“In 1965, the Hare Krishna movement came to America by the means of Swami Prabhupada. He founded ISKCON which is a wealthy organization today. Becoming a member involves choosing a guru and becoming his disciple. This guru is so critical that it is said, “Without (the guru) the cultivation of Krishna consciousness is impossible.” From the devotee’s side, “initiation means that he accepts the guru as his spiritual master and agrees to worship him as God.” Their belief in God is pantheistic, meaning they believe God is all and in all, or God is everything and everything is God. Therefore, man is ultimately identical to God which is a faint deceptive whisper dating back to Eden when the serpent said “you will be as God.” Like all false religions and cults, salvation is attained by works. Chant more, dance more, and always work harder lest one retain some bit of karmic debt and fail to enter into Krishna consciousness. They also believe in Karma and reincarnation, which is anti-Biblical. The Bible is clear that salvation is by grace through faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ (Eph. 2:8-9). “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21). No amount of good deeds can ever achieve salvation for anyone. Hare Krishnas, like all humanity, have only one hope for eternal life: The eternal God Jesus Christ, crucified, resurrected and exalted forever. All other paths lead to destruction. Jesus Himself said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except by Me” (John 14:6).”

Here is commentary by Dr. Walter Martin.

Summary of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda’s statements (with key references and selective short quotes)

1. Child Marriage / Age of Girls

Prabhupāda taught that a girl should be married at or before puberty so her sexual desire is properly directed.

• Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.25.42 purport: A woman becomes “very much agitated by sexual desire” at puberty; the father must arrange marriage promptly.
• Room Conversation, 27 Feb 1977, Mayapur: “Even an eighty-years-old man can marry a sixteen-years-old girl.”

2. Views on Women (most controversial)

He repeatedly described women as more lusty, less intelligent, and unfit for independent education or freedom.

Short quotes:

• SB 4.25.41 purport: “Although rape is not legally allowed, it is a fact that a woman likes a man who is very expert at rape.”
• SB 4.26.26 purport: When a woman is attacked by a man “she enjoys the attack, being too lusty.”
• Letter to Madhukara, 4 Jan 1973: “Women are normally very lusty, more lusty than men…”
• Lecture, Los Angeles, 18 Sep 1972: “Woman is not allowed to go to school, college, or to the spiritual master.”
• Room Conversation, 26 Sep 1972: Women have less “brain substance” and are “generally… less intelligent than man.”
• SB5.6.4 purport & Gītā 16.7 purport: Women should never be given freedom; they must be controlled by father, husband, then sons. “Free woman means prostitute.”

He insisted girls be trained only in domestic skills and kept strictly segregated.

3. Polygamy

Vedic system allows a man many wives; every woman must have one husband who instructs her.
(SB 1.3.13 lecture, 18 Sep 1972)

4. Hitler and the Jews

Room Conversation, 23 Jan 1977, Bhuvanesvara:
“Therefore Hitler killed these Jews. They were financing against Germany. Otherwise he had no enmity with the Jews… Therefore Hitler decided to Kill all the Jews.”

5. Statements on Black People / Africans

• Room Conversation, 14 Feb 1977, Mayapur: Black people “were slaves… since you have given them equal rights they are disturbing… best to keep them under control as slaves but give them sufficient food, sufficient cloth, not more than that.”
• Morning Walk, 26 May 1974, Rome: “The Africans, they were meant for becoming slaves.”
• Room Conversation, 5 Oct 1975, Mauritius: “A first-class Rolls Royce car, and who is sitting there? A third-class negro.”

He linked dark complexion with śūdra status (SB 4.14.45 purport).

6. Science / Moon

He rejected modern astronomy, insisting the Sun is closer to Earth than the Moon and that astronauts went to the wrong planet.
(Multiple Morning Walks 1975–76 and SB purports, e.g., 5.24.2 and 8.10.38)

These are authentic statements from Prabhupāda’s books, lectures, and recorded conversations. The most extreme ones (rape comment, Hitler justification, racial remarks about Blacks, and the blanket claims of female inferiority and need for lifelong control) are the ones most frequently criticized outside his movement. Within ISKCON they are treated as part of his teachings; outside it they are widely regarded as highly problematic.

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