beatting women

[Guest guest]

here is the complete quote. By reading it I see that there are wonderful

loving exchanges going on between Prabhupada and his sister, Obviously

whatever beating there was did not come from the mode of passion where anger

and frustration become the driving force that many a time end in domestic

violence. It seems to be childhood effection.

 

A question I ask is what age would Prabhupada have been when he was beating

his sister, and what age was Prabhupada when his sister got married, and the

beating therefore stopped. In the quote the only reference is that he was "a

young boy"

 

ys Visnu Murti das

 

39. "I Must be Strict With Her.”

 

Prabhup€da’s sister Piim€ was a great favorite of his and also of his

disciples as they witnessed her devotion to ®r…la Prabhup€da and his

transcendental relationship with her. The devotees first heard of her when

she sent ®r…la Prabhup€da some papadums in the mail in 1967. When Prabhup€da

said these things had been sent by his sister, the devotees became curious

and asked more about her.

 

“Yes,” said ®r…la Prabhup€da, “she always attacks me.”

The devotees were shocked and asked, “What do you mean, ®r…la Prabhup€da?”

Prabhup€da laughed heartily and said, “She attacks me with her tears.

Sometimes when she sees me, she cries. That is a woman’s weapon.” When they

asked more, Prabhup€da told a little more about Piim€.

He said that when he was a young boy, he used to beat her once a day. When

she got married, he once went to her house and was beating her there, but

their mother told him, “You don’t have to beat her now because she has a

husband. If she does something wrong, her husband can beat her.” Prabhup€da

objected and said, “No, this is my relationship with my sister. I must be

strict with her.”

 

One day in Vnd€vana, Prabhup€da entered the sewing room where his female

disciples were working. His sister had been there, distributing sweets to

the girls, but she had momentarily gone off to the bathroom.

“Where is the fat one?” asked Prabhup€da.

“The fat one?” asked one of his disciples.

“My sister, where is she?”

“Oh, she stepped out to the ladies’ room, ®r…la Prabhup€da.”

“When she comes back,” said ®r…la Prabhup€da, “tell her I want to see her.”

By intimate dealings like this, devotees enjoyed associating with Prabhup€da

and Piim€.

One time in M€y€pur, the lights went out and Prabhup€da called over his

sanny€s… disciple Pañcadravia Swami.

“Please take my sister downstairs,” Prabhup€da requested. On Prabhup€da’s

order, Pañcadravia led Piim€ downstairs, appreciating the relationship of

Prabhup€da and his sister.

Sometimes Prabhup€da would mock his sister in his disciples’ presence. She

could not understand the language, but enjoyed the attention from her

wonderful brother.

“Look at her,” said Prabhup€da, “how fat she is.” When the devotees started

laughing, Piim€ looked up and started laughing also. “Do you know any

person who is fat without eating?” Prabhup€da asked.

“No, Prabhup€da,” a disciple replied. “I don’t think that is possible.”

“Yes,” Prabhup€da laughed, “but she tells me she is eating very little, yet

she keeps on gaining weight. But I know she is eating.”

Sometimes devotees working on Prabhup€da’s personal staff were bewildered

how to deal with her. One servant complained to Prabhup€da that Piim€ was

sleeping in the servants’ quarters and the men couldn’t use the room.

Although they had spoken to her, she would not listen. Prabhup€da said that

he would tell her that she cannot do that. Even after talking with

Prabhup€da, however, she was determined and continued to loiter around the

servants’ quarters, just in order to be near to Prabhup€da.

When the devotees tried to explain to Piim€ that her cooking was not good

for Prabhup€da’s digestion, she replied that if he wanted to, Prabhup€da

could eat nails and digest them.

One night at a paŠ€l attended by tens of thousands of people, Piim€ joined

in the ecstasy of worshiping Prabhup€da. Indians were rushing to the stage

to touch Prabhup€da’s feet. Piim€ herself went up, touched Prabhup€da’s

feet, and then returned to the audience and touched many persons. She began

to go back and forth, touching Prabhup€da’s feet and then touching persons

in the audience. Prabhup€da stopped her angrily. “Tell her to sit down!”

®r…la Prabhup€da ordered. “Stop this!” Piim€ realized that she had made a

blunder, and so she went home and returned the next day with a big feast for

Prabhup€da.

 

Mukunda Goswami, interview; Nandar€Š…-dev… d€s…, interview; Mañjval…-dev…

d€s…, interview; Pañcadravia Swami, interview; ®rutak…rti d€sa, interview;

Citralekh€-dev… d€s…, interview.