Can Women Take Sannyasa?

Have you ever wondered — in an age where gender equality is being discussed everywhere — can a woman actually take the order of sannyāsa? Is it supported by the scriptures? What do our ācāryas say about this topic?

A female is never awarded the order of Sannyasam. Because a female is never considered independent and Sannyasam was never awarded to any female in the past by the great Acaryas like Sankara, Ramanuja etc. The female Sannyasins are to be immediately understood as pretenders or prostitutes. In India they have organized so many organizations where specially young females are maintained to attract rich women-hunters who pretend to pose as righteous in the society. This is the age of Kali which plunders away spiritual sense of the human being and it is only the Divine Grace of Lord Caitanya Who can protect us from all these dangerous pitfalls. You were not agitated by unfavorable criticism and yet you chanted Hare Krishna Mahamantra that is the way of chanting Hare Krishna. I thank you very much for this forbearance. I am very glad to note that you can know the foolishness of the modern society in spiritual understanding and I thank you very much for your appreciation of my association. This association is disciplic and as such all thanks are due to Lord Krishna Who infuses His powers through the bona fide disciplic succession.

Letter to Brahmananda (14 March, 1967, San Francisco)

''Females are not meant for the renounced order of life; they should be faithful to their good husbands, for if a husband is competent for liberation, his wife will also achieve liberation with him. As stated in the shashtra, the results of a husband's pious activities are shared by his wife. Therefore a woman's duty is to be very chaste and faithful to her husband. Then without separate endeavor she will share in all the profit the husband earns.''

(SB 6.6.1 purport)