Prabhupada 0718 - Sons and Disciples Should Be Always Chastised
Morning Walk -- February 1, 1977, Bhuvanesvara
Devotee (1): Śrīla Prabhupāda, just like that story with the scissors, how can we force the scientists to accept Kṛṣṇa and the Bhagavad-gītā? How can we force the scientists to accept Bhagavad-gītā? The problem seems to be...
Prabhupāda: No, if it is a fact, you can force, if it is a fact. And if it is not fact, then it is obstinacy. If it is reality, you can force, just like the father forces the child, "Go to school." Because he knows without education his life will be frustrated, so he can force. I was forced. I was not going to school. Yes. (laughs) My mother forced. My father was very lenient. My mother forced me. She kept one man especially to drag me to the school. So force is required.
Gurukṛpā: But that is the authority. Your parents were your authority.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Gurukṛpā: But they don't accept us as authority. They say, "I'm equal to you. Actually I know more than you."
Prabhupāda: That is another foolishness, another foolishness. Father-mother, natural guardian, they can force.
Svarūpa Dāmodara: We have to show them the higher understanding...
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Svarūpa Dāmodara: ...the higher part of knowledge.
Prabhupāda: The child may be foolish, but father-mother cannot see that their child will remain a fool. He can force. Government also. Why there is military force? Why there is police force? If you want to be outlaw, then you'll be forced to accept the law. Force is required.
Devotee (1): But first the child has to see that there is some benefit from going to school.
Prabhupāda: Child cannot see. He's a rascal. He should be beaten with shoes. Then he will see. The child cannot see. Putraṁ ca śiṣyaṁ ca tāḍayen na tu lālayet (Cāṇakya Paṇḍita): "Sons and disciples should be always chastised." That is Cāṇakya Paṇḍita. "Never pat them." Lālane bahavo doṣās tāḍane bahavo guṇāḥ... "If you pat, then he'll be spoiled. And if you chastise him, he'll come out a very nice person. Therefore, either disciple or son, they should be always chastised." This is the injunction of Cāṇakya Paṇḍita. There is no question of patting them.
Gurukṛpā: People want to be flattered. They don't want to be told very strongly.
Prabhupāda: And that is the position of disciples. Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, guru more mūrkha dekhi' (CC Adi 7.71). Caitanya Mahāprabhu was God Himself, and He said that "My Guru Mahārāja saw Me a fool rascal number one." Chastisement. That is required. Cāṇakya Paṇḍita, a great moral instructor, he has advised, tāḍayen na tu lālayet: "Always chastise them. Otherwise they'll be spoiled."
Svarūpa Dāmodara: The intelligent boy knows that, that chastisement is mercy.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Yes.