During his early period of sadhana in Allahabad, Vijnanananda was very strict about women; he did not allow any women to visit the Brahmavadin Club, which was actually a men’s club. One day the sweeper went somewhere to do errands, so he sent his young daughter to clean Vijnanananda’s privy. She met the swami while walking down the steps, and greeted him with a smile. He did not want a woman to clean his privy, so he told her, “Starting tomorrow I don’t need anybody to clean my privy.” She reported this to her father. That evening the sweeper rushed to the swami and apologized. At first Vijnanananda said sternly to him: “I don’t need anybody. I shall go to the public privy.” Later, out of compassion, he told the poor sweeper, “If you want to serve me, please come; but don’t send anyone else.” Shivananda once remarked, “Even a she-fly has no entry in Hari Prasanna’s ashrama.”
Let the reader not misunderstand: Vijnanananda did not hate women. But he was an ideal monk who followed his guru’s advice without compromise. Later, when he moved to his own ashrama, his sister came to visit him. He arranged for her to stay in an inn. In 1918 his mother came to Prayag for a pilgrimage and holy bath during Purna Kumbha (an auspicious festival that falls once every twelve years). He arranged for her to stay in the ashrama guest house and served her wholeheartedly. He was a pure soul who had conquered lust — a great obstacle to spiritual life. Once he said to a monk in Allahabad: “I have never seen any woman even in my dreams [meaning, no lustful dreams]… . In my fifty-three years of life, the Divine Mother has never shown me Her bewitching form.” During a talk to the monks at Belur Math in 1937, Vijnanananda said: “Respect women as you respect Holy Mother in the temple. They are aspects of the Divine Mother. Bow down to them from a distance, because you are monks.”39 When Vijnanananda became president of the Ramakrishna Order, he initiated many women and was very kind and loving towards them. Once he said to a woman devotee: “Call on Holy Mother; you will achieve everything. The Master is very strict about bestowing his grace, but the Mother is very compassionate. I have achieved everything by her grace.” (Source: God Lived with Them)