and not discourage it. Shyness protects girls and women from unnecessarily becoming too familiar with and mixing with boys and men. "Shyness is a check to the unrestricted mixing. It is nature's gift, and it must be utilized." (SB 1.10.16 Ppt) A girl who cultivates her shyness enhances her beauty.
Srila Prabhupada said, "Therefore by nature, women are beautiful." (SB 1.8.47, Lecture, 9/5/73, LA) He also said that with the birth of each child, a woman becomes more and more beautiful. "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, Ppt) Beauty is natural to women, as is child-bearing. By cultivating shyness and (for those of us who are physically able to bear children) by accepting the purifying, beautifying function of giving birth to children, we women, who certainly desire to be attractive to our husbands, can increase our natural beauty, both internally and externally.
Respectable ladies
Srila Prabhupada explains that cultured ladies keep their distance from men. He tells the story of Krsna's return to Dvaraka. "The inhabitants of Dvärakä were all owners of big palaces. This indicates the prosperity of the city. The ladies got up on the roofs just to have a look at the procession and the Lord. The ladies did not mix with the crowd on the street, and thus their respectability was perfectly observed. There was no artificial equality with the man. Female respectability is preserved more elegantly by keeping the woman separate from the man. The sexes should not mix unrestrictedly." (SB 1.11.24 Ppt) In another place, he mentions that when Krsna and Balarama entered the city of Mathura, "the ladies and girls immediately went up to the roofs of the houses to see Them." (KB 41, Krsna Enters Mathura) Srila Prabhupada uses the word "parda" to indicate "restricted association with men." He says that during the time Lord Krsna was here on earth, the cultured ladies observed this practice of restricting themselves from too much association and familiarity with men.
In the western countries, boys and girls, men and women, associate together freely and thus there is too much familiarity. Familiarity leads to illicit sex, which leads to unwanted children, which leads to so many problems. Animals mix freely and do not have restrictions. Animals don't sin. Animals just live out their karma and don't incur reactions for their behavior. But the human form of life, being a springboard to enable souls to escape the cycle of samsara, requires greater responsibility. We are supposed to follow restrictions so that we can purify our hearts and reawaken our love for Krsna, thus positioning ourselves to catch hold of the rare opportunity to go back home to the spiritual world.
Better and safer than a society which allows free-mixing of boys and girls is a society which keeps boys and girls separate from an early age. When boys are trained in brahmacarya and girls are trained to be chaste and faithful wives, good population can result. It is our responsibility as human beings to practice restricting ourselves from unnecessarily associating with the opposite sex and helping our children to see the importance of parda as well.
Shyness and child-bearing increase beauty
Girls want to be beautiful. They are also naturally shy when they are small and their shyness makes them more beautiful, more attractive, yet it protects them at the same time. We should encourage the shyness of girls and not discourage it. Shyness protects girls and women from unnecessarily becoming too familiar with and mixing with boys and men. "Shyness is a check to the unrestricted mixing. It is nature's gift, and it must be utilized." (SB 1.10.16 Ppt) A girl who cultivates her shyness enhances her beauty.
Srila Prabhupada said, "Therefore by nature, women are beautiful." (SB 1.8.47, Lecture, 9/5/73, LA) He also said that with the birth of each child, a woman becomes more and more beautiful. "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, Ppt) Beauty is natural to women, as is child-bearing. By cultivating shyness and (for those of us who are physically able to bear children) by accepting the purifying, beautifying function of giving birth to children, we women, who certainly desire to be attractive to our husbands, can increase our natural beauty, both internally and externally.
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