He sat down on the vyasasana and there was lot of noise and stuff going on. And I saw Srila Prabhupada was kind of looking into what is going on. And he said, “women in the back (in the microphone).” As soon as he said that, it was very very quiet. You can hear a pin drop. And the women walked in the back. But it’s not so much that women are inferior, it’s just that everyone was agitated and no one was really paying attention to him.

(Govinda Dasa. Prabhupada memories. DVD 94. 1.01.10-1.01.49. Video by Siddhanta Prabhu.)

Srila Prabhupada laughed and talked to his guests and devotees and during the day he would often relax and speak in the backyard of the house and it was pretty small backyard. There was big tree to which Prabhupada would lean back like this and he would laugh, and smile, and talk very casually with devotees.

Once when the yard was full of sannyasis and temple presidents and other devotees, all the men came into the yard and the women were gone to the next yard over behind a big steel fence. And they were all pressing against the fence, trying to see and hear Srila Prabhupada. And Srila Prabhupada looked over there and he said, “c’mon then c’mon.” So they all ran around and came into the yard. Srila Prabhupada told his men to move back and make some room.

“The women must sit here at front.” So we all did that. Because Srila Prabhupada was very equal with everyone. He gave a lot of mercy to the women and children. They were treated just as the men were.

(Radha-Damodara Dasa. Prabhupada memories. DVD 94. 1.21.08 to 1.22.25. Video by Siddhanta Prabhu.)