Angel of Vrindavana. Oil on canvas, this painting is abstracted from the map of Vrindavana, India, the sacred site of Krishna's childhood, defiled by ISKCON's child abuse (1976 - ?), painted in 1996, by Nori. Click on painting to see larger image. 
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The original children of ISKCON, born in the late sixties and early seventies, grew up in ISKCON's boarding schools. They never went to public elementary schools and were most often completely sheltered from mainstream culture. They learned to read from the Vedic scriptures published by their guru, founder-acharya (spiritual leader) Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Many attended public high schools, but lived their childhoods exclusively within the confines of ISKCON. To provide insight into the ISKCON children's world, I've selected relevant stories from their scriptures. These stories, adapted from the organization's scriptures, Srimad-Bhagavatam and Krishna book, provide a vocabulary to discuss the ISKCON children's experience. |
Stories matter, although many scholars lament that society has become disconnected from its stories. As this observer points out: "In the modern Western cosmology, stories have no real impact on the world. They are, after all, only in our minds, while the world is 'out there,' existing independently in the reality of physical space. . . . Perhaps we need not just a different story, but one where the narrative itself tells us that our cosmologies and ontologies do, very significantly, impact the world - a story which says that our stories matter. . . . Our stories about the nature of reality dramatically shape the way we know and interact with the world." - Christian de Quincey Lord Sri Krishna's Life Story A relative in Krishna's family abused children, killing all of Krishna's older siblings when they were born. Krishna escaped any child abuse whatsoever, because he was raised by a loving extended family in the pastoral setting of Vrindavana. The War to Free Sita Prince Rama and his wife Sita were exiled to the forest. The demon Ravana kidnapped Sita and Rama fought a war to win her back. Lord Nrsimha the Man-Lion God In the story of Lord Nrsimha, King Hiranyakashipu tortured and tried to kill his own son. The king enrolled his son in the "School of the Demons" and ordered the teachers to torture the boy. The scriptural stories of Krishna, Rama, and Nrsimha provide lessons about abuse, because in each story, the abuser is a demon who is eventually killed by Krishna or a lila avatar (Vishnu incarnation). It's ironic that ISKCON officially revered these stories in their rituals, prayers and festivals, but failed to see the corresponding situation in the institution. In real life, they turned out to abuse their own children with the intensity of demons. Bringing these things into the light of day will prevent a repeat of the situation. Future generations of followers of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada must learn from this history that the experiment with child abuse was a dismal failure. The victims suffered intensely and many continue to suffer; the organization's reputation suffered; the organization is now facing bankruptcy based on what they did to children. It's time that people talk about these things openly instead of cursing the victims or the people who are helping the victims. The perpetrators tried to tell the children "it was their karma" they were abused, but the scriptures describe the real karmic implications of child abuse. Read these excerpts drawn from the stories above (click on the titles above to link to the stories). Krishna vs. Kamsa - Krishna and Balarama entered the splendorous city with their friends. By and by they came to the wrestling ring and accepted the challenge to fight Kamsa's demons. After fighting for a few moments, Krishna and Balarama easily killed their opponents. Krishna jumped into the stands, seized Kamsa, knocked off his crown and dragged him to the wrestling mat by his hair. There He easily killed Kamsa, striking him with His fist. Rama vs. Ravana - In Lanka, Rama fought a fierce battle and severed all ten of Ravana's heads with a single arrow. He rescued Sita and returned to Ayodhya, His capitol city in the north, to assume his rightful position as king. Nrsimha vs. Hiranyakashipu - [Hiranyakashipu to his son:] "O most unfortunate Prahlada, you have always worshiped a supreme being other than me, but where is He? If He is everywhere, then why is he not present before me in this pillar? You are a liar and you deserve to die by my sword. Let me see your God come to protect you." Hiranyakashipu rose from the throne and struck the marble pillar with his fist, then he pulled out his sword to kill his son. At that moment there was a fearful sound, so loud that it sounded like thousands of earthquakes. The demons looked around, but no one could find the origin of the sound. Suddenly the pillar cracked open and Lord Vishnu appeared with a lion's head. . . . After fighting for some time, when dusk fell, Lord Nrsimha captured the great demon Hiranyakashipu, placed him on His lap, and in the doorway of the assembly hall, killed him with his sharp nails. Stories of Soul Loss Dr. Sigmund Freud said that child abuse is "soul murder," because abusing a child can kill the child's spirit. These stories, drawn from the scriptures, are metaphors for soul murder. Scriptural Distortions This essay explains how the ISKCON leadership distorted its own scriptures to suit corrupt institutional goals. Editor's note: Sometimes people find these files because they searched for "Krishna Childrens Stories," or similar keywords. The purpose of this section is to point out parts of the scriptures that address the subject of child abuse. For example, King Kamsa killed Krishna's older siblings and tried to kill Krishna. Another example is the "School of the Demons," where the innocent soul Prahlad was sent to be tortured. This page draws examples from the scriptures that warn of child abuse and its consequences. One theme is that the perpetrators are ultimately punished for their crimes. Click here for more ISKCON gurukula information. Click here for an index of all child abuse information available through this site. 
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