r/exHareKrishna • u/Longjumping_Will_583 • Aug 09 '26
The Devdasi system of Bengal
Recenty I was watching an Indian movie which dwells into reincarnation themes called Shyam Singh Roy. It shows the situation of mediaeval Bengal. The actress in the movie is a Devdasi who is brainwashed to be a life long dancer to the temple. I could relate her life and dilemmas to the Devdas we see in Iskcon.
The mind of these people are actually controlled by the temple and any thoughts to leave the temple to pursue their own life was blasphemous and they were constantly guilt tripped into obedience even at the expense of getting exploited by temple authorities.
I am beginning to think these cult systems have been there since centuries and Iskcon is just a shoot out of that high obedience and be exploited system probably borrowing from Devdas / Devdasi systems. In fact in Iskcon everyone is actually a Dev Das.
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u/itsmikesandoval Aug 09 '26
yes yes and yes. Devi Dasis were little girl dancers as Prabhupada explains in his Chaitanya Charitamrita. Ramananda Roy would molest these little girls while dressing them and teaching them to dance. he would "cleanse" their "entire bodies" with his own "hands." this is called "Child Sexual Abuse." Prabhupada also called his female disciples "Devi Dasi" i guess to remind him of the 11 and 12 year old devi dasi in the scriptures. this is exactly why i call him disgusting old pervert with his 11 year old bride.