Can Women do direct Guru Seva like feeding, washing, etc?
A Girl devotee (Name hidden) asked like this:
“Hare Krishna sir. I have a deep query . Who takes care of old devotees in Iskcon? I am planning to take diksha from a Guru in Iskcon and want to do life-long seva to Guru besides my professional career and I am a female. My question is: Are females allowed to do guru seva, especially in their old age when he will be ill like feeding them, washing feets , washing their clothes? Are females allowed? Hare Krishna . God bless u”
REPLY:
A single Guru.
He may be a Sanyasi.
A Person with no belongings and material wealth!
How many servants he will need for every shift?
Only a few are required for direct seva.
(STANDARDS OF CONDUCT FOR GURUS IN ISKCON! READ HERE!)
If all the devotees wish to do such direct seva, giving opportunity for all may not be possible.
And, Guru has to follow the purity for ever.
So, giving permission for women devotees to perform direct seva, may not be good for both of them. Moreover, many such women devotees will try for such sevas.
The relationship with the guru is a very pure and sensitive one.
Direct, personal physical services that involve intimate proximity or handling personal effects like clothing are generally performed by devotees of the same sex as the guru to avoid any potential for material contamination or public misunderstanding.
However, other than the services mentioned by you, women are encouraged to render service to the Lord and the guru in many other capacities according to their abilities, such as chanting, dancing, distributing books, deity worship (under specific guidelines), cooking for the temple, preparing flower malas, lecturing, prasadam distribution, and managing projects.
Srila Prabhupada accepted the service of women without discrimination in the above areas. But He did not allow women devotees to do close proximity sevas like preparing bed to sleep, washing clothes, medically serving his ailing body, etc.
(GURU SEWA – HOW TO SERVE GURU? READ HERE!)
He followed this even during medical treatments for him.
Vani seva is greaer than Vapu seva. Equally important also.
This can be understood from many of his letters to his disciples who were serving from all parts of this world.
SP LETTER TO TUSTA KRSNA, 14 DECEMBER. 1972:
“To carry out the teachings of guru is more important than to worship the form, but none of them should be neglected. Form is called vapuh and teachings is called vāņī. Both should be worshiped. Vāṇī is more important than vapuh.”
A Guru will get more pleased when his orders are executed by his devotees nicely wherever they are.
While a woman can render immense service to her guru and achieve spiritual perfection, the specific service of personally washing his clothes would typically be inappropriate according to the standards of separation and propriety established by Srila Prabhupada to help both the guru and the disciple remain fixed on the spiritual platform.
So, leave those close proximity services to a Guru to be done by the same sex disciples, ie, mostly males.
Select a service from many other Vani or Vapu services and satisfy your guru.
Because, a guru will get satisfied when his orders are nicely executed by a disciple though he is 1000 miles away.
(Vapu Seva & Vani Seva to Guru- Details! Which is more important? READ HERE!)
Srimad Bhagavatam says that the women should serve their husbands with supporting roles, considering him as the power holding person.
Srimad-Bhagavatam describes a patriarchy – a social system in which men hold power and their wives and daughters remain in a supporting role.
What results from a woman’s chastity and support of her husband?
In SB. 9.10.27, purport, Srila Prabhupada says:
“Not only was mother Sita powerful, but any woman who follows in the footsteps of mother Sita can also become similarly powerful. There are many instances of this in the history of Vedic literature. Whenever we find a description of ideal chaste women, mother Sita is among them. Mandodari, the wife of Ravana, was also very chaste. Similarly, Draupadi was one of five exalted chaste women. As a man must follow great personalities like Brahma and Narada, a woman must follow the path of such ideal women as Sita, Mandodari, and Draupadi. By staying chaste and faithful to her husband, a woman enriches herself with supernatural power.”
Hope you are clear.
(Process of Sanctioning & Removal of Gurus in ISKCON! READ HERE!)