Social: Do matajis like being called Prabhu?

I have seen male devotees use the term prabhu to refer to matajis. Is this correct or not?

What do matajis think about this? Do they like being called prabhu?

Matajis may or may not have problem with it but a lot of men certainly have a problem with it :)

what Anupata said was also what I heard. In Radhadesh my mother was also referred as prabhuji. But with prabhu they greet the Supersoul and not this body...

I don't mind being called mataji or prabhu, but I feel more comfortable with mataji...

Srila Prabhupada explained to call everyone prabhu including the women. Call everyone prabhu but always think of oneself as servant.

There are several incidents where Srila Prabhupada addresses his female disciples as "prabhu", one that I can remember offhand is Prabhupada addressing Malati devi dasi as Malati prabhu. I remember distinctly reading Prabhupada saying to address everyone as prabhu and think of oneself as servant. Look in the letters section of the folio and you will find it.

Here are a few:

"Yes, to call one another prabhu is all right, but not to become prabhu. To accept others as prabhu, and remain as servant is the idea. But, because somebody is calling you prabhu, one should not become a prabhu, and treat others as servants. In other words, everyone should feel himself as servant, and not think himself prabhu because he is being called prabhu. This will make the relationship congenial." (Letter to Himavati Devi Dasi, June 14, 1968)

"The Lord Caitanya is called Mahaprabhu. Mahan-prabhu. Prabhu, master. There are different kinds of master, but He's the mahan-prabhu, the Supreme Master, Supreme Master, and Purusa at the same time. Prabhu, you can say. . . . A woman also can become the master. . . "(Cc Adi 7.108 lecture February 18, 1967)

hey prabhu!, bring me some more kitri.

translation:
hey master, bring me some more kitri

does "Prabhu" really mean master anymore?

If matajis demand Prabhu because of respect they better look for another term.

Hare Krishna Prabhus and MATAJIS !

I think this is one of the hot topic for which I had debated in the past with some devotee friends of mine. I dont mean to offend anyone here but want to express that I have asked this question to many senior Srila Prabhupada disciples and Gurus of ISKCON and they all feel that women should be addressed as Mothers that is Matajis and NOT "Prabhus".

This trend is becoming a standard in ISKCON like others calling "Guru Puja" as "Guru Pooj" and "Mangala Aarti" as "Mangals"

Personally I would call a women with great respect as Mother or Mataji if she is elder to me.

Just my two cents.

you should call them mataji even if they are younger or you may marry some of them hahaha

I prefer to be called Prabhuji rather than Prabhu :P just kidding!!!

We must follow Prabhupada's example and call everyone by their name and if in formal situation such as introduction to a book would address them as Srimate xxx Dasi or Srimate xxx Devi Dasi. Same with man, by adding das Adhikari/Brahmacari instead of devi Dasi. That how Prabhupada would do it.

Prabhupada would not call EVER ladies as Matajis (in plural). He would in mere two instances use word Mataji to his disciples in singular.

Nor ladies nor man should expect or want to be called Prabhus. If a man expects this he is worse then a lady, because he thinks that just by being male he should become the Lord.

While if addressing a number of devotees one should use plural Prabhus, as per Prabhupadas example. He also would use it in correspondence towards lady devotees, so there is no harm in using it in this way. One must strongly oppose Indianization of ISKCON, where a man expects to be addressed as Prabhu and thinks its male.

Yes, Prabhupada on 2 occasions used word Mataji to one of his disciples, but mostly not. In fact in his letters for ladies there are more examples of using Prabhu then these two occasions of Mataji in letters to Himavati. He never used is 'Matajis' (in plural) and only once "mothers" in a letter. That should give some idea, and of course he did not type the letters.

Here is an account on Prabhupadas use of the term from his servant Srutakirti:

<<My experience is as follows.

I went into Srila Prabhupada's room thousands of times when he rang his bell.
Usually he would ask me to get someone. It was generally done in the most informal way, such as: 'Get Tamal', 'call Karandhara', 'get me Pradyumna', 'call Malati', 'call Yamuna'. He didn't say Prabhu, Maharaja, Goswami, or Mataji or dasa or dasi for that matter. There were a few exceptions which were common sense. He would say 'call Govinda DASI'. That came off his tongue automatically just like it does for most of us. He didn't ask for Govinda mataji, or Govinda prabhu which would have been confusing.

In more formal settings, particularly in the temple room He would refer to someone by saying 'our Trikrama Maharaja, Visnujana Maharaja, Karandhara prabhu, Kirtanananda Maharaja, etc. For Pradyumna he had a special name and sometimes referred to him as Panditji.

When I was with Srila Prabhupada in India in 1972 sometimes in the temple rooms he would ask different disciples to speak or lead kirtan. He would ask both male and female disciples saying, 'Yamuna prabhu you can lead kirtan', Malati prabhu, you can speak something'.

In writing letters to his female disciples sometimes he addressed them 'My dear daughter'. It was natural, they were in their teens or early twenties. I don't ever remember Srila Prabhupada calling his female disciples mataji.

When I was in his presence he never addressed me as Srutakirti prabhu or Srutakirti das. Once,when I was a brahmacari I entered his room in LA, he said, 'So, Srutakirti Maharaja, how do you like it here in New Dwarka?' When I was a grhastha in Mayapur he once asked me in his room, 'So, Srutakirti Maharaja, how do you like it here in Mayapur?' Both times he had a beautiful smile on his face.

"...if women are better suited for occupations and services that were traditionally performed by men, we should accept that. whatever works best, for krsna's service."

How does that reconcile with the following statement by Krishna?

"It is better to engage in one's own occupation, even though one may perform it imperfectly, than to accept another's occupation and perform it perfectly. Duties prescribed according to one's nature are never affected by sinful reactions." Bg 18.47

In practice, when women have the idea that they should do what is traditionally men's work if they can do a better job, we get excessive interaction between unmarried men and women, which in many cases leads to marital infidelity and other kinds of illicit sex. In my career I work at an office in a section where more of my peers are women than men, and the result is that in this environment I'm forced to spend more time with these women than with my wife. Fortunately I have a very satisfying marriage, but it's easy to see how this kind of environment can lead to flirtatious behaviors and more.

In the matter of mother or prabhu, personally I cannot recall any time when I have referred to a woman as "Prabhu," though when I'm at my best I'm thinking of any devotee whether male or female as my superior. As I understand it, Srila Prabhupada predominantly advised that men address or refer to women as mataji or mother. I have occasionally addressed women as 'prabhavi,' but after a little experimentation with that I concluded that it is better to simply do as Srila Prabhupada advised. If there is a question of whether to follow what Srila Prabhupada himself did or to follow his directions for what to do, following his instruction is better.

When I address women as mother, I say, for example Mother Kunti, not simply "mother," unless I don't know her name, in which case I would say, "Mother, I'm sorry I don't know your name," giving her the option to tell me or not. If she does tell me, then I would then address her properly. Since we are mostly speaking in English with Sanskrit words or names inserted, it seems more natural to me to say "Mother Kunti," rather than "Kunti Mataji." I don't know what it would be like to speak conversational Sanskrit.

With regard to men, it seems that in practice devotees normally address each other as, for example, Narada Prabhu unless there is a feeling of contempt, in which case it becomes "Narada Dasa." Although I want to think of myself as the servant of Vaishnavas, I would still prefer to be referred to with the title Prabhu because it indicates some affection. Typically devotees seem to call each other "Narada Dasa" as a way of saying, "I don't respect you very much." While the ideal is that I should be humble, it is more important to me to know that devotees are pleased with me and see me affectionately. Also, I'm very reluctant to think of myself master of other devotees, but I do very much want to achieve mastery over the teachings that Srila Prabhupada has given, for that is the best way I know to become his good servant.

Getting a little off topic here... One thing is that I see humility a little differently than is the conventional understanding. For example, to boldly preach the message of the spiritual master, challenging anyone to defeat it, is my ideal of humility. It indicates strong faith in and surrender to the spiritual master, which is much better than everyone having their own ideas and holding a "to each his own" kind of philosophy, although most people would consider the latter more humble.

At least that's how I see it, for what it's worth.