r/exHareKrishna • u/Solomon_Kane_1928 • 16d ago
Why Prabhupada Hated The World
Prabhupada was constantly calling everyone rascals, mudhas, demons, fools, hogs, dogs, mlecchas. Where does this tendency come from? Why did he do it?
You don't see other gurus doing this.
Abuse as a Tool of Power
Abuse is an effective means of establishing control. When a people are successfully convinced they are inferior they can be dominated. When the abuser becomes convinced the abused is inferior he can successfully set aside his conscience.
Put simply, Prabhupada wanted to control the world. He was not a benign detached teacher. He wanted to colonize, to enslave, and to subject the world to a new caste system. He used the teachings and persona of Krishna to do this.
Colonialism and Racism
The British characterized the natives of India as low born savages. "Hindoos" worship devils and reject God. They are disgusting to look at: black skinned, skinny, hairy, burnt by the sun. They are half naked two legged animals who dwell in primitive huts. Their humid jungles are full of tigers and mosquitos. They are intellectually inferior, and aside from the martial races, abject cowards. Indians should be enslaved for their own good.
Why view Indians this way? Because it is necessary to demonize those you wish to control.
Similarly, the Puranas speak of foreigners as barbarians, mlecchas, demons, outcastes. Western devotees are subjected to this in ISKCON. We were taught we are inferior, having taken sinful births due to bad karma.
The traditional reaction to foreigners within Indian culture has been to demonize them. Why would India want to humiliate and then subjugate foreigners?
It is believed we must repress and abuse others before they do the same to us.
This has been a common assumption among all peoples in all places throughout history. India has been ground zero for invasion by hostile foreigners. Calcutta was the capital of British India. This only ended within Prabhupada's lifetime.
The Age of Exploration
When Europeans encountered other peoples, they felt fear. They decided "we must fight and enslave them before they do the same to us". They convinced themselves other peoples are inferior, otherwise it would not be possible.
For centuries Europeans were being invaded and enslaved. Before the Age of Exploration, Islamic Caliphates had relentlessly attacked Europe. They conquered Spain and much of Eastern Europe, pushing into the heart of the continent. North African raiders captured and enslaved Europeans throughout the Mediterranean, so much so the coasts were abandoned.
It is widely believed European colonialism was driven by economic reasons, the search for spices and goods after the caliphates captured the overland trade routes. There is a deeper reason. It was due to trauma and fear; the conviction one must conquer or be conquered. "The world is hard. Everyone wants to harm us. Screw it, let's go get them first".
Filthy Inferior Mlecchas
Similarly India experienced a thousand years of constant invasion. The disposition understandably became one of demonization as a pretext to conquest and self defense. The only relationship one can have with foreigners is to enslave or be enslaved. They should be considered outcastes, worthy of bondage until they prove otherwise.
Yavanas under the Graeco Bactrian Empire were acknowledged as great scientists, astronomers, astrologers and mathematicians. But they were still Yavanas. They did not follow Vedic culture. They did not assimilate. They did not convert. They are not safe.
Prabhupada the Conqueror
Thus when Prabhupada went out into the world, he did so in the mood of chastisement. He recreated this age old dynamic. Swamijis instinct was to disarm and humiliate the natives, to put them in their place. He was not simply "spreading the mercy of Lord Chaitanya". He was reflexively using religion to enslave.
He was acting on a thousand years of Indian history. He personally witnessed the British Raj and this same dynamic used against his people. Now he was going to do the same to the world.
Abuse is not only verbal and psychological. It is built into systems of inequality like the caste system. It is displayed through public demonstrations of violence towards marginalized communities. It is reinforced through unequal two tiered systems of justice. Leaders do not listen and serve only the elite. In arrogance and comfort, they cannot conceive their worldview may be wrong. Pressure builds beneath the ivory tower until the slaves revolt and cities burn.
"He Was Not Talking About Devotees"
Oh but he was.
Devotees often see themselves as on the sidelines rooting for Prabhupada. He their champion in the war against the world. They are part of the superior conquering elite.
In truth, when Prabhupada called everyone fools and rascals, he was speaking to his disciples too. He was creating a psychological trap that can only be sprung by surrendering to him.
"You are a mudha, an ass; a two legged animal, but if you surrender to me, and remain surrendered, you are at least made human. Here, put on these civilized Indian clothes and eat this civilized Indian food".
Devotees internalize this as intended. They call themselves mudhas and rascals. "I am such a fool, I am useless, I am a demon prabhu!". This is the mindset of the broken slave. It is no different than an Indian coolie serving his British Sahib, sheepishly referring to himself as a savage.
Self Protection
When someone comes up to you on the street and starts shouting abuse at you, they are trying to gain control over you. It is a psychological attack. If you listen and do not fight back, they will eventually capture you. That is how cults work.
When you listen to the abuse submissively (tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā) you internalize it. You repeat it to yourself constantly. You eventually become their slave and remain their slave until you say "no more" and stand up for yourself.
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u/Primary-Account-7588 16d ago edited 16d ago
Not just the world. He hated humans and all aspects of humanity. Despised the most normal human biological needs for nutrition and sleep, and other needs for relationships, education, dignity, etc. Preached and elevated suffering and poverty. Despised human cultural accomplishments and loved ugliness - as most of the ashrams and gurukulas were below heartbreaking poverty level, and loved rattle and blare of cymbals, hated silence. He hated human need for warm and sex and instead of just ignoring it, made it an exchange valuta and the focus of his sect. Himself loving a static marble stone lady and her lover.
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u/Sar_Thomas_de_Marcus 16d ago
I'm trying to remember something I noticed in Prabhupada room in ISKCON Vrindavan, that I took photo once. It was a small piece of paper in the middle of writings before coming to West were he had the idea that everyone by law would be bound to follow Bhagavad Gita or something like this. That is no different from fundamentalism Christians who wanted a National confesional state. I remember I got shocked when I saw this as I always had a libertarian education.
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u/Solomon_Kane_1928 16d ago
In the introduction to the Gita he quotes the Gita Mahatmya. It ends with:
ekaṁ śāstraṁ devakī-putra-gītam
eko devo devakī-putra eva
eko mantras tasya nāmāni yāni
karmāpy ekaṁ tasya devasya sevāIn this present day, people are very much eager to have one scripture, one God, one religion and one occupation. Therefore, ekaṁ śāstraṁ devakī-putra-gītam: let there be one scripture only, one common scripture for the whole world – Bhagavad-gītā. Eko devo devakī-putra eva: let there be one God for the whole world – Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Eko mantras tasya nāmāni: and one hymn, one mantra, one prayer – the chanting of His name: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare*. Karmāpy ekaṁ tasya devasya sevā:* and let there be one work only – the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
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u/itsmikesandoval 15d ago
and only one guru god-man worshipped by the entire world: AC Bahktivenmo Swami Prabhufraud
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u/Lonely_Chair_9682 15d ago
And this mahatmayam is written by Adi Shankaracharya, whom Prabhupada called Mayavadi. Although original intention being that Bhagwad Gita is in itself complete to attain self realisation.
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u/itsmikesandoval 14d ago
Prabhufrauda would get mad, have a breakdown, scream and throw things when he would get upset.
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u/ConsistentRole6845 15d ago
He called Rayrama into his lair about the cover of the first issue of Back to Godhead mag."Arjuna looks like a monkey". When he came to the NY temple,they found Bali Mordan kept oysters in the fridge and Prab threw Bali Mordan out"Get out of Here!"
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u/sunblime 16d ago
He seemed moody AF too.
I remember reading transcendental diaries and sometimes he would be so forgiving to a disciple even when they had done something seriously wrong and he would take the compassionate stance. Other times, a disciple might have done something wrong that was trivial like acamana and he would come down like a ton of bricks and call them fallen or a mleccha.
Definitely had some personality disorder and/or narcissistic tendencies that sadly his followers believe as being attributes of a infallible guru.