The Bharadvaja-samhita is a bona fide text, one that liberally stresses equal opportunity for everyone, from any gender or background, to qualify as spiritual masters (siksa- and diksa-gurus). But the neo-smartas, in their unhealthy fixation with stopping women from initiating disciples, corrupt the text by mistranslating and misinterpreting it, adding artificial, unauthorized and unverifiable prerequisites - against tradition and the teachings of the Gaudiya acaryas (incidentally, by trying to block women, they actually block also men from becoming gurus...).

I was asked to comment on the topic of competition, especially between husband and wife. Recently someone wrote, "a woman is meant to serve as the auspicious source of energy and inspiration to man is entirely lost in modern times. On the contrary, the modern woman is competing with men . . . The most painful thing for a man’s heart is to look like a fool and a loser in the eyes of a woman." I am arguing that, first of all, if a man doesn't want to "look like a fool and a loser" he shouldn't act as a fool and a loser. I am also elaborating on the fact that we can act differently in different environments - as Srila Prabhupada explained in a letter to four ladies, four book distributors who were wondering how to manage their aggressivity while distributing book and simultaneously were "concerned about being chaste, shy, and submissive amongst your godbrothers." (Letter of 30 July 1975). An intelligent woman will succeed in managing her "energy level" in different environments - the work sphere, the family relations, etc. To conclude with a relevant analogy given by Srila Prabhupada (conversation in Philadelphia, 13 July 1975): "'A lamb at home, a lion in the chase.' When you are chasing, you must be a lion. But when you come home, you do not try to chase the devotees."

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Srila Prabhupada clearly declared, about the men and women in his movement, "the rights are the same"; but deviated and pathologically affected neo-smartas reject the Founder-Acarya's words, taking shelter in their dark fears of women and of women's empowerment. Their opposition to women diksa-gurus is the grossest and most evident expression of their psychological and theological maladjustment, but the neo-smartas' tamasic, indiscriminating "anti-feminism" finds receptive ears in typically misogynistic environments. Their demonization of "Western Feminism" is not much of a trickery - emotionally healthy, educated and... normal people would never buy such anachronistic fanaticism, but neo-smarta demagogy still appeals to the... less enlightened and more body-conscious. (And for such audiences, the neo-smartas throw also in, for good measure, some disorderly and totally anti-sastric homophobic and transphobic sentiments).