Quotes of Narayana Maharaja on Prabhupada's books?

[Guest guest]

 

So all the hippies who recognoized Srila Prabhupada as a pure devotee were all pure devotees?

No they were not all pure devotees but they were certainly jiva souls who had had various levels of sukrti. How and why they came to the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada is something only the Lord knows. Somehow these hippies were given some revelation which guided them to Prabhupada, although this revelation was received in a hazy way.

[Guest guest]

In the Srimad-Bhagavatam it is said, atma parijnanamayo : what to speak of Krsna, even the conscious unit is self effulgent. A certain section says, "There is God. Surely He exists." Others say, "No, there is no God, He never existed." This quarrel is useless; still it will continue. In a particular section this argument will have no end. Those who have no eyes will be unable to see the sun. They will say there is no sun (mattah para-nistat amsa-lokam ). This misconception will continue for those who deny the existence of both the soul and the Supreme soul. For those who have direct experience, however, there is no question: it exists! But for the owl section who cannot admit the existence of the sun, the sun does not exist. It is something like that. Our own realization of a thing will be the greatest proof of its existence: vastu-tattva-jnana haya krpate.

One may be born blind, but if somehow or other his eyes are opened, he will be astonished to see the particular aspects of the environment. But if one has no vision, he can see no color or figure. Those who have vision will feel, "How can I deny the fact? I have seen it. I am feeling it, it is so magnanimous, so great and so benevolent, I can't deny all these things. You are unfortunate; you cannot see." Some see, some cannot see. In the same place, one can see, another cannot. Those to whom Krsna wishes to reveal himself can see him; others cannot.

[Guest guest]

Yes, the same can be said for the disciples of other Gurus including Srila Narayana Maharaja.

 

 

 

No they were not all pure devotees but they were certainly jiva souls who had had various levels of sukrti. How and why they came to the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada is something only the Lord knows. Somehow these hippies were given some revelation which guided them to Prabhupada, although this revelation was received in a hazy way.

[Guruvani 0]

One difference between the way Srila Prabhupada operated and the way Narayana Maharaja operates is that Srila Prabhupada always built temples and centers for his disciples to have some support structure and devotee society for their assocaition, but Narayana Maharaja is not opening hardly any temples or centers and he just tells everyone to come to the Mayapura parikrama every year and give money to support his temples in India.

 

He intiates lots of devotees around the world, but then he doesn't provide them any temples or support structures and just expects that ISKCON should accomodate them and integrate them into that society, but it most likely will not happen.

 

Someday, I think there will be lots and lots of displaced and dis-enchanted disciples of Narayana Maharaja who will feel somewhat neglected because they don't have the temples and structure that ISKCON has for it's members.

 

They are all big talk and sadhu-sanga now, but when he is gone they will be like orphans without a home.

[Guest guest]

 

One difference between the way Srila Prabhupada operated and the way Narayana Maharaja operates is that Srila Prabhupada always built temples and centers for his disciples to have some support structure and devotee society for their assocaition, but Narayana Maharaja is not opening hardly any temples or centers and he just tells everyone to come to the Mayapura parikrama every year and give money to support his temples in India.

 

He intiates lots of devotees around the world, but then he doesn't provide them any temples or support structures and just expects that ISKCON should accomodate them and integrate them into that society, but it most likely will not happen.

 

Someday, I think there will be lots and lots of displaced and dis-enchanted disciples of Narayana Maharaja who will feel somewhat neglected because they don't have the temples and structure that ISKCON has for it's members.

 

They are all big talk and sadhu-sanga now, but when he is gone they will be like orphans without a home.

 

An ex-follower of Narayana Swami told me that he laughs about Prabhupada installing a GBC board. Somehow I heard that this wasnt actually Prabhupada's invention but the way Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Maharaja wanted a Vaishnava institution to function. Today a devotee wrote me that if you want to join ISKCON today you have to fill out tons of formulars and give signatures and sign one document after the other. Looks like ISKCON management wants to make sure nobody has any rights when joining.

It is unbelievable that they can do what they like and nothing is controlling those deviants.

No wonder that they all join Narayana Swami who is more like a uncomplicated person.

[Guruvani 0]

 

An ex-follower of Narayana Swami told me that he laughs about Prabhupada installing a GBC board. Somehow I heard that this wasnt actually Prabhupada's invention but the way Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Maharaja wanted a Vaishnava institution to function. Today a devotee wrote me that if you want to join ISKCON today you have to fill out tons of formulars and give signatures and sign one document after the other. Looks like ISKCON management wants to make sure nobody has any rights when joining.

It is unbelievable that they can do what they like and nothing is controlling those deviants.

No wonder that they all join Narayana Swami who is more like a uncomplicated person.

 

I am not a big fan of the GBC myself, but I still think within my mind that these are sincere devotees trying to do what they think is right, even if from an outsider perspective like mine it just looks like so much crap.

 

The viewpoint from within ISKCON is undoubtedly different than the viewpoint from outside ISKCON.

We are all products of our subjective experiences.

From outside ISKCON the institution looks like a huge mess that has been spoiled with bureaucracy and politics of personal interest.

From the inside it is just devotees trying to do the best with the situation they are in.

I think both viewpoints are correct, but I prefer to keep away from the bureaucracy and it's zombies.

[Beggar 0]

 

...One difference between the way Srila Prabhupada operated and the way Narayana Maharaja operates is that Srila Prabhupada always built temples and centers for his disciples to have some support structure and devotee society for their assocaition, but Narayana Maharaja is not opening hardly any temples or centers

Rents and mortgages are about 3 or 4 times what they were in the 70s in North America, Europe, Australia and other places and that is accounting for inflation. Could you imagine opening a temple in the 70s if your temple rent was multiplied by 3 or 4? That exact situation exists at the only Narayana Maharaja temple in the U.S. in the Venice section of Los Angeles. I have heard from reliable sources that their mortgage for an old church is $8,000 per month. That's a huge burden.

Also people don't move in temples the way they did in the 70's. In the late 60's through the mid 70's many young people in the West were not only spiritual seekers but also quite desperate. Another point is that the mainstream Western culture has changed over the last three or four decades and many vegetarians and of course contemporary devotees have merged back in to the dominant culture. Also in the late 60's and early 70's if you dropped out of society it was much easier to get back in. Now days there's more people and much more competition and everything is very expensive. There is also the factor that employers now days really want to know what you have been doing the last several years. If you have no work history it can be very difficult especially for males to re-enter the workforce. These are all factors that make people who have some experience with the devotees reluctant to "join" in the same way as during Prabhupadas time. And of course many are aware of all the "spiritual Politics". Of course there are always exceptions but joining temples is much less common in this era.

[Guruvani 0]

 

Rents and mortgages are about 3 or 4 times what they were in the 70s in North America, Europe, Australia and other places and that is accounting for inflation. Could you imagine opening a temple in the 70s if your temple rent was multiplied by 3 or 4? That exact situation exists at the only Narayana Maharaja temple in the U.S. in the Venice section of Los Angeles. I have heard from reliable sources that their mortgage for an old church is $8,000 per month. That's a huge burden.

Also people don't move in temples the way they did in the 70's. In the late 60's through the mid 70's many young people in the West were not only spiritual seekers but also quite desperate. Another point is that the mainstream Western culture has changed over the last three or four decades and many vegetarians and of course contemporary devotees have merged back in to the dominant culture. Also in the late 60's and early 70's if you dropped out of society it was much easier to get back in. Now days there's more people and much more competition and everything is very expensive. There is also the factor that employers now days really want to know what you have been doing the last several years. If you have no work history it can be very difficult especially for males to re-enter the workforce. These are all factors that make people who have some experience with the devotees reluctant to "join" in the same way as during Prabhupadas time. And of course many are aware of all the "spiritual Politics". Of course there are always exceptions but joining temples is much less common in this era.

 

Or, Narayan Maharaja just doesn't care if his followers have temples and communities and is just satisfied to take money from the west and support his temples in India?

 

It's obvious that Narayana Maharaja does not share the same vision and same goals as Srila Prabhupada, so the ISKCON people and others have good reason to keep Narayana Maharaja from ISKCON?

 

It's easy to go all over the world an initiate people.

The hard part is helping them create temples and communities that will support and promote spiritual life.

 

It's no big accomplishment to initiate a lot of people.

The real accomplishment is to give them something substantial for their maintenance and support.

 

Srila Prabhupada didn't just initiate a lot of people, but he directed them to build temples and farm communities which would give them an alternative to the materialistic lifestyle that Narayana Maharaja condemns.

 

all this talk about sadhu sanga, but the only sadhu sanga that is promoted is to chase the old sadhu around the world begging for a glance or a word.

 

Sadhu sanga requires more than one old holy man to chase around.

Sadhu sanga necessitates organization and a community of devotees.

 

Obviously, Narayana Maharaja cannot accomplish that with his followers.

[Guest guest]

Guruvani's negativity is pathological.

[Guruvani 0]

 

Guruvani's negativity is pathological.

 

Or, just logical.....

[Beggar 0]

That may be true to a certain extent about Narayana Maharaja's group. But I just don't see any Gaudiya group doing a good job at opening and maintaining temples in the West. It just seems like a completely different era. Maybe an era of Nama Hatta programs.

[Guruvani 0]

[Guest guest]

 

Rents and mortgages are about 3 or 4 times what they were in the 70s in North America, Europe, Australia and other places and that is accounting for inflation. Could you imagine opening a temple in the 70s if your temple rent was multiplied by 3 or 4? That exact situation exists at the only Narayana Maharaja temple in the U.S. in the Venice section of Los Angeles. I have heard from reliable sources that their mortgage for an old church is $8,000 per month. That's a huge burden.

Also people don't move in temples the way they did in the 70's. In the late 60's through the mid 70's many young people in the West were not only spiritual seekers but also quite desperate. Another point is that the mainstream Western culture has changed over the last three or four decades and many vegetarians and of course contemporary devotees have merged back in to the dominant culture. Also in the late 60's and early 70's if you dropped out of society it was much easier to get back in. Now days there's more people and much more competition and everything is very expensive. There is also the factor that employers now days really want to know what you have been doing the last several years. If you have no work history it can be very difficult especially for males to re-enter the workforce. These are all factors that make people who have some experience with the devotees reluctant to "join" in the same way as during Prabhupadas time. And of course many are aware of all the "spiritual Politics". Of course there are always exceptions but joining temples is much less common in this era.

 

 

We had a rented temple for $8,000 per month. It needed 15 devotees to go out full-time and selling paintings to cover all costs including the huge Sunday feasts. After 5 years the whole setup crashed because nobody joined and all the devotees who did the collecting of Laxmi felt totally burned out. They expected hundreds of people joining and the whole thing becoming something like a powerful congregation and finally the selling of paintings by brahmins would stop, the temple expenditure paid by the congregation. Instead rather the opposite happened - all the guests started to exploit the temple facilities than supporting it. At the Sundays feast people would asks, "who pays for all this oppulence, where are you getting all the money for this?", indicating they almost got envious about the devotees lifestyle. Somehow ISKCON didnt learn anything out of this - to change towards realy, realy powerful brahminical preaching campaigns exposing the cheat and fraud of our materialistic societies/leaders/illusions and making people join by vedic philosophical presentations and not by opulence which only makes karmis envious.

[Guruvani 0]

 

We had a rented temple for $8,000 per month. It needed 15 devotees to go out full-time and selling paintings to cover all costs including the huge Sunday feasts. After 5 years the whole setup crashed because nobody joined and all the devotees who did the collecting of Laxmi felt totally burned out. They expected hundreds of people joining and the whole thing becoming something like a powerful congregation and finally the selling of paintings by brahmins would stop, the temple expenditure paid by the congregation. Instead rather the opposite happened - all the guests started to exploit the temple facilities than supporting it. At the Sundays feast people would asks, "who pays for all this oppulence, where are you getting all the money for this?", indicating they almost got envious about the devotees lifestyle. Somehow ISKCON didnt learn anything out of this - to change towards realy, realy powerful brahminical preaching campaigns exposing the cheat and fraud of our materialistic societies/leaders/illusions and making people join by vedic philosophical presentations and not by opulence which only makes karmis envious.

 

But you are anonymous, your guru is anonymous and that robs the readers out of any chance to see the big picture of the situation.

 

First of all, the idea that :

 

they expected hundreds of people joining and the whole thing becoming something like a powerful congregation and finally the selling of paintings by brahmins would stop

 

was a bad premise to begin with.

 

People should not be canvassed to "join" the cult.

They should be shown how they can cultivate Krishna consciousness from any position in society.

 

Everything was artificial and based on money-making scams and not the preaching itself.

 

Sounds like some really ambitious "guru" was artificially trying to set himself up with a fancy temple and build a big congregation with money made from scams.

Obviously it failed.

 

Instead of trying set himself up on "THE BIG SEAT" in a fancy temple, maybe he should have been out on the streets chanting and meeting people and trying to work on a grass roots level, visiting them in their homes and trying to build up a genuine congregation that could someday open a center or a temple where people could come to worship?

 

Just because some ambitious guru couldn't succeed in building up a palace for his throne by selling paintings doesn't mean that good preachers can't go into a community and distribute books and help teach people about Krishna consciousness and eventually open a temple.

 

Why should anybody join a temple where the platform is money making scams and artificial attempts at glory by some ambitious guru who wants to set on a big cushion and pontificate while all his little people run around trying to support his fantastic ambitions with money making scams?

[theist 1]

=:-)

[Beggar 0]

Issue number one:

 

People should not be canvassed to "join" the cult.

They should be shown how they can cultivate Krishna consciousness from any position in society.

 

So why not Nama Hatta programs?

 

Issue number two:

 

Sounds like some really ambitious "guru" was artificially trying to set himself up with a fancy temple and build a big congregation with money made from scams.

 

Starting out with a large overhead is a way to insure that devotees with an ISKCON background will fall back on their old scams, like Korean oil paintings. You don't have to be a guru to be ambitious and materialistic just look a other modern religious organizations.

[suchandra 1]

 

But you are anonymous, your guru is anonymous and that robs the readers out of any chance to see the big picture of the situation.

 

First of all, the idea that :

 

 

was a bad premise to begin with.

 

People should not be canvassed to "join" the cult.

They should be shown how they can cultivate Krishna consciousness from any position in society.

 

Everything was artificial and based on money-making scams and not the preaching itself.

 

Sounds like some really ambitious "guru" was artificially trying to set himself up with a fancy temple and build a big congregation with money made from scams.

Obviously it failed.

 

Instead of trying set himself up on "THE BIG SEAT" in a fancy temple, maybe he should have been out on the streets chanting and meeting people and trying to work on a grass roots level, visiting them in their homes and trying to build up a genuine congregation that could someday open a center or a temple where people could come to worship?

 

Just because some ambitious guru couldn't succeed in building up a palace for his throne by selling paintings doesn't mean that good preachers can't go into a community and distribute books and help teach people about Krishna consciousness and eventually open a temple.

 

Why should anybody join a temple where the platform is money making scams and artificial attempts at glory by some ambitious guru who wants to set on a big cushion and pontificate while all his little people run around trying to support his fantastic ambitions with money making scams?

 

Irony of fate is of this kind - that as soon a so called spiritual leader doesnt follow his previous acarya/acaryas - he/she is immediately excluded from attracting conditioned souls to perform purely transcendental devotional activities.

And here lies the crux - in order to cover up his/her being banned from preaching pure devotional service/activities, he/she is forced by the material energy to preach within the realm of the three modes of the material energy in order to compensate this vacuum.

Since material illusion works as such that you yourself cant even understand your own illusioned condition the path of misleading innocent followers/disciples sets the ball of karmic activities rolling. Coming back to ISKCON - this mechanism is of course always activated in the name of Prabhupada. Therefore you always hear, Prabhupada wanted this, Prabhupada actually said this.

In sum - above mentioned scenario of whole yatras being blown by engaging the rank&file class of devotees in so called "transcendental activities" which are in fact nothing but activities of action and reaction (e.g. Kazakhstan tragedy) - we find presently world wide ISKCON temples to be caught between the devil and the deep blue see: Brahmins send out to collect for an opulent temple performance at the same time, intelligent class of people dont fall into this "trap" and become active followers of Gaudiya-Vaishnavism - temples/Vaishnava congregations remain avoided by local intellectuals/thinkers/philosophers/natural leaders. Locals of that kind who make their fellow people easily to also become devotees.

Those who feel attracted to this typical ISKCON setup are those who feel their own material contamination supported - name, fame and distinction.

Therefore you find presently worldwide the same kind of people associated with ISKCON.

But always they mention, "we do as taught in Prabhupada's books".

This is Prabhupada's present precarious sacrificial lamb condition.

[Guruvani 0]

Well, I certainly hold the Bhagavat parampara above the formal ritvik version of Pancaratrika diksha.

The ritvik system is a rather extended concept of the Pancaratika parampara.

Personally, I think the Bhagavat parampara of NO FORMAL DIKSHA is more important than the formal, ritual, ceremonial ritvik diksha system that is now non-existent.

 

Some say that the Pancaratrika parampara is included in the Bhagavat parampara, but that is not always the case.

 

Bhagavat diksha is about substance over ritual.

The ritvik initiation is a Pancaratrika diksha.

Bhagavat diksha is certainly the most crucial form of diksha.

 

I believe that if one has Bhagavat diksha by coming in contact with the books of Srila Prabhupada or any person Bhagavat, that such Bhagavat diksha is sufficient for self-realization.

 

but, that is just my humble outsider's opinion.

 

Formal Pancaratrika dksha (ritvik) is not as essential as Bhagavat diksha which is not ritual or ceremonial.

 

Since the Gaudiya tradition is fundamentally a Bhagavat parampara first and then Pancaratrika parampara formally, I accept the fundamental parampara as being more important than the formal diksha.

 

If one has a genuine connection to the Bhagavat parampara, then he has the most important ingrediant for spiritual advancement.

No ritvik initiation is necessary.

It's just a formality.

 

Krishnadas Kaviraja never mentioned his Pancaratrika diksha guru,

The only gurus of Krishnadas Kaviraja Goswamin that are known are his Bhagavat parampara gurus.

He didn't even bother to mention his Pancaratrika diksha guru.

 

Pancaratrika diksha certainly has it's purpose.

It has good value.

But, in the Gaudiya tradition it plays second fiddle to the Bhagavat parampara of thought and particular mood of devotion.

[Guest guest]

 

Well, I certainly hold the Bhagavat parampara above the formal ritvik version of Pancaratrika diksha.

. . . Personally, I think the Bhagavat parampara of NO FORMAL DIKSHA is more important than the formal, ritual, ceremonial ritvik diksha system that is now non-existent.

 

Some say that the Pancaratrika parampara is included in the Bhagavat parampara, but that is not always the case.

 

Sparky, sometimes your inclination to make sparks undermines the good sense that underlies much of what you write. In the Bhagavat parampara presented by Srila Sarasvati Thakura and Srila Prabhupada, every link had no doubt received what would be considered pancaratrika diksa from someone. Can you name any where this is clearly not the case?

[Guruvani 0]

 

Sparky, sometimes your inclination to make sparks undermines the good sense that underlies much of what you write. In the Bhagavat parampara presented by Srila Sarasvati Thakura and Srila Prabhupada, every link had no doubt received what would be considered pancaratrika diksa from someone. Can you name any where this is clearly not the case?

 

Only the thousands of devotees that Mahaprabhu made in South India.

He converted many thousands to Krishna consciousness under the Bhagavat system and there is no mention of any Pancaratrika diksha being perfomed in that movement of Mahaprabhu in South India.

 

Why do you always have to use only great acharyas and spiritual masters as your example?

Do you think you are on that level?

Do you think every devotee in the universe has to be on the same level as the greatest masters and acharyas of the Gaudiya sampradaya?

 

I think your idea is just plain fanaticism that has no practical purpose in spreading Krishna consciousness to everyone in the world.

 

Your Pancaratrika diksha is a fraud in a good many cases, but the Bhagavat parampara is always genuine connection to the substance.

 

Let's not compare ourselves, or the millions of people in the world who need Krishna consciousness, to the great masters and acharyas of the classic age of Gaudiya Vaishnavism.

 

Let's be practical and pragmatic and understand that in order to deliver the whole planet these superficial rituals are going to have to be discarded into the museum of spiritual relics from the past.

 

As Sridhar Maharaja once said "what is more important, the nose or the breath"?

Sure, it's nice to have a nose.

It looks good.

But life is sustained by the breath.

 

If the nose gets cut off there is still life in the breath.

Bhagavat parampara is about the breath.

Pancaratrika diksha is about the nose.

[Shakti-Fan 0]

 

Only the thousands of devotees that Mahaprabhu made in South India.

He converted many thousands to Krishna consciousness under the Bhagavat system and there is no mention of any Pancaratrika diksha being perfomed in that movement of Mahaprabhu in South India.

 

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

[Guruvani 0]

 

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

 

duh, but if you read about his tour through south india as has been discussed on another topic you will see that so many ordinary devotees spread Krishna consciousness all over South India by preaching and teaching the Maha-mantra without all this Pancaratrika ritualism.

 

The pure devotees of the Lord have all the same power and potency as the Lord and sometimes more.

Srila Prabhupada for example accomplished things that even Mahaprabhu did not accomplish.

 

Srila Prabhupada stated in CC that he was trying to spread Krishna consciousness using the same principles that Mahaprabhu taught to the brahman Kurma and which he used to spread Krishna consciousness all over South India.

 

Srila Prabhupada was teaching people how to follow Mahaprabhu.

If you don't understand that, then I guess you have missed the whole point of his preaching.

[Guest guest]

 

Srila Prabhupada stated in CC that he was trying to spread Krishna consciousness using the same principles that Mahaprabhu taught to the brahman Kurma and which he used to spread Krishna consciousness all over South India.

Correct - I think Guruvani prabhu is right here - how "in every town and village", can become true, if people act like, "first please sign here, sir, only then you're a member"?

 

ISKCON's Mission

 

Srila Prabhupada gave a clear mission statement for ISKCON which is outlined in the following seven points.

 

The Seven Purposes of ISKCON

 

1)To systematically propagate spiritual knowledge to society at large and to educate all people in the techniques of spiritual life in order to check the imbalance of values in life and to achieve real unity and peace in the world.

2)To propagate a consciousness of Krishna (God), as it is revealed in the great scriptures of India, Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam.

3)To bring the members of the Society together with each other and nearer to Krishna, the prime entity, thus developing the idea within the members, and humanity at large, that each soul is part and parcel of the quality of Godhead (Krishna).

4)To teach and encourage the sankirtana movement, congregational chanting of the holy name of God, as revealed in the teachings of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

5)To erect for the members and for society at large a holy place of transcendental pastimes dedicated to the personality of Krishna.

6)To bring the members closer together for the purpose of teaching a simpler, more natural way of life.

7)With a view towards achieving the aforementioned purposes, to publish and distribute periodicals, magazines, books and other writings.

 

[Guest guest]

I don't know what everyone's on about. Srila Gurudeva (Srila Narayana Maharaja) is a pure devotee preaching the name of the lord.

 

I don't see why everyone has to find a connection between him and swami maharaja.

 

It should be enough that he is lovingly distributing pure bhakti and how to love God. I grew up in post-prabhupada ISKCON.

 

I grew up hearing about such a great soul (swamiji) but it was my misfortune that I would never meet him because he had already left me.

 

To be quite honest I have never felt more inspired to dive into the works of swami maharaja since meeting my Guruji. And even when I tried, I just got tired and bored with it.

 

There was no inspiration, no shakti.

 

Now, I don't think or care about if there is any relationship between them or not. I think it is ridiculous to think that only Swami maharaja or ISKCON could distribute Bhakti.

 

I have stayed with Srila Gurudeva and been in his most intimate association and I am telling this out of my own experience. If you have any doubts you may ask.

 

I hope you do realize that there are plenty of 'prabhupads' in India right now who can give you Pure Bhakti not just my Gurudeva.The only prabhupad for me however is that one who gives me my mantras and siksa. Otherwise, I simply don't know anyone else.

 

I have been in the intimate association of Srila Gurudeva, so I can ask/give my viewpoint on any questions you may have which may require an answer from someone who was with him personally and knows very well the associates who are currently serving him.

 

Please forgive me if I offended anyone reading this, and thank you for listening to me.

 

-Dasabhasa

[suchandra 1]

 

I don't know what everyone's on about. Srila Gurudeva (Srila Narayana Maharaja) is a pure devotee preaching the name of the lord.

 

I don't see why everyone has to find a connection between him and swami maharaja.

 

It should be enough that he is lovingly distributing pure bhakti and how to love God. I grew up in post-prabhupada ISKCON.

 

I grew up hearing about such a great soul (swamiji) but it was my misfortune that I would never meet him because he had already left me.

 

To be quite honest I have never felt more inspired to dive into the works of swami maharaja since meeting my Guruji. And even when I tried, I just got tired and bored with it.

 

There was no inspiration, no shakti.

 

Now, I don't think or care about if there is any relationship between them or not. I think it is ridiculous to think that only Swami maharaja or ISKCON could distribute Bhakti.

 

I have stayed with Srila Gurudeva and been in his most intimate association and I am telling this out of my own experience. If you have any doubts you may ask.

 

I hope you do realize that there are plenty of 'prabhupads' in India right now who can give you Pure Bhakti not just my Gurudeva.The only prabhupad for me however is that one who gives me my mantras and siksa. Otherwise, I simply don't know anyone else.

 

I have been in the intimate association of Srila Gurudeva, so I can ask/give my viewpoint on any questions you may have which may require an answer from someone who was with him personally and knows very well the associates who are currently serving him.

 

Please forgive me if I offended anyone reading this, and thank you for listening to me.

 

-Dasabhasa

 

Historical facts about Srila Prabhupada's one-man pioneer operation of bringing Krishna to the West.

 

 

<CENTER>SRILA PRABHUPADA AND THE GAUDIYA MATH

 

 

</CENTER><CENTER>By Sridam sakha das

 

</CENTER>

 

When Srila Prabhupada originally started ISKCON, he was very willing to undertake his mission in co-operation with his godbrothers. However, they were all envious of his success, and neglected all of his requests for help. As if that were not enough, they also did their utmost to disrupt his efforts in whatever way they could, for instance, by poisoning the minds of his disciples against him and reinitiating them. That they acted in the way they did is hardly surprising, in consideration of the fact that they had directly and deliberately disobeyed the instructions of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati. Against his wishes they elected an acarya after his departure. Not only that, but none of them ever followed his instructions to go and preach in the west. Srila Prabhupada's final instructions to his disciples with regard to his Godbrothers was to have nothing further to do with any of them.

Sounds familiar? During the time that I spent living in a temple, from what I heard from other devotees, this was, more or less, the impression that I had of Srila Prabhupada's Godbrothers and the Gaudiya math. However, after having done some research on the subject, I began to recognise how complex an issue it was, and that my previous understanding had been simplistic and misinformed.

 

The reader is no doubt familiar with many of the negative comments Srila Prabhupada had to make about his Godbrothers. However, he praised them on numerous occasions too:

 

"I am very glad to know that Ananda prabhu is staying with you, please offer my dandavats. He is my old Godbrother, sincere Vaisnava. Please treat him like your father. Do remain in full co-operation." (S.P. letter 6/5/'73)

 

 

"So if you are actually serious to take instructions from a siksa guru, I can refer you to one who is most highly competent of all my god-brothers. This is B.R. Sridhara Maharaja, whom I consider to be even my siksa guru, so what to speak of the benefit that you can have from his association...When I was in India, Acyutananda, Ramanuja, and myself, with others, lived with Sridhara Maharaja, so Acyutananda knows him very well. He spared a big house for us and if both of you go there now, it will be very good for your spiritual benefit. Then I will feel that you are safe. Besides that, if you wish to live in India, you can make arrangements for this house so that other of your god-brothers may go there in the future." (Letter to Hrsikesa, 69-01-09)

Srila Prabhupada apparently intended his disciples' association with Srila Bhakti Raksaka Sridhara Maharaja to be of a more long term variety.

 

 

In the following, Srila Prabhupada again makes the immense love and respect that he felt for his exalted godbrother very clear. More pointedly, he says that his association with Srila Sridhara Maharaja was arranged by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta and Krsna in order to help prepare him for the great mission he was later to undertake. However, perhaps most significantly of all, he states that he wanted to make Srila Sridhara Maharaja the head of ISKCON:

 

"So when we came back to Allahabad, so Ganesa Babu, he introduced me, that "Here is a nice devotee." So Prabhupada immediately replied, "Yes, I have marked him. He does not go away, he hears." This (indistinct), "Yes, I will accept him as disciple." Then I was initiated. In this way our relationship with Gaudiya Matha developed, and gradually as it developed, the other side diminished. Then, there are long history, it will take time, but I had the opportunity of associating with His Holiness. For several years I had the opportunity. Krsna and Prabhupada liked it to prepare me. Sridhara Maharaja lived as a...

 

Sridhara Maharaja: (indistinct)

 

Prabhupada: (laughs) ...in my house, some may say, a few years, so naturally we had very intimate talks and he was my good adviser. I took his advice, his instruction very seriously, because from the very beginning I know he's a pure Vaisnava and devotee, and I wanted to associate with him, and try to help him also in so many ways. He also tried to help me, so our relationship is very intimate. After the breakdown of the Gaudiya Matha, I wanted to organize another organization, making Sridhara Maharaja head." (Room Conversation, Mayapur, March 17, 1973)

 

Unfortunately, the above quote is not included in some, if not all of the Prabhupada databases, but, if the reader is interested, I will happily send them the whole conversation.)

 

 

Speaking of his sannyasa guru, Srila Prabhupada says:

 

"So I am feeling very much obliged to my, this godbrother, that he carried out the wish of my spiritual master and forced me to accept the sannyasa order. This godbrother, H.H. Kesava Maharaja is no more. He has entered Krsna's abode So I wish to pass a resolution of bereavement and send them. And I have composed one verse also in this connection in Sanskrit.....so I did not want to accept this sannyasa order, but this godbrother forced me 'you must.' apayayan mam, he forcefully made me drink this medicine...the Vaisnavas, the spiritual master, they forcefully say 'you drink this medicine.' You see apayayan mam anabhipsu ardham Sri-Kesava-bhakti prajana-nama. So this my Godbrother, his name is Kesava, Bhaktiprajnan Kesava. Krpambudhi. So he did this favour upon me because he was ocean of mercy. So we offer our obeisances to Vaisnava, krpambudhi. Vancha-kalpa-tarubhyas ca krpa-sindhubhya eva ca. The Vaisnavas, the representatives of the Lord, they are so kind. They bring the ocean of mercy for distributing to the suffering humanity. Krpambudhir yas tam aham prapadye. So I am offering my respectful obeisances unto this His Holiness, because he forcefully made me adopt this sannyasa order. So he is no more in this world. He has entered Krsna's abode. So I am offering my respectful obeisances along with my disciples...We are writing like this, "Resolved that we the undersigned members and devotees of International Society for Krishna Consciousness Incorporated, in a condolence meeting under the presidency of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, today the 21st of October, 1968, at our Seattle branch, express our profound bereavement on hearing the passing of His Divine Grace Om Visnupada Sri Srimad Bhaktiprajnan Kesava Gosvami Maharaja, the sannyasa guru, preceptor of our spiritual master, and on October 6th, 1968, at his headquarter residence in Nabadwip, West Bengal. We offer our respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of Sri Srimad Bhakti Prajnana Kesava Gosvami Maharaja with the following verse composed on this occasion by our spiritual master." This verse I have already explained to you. So I wish that you all sign this and I'll send it tomorrow by air mail." (21st October '68, condolence lecture, Seattle)

 

 

"The cult of Caitanya philosophy is richer than any other, and it is admitted to be the living religion of the day with the potency for spreading as visva-dharma, or universal religion. We are glad that the matter has been taken up by some enthusiastic sages like Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja and his disciples. We shall eagerly wait for the happy days of Bhagavata-dharma, or prema-dharma, inaugurated by the Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu." (Srimad-Bhagavatam: Introduction)

 

 

"In the same order as Kardama Muni, about one hundred years ago, Thakura Bhaktivinoda also wanted to beget a child who could preach the philosophy and teachings of Lord Caitanya to the fullest extent. By his prayers to the Lord he had as his child Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja, who at the present moment is preaching the philosophy of Lord Caitanya throughout the entire world through his bona fide disciples." Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 3: Chapter Twenty-two, Text 20

Not only did Srila Prabhupada sometimes praise his godbrothers, but on one occasion even blessed one of his harinama disciples to take diksa from one of them:

 

 

 

"Please accept my humble obeisances at your lotus feet. I understand from the letter of Asita das that he has gone to your place in Jagannatha Puri. He has asked permission from me for taking initiation from you. I have given him my permission and you can initiate him if you like so that he may increase his devotional service there." Letter to: Sripada Madhava Maharaja : 75-01-14 Bombay

 

 

"If you want to take initiation from Madhava Gosvami Maharaja I have no objection." Letter to: Asita das : 75-01-10 Bombay

Nevertheless, despite praising individuals, Srila Prabhupada also made many negative statements about his godbrothers too. In the following he states:

 

 

 

"We shall be very careful about them and not mix with them. This is my instruction to you all. They cannot help us in our movement, but they are very competent to harm our natural progress. So we must be very careful about them." (Letter to Rupanuga Maharaja, 74-04-28, Tirupati)

However, Srila Prabhupada's final instructions with regard to his godbrothers were very different. Literally days before passing away, he formed the "Bhaktivedanta Swami Charity Trust", one of the purposes of which was to link up again with the Gaudiya Math devotees, and to work with them on a co-operative basis. The statement of purpose for the Trust in this regard, reads as follows:

 

 

 

"In keeping with the spirit of the previous acarya's vision of Gaudiya-Madhva sampradaya, to cement relations with all the sister temples of Gaudiya-Madhva sampradaya under one banner, to solidify preaching the message of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, as desired by His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada and Srila Thakura Bhaktivinoda and all the previous acaryas in this line." (Room Conversation, Vrindaban, October 29, 1977, 771029RC.VRN)

Srila Prabhupada did not stop at merely instructing his disciples, but he went so far as to directly involve his own godbrothers, by appointing two of them onto the Trust's five man governing board:

 

 

 

Bhavananda: With bookstand. Prabhupada has formed a trust, the Bhaktivedanta Swami Charity Trust, and its purpose is to develop Gauda-mandala-bhumi. Prabhupada's one idea is to build this darsana-mandapa at the yoga-pitha. And another is to finish Sridhara Maharaja's darsana-mandapa at his..., like that, to develop the different..., to encourage co-operation between the different Godbrothers in the temples. The members of the trust are myself and Tamala Krsna Maharaja and Giriraja, Svarupa Damodara, myself, Madhava Maharaja and Madhusudana Maharaja. Prabhupada named those members.

 

Prabhupada: How do you think the idea?

 

Jayapataka: All of your ideas, Srila Prabhupada, are perfect. I am not someone to offer opinion. But if you ask, I think that actually, especially the yoga-pitha, natha-mandira, that's a very dynamic idea, and in general it must do good.

 

Prabhupada: We want co-operation.

 

(Room conversation, Vrndavana, 6 November 1977)

 

Srila Prabhupada was also willing for ISKCON funds to be used to erect buildings on the property of his godbrothers, and even for printing their literature:

 

 

 

Tamala Krsna: Yes, I think the general is already covered by this Mayapura-Vrndavana Trust committee. That's for all of India. And Gauda-mandala-bhumi is especially for encouraging the development of Gaudiya Vaisnavism in that area--Sridhara Maharaja's natha-mandira, this Yoga-pitha Bhaktivedanta Hall. Different buildings. Supposing one of your Godbrothers may have written some manuscript, he has no money. We can print some books for him so he can sell them, like that, works within the Mayapura area.

 

Prabhupada: That we shall fix up, what to spend.

 

Tamala Krsna: The Bhaktivedanta Swami Charity trustees would fix that up?

 

Prabhupada: Hm.

 

Tamala Krsna: Yes.

 

Prabhupada: All right.

 

 

So although Srila Prabhupada did make many negative statements about the Gaudiya Math and his godbrothers, he made many positive ones too, and his last words show unequivocally what policy he wanted to be followed.

 

 

It can sometimes be quite confusing when an acarya makes seemingly contradictory statements. Why did Srila Prabhupada appear to do so on this particular topic? For the simple reason that, by necessity, acaryas must teach their disciples in terms of time, place and circumstance:

 

"It is the concern of the acarya to show mercy to the fallen souls. In this connection, desa-kala-patra (the place, the time and the object) should be taken into consideration." (Adi 7.38)

 

 

"The Vedas instruct us that knowledge must always be considered in terms of desa-kala-patra. Desa means 'circumstances,' kala means 'time,' and patra means 'the object.' We must understand everything by taking these three elements into consideration." (Life Comes from Life: The First Morning Walk April 18, 1973)

The principle of changing the divine message out of consideration of desa-kala-patra by the acarya may also take quite extreme forms, such as those practiced by Sankaracarya and Lord Buddha. As a deliberate preaching strategy, they taught false doctrines to their disciples, for the purpose of uplifting them. This principle even applies to vaisnava acaryas too:

 

 

 

"These are the secrets of the acaryas. Sometimes they conceal the real purpose of the vedas and explain the Vedas in a different way. Sometimes they enunciate a different theory just to bring the atheists under their control." Madhya-lila 25.42

Therefore we can understand that Srila Prabhupada's apparently contrary statements about his godbrothers were also part of a necessary preaching strategy. However, he also cautioned us that although in his preaching a vaisnava may make strictly relative statements, that it is nevertheless the responsibility of those hearing him to be careful to extract the true essence of his message:

 

 

 

"Vaisnava who is preaching, it may be in a different way, according to time and place and the party. They have to change something, desa-kala-patra. *But we have to see the essence.*" Prabhupada's Lectures Srimad-Bhagavatam 1974 741008SB.MAY "The essence of devotional service must be taken into consideration, and not the outward paraphernalia." Madhya-lila: Chapter Twenty-three, Text 105

 

 

As Srila Prabhupada had so many godbrothers, their interaction with him and his disciples was a complex and potentially volatile situation. Certainly, a number of his godbrothers were enviously working against him, and he needed to safeguard his young disciples, many of whom wouldn't have been able to discriminate between the qualified and unqualified. Besides that, he was physically present as their diksa and siksa guru, for which reason there was no need for them to go outside of the society he had created. Therefore, safer for him to say: "none of you see them." Also, as an acarya, it was his duty to criticise and decry those activities of his godbrothers which were deviant, for the sake of teaching the proper standard to his disciples. Again, however, these statements were relative to desa-kala-patra, and cannot be used to definitively portray his ultimate stance towards his godbrothers, when put in perspective with everything else he had to say on the subject.

 

 

When one reads Srila Prabhupada's definitions of and statements about ISKCON, then it becomes easier to understand why ultimately he was willing to involve his godbrothers within it. According to what he says, ISKCON appears to extend considerably beyond its physical manifestation, i.e. the temples and communities, and their attendant management structures. It is non-sectarian, and is prepared to embrace the world, just as its founder was. The name itself says it all: a society for Krsna consciousness. To the extent that you're Krsna conscious, you belong:

 

"ISKCON (the International Society of Krishna Consciousness) is a non-lucrative organisation, whose purpose is to promote the well-being of human society by drawing its attention to God. We are a non-sectarian society, and our members include people from Christian, Jewish and Moslem as well as Hindu faiths. The aim of ISKCON is not to found a new religious sect, but to invoke the living entity's dormant love of God, and thus provide the human society of all faiths with a common platform of clear theistic knowledge and practice. Members of ISKCON may retain their own respective religious faiths, as ISKCON is meant to establish a clear, practical common formulation of the common ideal of all theists, and to defeat the unnecessary dogmatic wranglings that now divide and invalidate the theistic camp. This common ideal of theism is to develop love of God." (Letter to: ****** : 68-08-24 Montreal)

 

"A devotee sees all living entities with spiritual vision and does not discriminate on the platform of the bodily concept of life. Such qualities develop only in the association of devotees. Without the association of devotees, one cannot advance in Krsna consciousness. Therefore, we have established the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Factually, whoever lives in this society automatically develops Krsna consciousness." Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 4: Chapter Twelve, Text 37

 

"This Krsna consciousness movement is a transcendental science, and there is no room for jealousy. This movement is meant for the paramahamsas who are completely free from all jealousy (paramam nirmatsaranam)." Nectar of Instruction: Text Six

 

"The Hare Krsna movement is meant for those who are serious about understanding this science. There's no question of our being some sectarian group. No. Anyone can join. Students in college can be admitted. You may be a Christian, you may be a Hindu, you may be a Muhammadan--it doesn't matter. The Krsna consciousness movement admits anyone who wants to understand the science of God." (Science of Self Realization: Chapter One :Learning the Science of the Self)

 

"Just by pouring water on the root of a tree, one nourishes its trunk and all of its branches, fruits and flowers, and just by supplying food to the stomach, one satisfies all the limbs of the body. Similarly, by worshiping Lord Visnu one can satisfy everyone." Krsna consciousness is not a sectarian religious movement. Rather, it is meant for all-embracing welfare activities for the world. One can enter this movement without discrimination in terms of caste, creed, religion or nationality. If one is trained to worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, who is theorigin of visnu-tattva, one can become fully satisfied and perfect in all respects." Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 8: Chapter Five, Text 49

 

"Bhagavata-dharma has no contradictions. Conceptions of "your religion" and "my religion" are completely absent from bhagavata-dharma. Bhagavata-dharma means following the orders given by the Supreme Lord, Bhagavan, as stated in Bhagavad-gita: sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja. God is one, and God is for everyone." Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 6: Chapter Sixteen, Text 41 "Sun is neither Indian nor American. Similarly, God, Krsna, He's neither for Indian or for... He is for everyone. Sarva yonisu kaunteya sambhavanti murtayo yah, tasam mahad-yonir brahma aham bija-pradah pita. He's the father of everyone, not only human beings, but in the animals, the trees, the aquatics, everyone, all living entities. Mamaivamso jiva...This is universal. This is... This Krsna consciousness movement is therefore universal, real universal." Prabhupada's Lectures Bhagavad-gita 1972 721126BG.HYD

 

 

Srila Prabhupada's non-sectarian stance is also demonstrated in the following, wherein he implies that pure transcendental association is not confined solely within the four walls of the ISKCON institution:

 

 

 

"There are many societies and associations of pure devotees, and if someone with just a little faith begins to associate with such societies, his advancement to pure devotional service is rapid." (Nectar of Devotion: Chapter Nineteen :Devotional Service in Pure Love of God, p.14)

Although Srila Prabhupada invited his godbrothers to work with his disciples in 1977, it was by no means the first time that he had come up with the idea:

 

 

 

"So far as I am concerned, I am always for co-operation. If we can co-operate, we can do tremendous service for Lord Caitanya in the matter of propagating the mission of Lord Caitanya very nicely. I am prepared to co-operate with the Gaudiya mission wholeheartedly. Soon you can negotiate about our amalgamation on a co-operatively basis, it will be great service to Srila Prabhupada." Letter to Dr Syamasundardas Brahmacari, 5-9-69 "Best thing is that all we Godbrothers work together. Then the criticism will stop, otherwise even we join together, criticism will go on. So this has been going on for the last 24 years, but everyone of us is doing his best keeping Lord Caitanya in the center. We should be satisfied so much." Letter to: Jayapataka Maharaja : 71-02-23 Gorakhpur

 

 

Since Srila Prabhupada saw ISKCON as "a non-sectarian society" whose members included Christians, Jews, Moslems and Hindus, who, moreover, were permitted to "retain their own respective religious faiths", then it is small wonder that he was willing to accommodate his own godbrothers, who were so qualified.

 

 

It is an often over-looked fact that the number of Srila Prabhupada's godbrothers instrumental in the break up of the Gaudiya Math was very small. When Srila Prabhupada denounces "the Gaudiya Math", he is by no means making a blanket condemnation of every single disciple of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, of whom there were 60,000. In the following he explains:

 

"In the beginning, during the presence of Om Visnupada Paramahamsa Parivrajakacarya Astottara-sata Sri Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada, all the disciples worked in agreement; but just after his disappearance, they disagreed. One party strictly followed the instructions of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, but another group created their own concoction about executing his desires. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, at the time of his departure, requested all his disciples to form a governing body and conduct missionary activities co-operatively. He did not instruct a particular man to become the next acarya. But just after his passing away,

his leading secretaries

made plans, without authority, to occupy the post of acarya, and

they

split in two factions over who the next acarya would be. Consequently, both factions were asara, or useless, because they had no authority, having disobeyed the order of the spiritual master. Despite the spiritual master's order to form a governing body and execute the missionary activities of the Gaudiya Matha, the two unauthorized factions began litigation that is still going on after forty years with no decision." (Adi-lila Chapter Twelve, Text 8)

So Srila Prabhupada clearly says that it was the "leading secretaries" who disobeyed Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, and who ultimately "split in two factions over who the next acarya would be", beginning "litigation that is still going on after forty years with no decision." Elsewhere Srila Prabhupada has explained who the leaders of these two factions were, namely Bhakti Vilas Tirtha Maharaja of Sri Chaitanya Math, and Ananta Vasudeva of Bagh Bazaar Math. So much for the leading secretaries. But what about everyone else? Srila Prabhupada plainly says that they: "strictly followed the instructions of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura".

 

 

As for Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati's instruction to preach in the west, this was to Srila Prabhupada in particular. Srila Prabhupada was a unique acarya who was especially chosen, empowered and sent by the Lord to turn the tide of kali yuga. This service was particularly meant for him, and no-one else could have accomplished it. However, just because the disciples of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati did not achieve such large scale preaching triumphs as their illustrious godbrother, for this reason alone we cannot therefore assume that every one of them was necessarily less dear to Krsna:

 

"Krsna becomes obliged to the loving spirit of the devotee and not exactly to the service rendered. No one can serve Krsna completely. He is so complete and self-sufficient that He has no need of any service from the devotee. It is the devotee's attitude of love and affection for Krsna that makes Him obliged." Nectar of Devotion: Chapter Twenty-two: Qualities of Krsna Further Explained

Rather, we should remember that they "strictly followed" their spiritual master's instructions.

 

 

What to speak of those who did, Srila Prabhupada even declared those who did not to be transcendentally situated, going so far as to compare their disputes to those that happen in the party of Srimati Radharani:

 

"Even amongst our God-brothers we have misunderstanding but none of us is astray from the service of Krishna. My Guru Maharaja ordered us to execute his mission combinedly. Unfortunately we are now separated. But none of us have stopped preaching Krishna Consciousness.

Even if there was misunderstanding amongst the God-brothers of my Guru Maharaja none of them deviated from the transcendental loving service of Krishna.

The idea is that provocation and misunderstanding may remain between one man and another. But our staunch faith in Krishna Consciousness may not allow any material disruption. Please therefore try to be sympathetic with any person even if they differ. The only qualification we have to scrutinize is if one is acting in Krishna Consciousness as far as one is able to do it. This personal grudge is not inhuman and as I have told many times, that individualism is the cause of personal misunderstanding. When such individualism is employed in the center of Krishna there is no harm even if there is personal misunderstanding. Personal misunderstanding exists even in the higher levels. There is competition of loving Krishna even in the party of Srimati Radharani." Letter to: Brahmananda : 67-11-18 Calcutta

 

"So far as your question about controversy amongst the disciples of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami Maharaja, that is a fact. But this controversy is not material. Just like in a national program, different political parties are sometimes in conflict and make propaganda against each other, but their central point is always service to the country. Similarly, amongst the disciples of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati there may be some controversy, but the central point is how to preach the mission of His Divine Grace. If the central point is fixed up then there is no harm in such controversy. Every individual being must have his opinion; that is the significance of individuality, but all such differences of opinions must coincide in Krishna. In the battlefield of Kuruksetra were Arjuna and Bhisma who were fighting with one another, and because Krishna was on the side of Arjuna, sometimes Bhisma pierced the body of Krishna also with arrows. But still they remained the greatest devotees of the Lord, and Krishna accepted the friendship of Arjuna just as He accepted the inimical arrows of Bhisma in the same loving spirit." Letter to: Mandali Bhadra : 69-07-28 Los Angeles

 

"Among Vaisnavas there may be some difference of opinion due to everyone's personal identity, but despite all personal differences, the cult of Krsna consciousness must go on. We can see that under the instructions of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja began preaching the Krsna consciousness movement in an organized way within the past hundred years. The disciples of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja are all Godbrothers, and although there are some differences of opinion, and although we are not acting conjointly, every one of us is spreading this Krsna consciousness movement according to his own capacity and producing many disciples to spread it all over the world." Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 4: Chapter Twenty-eight, Text 31 "Disunity between individual souls is so strong within this material world that even in a society of Krsna consciousness, members sometimes appear disunited due to their having different opinions and leaning toward material things. Actually, in Krsna consciousness there cannot be two opinions. There is only one goal: to serve Krsna to one's best ability. If there is some disagreement over service, such disagreement is to be taken as spiritual. Those who are actually engaged in the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot be disunited in any circumstance." Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 4: Chapter Thirty, Text 8

 

 

Srila Prabhupada's relationship with his godbrothers is of an inconceivable nature, and very easy to misconstrue. For instance he described Srila Madhava Maharaja in the following way:

 

 

 

"...it is better not to mix with my Godbrothers very intimately because instead of inspiring our students and disciples they may sometimes pollute them. This attempt was made previously by them, especially Madhava Maharaja and Tirtha Maharaja and Bon Maharaja but somehow or other I saved the situation. This is going on." (Letter to Rupanuga Maharaja, 74-04-28, Tirupati)

Nevertheless, a year later he allowed him to initiate his harinama disciple, and in 1977 appointed him as a governing board member on the charity trust which he had created. Srila Prabhupada may have criticised his godbrothers, but he also warned his disciples that they did not have the right to do the same. Rather, any disciple should respect the godbrothers of his guru:

 

 

 

"one should respect one's spiritual master's Godbrothers as one respects one's spiritual master." Adi-lila: Chapter Five, Text 147

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati also warns of the danger of getting involved in the transcendental disputes between great vaisnavas, and taking sides:

 

 

 

"Those, whose judgement is made of mundane stuff, being unable to enter into the spirit of the all-loving controversies among pure devotees, due to their own want of unalloyed devotion, are apt to impute to the devotees their own defects of partisanship and opposing views." Sri Brahma samhita p.72

If pure devotees differ, then it is for their own inconceivable and transcendental reasons. It is certainly not done out of sectarian prejudice. Therefore, to project such motives onto Srila Prabhupada, by using his statements in an attempt to inculcate an attitude of prejudice in the minds of the innocent and impressionable against all Gaudiya math devotees is dishonest and duplicitous. One who does this certainly misrepresents Srila Prabhupada.

 

In the pages that precede this one, we have proven conclusively that Srila Prabhupada was not antagonistic to his godbrothers and their followers, and that moreover he wanted his own disciples to fully co-operate with them. However, even if we had not done this, it would still not give any more justification to the propagation of sectarian dogma against them. Such behaviour is avaisnava.

As can be seen from a previous quote, Srila Prabhupada held his godbrother and sannyasa guru Srila Bhakti Prajnana Kesava Maharaja in very high esteem. The same can be said of Srila Kesava Maharaja's own disciple, Srila Narayana Maharaja. Srila Prabhupada talked to him before passing away, of his great desire that all the disciples and grand disciples of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati "work conjointly":

"Srila Prabhupada (Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati) said that we should preach in Europe, America. That was his desire, and his other desire was that we all work together jointly to preach".

"Yes, that is right" said Narayana Maharaja.

"I didn't waste a single moment" said Srila Prabhupada "I tried my best, and it has been successful to some extent".

Srila Prabhupada's voice was choked with emotion.

"If we work conjointly" he continued, "then as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said prthivite...sankirtana has great possibilities. My life is coming to an end. It is my desire that you all forgive me for my mistakes..."

..."Whatever instruction you give me" said Narayana Maharaja "I will follow with absolute sincerity. I consider you my guru."

Narayana Maharaja said that what Srila Prabhupada had created should be protected, and it was everyone's duty to do so. He pledged to help in whatever way he could. Regarding Srila Prabhupada's asking his godbrothers for forgiveness, Narayana Maharaja said "we never thought that you did anything wrong. On the other hand, you bless us, we need it. You never did any wrong. If someone is offended by your actions, that is his fault."

After a pause, Narayana Maharaja spoke again, this time referring to Srila Prabhupada's disciples. "They should be told that they should never get motivated by their own self-interest" he said. "They should make your mission successful."

Srila Prabhupada turned his head slowly, looking over the devotees as they gathered in more closely. Then slowly he lifted his hand, as if to call them to attention, and said "Do not fight among yourselves, I have given direction in my books." He then lowered his hand. (Srila Prabhupada Lilamrta, Vol 6, p.399-401)

 

Srila Prabhupada and Srila Narayana Maharaja spent much time in each other's association before Srila Prabhupada departed for the west. They first met in 1947. When Srila Prabhupada received sannyasa from Srila Kesava Maharaja, Srila Narayana Maharaja performed the fire yajna, and made Srila Prabhupada's danda. When Srila Prabhupada had started ISKCON, Srila Narayana Maharaja sent him mrdangas, karatalas, books, tilak, pictures, Deities, japa mala, clothing, harmonium, pera (a sweet) etc etc. Throughout the time that Srila Prabhupada was preaching in the west, he frequently contacted Srila Narayana Maharaja, who assisted him in many ways:

 

"Please offer my obeisances to Srimad Narayana Maharaja. I have not heard from him in a long time. Please request him to find out a large piece of land perhaps with a house, between Mathura and Vrndavana, for purchasing." (S.P. letter 26/7/'70)

Srila Prabhupada in fact wrote hundreds of letters to Srila Narayana Maharaja, most of which were unfortunately lost while in the care of ISKCON. However, from the ones which remain, a booklet has been compiled which is now available for purchase. From these few letters that we do have, the intimacy and appreciation which Srila Prabhupada felt for Srila Narayana Maharaja is very evident:

 

 

 

"Our relationship is certainly based on spontaneous love. That is why there is no chance of us forgetting one another. By the mercy of Guru and Gauranga may everything be auspicious for you. This is my constant prayer. >From the first time I saw you I have been your constant well-wisher. At his first sight of me, Srila Prabhupada also saw me with such love. It was in my very first darsana of Srila Prabhupada that I learned how to love" Letter from Srila Prabhupada 28th September 1966

 

"Because in all Gaudiya Mathas, I think that you are the real guru-sevaka, so I always correspond with you and I always give my full love and affection to you.If I was not thinking like this and putting so much trust in you, I would never have sent you my key and my money. I have so much faith and love for you." Letter from Srila Prabhupada, New York, May 17th 1967

 

 

Srila Prabhupada entrusted Srila Narayana Maharaja with the great honour and responsibility of putting his body into samadhi. After Srila Prabhupada's disappearance, when his sons tried to stage a take-over bid of the ISKCON assets, from morning to evening for days, Srila Narayana Maharaja tirelessly testified on behalf of ISKCON in the Bombay courts.

Srila Prabhupada also specifically asked Srila Narayana Maharaja to guide his disciples in his physical absence, and to teach them the siddhanta of Gaudiya Vaisnavism as taught by Srila Rupa and Raghunath das Goswamis.