In plain words
Whatever man develops the holy qualities in women with enthusiasm and encouragement, that man attains fitting progress. They think of women as good for nothing. “We are men; what is the mark of a man? A job is the mark of a man”: so they strut about in pride. Are there not so many women who hold jobs? Are they not women? Are there not so many men without jobs? Are there not so many women who hold jobs? Now, if you look at it fairly, if you inquire, more women than men are holding jobs. The other day, when I went to the ITI there for something, the director came. “How many women are there in this telephone factory?” I said. “Swami! Ninety-nine per cent are women,” he said. I asked, “Why have you not taken men?” “But Swami, in the work men do, women do ten times as much.” Once they have entered into a piece of work, for women it is a vow. Until it is finished they do not loosen their grip at all. That dedication to work is found in them alone. That is why that work is a strength suited to them alone. So: “Man must do a job; women must do the cooking”: no śāstra says so. At times men too are cooks. At present there are many male cooks. So we cannot divide it up, saying that cooking is one person's right and a job is another's. According to time and circumstance, women too may hold jobs. Men too may hold jobs, or women too may do the cooking. Men too may cook. Awareness is life: that means one must know how to do work of every kind. No one has the authority to decide, “This work is theirs, that work is those others'.” So we must learn every kind of work. That enthusiasm and zeal are seen in greater measure in women alone. People think Awareness means to understand. Understanding: how far is one to carry it? If you understand something only a little, that is not understand. When you ask, “What is this?”, they say, “Piece of cloth.” When you ask, “What is this?”, they say, “This is a hand kerchief.”