13 Female Gurus in

ISKCON’s Guru Parampara mentioned in Bhagavad-gita “As It Is”

Hare Krishna.

Good News for both sides: Pro-FDG as well as anti-FDG. From the Guru Parampara mentioned in the Bhagavad-gita “As It Is.”

65% Gurus are Females in their spiritual identities

At a careful analysis of the Guru Parampara as given in the Bhagavad-gita “As It Is” of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, it is found that 65% of gurus of the disciplic line that starts from Madhavendra Puri and ends at A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada are Females in their spiritual identities. This is a good news for the supporters of Female Diksa-gurus in ISKCON.

100% Gurus are Males in their Material Incarnations

This careful analysis also reveals that all the gurus who were females in their spiritual identities, nonetheless, took a male form when they descended in the material world to preach and become Gurus. Hence, there is no Female Guru in the list. This is a good news for those who oppose Female Diksa-gurus in ISKCON.

Please see the analysis in tables below:

Guru’s Name	Spiritual Identity	Gender (Spiritual)	Gender (Incarnation)
21. Īśvara Purī,	Unknown	Unknown	Male
Nityananda	Lord Balarama	Male	Male
Advaita	Sadashiva / Mahavishnu	Male	Male
22. Lord Caitanya	Krsna	Male	Male
23. Rūpa	Rupa Manjari	Female	Male
Svarupa	Visakha-devi or Lalita Sakhi	Female	Male
Sanatana	Lavanga Manjari	Female	Male
24. Raghunātha	Raga Manjari	Female	Male
Raghunatha Das	Rasa or Rati or Tulasi Manjari	Female	Male
Jiva	Vilasa Manjari	Female	Male
25. Kṛṣṇadāsa	Kasturi Manjari	Female	Male
26. Narottama	Champaka Manjari	Female	Male
27. Viśvanātha	Vinoda-Vallari Manjari	Female	Male
28. Jagannātha	Rasika Manjari	Female	Male
Baladeva	Gopinath Acharya or Brahma	Male	Male
29. Bhaktivinoda	Kamala Manjari	Female	Male
30. Gaurakiśora	Guna Manjari	Female	Male
31. Bhaktisiddhānta	Nayanamani Manjari	Female	Male
32. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda	Unknown		Male

Summary Study of the Above Table:

Total no. of Gurus starting from Madhavendra Puri	20
Gender in Spiritual Identity
Male	04 (20%)
Female	13 (65%)
Unknown	03 (15%)
Gender in Material Incarnation
Male	20 (100%)
Female	00 (0%)
Unknown	00 (0%)

It is noticeable and worth considering, what stopped these liberated nitya-siddha personalities (whose eternal constitutional gender is female) from descending to this world in a female form? Probably because they were to take the position of Gurus which, in the material world, is not the constitutional position of the female form but the male form.

Below is a comprehensive list of different personalities in Mahaprabhu’s lila with their spiritual identities (svarupas). One may notice something there also.

	Gaura Lila	Krishna Lila	Gender (Spiritual)	Gender (Incarnation)	Gender Change
1.	Sri  Caitanya Mahaprabhu	Syamasundara, Sri Krishna	Male	Male	Same
2.	Sacimata	Yasodamayi	Female	Female	Same
3.	Jagannatha Misra	Nanda Maharaja	Male	Male	Same
4.	Laksmipriya	Janaki & Rukmini	Female	Female	Same
5.	Vishnupriya	Bhu Devi	Female	Female	Same
6.	Nityananda Rama	Lord Balarama	Male	Male	Same
7.	Hadai Pandita	Vasudeva	Male	Male	Same
8.	Padmavati	Rohini	Female	Female	Same
9.	Jahnava Mata	Ananga Manjari	Female	Female	Same
10	Vasudha	Varuni Devi	Female	Female	Same
11	Biracandra	Kshirodakashayi Vishnu	Male	Male	Same
12	Ganga Devi	Ganga Mayi	Female	Female	Same
13	Advaita Prabhu	Sadashiva / Mahavishnu	Male	Male	Same
14	Sita Devi	Yogamaya	Female	Female	Same
15	Gadadhara Pandita	Srimati Radharani	Female	Male	Changed to Male
16	Srivasa Thakura	Narada Muni	Male	Male	Same
17	Malini Devi	Ambika Devi	Female	Female	Same
18	Pundarika Vidyanidhi	Vrishabhanu Maharaja	Male	Male	Same
19	Mukunda Dasa	Vrinda Devi	Female	Male	Changed to Male
20	Saranga Thakura	Nandimukhi	Female	Male	Changed to Male
21	Govinda Acarya	Paurnamasi	Female	Male	Changed to Male
22	Svarupa Damodara	Lalita Sakhi	Female	Male	Changed to Male
23	Raya Ramananda	Visakha Sakhi	Female	Male	Changed to Male
24	Govindanandana Thakura	Citra Sakhi	Female	Male	Changed to Male
25	Ramananda Vasu	Indulekha Sakhi	Female	Male	Changed to Male
26	Sivananda Sena	Campakalata Sakhi	Female	Male	Changed to Male
27	Vakresvara Pandita	Tungavidya Sakhi	Female	Male	Changed to Male
28	Govinda Ghosa	Rangadevi Sakhi	Female	Male	Changed to Male
29	Vasudeva Ghosa	Sudevi Sakhi	Female	Male	Changed to Male
30	Raghava Pandita	Dhanistha Sakhi	Female	Male	Changed to Male
31	Rupa Gosvami	Rupa Manjari	Female	Male	Changed to Male
32	Raghunatha Dasa Gosvami	Rati Manjari	Female	Male	Changed to Male
33	Sanatana Gosvami	Lavanga Manjari	Female	Male	Changed to Male
34	Jiva Gosvami	Vilasa Manjari	Female	Male	Changed to Male
35	Raghunatha Bhatta Gosvami	Rasa Manjari	Female	Male	Changed to Male
36	Gopal Bhatta Gosvami	Guna Manjari	Female	Male	Changed to Male
37	Lokanatha Gosvami	Manjulali Manjari	Female	Male	Changed to Male
38	Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami	Kasturi Manjari	Female	Male	Changed to Male
39	Ramacandra Puri	Jatila Gopi	Female	Male	Changed to Male
40	Kholavecha Sridhara	Madhumangala Sakha	Male	Male	Same
41	Narahari Sarkara	Madhumati Sakhi	Female	Male	Changed to Male
42	Gauridasa Pandita	Subala Sakha	Male	Male	Same
43	Abhirama Thakura	Sridama Sakha	Male	Male	Same
44	Sikhi Mahiti	Ragalekha Sakhi	Female	Male	Changed to Male
45	Madhavi Mahiti	Kalakeli Sakhi	Female	Female	Same
46	Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya	Brihaspati Maharaja	Male	Male	Same
47	Paramananda Puri	Uddhava Mahasaya	Male	Male	Same
48	Keshava Bharati	Akrura / Sandipani Muni	Male	Male	Same
49	Jagai & Madhai	Jaya & Vijaya	Male	Male	Same
50	Gopinatha Acharya	Caturmukha Brahma	Male	Male	Same
51	Haridasa Thakura	Prahlada / Brahma	Male	Male	Same
52	Nilambara Cakravarti	Garga Acharya	Male	Male	Same
53	Devananda Pandita	Bhaguri Rishi	Male	Male	Same
54	Gangadasa	Durvasa Muni	Male	Male	Same
55	Vrindavana Dasa Thakura	Vedavyasa	Male	Male	Same
56	Vallabha Bhatta	Sukadeva Gosvami	Male	Male	Same
57	Madhavendra Puri		Unknown	Male
58	Isvara Puri		Unknown	Male
59	Narottama Dasa Thakura	Champaka Manjari	Female	Male	Changed to Male
60	Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura	Vinoda-Vallari Manjari	Female	Male	Changed to Male
61	Jagannatha Dasa Babaji	Rasika Manjari	Female	Male	Changed to Male
62	Bhaktivinoda Thakura	Kamala Manjari	Female	Male	Changed to Male
63	Gaurakishora Dasa Babaji	Guna Manjari	Female	Male	Changed to Male
64	Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati	Nayana-Mani Manjari	Female	Male	Changed to Male
65	A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada	Unknown	Unknown	Male

Summary study of the above Table:

No. of Female Personalities of Spiritual World descended in Preaching pastimes of Lord Caitanya	40
Changed Female Forms to Male Forms	30 (75%)
Kept Female Forms intact	10 (25%)
Changed Male Forms to Female Forms	00 (NONE)

Conclusion:

When Krishna descended to this world, female forms descended as is, without change. But in Gaura Lila, majority of them descended changing their forms to Male forms. This may be because Lord Caitanya specifically came (external reason) to this world for preaching. In this world Male form is fit for preaching and doesn’t go against the Vedic Culture designed by Lord Krishna to uplift fallen souls in mass if they preach by going out. However, if female form has to preach, then going out, becoming leader, taking positions, etc. directly confronts with their prescribed behavioural norms specifically given by Lord Krishna for all female forms in the material world to follow. So if female form starts preaching then they transgress their acarana (behavioral norms) wihtout which preaching is useless. Achara (right behavior) and pracara (preaching) should go together; otherwise foolish conditioned souls tend to imitate and create havoc. This issue is discussed thoroughlt by Lord Krishna in Bhagavad-gita 3.17-25, where he says that even He Himself follows the Behavioral Norms set by Vedic Culture (designed by Himself) when He descends to the material world.

Thus, even if some ISKCON devotees in female form are nitya-siddha, they still need to follow this practice of not accepting the position of gurus following in the footsteps of majority of the nitya-siddhas described above.