I was reading Mukunda Goswami's website and saw a post about Prabhupada on Witches.
Halloween, celebrated in the West on 31st October, usually portrays demons and witches amongst other things. Srila Prabhupada did once speak of witches in a lecture. He said, "So din ka oakini, rat ka baghini, palak palak rahe cuse. The witches, they also, by their black art, they suck the blood of children. Do you know that? There are witches. You know."
(Excerpt from a lecture on June 15, 1972 in Los Angeles)
My background comes from being a witch and let me tell you that "witches sucking blood from children" is complete and utter nonsense!!! Only a small amount of research into witchcraft would destroy this myth in an instant.
I hold Prabhupada in such high esteem but quotes like this, among others (can't remember off top of my head) leave me questioning him. It's terrible i know. But if such trivial things can be said from someone so great, then surely there are other things he can be completely incorrect on!!
Please forgive my offense but this is a big thing and I am turning to you all for insight and shelter.
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I expect
I expect the Witches Srila Prabhupada is talking about are not the same as the witches we think of in the west. As you are probably aware the witch we know of, who's name is likely derived from the term wiccan, aren't the blood sucking demon type.
This is not to say that this is not the case in other cultures and regions. i have seen reports recently from Africa where the witches there steal albino children and hack off their limbs to use in making the crops grow.
In Bhagavad-gita 10:4-5 (purport) Srila Prabhupada says: "Nothing should be accepted blindly; everything should be accepted with care and with caution."
So in this particular case I expect the assumption that the word "witch" means the same thing everywhere and to everyone may cause some confusion. This is not to say that there aren't, or haven't been people who fit the category of blood suckers.
I expect the witches Prabhupada was familiar with were not the type of people you are considering as witches.
Perhaps you might ask Mukunda Goswami, for clarification about the post that you read on his site.
Finally I have seen a few time in the transcribed talks of Prabhupada were he makes a particular statement which he revises on hearing further information about that subject. This always pertains to mundane things rather than spiritual issues.
yes
'oakini' seems to be a mistype of 'dakini' who are related to blood: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakini#Iconography
Hope this helps.
ys Jan
Thank you abrennan. That was
Thank you abrennan. That was a clear and helpful answer. I guess I did kind of jump to conclusions and get emotional too quickly. Opps...haha.
I read this today
A court in Tanzania has found three men guilty of murdering a 14-year-old albino boy and severing his legs. They wanted his bones to grind and use as a charm.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/23/2694777.htm?section=justin