Masculine

Expressions researched:
"masculine" |"masculinity"

SB Canto 4

SB 4.7.59, Purport:

According to a verse of the Vedic mantras, parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate: (CC Madhya 13.65, purport) the Supreme Personality of Godhead has different varieties of energies. Sakti is feminine, and the Lord is puruṣa, masculine. It is the duty of the female to serve under the supreme puruṣa. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā, all living entities are marginal energies of the Supreme Lord. Therefore it is the duty of all living entities to serve this Supreme Person.

SB Canto 9

SB 9.19.10, Purport:

Śukrācārya was an ācārya, or expert, in family affairs, which involve the transfer of semen from he-goat to she-goat. The words kaścid ajā-svāmī expressly indicate herein that Śukrācārya was no better than Yayāti, for both of them were interested in family affairs generated by śukra, or semen. Śukrācārya first cursed Yayāti to become old so that he could no longer indulge in sex, but when Śukrācārya saw that Yayāti's emasculation would make his own daughter a victim of punishment, he used his mystic power to restore Yayāti's masculinity. Because he used his power of mystic yoga for family affairs and not to realize the Supreme Personality of Godhead, this exercise in the magic of yoga was no better than the affairs of he-goats and she-goats. Yogic power should properly be used to realize the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As the Lord Himself recommends in Bhagavad-gītā (BG 6.47):

yoginām api sarveṣāṁ

mad-gatenāntarātmanā

śraddhāvān bhajate yo māṁ

sa me yuktatamo mataḥ

"Of all yogīs, he who always abides in Me with great faith, worshiping Me in transcendental loving service, is most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all."

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 13.1-2 -- Bombay, September 24, 1973:

Everyone is trying to enjoy the prakṛti, the material nature. Therefore the question is prakṛtiṁ puruṣaṁ caiva kṣetraṁ kṣetrajñaṁ eva ca. This is material nature and anyone who is trying to enjoy this material nature, he is called puruṣa. Purusa means enjoyer and prakṛti means enjoyed. Just like in ordinary life we see a man is supposed to be enjoyer and the woman is supposed to be enjoyed, similarly, prakṛti is feminine gender and puruṣa is masculine gender. Anyone who is trying to enjoy, he is puruṣa. It doesn't matter, outwardly he's dressed as man or women; if he has got the desire to enjoy, that is called puruṣa. And his object that is enjoyed, that is called prakṛti.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.16.4 -- Los Angeles, January 1, 1974:

Therefore it is said here nṛpa-liṅga-dharaṁ śūdram. Nṛpa-liṅga-dharam. Liṅga means, real meaning is gender. Just the masculine gender, feminine gender. And the other meaning is sign. Just like there are signs, certain signs, we can understand here is a male, here is a female. By the signs. So liṅgam means "signs," "symptom." So nṛpa-liṅga-dharam. Śūdra, actually he was a śūdra, but he dressed like a king. Just like if a woman dresses like a man, that is artificial. Or a man dresses like woman, that is also artificial. So everyone has his original dress and position. There, because a śūdra took the dress of a king, therefore it is called nṛpa-liṅga-dharam. Artificially, he was dressed like a king. That is the position of Kali-yuga. Now the government men, they are elected by votes. People do not consider whether he's a brāhmaṇa or kṣatriya or vaiśya or śūdra.

Lecture on SB 7.7.28, 32-35 -- Mombassa, September 11, 1971:

The Māyāvādī philosophy is..., they say that "You think of the spiritual master, he is God." That is Māyāvādī. Just like we have been in Surat, there is some Rāma Mandir without Rāma. This is rascaldom. They have placed their photo of spiritual master but no Deity. This is Māyāvādī. Ours is not like that. Ours is side by side. Not only spiritual master, his spiritual master, his spiritual master, along with the Deity. Tat liṅgam, we are calling(?) the form. So tasya liṅgānām mūrtinām. Liṅga means mūrti. The liṅga is sometimes... Some liṅga is also... Just like śrī-liṅga, pūr-liṅga, the feminine gender, masculine gender. So here liṅga also means the mūrti, the form. Liṅga means whether he is a puruṣa, or he is a woman or man, or his form. Liṅgānām mūrtinām. Mūrtinam īkṣaṇa. Īkṣaṇa means seeing. Therefore, the Deities should be very nicely decorated, the temple should be very much cleansed, all-attractive. People may come and immediately become attracted by the Deities, īkṣaṇam, with devotion. That is the system of temple worship.

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on Carl Gustav Jung:

Śyāmasundara: Well, are there not certain characteristics that are particularly male and certain characteristics that are particularly female?

Prabhupāda: Male is only God. That is the characteristic. Male means enjoyer and female means enjoyed. So except God, except Kṛṣṇa, nobody is enjoyer. Therefore He's God.

Śyāmasundara: So it's a false idea to think that anything is masculine besides God.

Prabhupāda: Masculine is a different (indistinct). Masculine gender. So that is called (indistinct), symbolic. But a real male is Kṛṣṇa.

Śyāmasundara: So what is masculine?

Prabhupāda: Masculine, that means the symbolic representation in the material body is called masculine. Just like we (indistinct)... Just like in Bengali it is said, when you see cow, whether you see male or female, you just raise up the tail and you will understand. So a cow, I mean to say, vagina is covered by the tail, so if you raise on the tail of a calf by, simply by raising the tail you can understand whether it is a male calf or female calf. So this science is a representation of the mentality.

Śyāmasundara: So the mentality of God.

Prabhupāda: Not God—of the particular living entity.

Śyāmasundara: So to say that, for instance, the ocean is a female, has female characteristics, and the mountain has masculine characteristics...

Prabhupāda: (indistinct) I do not know why the ocean has female characteristics (indistinct).

Śyāmasundara: Well, they say "mother ocean." They sometimes say "mother ocean."

Prabhupāda: Yes, yes. That is just like because ocean keeps within, her cover, covering element. (indistinct) element. As the female keeps the child covered within the abdomen, so in that comparison you can say "mother." But similarly in the mountain also, there are so many minerals, so many gems, and so many nice stones. Simply by saying it is very strong. So generally male is strong and the female is weak. In that sense you can give a terminology.

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Mr. C. Hennis of the International Labor Organization of the U.N. -- May 31, 1974, Geneva:

Prabhupāda: I have seen. I have seen in England, I have seen in America, they simply raise the cows for being killed in future. You see? But the duty of the agriculturist, they should give very, very protection to the cows especially.

C. Hennis: This doesn't apply to bulls and bullocks and male animals generally does it?

Prabhupāda: No, bullocks also. Cow means bullock also.

C. Hennis: Oh, is it?

Prabhupāda: Yes. Cow is feminine, bullock is the masculine, that's all.

C. Hennis: So it's the whole bovine race that's protected, and not just the cows themselves, not just the female cows?

Prabhupāda: No, both the male and female. The bullocks are used for so many other purposes. They can till the field. They can be used for transportation, so many other purposes. Or even we are spreading Kṛṣṇa consciousness. During Kṛṣṇa's time... Kṛṣṇa was born of a very well-to-do father, but at that time the bullocks were engaged for transportation from one village to another, one village to another. Or for carrying goods.

1971 Correspondence

Letter to Karandhara -- Bombay 28 April, 1971:

One thing is that in some cases I wasn't certain whether the names given were masculine or feminine. So from now on in all such cases the letter M or F, indicating Male or Female, must follow the name in brackets. Still there is some question, so if the gender is incorrect in the following names, you may make the necessary corrections.