Devotees and well wishers of ISKCON: Further to our first article of “ITSGONE Joke Book”, what follows is our comments on the last but not least of all ridiculous and hypocritical Iskcon Law.
(5) THE ISKCON LAW BOOK STATES IN PAGE 164, Text 2.1 as follows:
“That ISKCON Devotees and leaders have repeatedly requested a clear vision from the GBC on Srila Prabhupada’s order in 1977 regarding continuing the disciplic succession ,but has yet not been presented”…….. “The Siddhanta in regard to Guru Tattva in ISKCON has been unclear and there is a need for a statement from the GBC to give direction”
From the above statement, the following points are to be considered:
The GBC clearly admit in writing that they, being the leaders of ISKCON were never clear about Srila Prabhupad’s instructions to them on the Post 1977 initiation system for ISKCON. They claimed that their ‘laws’ mentioned were based on the authority of Narahari Sarakara’s (an associate of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu) book called the “Krsna Bhajanmrta”. That Narahari Sarakara is one of the associates of Lord Chaitanya is not in dispute, as Srila Prabhupada confirms in the Chaitanya Charitamrta, Adi lila chapter 10 TX 78-79. However we never find Srila Prabhupada ever mentioning that after his departure when the ISKCON ‘Gurus’ supposed to be coming in the pure disciplic succession of self realized souls would fall down into illicit sex exactly like moths falling into fire, then at that time Narahari Sarakara would suddenly and miraculously emerge to the rescue of ISKCON by saving the day with his book called “Krsna Bhajanamrta”.
What to speak of Narahari Sarakara who apperaed 500 years ago, Srila Prabhupada also clearly stresses this point of not jumping over him in regards to Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur who is quite a recent acarya in our disciplic succesion. In a letter to his disciple on 12/4/73, Srila Prabhupada states: “Whatever is to be learned about the teachings of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura can be learned from Our Books. There is no need whatsoever for any outside instructions”.
The GBC crazily imply in their ‘ISKCON Lawbook’ that Narahari Sarakara’s sole duty in the age of Kali would be to provide them a fool proof defense Insurance system to indemnify their selected Iskcon ‘Gurus’ against any critisizms, and also to provide ‘sastric’ or ‘scriptual’ evidence to justify these ‘Gurus’ in the event of their spiritual falldowns. While they hypocritically demand from their ‘disciple’ during the initiation fire yajna to commit themselves to following strictly all the 4 regulative principles, the very same ISKCON Guru is protected from this strict following by the grace of the insurance policy of the Iskcon law book with its references to Narahari Sarkar’s teachings. Such hypocrisy disgusts even the most hypocritical materialists.
Even accepting that if Narahari Sarakara had written a book called “Krsna Bhajamnrta,” any sincere and intelligent devotee after reading the present day edition of this book, can easily come to the conclusion that such a great associate of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu would never write in the context that the GBC claims he has written.
In Srila Prabhupad’s Chaitanya Charitamrta, and his references to the Chaitanya Bhagavata, we never find Lord Chaitanya Himself ever speaking the statements to any of His associates that the GBC claims Narahari Sarakara has made in the Krsna Bhajanamrta about the spiritual falldown of Gurus coming in the Parampara line. Indeed in His major instructions to His chief disciples, the Six Goswamis, to Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya, and to Ramananda Raya etc, we never find such topics ever mentioned. Therefore since Narahari Sarakara is one of the close associates of the Lord, then naturally all he would write in his book, or (books), are statements that Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu taught. Why would he ever mention something totally foreign to Lord Chaitanya’s teachings?
Srila Prabhupada mentions in the Chaitanya Charitamrta “Locana das Thakura, the celebrated author of Caitanya Mangala, is the disciple of Narahari Sarakar”. Yet we do not find Srila Prabhupada ever quoting the Chaitanya Mangala in the context of Disciplic succession Guru falldowns, nor any of the topics on Guru which the GBC claims that Narahari Sarakara has written. It seems rather strange that Locan Das Thakura being the disciple of Narahari Sarakara would totally ignore his Spiritual Master’s ‘thoughts’ on this subject .
It is also important to note that after the departure of Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and His associates, many Sahajiyas and Mayavadis attempted to distort and change their teachings by writing many books claiming them to be the works of both the Lord and His associates. Later, Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur rectified the situation, but still by the grace of Kali Yuga, there are many remnants of such literatures loitering about. Unfortunately the GBC in their desperate need to justify the Iskcon Gurus falldowns have most cunningly taken advantage of these distorted teachings, thus making themselves look like a bungling pack of madmen leading our once exalted society.
The GBC’s desperate search for ‘evidence’ from other sources other than Srila Prabhupad’s to support their materially affected ‘Guru can fall down’ theory, unfortunately imply to the general mass of innocent devotees that: (a) Srila Prabhupada purposely chose to leave the Guru issue and initiation systems in ISKCON vague and unclear and, (b) also carelessly forgot to mention that initiating Gurus of the Pure disciplic succession of self realized souls can fall down into illicit sex, and other grossly sinful activities, (c) and what steps should be taken when all of this madness happens. However the real point to understand is that Srila Prabhupada had set up one standard without ever changing it in ISKCON as far as the Guru was concerned, and that is, that the bonafide Guru coming in the disciplic succsesion is always a Mahabhagavat and can never fall down . We suggest the reader will be clear to this question as to why Srila Prabhupada never bothered to mention such a ‘Guru fall down’ theory, when one studies the following quotes below:
In the Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 3 , Ch 13 , tx 8 purport, after clearly describing the entire disciplic succession with all the names of the Gurus, including his own name, Srila Prabhupada mentions as follows: “This line of disciplic succession from Brahma is spiritual, whereas the genealogical succession from Manu is material……” .
Since the disciplic succession is spiritual as confirmed by Srila Prabhupada, why is it that the GBC have speculated in their ‘law’ book that in this spiritual line, there can be Gurus who can spiritually fall down ? Why would such a Spiritual disciplic succession in the first place even contain members performing such abominable behaviour to represent them as their leaders, with them first seemingly inside the spiritual disciplic succession, then hastily removed from the disciplic succession after their falldowns, and yet again as seen in some cases in Iskcon History post 1978, be hastily dumped back in?
What we have to understand is that the eternal disciplic succession is one of successive discipline , not of successive non- realized or partially realized persons, who are merely imitating the fully liberated Guru. Sometimes it is wrongly assumed that unless each link in the unbroken disciplic succession is succeeded one second after the physical demise of the last link, then there will be a break. But this is not the case, as the disciplic succession is not a material chain, but it is a spiritual chain as confirmed above by Srila Prabhupada.
We must understand that the current acarya remains the current link-whether or not he is in his physical body. Srila Prabhupada explains that as long as one is connected to the acarya, even after his physical dissapearance, there is no break. (Srila Prabhupad’s letter to Dayananda 12 /4 /68/ and letter to Vrndavan chandra 19/7/70 ). The issue is to remain connected. Therefore one must understand that the disciplic succession is about the transmission of knowledge- not the transmission of physically intact bodies. It is not like the Monarchy whereby physical demise also leads to the demise of that person’s reign.
There are also many other quotes from Srila Prabhupad’s book such as in Chaitanya Charitamrta Madhya Lila CH 24-text 258 & Text 330 purport, Srimad Bhagavatam 1 12.16 purport, Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4, Tx 42, purport, The Nectar of instructions page 58, Also once Srila Prabhupada was asked if a Guru can fall down, and he replied “Well if Guru is bad , how can he become a Guru”? (the Science of Self realisation chapter 2).
The history of Iskcon Gurus show us that when six out of the original eleven ‘Gurus’ fell down spiritually by 1987, the GBC fearing that soon the number of ‘Gurus’ in ISKCON may be down to zero, quickly ‘came to the rescue by munificiently’ adding eighty more. They did this with the excuse that Iskcon needed to satisfy the ever increasing ‘spiritual must and needs’ of the innocent new comer devotees who were taken in for their ‘living breathing in oxygen and exhaling carbondioxide Guru product’. Thus with so many ‘ living ‘Gurus’ added, even if some did fall down spiritually, (and indeed from 1987 till 2012, a further thirty five or more have fallen), it would never look as bad as the earlier group of eleven because there would always be so many more who were still in ‘good standing’.
Thus by desperately trying to dump conditioned souls or partially realized souls in the pure disciplic succession, the GBC have commited the greatest offence to Lord Krishna, and all the actual Pure self realized souls who actually rightfully belong in such a spiritual succession. The GBC could have from day one of the physical departure of Srila Prabhupada accommodated such conditioned/partially realized souls to be engaged as an assistant to the fully ever liberated eternal Guru, Srila Prabhupada, in the capacity of agent, instructor, priest, deputy etc. Thus all devotees in and outside Iskcon would never have to see all the unfortunate unhappy incidents that have taken place in regards to the Guru issue since 1978.
Therefore one should think deeply with a cool headed mind as to what was the reason for the change of standard from the Mahabhagavat Guru standard as experienced in ISKCON upto 1977, and then to find something totally opposite after 1977. Especially when there was no instruction from Srila Prabhupada upto his last breath that such a standard should ever be changed.
Why is it that after 1977,everyone who joined ISKCON were denied the Mahabhagavat standard Guru, but instead many of them got the Homosexual standard Guru, Woman Hunter Guru, Child Molester Guru, and most recently the Bangkok Prostitute Guru? What ‘bad karma’ had the poor devotees who joined after 1977 done in their last life, in contrast to the ‘good karma’ of the devotees who joined pre 1977? That even though the Post 1977 group of devotees joined the same society, chanted the same mantra, performed the same devotional service processes, followed the same 4 regulative principles, read the same Srila Prabhupada’s books, worshipped the same Iskcon Deities, etc, as their pre 1978 counterparts, they still had to receive so many spiritually fallen Gurus? Why was that standard changed? Some humorous devotees joke that maybe those who joined Post 1977 had donated cats to the Brahmanas in their previous lives instead of donating cows to the Brahmanas as their Pre 1977 counterparts had done so diligently.
Did Srila Prabhupada want that all newcomers who joined immediately after 1977 should get these above mentioned spiritually fallen ‘Gurus’? By the GBC’s promotion of such “Gurus’ since 1978, they have practically implied to these Post 1977 devotees that Lord Krishna and Srila Prabhupada seem to be punishing them. This is because they had “spaced out” by missing out on Srila Prabhupada’s physical presence available till 1977. Thus because of their being so ‘unfortunate’ by not meeting him physically they have to continuously suffer so many crazy consequences after 1977 until all the way today.
Therefore the whole scenario becomes continuously ludicrous if we support the GBC’s changing the quality of the Guru standard that Srila Prabhupada had set up and was operating in ISKCON till 1977.
Thus after reading the ‘laws’ from the ‘ISKCON LAW BOOK’, we are confident that any sincere, honest devotee will understand that henceforward it should only and officially be known as the “ITSGONE JOKE BOOK” and nothing else. It is indeed a bad joke played by the GBC members that they will have to answer to the court of Yamaraj after leaving this world.
By all the sincere prayers of the honest devotees, may the hypocrisy and double dealings of the GBC soon be vanquished, for Srila Prabhupada once mentioned in his purports in Srimad Bhagavatam, that Krsna comes especially when he sees his devotees feeling very sorry for the irreligious state of affairs going on in society. And now at a time, when irreligious affairs are going on in the very society of devotees, ISKCON, that is supposed to save the materialistic irreligious society from gliding to hell, it is especially sure that the Lord and his associates will rectify such personalities in the guise of GBC members, leaders, Swamis, Gurus etc.
May Lord Krishna and our beloved eternal guru, Srila Prabhupada forgive every member of ISKCON, (both inside and outside members) for allowing the GBC to create this chaos in human society and in the International society for Krishna Consciousness. By their grace, may we all now begin to obey their orders and reemerge out of chaos back to order: namely at the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada, the eternal bonafide spiritual master of all the members of his transcendental movement.
Please find below the detailed and complete list of Iskcon fallen Gurus. Present figure is 41 (two more than the figure of 39 mentioned in the first part of our “Itsgone Joke Book Article”). This figure of 41 still does not include those individuals that the GBC were in the past and are at present able to keep under the wraps.
From the First batch of 11 Zonal Acarya ‘Gurus’
1. Jayatirtha Das (Dead)
2. Hansadutta Swami
3. Bhavananda Goswami
4. Ramesvara Swami
5. Bhagavan Das Goswami
6. Kirtanananda Swami (Dead)
7. Harikesa Swami.
8. Satsvarupa Das Goswami
From the Second batch of Eighty or so ‘Gurus’
9. Bhakti Balabh Puri Goswami / Balabhadra Das
10. Bhakti Abhaya Carana Swami (Padambhuja das)
11. Bhaktiprabhava Maharaj
12. Nitai Chand Swami
13. Bhaktivaidurya Madhava – formerly Rohini Kumar Swami
14 Agrani Swami
15. Ganapati Swami
16. Atreya Rsi Das
17. Isvara Swami (Brazil)
18. Jagad Guru Swami
19. Jagadish Goswami
20. Ananda Svarupa Swami
21. Kshiti Mohan (Mexico)
22. Mahabhagavata Swami (EL Salvador)
23. Maharam Das Adhikari
24. Narahari Swami
25. Pancadravida Swami
26. Paramananda Das Adhikari
27. Param Gati swami
28. Paramananda (Gita Nagari)
29. Prthu Das
30. Radha Krsna Swami (Mexico)
31. Ram Govinda Das (Mexico)
32. Rohini Suta Das
33. Rukmini Pati Das (Brazil)
34. Rupanuga Das
35. Somaka Swami
36. Suhotra Swami (Dead)
37. Umapati Swami (China Hongkong)
38. Vaninatha Vasu Das
39. Vegavan dasa
40. Vipramukhya Swami
41. Prabha Visnu Swami (Januaray 2012)