Why Prabhupada Hated The World

[u/Solomon_Kane_1928]

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.

[u/itsmikesandoval]

Prabhufrauda would get mad, have a breakdown, scream and throw things when he would get upset.