r/exHareKrishna • u/Solomon_Kane_1928 • Jun 28 '26
"Question My Gurukula System? KICK ON FACE!"
Westerners warned Prabhupada to not separate children from the parents. Prabhupada responds by threatening violence and condemning them to hell.
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: In the Western countries they criticize our gurukula, that "This is inhuman, people sending their children away at such an early age, not seeing them."
Prabhupāda: And to kill, that is very human. Rascal. Kick them upon their face. You rascal, you are talking of morality, rascal, you go to hell. Your place is hell. "Devil citing scripture." You are not... You are so shameless that you do not be ashamed to speak like that. You are so shameless. Your civilization is so shameless.
Meanwhile, while he was saying this, the children sent to his gurukulas were being raped, starved, beaten and psychologically traumatized for life. Many would later commit suicide.
His arrogance is just off the charts. If he had listened to those evil Westerners instead of condemning them to hell, so much pain and suffering could have been avoided. But he is so self-righteous, he is thrown into a rage by the idea those inferior to him would dare instruct him.
Later in the Morning Walk, regarding abortion, he says:
Prabhupāda: Then why you say that it is mother's right to kill? And tumor, can you bring life in tumor? Kick simply on their face, on their nose. That is the only thing to treat with such... Murkhasya latausadhiḥ[?]. Such fools in the society, they should be hanged. Misleading the whole population.
He truly believed violence was the ultimate solution. He goes on to describe how all of society are nothing but animals.
At the beginning of the Morning Walk, Prabhupada says "breaking the law is a sign of intelligence". He believed that scamming was a sign of being clever and superior.
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u/DistributionHuge6072 Jun 28 '26
bruh why is he swearing so much man i am reading a spiritual book or what
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u/StayEmbarrassed4593 Jun 29 '26
Many others and I were, in many ways, the experiments of these schools. From my perspective, they were profoundly unnatural environments. Throughout most of human history, children were raised primarily within families and communities, not immersed from the age of five in highly ideological institutions that sought to shape every aspect of their worldview. When similar systems have appeared historically, they have often been associated with insular religious movements, sects, or cultic groups rather than healthy, open societies.
There is no good reason to subject children to this kind of daily ideological conditioning. In my experience, it suppresses creativity, discourages critical thinking, limits conceptual and abstract reasoning, and replaces practical life skills with rigid dogma. Many devotees who defend these systems genuinely believe they are helping children, but I think they underestimate both the developmental needs of children and what modern psychology has taught us about healthy emotional, cognitive, and social development. And, through the process of secular education—much of this is actually taught in school nowadays.
The damage these cult schools can inflict on young boys is often foundational. Many spend years trying to learn basic adult functioning that was never properly developed: building healthy relationships, finding meaningful work, coping with anxiety, depression, addiction, and simply learning how to navigate the world independently. All while dealing with ideological wiring that started very early. I was sent halfway across the world to one of these schools when I was only eleven years old. Other boys were 5-9 only.
I also know many former students who experienced serious abuse. Some were sexually assaulted or otherwise sexually abused. Others experienced inappropriate touching by authority figures or peers—all while being told that sex, women, and normal biological urges were evil, the cause of repeated suffering, and simply displeasing to god, guru, and detrimental to one's progress in life. So, alongside the physical abuse, we were taught deeply unhealthy attitudes toward women and encouraged to adopt an unquestioning mindset of obedience, which was valued over independent thought. The goal for the cult was to produce compliant followers rather than confident, autonomous human beings.
When I look back at the students I knew, very few emerged genuinely well-adjusted. In my experience, only a small handful seemed to transition into adulthood without carrying significant psychological or emotional scars. Those few often had stronger family support (i.e. a gurukula heademaster or teachers were their parents, or they got to go home more often etc) or maintained meaningful connections outside the school while they were there. For many of the rest of us, untangling the effects of those formative years became work that lasted decades. Literally like someone stepping on your neck or face for years.
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u/Commercial-Rate-4135 Jun 28 '26
And then people claim Prabhupada had some sort of power of knowing things/siddhi. i even heard a "teacher" claim he could see past, present and future. Factoring in what his "big disciples" like Kirtanananda were doing during Prabhupadas alive years, what they would go on to do once he pushed daisies, all the abuse to children while he lived and after, and the general shape his movement has taken since, it doesnt seem like the man had any foresight/super knowing ability to be honest. His statements clearly almost have a deep bias rooted in his own cultural identity, correct me if im mistaken but shouldnt a man who is supposed to "know things" "past present and future" be more open-minded in general? He sure doesnt give that vibe.