God is not female

Expressions researched:
"God cannot be female" |"God is never female" |"God is not female" |"God is purusa, not female"

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

God cannot be female. God is always male, puruṣa. And we are prakṛti.

Lecture on BG 1.21-22 -- London, July 18, 1973:

Actually the living entities are described in the Bhagavad-gītā, prakṛti. Prakṛti means woman. And puruṣa means man. So the living entities are never described as puruṣa. Puruṣa is Kṛṣṇa. Puruṣa śāśvata. When Arjuna said, paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān, puruṣaṁ śāśvatam adyam... (BG 10.12). Puruṣaṁ śāśvatam. Kṛṣṇa is always puruṣa. God cannot be female. God is always male, puruṣa. And we are prakṛti. That is described in the Bhagavad-gītā. Apareyam itas tu viddhi me prakṛtim parā (BG 7.5).

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

God is puruṣa. God is never female. This is another rascaldom. There are many rascals who think that God is female.

Lecture on SB 1.5.1-8 -- New Vrindaban, May 23, 1969:

God is puruṣa. God is never female. This is another rascaldom. There are many rascals who think that God is female. "Kālī, Goddess Kālī is God." Goddess Kālī, how can be God? She is śakti. Śakti. Every Vedic scripture it is said that parasya brahmaṇaḥ śaktiḥ. Everything is energy. So how God can be... That is the impersonalist. He can think of God, imagine, imagine. It is imagination. The Māyāvādī theory is that God..., there is no God. The impersonal, there is voidness. You can imagine any form. That's all.

Puruṣa means enjoyer. God is not female. Sometimes they worship a female as God, like Durgā, Kālī, and so many others. But God is puruṣa. Everyone is prakṛti.

Lecture on SB 1.7.23 -- Vrndavana, September 20, 1976:

Puruṣa means enjoyer. God is not female. Sometimes they worship a female as God, like Durgā, Kālī, and so many others. But God is puruṣa. Everyone is prakṛti. Prakṛti means female. Everyone knows it. There are two things, prakṛti and puruṣa. The puruṣa is the enjoyer, and prakṛti is the enjoyed. Or, in other words, puruṣa is the predominator and prakṛti is predominated. So we are prakṛti. The Māyāvāda philosophy is that prakṛti wants to become puruṣa. And that is not possible. Suppose a woman, if she dresses like a man, does it mean that she has become a man? No. Or a man dresses like a woman, does it mean that he has become woman? Simply by outward dress? No. Puruṣa, the only puruṣa is Kṛṣṇa. That is very nicely explained in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta: ekale īśvara kṛṣṇa, āra saba bhṛtya (CC Adi 5.142). Only Kṛṣṇa is puruṣa. He's the enjoyer. All others, they are servants. This is the position. Never try to become the puruṣa or the master. That is very dangerous. Always remain prakṛti. Prakṛti means to be controlled or controlled, and puruṣa means the controller.

God is puruṣa, not female. Puruṣa means enjoyer, and prakṛti means enjoyed. Everything is enjoyed by the Supreme Puruṣa. We are also prakṛti. That is also stated. We are not puruṣa.

Lecture on SB 3.25.15 -- Bombay, November 15, 1974:

So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to keep the mind and consciousness always in Kṛṣṇa, puṁsi. Puṁsi. Puṁsi. Puṁsi means the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He's a person. He's a male, not female. Puṁsi. Puruṣaḥ. Puruṣaḥ, not strī. When Kṛṣṇa was realized by Arjuna, he addressed Him, puruṣaṁ śāśvatam. Paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān, puruṣam (BG 10.12). God is brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān, puruṣam. God is puruṣa, not female. Puruṣa means enjoyer, and prakṛti means enjoyed. Everything is enjoyed by the Supreme Puruṣa. We are also prakṛti. That is also stated. We are not puruṣa. This dress may be... That is māyā, illusion. Actually, we are puruṣa, and prakṛti means... Here the so-called woman is also puruṣa. Puruṣa means enjoyer. The women, they are also thinking how to enjoy. And man is also thinking how to enjoy. Therefore imitation puruṣa. But actually, they're prakṛti. It is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, apareyam itas tu viddhi me prakṛtiṁ parām. The living entities, they are prakṛti. And they are trying to be puruṣa, enjoyer. This is material world. Therefore they are attached to the three guṇas because they want to enjoy this material world, artificially trying to become puruṣa. Puruṣa means enjoyer. As such, they are attached to this material world. And material world means guṇa, tri-guṇa. And according to attachment, they're getting different types of bodies.

In the Bhagavad-gītā Arjuna recognized Kṛṣṇa as puruṣa. Puruṣaṁ śāśvatam ādyam. So He's the puruṣa. God is puruṣa, male. God is not female. Female... The śakti, that is female, prakṛti.

Lecture on SB 7.9.33 -- Mayapur, March 11, 1976:

So this material world is explained,

tasyaiva te vapur idaṁ nija-kāla-śaktyā

sañcodita-prakṛti-dharmaṇa ātma-gūḍham

ambhasy ananta-śayanād viramat-samādher

nābher abhūt sva-kaṇikā-vaṭavat mahābjam

(SB 7.9.33)

Vaṭavat mahābjam. Abjam means flower, lotus flower? Yes. So this is the description of Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu and then Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu and then Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, trin, three Viṣṇus. First of all from... I have several times explained, from Kṛṣṇa, then expansion, Balarāma, then catur-vyūha, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna, Aniruddha, like that. Then Nārāyaṇa, then dvitīya catur-vyūha. From dvitīya catur-vyūha, Vaikuṇṭha, Saṅkarṣaṇa, then Puruṣa, Puruṣa-avatāra. These Puruṣas are three. In the Bhagavad-gītā Arjuna recognized Kṛṣṇa as puruṣa. Puruṣaṁ śāśvatam ādyam. So He's the puruṣa. God is puruṣa, male. God is not female. Female... The śakti, that is female, prakṛti.

1969 Conversations and Morning Walks

God is male. God is not female. The conception of female God, that is not authorized.

Room Conversation with Allen Ginsberg -- May 14, 1969, Columbus, Ohio:

Prabhupāda: In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is stated. Rāmādi-murttisu kalā niyamena tiṣṭhan nānāvatārān akarod bhuvaneṣu kintu, kṛṣṇaḥ svayaṁ. Kṛṣṇaḥ svayaṁ. Svayaṁ means the Supreme Person. Samabhavat paramaḥ pumān yo. Parama means the Supreme; pumān means the puruṣa, the male. God is male. God is not female. The conception of female God, that is not authorized. Paramaḥ pumān yo. So female is prakṛti, nature. Parasya śaktīr vividhaiva... Śaktī. So He has got many energies. The whole thing is manifested by energy, multi-energies. Viṣṇu-śaktīḥ parā prokta (CC Madhya 6.154). Viṣṇu, the energy of Viṣṇu, is transcendental, spiritual. Kṣetrajñākhya tathā para. As also this kṣetrajñā-śaktī, marginal potency, that is also transcendental, that is living entities. They are also transcendental. They are not material. Avidyā-karma-saṅga anya tṛtīya-śaktīr iśyate. Another śaktī, another energy, is there. That is avidyā, darkness. This is material energy. So living entity is originally spiritual, transcendental, as good as Kṛṣṇa's personal energy. But now they are covered by this material energy.