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Tripurari Maharaj, have you seen the New York women?

Tripurari Swami : I had taken sannyasa in 1975 so I was still a relatively new sannyasi and, of course, I was a young man, I was only 25 years old. Prabhupada was at his quarters on the 11th Floor and I was sitting with Prabhupada and he said to me, "Tripurari Maharaj, have you seen the New York women?" I was a young sannyasi, and I didn't know what to answer. Have I seen the New York women? So I hesitated to answer, and he just went on. He said, "They are so beautiful, so charming," and he began to talk about the New York women. Then as he continued he said, "In this way, they are controlling all of the men in New York City. And because they are controlling all of the men, all of these buildings are going up and the whole city is manifesting," and he went on like this describing the whole development of New York. And he said, "It is all Vishnu maya." And it was so edifying for me because often the take on sannyasa in ISKCON was anti-women and women were to be avoided and something like that. But to see Prabhupada, the perfect sannyasi, meditating even on the beauty and the charm of the women and then be able to take it to that point that he did in perfect Krishna consciousness "It is all Vishnu-maya." He could meditate completely on the material nature, the material energy, and because of seeing it in relation to Krishna, he would never be in danger of being affected by the material nature. This is the real idea of sannyasa. So it was very enlivening to me to hear him say that. He wasn't really trying to teach me the points, he was just being himself and just expressing himself. Of course, whenever he expressed himself, however poetically and beautifully through his motions and through his words, it was very profound and edifying.


Reference: Following Srila Prabhupada-A Chronological Series by Tripurari Swami