Hare Krishna Prabhu, a problem I feel is that much of the description of women in the books starts from the position of ordinary men are generally good,honest etc or at least neutral, but that there are some men who are dishonest, unscrupulous etc, whereas it starts from the premise that ordinary women are generally dishonest etc, but there are some good women - in this case spiritually minded women.
However when looking at the majority of society who are generally materialistic, you don't see a majority of badly behaved women and some badly behaved men. In fact, often the news is filled with men who behave in morally negative ways - the prisons are mostly filled with men for example.
Additionally, the quoting of Chanakya Pandit is puzzling, because he is the advisor to a king. Of course a king should be wary of politicians and women, kings face a very real risk of "honey traps" (beautiful women sent to deceive or even kill the king) or being misled by politicians. That is very different to the experience of the average man or woman.
The way I understand, is that is these passages Prabhupāda is trying to elevate women. Every woman has negative traits, just like any men. As human beings, we should realize these faults are there and learn to resist or avoid them. In some passages Prabhupada speaks about the men: rascals, fools, two legged animals, etc. then it may look that every single man is bad, but the point is for men to avoid becoming like this. Similarly in other passages (more rare) Prabhupada criticizes women with the same goal.
In the end, it is not that men are bad or woman are bad, but no one is perfect either, and everyone has work to do.
Hare Krishna Prabhu, a problem I feel is that much of the description of women in the books starts from the position of ordinary men are generally good,honest etc or at least neutral, but that there are some men who are dishonest, unscrupulous etc, whereas it starts from the premise that ordinary women are generally dishonest etc, but there are some good women - in this case spiritually minded women.
However when looking at the majority of society who are generally materialistic, you don't see a majority of badly behaved women and some badly behaved men. In fact, often the news is filled with men who behave in morally negative ways - the prisons are mostly filled with men for example.
Additionally, the quoting of Chanakya Pandit is puzzling, because he is the advisor to a king. Of course a king should be wary of politicians and women, kings face a very real risk of "honey traps" (beautiful women sent to deceive or even kill the king) or being misled by politicians. That is very different to the experience of the average man or woman.
The way I understand, is that is these passages Prabhupāda is trying to elevate women. Every woman has negative traits, just like any men. As human beings, we should realize these faults are there and learn to resist or avoid them. In some passages Prabhupada speaks about the men: rascals, fools, two legged animals, etc. then it may look that every single man is bad, but the point is for men to avoid becoming like this. Similarly in other passages (more rare) Prabhupada criticizes women with the same goal.
In the end, it is not that men are bad or woman are bad, but no one is perfect either, and everyone has work to do.