Equality of Men and Women

Question: Swami, when we say ‘men and women are equal’, then why do we find differences and discrimination between the two sexes?

Bhagavan: Physically men and women are different. But spiritually, i.e., from the atmic [soul] point of view, both are equal. In fact, God [purusha] is the only male while all others are females [prakriti]. The deham [body] is also called puram [dwelling place]. It is the principle of atma that works from top to bottom. You know that colleges for women celebrate anniversary functions during which they present cultural items like a play. Here, girls play all the different roles of a soldier, a minister, a king, and so on.

Similarly, all but God are women in this world. Here is a story from the life of Mira, the great devotee of Lord Krishna. She was stopped at the main entrance of a Krishna mandir [temple] at Brindavan and was told that women were not permitted to enter a temple of God. Then Mira replied, “Oh! Is that so! Where are men here? I find only women. God is the only male.”

However, from the worldly point of view, for the division of work, men and women are different from each other. Everything and everyone is divine. Even though it is your own body, you don’t put slippers or footwear on the head or hands. Functionally, all the parts of the body are different from each other, though they may belong to the same person. So, also, physically and functionally men and women are separate entities though spiritually they are one and the same.