The woman, the cow, the brahmana, the children - they are meant for absolute protection. That is the Vedic conception

Expressions researched:
"And the woman, the cow, the brahmana, the children -- they are meant for absolute protection. That is the Vedic conception"

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

The woman, the cow, the brāhmaṇa, the children—they are meant for absolute protection. That is the Vedic conception. They should always be given full protection. The children, the women, the brāhmaṇas, and the cows, they have no fault. In the laws of the state, a woman, a child, a brāhmaṇa and cow has no fault.

Lecture on BG Lecture Excerpts 2.44-45, 2.58 -- New York, March 25, 1966:

So the Bhagavān, He is the real enjoyer. He is the real enjoyer. You will find in the Bhagavad-gītā that bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram (BG 5.29). The Lord says that "I am the enjoyer. Whatever is being done here, I am the enjoyer." And bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram. "I am the proprietor." So therefore bhoga, bhoga means enjoyment. The real enjoyer is the Supreme Lord. We are enjoyed, we are not enjoyer. Just like a crude example. Because we have got our material senses, the example, in material world, we can just understand. Just like the husband and the wife. Now, the husband is called the enjoyer, puruṣa. Puruṣa. Puruṣa, man. Man is called puruṣa. Puruṣa means enjoyer. And the wife is called strī. Strī means woman. Strī means prakṛti. Prakṛti means which is enjoyed. The subject and the object. But the enjoyment, actually the enjoyment between husband and wife, that is participated by both. There is no division. When the actual enjoyment is there, there is no division, the husband is enjoying more or the wife is enjoying less or like that. There is no such division when the enjoyment is there. This is a crude example, but still, there is division. The husband is called the enjoyer, and the wife is called the enjoyed. Husband is called the predominator, and the wife is called predominated. Of course, in our India, Hindu conception of life, that a woman, woman, according to our Manu-saṁhitā scripture, woman is always protected. A woman is never given independence. She is protected during her childhood by the father, and she is protected in her youth by the husband, and she is protected in her old age by her sons. That is the conception. And the woman, the cow, the brāhmaṇa, the children—they are meant for absolute protection. That is the Vedic conception. They should always be given full protection. The children, the women, the brāhmaṇas, and the cows, they have no fault. In the laws of the state, a woman, a child, a brāhmaṇa and cow has no fault. They have no, I mean to say, in the criminal court they are never prosecuted. That is the Hindu law. Now, therefore the whole idea is that the, we are, we, the living entities, we are not enjoyer; we are enjoyed.