nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-presthāya bhū-tale
śrīmate bhaktivedanta-svāmin iti nāmine
namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇi-pracāriṇe
nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe
The reply
Thousands of articles have been written on the status of Srila Prabhupada and how important it is for Vaisnava devotees to follow his instructions since since the 1980’s and before. One may ask why is Iskcon refusing to follow written and signed documents beginning March 1978.
What is the simple reply if some spokesperson is asked why not follow the July 9th letter and supporting conversations? This short reply was given by an unofficial spokesperson from the GBC in 2011: This ritvik program has “never been done before“.
The immediate question is asked why does he not say that “Prabhupada did not mention this so we do not follow what he has not given to the devotees”. Surely Prabhupada did give the program and never placed any termination date. So if the “never been done before” argument is presented then one should ask what of all the other unprecedented activities of His Divine Grace? The idea is being presented indirectly or directly that Prabhupada is not the type of acarya that is identified in Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 1 Ch9 Text 9: “All the great acaryas or religious preachers or reformers of the world executed their mission by adjustment of religious principles in terms of time and place…. he must be expert in adjusting things in terms of time and place.”
So how can our acarya be properly respected if we do not consider him to be able to make adjustments like ladies receiving brahmin initiation and the rtvik program. And the Ramanuja and Madhvacary sampradayas have similar teachings that the acarya is eternal and can bless and initiate the current devotees. So this opens a new debate that means that if our faith is not complete that Prabhupada is a mahabhagavata then he may have done other improper unprecedented activities. This doubt of Srila Prabhupada’s pure and empowered status may have come from devotees that had a smarta brahmin misunderstanding . As we were warned many times “they can do great harm to our Iskcon society” The Pharisees also did not want Jesus to be allowed to preach that he was the Messiah. This Messiah message has never been spoken before etc..
If there was any warning that devotees were given it is in regards to minimizing Prabhupada’s status as a pure devotee. These doubts are fueled by devotees that preach that the initiator must be in eyesight of the ceremony, brahmin can light the fire but guru must be in eyesight.. It seems that Prabhupada appeared to write the books, open temples and demonstrate that the true acarya is eternal…
And after this discussion about “has never been done before” it gets worse; the next item is that it is against “guru sadhu and sastra”. If there is a program against sastra how can a disciple have any faith in the master? And if the program whereby 40% of devotees were initiated in the ’70’s is bonafide but unauthorized in thee years after the manifest presence then.
Prabhupada has blundered by forgetting to place a time limit on this representative acarya program. Any way to consider these replies means that our Srila Prabhupada is imperfect. And this type of doubt means that other acaryas may be imperfect also. And to carry this to common end maybe Hare Krsna mantra is not perfect either. The result becomes sense gratification or godlessness similar to mayavada teachings…
This new philosophy that the acarya cannot perform unprecedented activities and cannot manifest the preaching according to the current needs is showing a doubt in Krsna’s dear representative and Krsna Himself. This is the crack and problem that was given as a warning to devotees “we do not want to repeat the same mistake.” The history will unfold according to Lord Krsna’s plan how He will support and bless the words of His dear devotee Srila Prabhupada.
At a business conference the founder of an organizarion had a partner. This is a mundane example that is relevant to current times. He said that the secret of success is that we never said ” I told you so ” and also they had problems but when a difficult time came they always” identified the problem and solved it”. I remember in 1985 we met in New Vrndavana and all devotees were allowed to speak . There was surely a problem because disturbances were rampant in the guru issue. One West coast devotee was preaching that we should not be influenced by the pendelum effect; this means that if there was a concentration of power that created disturbances, then we should not eliminate the whole guru program. The idea is that often an overcorrection can happen.This was apparently influential as only minor adjustments were made and students or non realized devotees were increasingly offered the title of Iskcon guru and now 2014 there is such a mess of apasampraday teachings, counterfeit dealings and fractured society of devotees . Some countries one can count seven different groups of devotees who do not like each other …
When all devotees come under the guidance and shelter of the strict teachings of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu the real ecstasy of the Sankirtan movement will be manifested and Srila Prabhupad will be recognized as a true and perfect empowered acarya including his potency to perform unprecedented activities.
(by Dharmabhavana das)
pamho agtACBSP, well to tell you the truth so many so called sannyasis are completely trapped in the bodily concept of life in kali yuga as the sastra already predicted, what to say about the new comers who are even lower of those cheaters in the form of renounce order of life, they have still to pass through bahunam janmanam ante and yesam tv anta gatam papam because they haven’t got enough sukrti pious activities to look in for the own spiritual bodies.
They are to busy to sadisfy kama krodha lobha mohan matsarya and mada therefore lord siva says in the srimad bhagavatam to bind up to the samsara all these miserables people in the guise of devotees and to make free all the real devotees who are free from envy, they will understand they got cheated only when they will leave their rotten and unworthy body machine, only then they can understand they been worshiping on the altar a bag full of flesh rubbish in the form of swami, to take birth in meleccha stan by eating stools with plenty of hidden enemies and forces with a bad reputation and to finish the menu everything goes wrong but still they are working hard to become animals in their next life, you are worshiping a swami who is going to become a snake in his next life for stealing the transcendental position of SRILA PRABHUPADA without any good qualification.
Therefore we prabhupadanugas do not care about all these miserables creatures who are not better then a stink travelling toilet feeded by stools,to learn how to discriminate properly by meditating on the perfect life of SRILA PRABHUPADA is the way out from all this rubbish through uncivilized citizens who took over the spiritual movement of our beloved acharya, anyway we got not time anymore to waste with all these wretches who will die in their same envious shit, better to ignore them like we ignored the insignificants animals,that’s all.
agtSP ys haribol
The question here is if all have read this letter, why are there different interpretations of it? The fact that there are different interpretations itself means that we must accept one interpretation over other. So on what basis are we to decide which one to accept?
Krishna das: So on what basis are we to decide which one to accept?
Mahesh: the DIKSA guru is ONE : Srila Prabhupada. The Disciples INITIATED are Srila Prabhupada’s:
Only Maha-Bhagavata is Diksa Guru: Srila Prabhupada is THAT Maha-bhagavata.
http://www.prabhupadanugas.eu/news/?p=41422#more-41422
Note: CONCLUSION: NO FURTHER MISCHIEF MAKING INTERPRETATION REQUIRED.
It looks like Krishna das is waking up from a sleep of not knowing and understanding what Srila Prabhupada says in July 9th Letter which is self explanatory to a SIMPLE MINDED unmotivated person having no personal ambition.
In other words, Srila Prabhupada says clearly ;
” The newly initiated devotees are disciples of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad, the above eleven senior devotees acting as His representative……….. ”
Whereas it is also very complex for the COMPLICATED AND A CROOKED MINDED motivated persons having personal ambition of all kinds.
That is where the need of interpretations come in. That is why there are different interpretations not by itself but by the motivated people having personal ambition
Now it is up to you, Krishna das, to chose from the basis based on Srila Prabhupada’s Instructions as it is ………… or ……………. chose the basis based on the interpretations of different varieties of conditioned Jivas having personal amibition under the influence of modes of material nature.
So choice is your. It is that simple.
Hope it meets you well.
Hari BOL. AGTSP.
Firstly this letter was written by Tamala Krishna Maharaj.
And again the same thing, you say that your intepretation is the most authentic and correct interpretation and every other interpretation is cheating and I must believe it blindly without questioning. My spiritual master doesn’t say this. He is open for questions which tallies with Prabhupada’s statement in Bhagavad Gita that Krishna discourages blind following.
So in essense, Mahesh and Amar want me to consider yourself as the link to Prabhupada and want to make me undersatand your version of the letter’s understanding when elsewhere he has already said “They will be grand disciples”.