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Mataji

Udayananda Dasa:  I was on the Radha-Damodar party for a little over two years, and occasionally we met Prabhupada in different places, Chicago, Atlanta, Ratha-yatra in San Francisco and he would speak to us. In a personal darshan in Atlanta, Prabhupada stressed the importance of brahmacharya in spiritual life.

He encouraged us to remain brahmacharis and said, "If you stay brahmachari then you have a 75 percent chance of going back to Godhead in this very life, but if you take up the grihastha ashram, 25 percent. Therefore, try to see all women as mataji, as mother, and address them as, 'my dear mataji.' Mataji is a respectful term that means you love and respect that person just as you love and respect your own mother. A mataji is one of the gurus, the Bhagavatam says you should not become father or mother unless you can save your dependents from repeated birth and death. So if you address all women as matajis, you will not look at them as objects of sense gratification."


Reference: Memories Anecdotes of a Modern Day Saint - Volume 3 by Siddhanta Dasa