- He was a strong Vaishnava who painted Advaitas as Maaya Vaadis
- He called those whom he disagreed with as rascals (by which he did not mean the same thing though)
- He defines Maaya as hard work and mocks those who work
- He criticized atheists
Source: https://prabhupadavani.org/transcriptions/720420sbhk/ (A talk addressing children, discussing Sreemad Bhagavatham 7.6.1, the story of Hiranyakashipu and Prahlaada)
This is a verse spoken by Prahlāda Mahārāja, Prahlāda Mahārāja, when he was a five-years-old boy, like all these children. Kaumāra. Kaumāra age is called from five years to ten years. That is called kaumāra. So Prahlāda Mahārāja was born of an atheist father. The father was atheist number one, Hiraṇyakaśipu. He is described as rākṣasa, demon, like that. Daitya. Daitya means demon.
He repeats “atheist number one” a couple of times. Although Hiranyakashipu’s fascism is what makes us hate him.
There are two classes of men. One class is called daitya and the other class is called devata. Dvau bhūta-sargau loke daiva āsura eva ca [Bg. 16.6]. There are two classes of men, known as daiva, and another, asura. Viṣṇu bhaktaḥ bhaved daiva āsuras tad viparyayaḥ. Those who are devotees of the Lord, they are called daiva or devata, demigods. And those who are just the opposite number, they are called daitya, or demon.
He was very careful not to allow anyone. He appointed teachers for his son, strictly prohibiting about… Just like nowadays it has become…, what is called? State? Secular state. “Don’t talk of God.” This is the present situation of the world, atheist class. “Don’t talk of God.”
He attacks “secularism” than Hiranyakashipu’s fascism.
But they do not know that they have not much improved by “Don’t talk of God.” The situation is becoming grimmer and grimmer. But they have no eyes to see. They have no eyes to see. This godless civilization will not make them happy. That’s a fact. Harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad guṇa manorathena asato dhāvato bahiḥ [SB 5.18.12]. If one is godless, then however qualified he may be from the material point of view, he is useless. Harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad guṇā. He cannot have any good quality. Why? Manorathena asato dhāvato bahiḥ. Because he is on the mental platform. So by speculation on the mental platform, he will accept which is not spiritual. _Asata. Asato māṁ sad gamaḥ._ That is the Vedic injunction. Don’t keep yourself in the asata, but you try to transcend to the sat platform, oṁ tat sat. That means spiritual platform.
So those who have no spiritual knowledge, they are on the mental platform. There are many platforms of our life. Indriyānī parāṇy āhur indriyebhyaḥ paraṁ manaḥ manasas tu parā buddhir [Bg. 3.42]. So ordinarily we are bodily, we think, “I am this body.” This is called… Body means my senses. So civilization based on this bodily concept of life are interested only sense gratification. That is their aim of life. Indriya-tarṣaṇāt[?], sense gratification. And those who are disgusted with sense gratification, they go little higher on the mental platform, mental speculation, just like philosophy, poetry, like that. Gross means they are working very hard day and night for sense gratification, just like hogs and dogs.
In the above two paragraphs, he paints the idea that materialism is disgusting. I understand that it is not complete, but disgusting is a strong word.
That is stated in the śāstra. Nāyaṁ deha deho bhājāṁ nṛloke kaṣṭān kāmān arhate viḍ-bhujāṁ ye [SB 5.5.1]. Ṛṣabhādeva says that this human form of life is not meant for working so hard like cats and dogs. That is not recommended. Ayam deha. But the material world, people are so enchanted that working day and night they think, “I am enjoying.” This is called māyā. Actually he is working day and night, and he is thinking that “I am happy. I am making progress.” This is called māyā.
That is stated in the śāstra. Nāyaṁ deha deho bhājāṁ nṛloke kaṣṭān kāmān arhate viḍ-bhujāṁ ye [SB 5.5.1]. Ṛṣabhādeva says that this human form of life is not meant for working so hard like cats and dogs. That is not recommended. Ayam deha. But the material world, people are so enchanted that working day and night they think, “I am enjoying.” This is called māyā. Actually he is working day and night, and he is thinking that “I am happy. I am making progress.” This is called māyā.
It’s okay to see that work is not everything. But to call working a delusion is misleading. The total context makes it worse as you’ll see next.
So the world situation is very, very downward. Don’t think that you are making progress. It is not progress. Śāstra says, parābhavas tāvad abodha-jāto yāvan na jijñāsata ātma-tattvam [SB 5.5.5]. So long a human being is not interested in the subject matter of ātma-tattva, “What I am,” then whatever he is doing, he is becoming defeated. He is not victorious; he is defeated. Parābhavas tāvad abodha-jāto.
Abodha-jāto. He is a rascal, fool. He does not know what is his interest. He does not know that by nature’s law,
“Rascal”? Just because they work? This is way out of control. It’s okay, rascal doesn’t mean the same thing.
(A few statements unimportant in context, but worth looking at)
By nature’s law we have to transmigrate in so many species of life---from aquatics to plants, trees, then insect, then flies, then birds, then beast, then uncivilized human being. Then we have got this civilized form---especially those who are born in India, because in India the varṇāśrama-dharma is here.
India, Hindu… “Hindu” is a foreign name given by the Muhammadans. Actually our real position is followers of the varṇāśrama-dharma: four varṇas and four āśramas. This is the stepping stone for civilized life, varṇāśrama = brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra; and brahmacārī, gṛhastha, vānaprastha, sannyāsa.
So he says Varna-Ashrama Dharma is the perfect path, and India gives it the best. And that Hindu is a Muhammadan term. Well, Varna-Ashrama is okay, as long as it is not imposed on all of us, I guess.
There is a Hindu nationalist movement which rejects this term, which is fair, but this term is not entirely Muhammadan in origin, because it was used by the Iranians and Greeks too, to refer to the residents beyond Sindhu river valley. But he took this opportunity to blame it all on Muhammadans, which is not truthful.
Now, the Hindu nationalist movements claim that the religion was Sanaathana Dharma, but that’s just their way of doing the same thing that the Muhammadans they hate do, which is to say that their way is the one true way for everyone. The concept of Dharma is simply one’s duty and morals, and that is one’s own affairs.
Calling it Sanaathana is an attempt to say that there is one eternal kind of morality, and that definition itself implies an objective code of conduct. However, I disagree with this notion of Dharma, and it has never been the notion implied by my own self-realization, as well as by the principle of Advaitha.
His definition of Maaya:
So māyā is there. Māyā does not want to lead the culprits. Because one who is not Kṛṣṇa conscious, he’s a culprit, so māyā wants to give such person more and more trouble. But Vaiṣṇava risks his life to snatch him from the hands of māyā. So māyā, of course, when he [she] sees that “This man, this living entity, is now corrected; he is now taking to Kṛṣṇa consciousness,” then she will not disturb.
Source: https://krishnaconsciousnessmovement.com/?p=14302 (Snippets from Collected Teachings Book Summary-Vol #5)
About Krishna’s Raasa Leela (Nov 15 1968):
….Madhudviṣa: Prabhupāda, could you tell us something about Kṛṣṇa’s rasa-līlā?
Prabhupāda: (pause) Kṛṣṇa’s rasa-līlā should not be discussed in public meeting. It is most confidential. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu never discussed. He discussed Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes, līlā with gopīs, with His confidential, very confidential circle. Or those who are… Lord Caitanya had many thousands of followers, and… He was not discussing even within these five persons, śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi, Nityānanda, Advaita, Gadādhara, Śrīvāsa, and Himself, these five persons. So when He was at Navadvīpa, He was not discussing even with them, what to speak of others. He set up this example so that in future people may be very cautious. Because unless one understands what is Kṛṣṇa, how he can understand Kṛṣṇa’s pastime? So this discussion of rasa-līlā is the summit of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. It is not ordinary thing. They’re purely spiritual. There is nothing material. But because we are not completely free from material concept of life, we may think that Kṛṣṇa’s līlā is something like this material. So that is offense. But that is the ultimate goal, to understand Kṛṣṇa’s rasa-līlā. But you have to wait for relishing that Kṛṣṇa’s rasa-līlā, to become more perfect in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Anarthāpagamam. Anartha means when one is freed from all anarthas.
What’s bold here is what the Krishna Consciousness Movement made bold. What I’d like to show is how he is trying to cover up about Raasa Leela to appease the Western audience’s worldview.
Pleasing Christians (Dec 4 1968):
Madhudviṣa: Prabhupāda, why did Lord Jesus Christ eat meat?
Prabhupāda: That was circumstantial because we have to take into consideration of the situation of the country and the people. Where there is no other food, one must live. Then meat-eating is not bad in that case. Because survival is required. But when there are substitutes… Everyone is eating another life. That is the law of nature.
To be fair, he did claim that eating meat is okay in the sense that it had to be offered to God. But it still does raise concerns as to how it could be moral to eat another “sentient” being, something which he does not address.
https://prabhupadabooks.com/sb/4/18/6?d=1&f=56621 (His translation and commentary of SB 4.18.6):
(Don’t mind the word “rascal” (as he uses it), but calling someone “the lowest of mankind” is far-fetched)
In this verse the words asadbhiḥ and adhṛta-vrataiḥ are important. The word asadbhiḥ refers to the nondevotees. The nondevotees have been described in Bhagavad-gītā as duṣkṛtinaḥ (miscreants), mūḍhāḥ (asses or rascals), narādhamāḥ (lowest of mankind) and māyayāpahṛta-jñānāḥ (those who have lost their knowledge to the power of the illusory energy). All these persons are asat, nondevotees. Nondevotees are also called gṛha-vrata, whereas the devotee is called dhṛta-vrata. The whole Vedic plan is that the misguided conditioned souls who have come to lord it over material nature should be trained to become dhṛta-vrata. This means that they should take a vow to satisfy their senses or enjoy material life only by satisfying the senses of the Supreme Lord.
From that, going to https://prabhupadabooks.com/sb/4/24/63?d=1&f=61120 (SB 4.24.63)
The “material” only exists for those who have forgotten that Nārāyaṇa is the original cause.
Well, then isn’t he too included here?
About ISKCON itself
https://www.reddit.com/r/AdvaitaVedanta/comments/15ve7ft/why_is_iskcon_so_against_advaita/:
I also fail to comprehend why their monks would take a dig against Vivekananda and Ramakrishna in public. They do what missionaries did in the past. Select a line without context and mock Vivekananda. For example, Vivekananda had written that during your youth, play soccer instead of reading Gita. ISKCON monk took that line and mocked him recently in the public. But, he purposely omitted the next line which is that if you stay strong and fit by playing soccer, you’ll be able to understand the Virat roopa of Krishna far better. ⏤ by rmstart
I lived them with a while and it was one of the things that drove me away - and I could really see the benefits of Bhakti. I guess they see the advaitists as their primary threat among other eastern religions in a western context. Buddhists too. The way their translation of the Bhagavad Gita manages to bend all the advaitic verses into being about Krishna is really amusing. ⏤ by inchiki
I think they are thretend by the idea of impersonalism. Once you understand that personalities are compounded things, and are by nature everchanging, the personalist philosophy falls apart. That’s why Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said that once someone becomes an impersonalist they are can never become a Vaishnava. They are seen as irredeemable. But it’s because an impersonalist has simply understood something true and real, and hence can never accept the premises of Vaishnavism; That a personality can be supreme. ⏤ by Buddha4primeminister
Still can’t believe Prabhupada called Ramakrishna a lunatic. If a guru is supposed to be divine, would the divine call someone a lunatic? Still irks me. But my background is Vaishnava and I came up with a lot of misunderstandings and misconceptions about Advaita. Namely, that Advaita and Bhakti are incompatible, because Advaita sees god as formless. Held this opinion for a long time until recently when I watched a video stating otherwise from the Arsha Bodha center. My bhakti to Krishna was so important that I couldn’t bring myself to fully embrace Advaita, thinking it rendered my Bhakti useless, I now know otherwise. ⏤ by peacetrident
Would you be able to provide me the link to the video? ⏤ by silguero2110
Yes! Here it is. Another redditor linked it to me just a few days ago. You can check my post history to see the conversation about it ⏤ by peacetrident
Sites
- Prabhupada Vani: https://prabhupadavani.org
- Vani Quotes: https://vaniquotes.org
From his Texts
From his Narada Bhakthi Soothra here, it considers logic as useless, and Guru-Shishya Parampara as the one true path.
Snippet
The bhakti method of receiving truth is by paramparā, or disciplic succession. It is confirmed by a checks-and-balances system of hearing from guru, śāstra, and sādhu. On the other hand, one who rejects the paramparā system and persists in hearing argumentation will never understand the Absolute Truth. As Lord Kṛṣṇa states, bhaktyā mām abhijānāti: “One can understand Me only by devotional service” (Bg. 18.55).
Snippet
When Lord Caitanya first came to Jagannātha Purī, a dispute arose between His followers and Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, who was at that time a mundane logician. The Bhaṭṭācārya and his students refused to accept that Lord Caitanya was the Supreme Personality of Godhead, although Gopīnātha Ācārya presented much evidence from Vedic scriptures. Finally the disciples of the Bhaṭṭācārya said, “We derive knowledge of the Absolute Truth by logical hypothesis.” Gopīnātha Ācārya replied, “One cannot attain real knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead by such logical hypothesis and argument” (Cc. Madhya 6.81). Gopīnātha Ācārya further stated that only that person who has received the mercy of the Lord by rendering Him devotional service can understand Him. Logical hypothesis is not the way, but rather śabda-brahma, hearing from authorized sources. Lord Brahmā made the same point in his prayers to Lord Kṛṣṇa in Chapter Fourteen of the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam:
athāpi te deva padāmbuja-dvaya-
prasāda-leṣānugṛhīta eva hi
jānāti tattvaṁ bhagavan-mahimno
na cānya eko ‘pi ciraṁ vicinvan“My Lord, one who is favored by even a slight trace of the mercy of Your lotus feet can understand the greatness of Your personality. But those who speculate in order to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead are unable to know You, even though they continue to study the Vedas for many years” (SB 10.14.29).
From his Chaitanya Charithra Madhya Leela 25.27:
Verse
ācārya-kalpita artha ye paṇḍita śune
mukhe ‘haya’ ‘haya’ kare, hṛdaya nā māne“All the interpretations of Śaṅkarācārya are imaginary. Such imaginary interpretations are verbally accepted by learned scholars, but they do not appeal to the heart.
Others Opinions: From Quora
Answer 1
| Author | Diptarko Sharma |
|---|---|
| URL | https://www.quora.com/Why-does-Srila-Prabhupada-abuse-Vivekananda-and-Aurobindo-as-rascals/answer/Diptarko-Sharma |
Snippet
The great prophet supporting Jewish Holocaust:
Conversation During Massage, January 23, 1977, Bhuvanesvara ‒
Prabhupada: Therefore Hitler killed these Jews. They were financing against Germany. Otherwise he had no enmity with the Jews… . And they were supplying. They want interest money — “Never mind against our country.” Therefore Hitler decided, “Kill all the Jews.”
(Source : (broken URL))
The great prophet denying Evolution (Like another Abrahamic great Prophet):
Darwin’s theory stating that no human beings existed from the beginning but that humans evolved after many, many years is simply nonsensical.
~ AC Bhakti Vedanta Prabhupada
(Source: Wikipedia)
The great prophet Justifying that women enjoy Rape:
Source: Morning Walk, May 11, 1975, Perth, Australia ‒
It is not that the woman do not like rape. They like sometimes. They willingly. That is the psychology. Outwardly they show some displeasure, but inwardly they do not. This is the psychology.
The great prophet and his racism:
Lecture on SB 1.16.4 Los Angeles, January 1, 1974 ‒
Prabhupada: So here, this man was cheating. Because here it is said: nrpa-linga-dharam. He was dressed like a king. Just like king is very gorgeously dressed. But his bodily feature, he was a black man. The black man means sudra.
Room Conversation, January 21, 1977, Bhuvanesvara ‒
Ramesvara: That’s the trend, then, everywhere, because unemployment is increasing.
Prabhupada: And especially in your country it will be dangerous because these blacks, if they don’t get employment, they will create havoc, these blacks. And they are not civilized. They want money, and if they don’t get money, then they will create havoc.
Gargamuni: Money and liquor.
Hari-sauri: Yes. If they do get money, they just buy it.
Source: (Prabhupada on Racism)