Rasikananda Dasa with Sanaka Rsi.
By Locanananda Das
It was in 1975 that stories of child abuse in the Dallas gurukula began to circulate. The report was that some children had been forced to drink their own urine as a form of punishment and that other children were being disciplined by covering them with a potato sack and then beating them with sticks. It was said that when the stories reached Srila Prabhupada, he recommended that the perpetrators be killed for their actions. That the abuse came to Srila Prabhupada’s attention in 1975 was confirmed by Gopal Krishna Maharaja at the 1999 GBC meetings. He stated that while staying at the Krishna Balarama Mandira that year, Srila Prabhupada appeared very upset for several days after hearing about the mistreatment of his gurukula students. Srila Prabhupada expressed his anger and disgust towards the abusers, as remembered by another eyewitness:
“Just see!”, he said. “Such demons! And they are doing this in my name
