Srila Prabhupada never appointed acharyas

By: 

Yashodanandana Dasa

Srila Prabhupada explained that his Guru Maharaja never appointed anybody as acharya. 

“…They wanted to create artificially somebody acharya,"…

 

Note:  1) The ISKCON GBC artificially created 11 acharyas in March of 1978.

            2)  If Srila Prabhupada wanted to appoint 11 acharyas [diksha-gurus] for ISKCON, why did he not directly say?

 

"He said so many things, and this point He missed? The real point?" 

 

Note: Similarly Srila Prabhupada said so many things in the last few months of 1977, and the real point He missed? 

 

“…and they insist upon it. They declared some unfit person to become…"

 

- Srila Prabhupada, Conversation, August 16, 1976, Bombay

 

Note:  And the GBC misheard, misunderstood, and misrepresented to the body of ISKCON devotees that 11 had been “appointed” as acharyas.  And they insisted upon it.  And they declared some unfit persons to become acharyas. 

 

Note:  If His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada did not appoint anyone as acharya [or diksha guru] for His mission, what makes the leading secretaries of His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada think that He would appoint one acharya or a group of acharyas for his mission, in direct contradiction of his criticism of this whole concept in August of 1976.  

 

- Srila Prabhupada, Conversation, August 16, 1976, Bombay, India  

 

Srila Prabhupada explains that there is no record that His Divine Grace Bhakti Siddhanta Sarasvati Thakura nominated “any acharya” after him. 

“… I have also read specifically your articles on the matter of acharyas, wherein on the 14th paragraph I see the acharya shall be entitled to nominate in writing his successive acharya. 

 

But we do not find any record where our Srila Prabhupada nominated any acharya after Him. Different persons have interpreted on this point, and everyone of our God brothers are acting as acharya, so this is a controversial point which I do not wish to enter into while we are proposing for co-operation…”  

 

- Srila Prabhupada, Letter to Swami Bhagavata Maharaja, August 21, 1969, Los Angeles 

 

Note:  Where is the actual verifiable record that Srila Prabhupada [HDG ACBSP] “nominated any acharya after Him”? 

 

Srila Prabhupada defines obedience. 

 

Srila Prabhupada:   "I may say many things to you, but when I say something directly to you, you do it. Your first duty is to do that, you cannot argue -'Sir, you said to me do like this before', no that is not your duty, what I say to you now you do it, that is obedience you cannot argue." 

 

-  Srila Prabhupada, Srimad Bhagavatam Lecture, April 14, 1975, Hyderabad 

 

Guru cannot be self-made.  Guru must be authorized. 

 

"Guru cannot be self-made. No. There is no such single instance throughout the whole Vedic literature. And nowadays, so many rascals, they are becoming guru without any authority. That is not guru. You must be authorised. Evam parampara-praptam imam ra... As soon as the parampara is....kalena yogo nasta parantapa, immediately finished. The spiritual potency finished. You can dress like a guru, you can talk big, big words, but it will never be effective." 

 

-  Srila Prabhupada, Lecture, February 27th 1977, Mayapur, India 

 

Guru must be authorized by the bona fide guru. 

 

"Self-made guru cannot be guru. He must be authorized by the bona fide guru. Then he's guru. This is the fact...Similarly; bona fide guru means he must be authorized by the superior guru." 

 

- Srila Prabhupada, Lecture, Nectar of Devotion, October 31, 1972 

 

Guru must be authorized by his predecessor spiritual master. 

 

"One should take initiation from a bona fide spiritual master coming in the disciplic succession, who is authorised by his predecessor spiritual master. This is called diksha-vidhana." 

 

- Srimad Bhagavatam, 4.8.54, purport 

 

Guru must be ordered by his guru. 

 

Prabhupada: Try to understand. Don't go very speedily. A guru can become guru when he's ordered by his guru. That's all. Otherwise nobody. 

Result of Gaudiya Matha's attempt to become more than guru. 

 

"Why this Gaudiya Matha failed? Because they tried to become more than guru. [.] They declared some unfit person to become acharya. Then another man came, then another, acharya, another acharya." 

 

-  Srila Prabhupada, Conversation, August 16, 1976 

 

Position of the actual guru. 

 

"An actual guru always remains the servant of his own guru and the predecessor acharyas. Attempting to become a guru without one's own guru's order is a materialistic ambition. Accepting followers and circumventing one's own guru is offensive." 

 

- My Glorious Master, by Bhurijana Dasa, 22-11: A Lost Son Visits Home 

 

Srila Prabhupada explains how he became the leader of the Krishna Consciousness movement. 

 

Guru must be ordered by His guru. 

 

Indian man: When did you become spiritual the leader of Krishna Consciousness? 

 

Srila Prabhupada: What is that? 

 

Brahmananda: He is asking when did you become the spiritual leader of Krishna Consciousness? 

 

Srila Prabhupada: When my Guru Maharaja ordered me. This is the guru parampara. 

 

Indian man: Did it... 

 

Srila Prabhupada: Try to understand. Don't go very speedily. A guru can become guru when he is ordered by his guru. That's all. Otherwise nobody can become guru. "     

 

- Srila Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita, Lecture, October 28, 1975 

 

Guru must be authorized. Guru cannot be self-made.

 

Position of gurus without authority. 

 

"Guru cannot be self-made. No. There is no such single instance throughout the whole Vedic literature. And nowadays, so many rascals, they are becoming guru without any authority. That is not guru. You must be authorised. Evam parampara-praptam imam ra... As soon as the parampara is...kalena yogo nasta parantapa, immediately finished. The spiritual potency finished. You can dress like a guru, you can talk big, big words, but it will never be effective." 

 

- Srila Prabhupada, Lecture, February 27, 1977, Mayapur, India

 

Guru must be authorized by the bona fide guru. 

 

"Self-made guru cannot be guru. He must be authorized by the bona fide guru. Then he's guru. This is the fact...Similarly; bona fide guru means he must be authorized by the superior guru." 

 

- Srila Prabhupada, Nectar of Devotion lecture, October 31, 1972

 

Guru must be authorized person. 

 

"Therefore guru must be authorized person, not that bhumi-phala-guru. No. I am guru," no. You cannot become guru unless you are agent to draw out the mercy water from the ocean of mercy of Krishna. That is guru. And therefore a guru is not an ordinary person. He is the representative, bona fide representative of Krishna." 

 

- Srila Prabhupada, Srimad Bhagavatam lecture, November 30, 1976

 

Guru cannot impart instructions without being authorized.

 

"The schoolmasters in the modern days are paid agents for giving some information, but the spiritual master is not a paid agent. Nor can he impart instruction without being authorized." 

 

- Srimad Bhagavatam: 2.9.43, purport 

 

"A Guru can be Guru when he is ordered by his Guru. That's all. Otherwise nobody can become Guru." 

 

- Srila Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita lecture, 28th October 1975 

 

Srila Prabhupada predicts what happens when the acharya disappears? 

 

Unfortunately, when the acharya disappears, rogues and nondevotees take advantage and immediately begin to introduce unauthorized principles in the name of so-called svamis, yogis, philanthropists, welfare workers and so on.   

 

- Srimad Bhagavatam: 4.28.48 

 

Do not make addition, alteration.

Results of making additions and alterations. 

 

Many times they give me very great credit that I have done wonderful. Yes, I have done wonderful. But what is the reason? Because I am not a rascal. I speak what Krishna has spoken. That's all. Very easy. Everyone can do that. Not only I. Any of you, you can do this. Simply speak what Krishna has said. That's all. Don't make addition, alteration. Then you become rascal.  Immediately you become rascal. 

 

- Srila Prabhupada, Srimad-Bhagavatam lecture, 1.5.29 Vrindavana, August 10, 1974

  

Danger of concocting 

 

Prabhupada: Ara na koriha mane asa. Don't concoct. Don't you sing daily? Ara na koriha mane asa. Don't manufacture ideas. That is dangerous. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu teaches by His example. Guru more murkha dekhi' karila sasana. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said to Prakashananda Sarasvati that "My spiritual master saw Me fool number one, so he has chastised Me, that 'Don't try to read Vedanta; chant Hare Krishna 

 

- Conversations, June 23, 1976, New Vrindavan 

 

Go to right person who has seen.  Do not make your own interpretation. 

 

Prabhupada: Therefore Krishna says, tad viddhi pranipatena pariprasnena sevaya: "One who knows, go and understand from them, from the guru." Don't make your interpretation, rascal. You shall remain always a rascal. Then what is the use of all these verses? If it is so easy to understand Krishna then why Krishna says, tad viddhi pranipatena pariprasnena sevaya: "Then you will understand. Go to the right person who has seen.”  

 

- Conversations, December 10, 1975, Vrindavana

Where is the Order?

Prabhupada: When I order, "You become guru," he becomes regular guru. That's all. He becomes disciple of my disciple. That's it. (Srila Prabhupada's May 28, 1977 ISKCON Governing Board Commission (GBC) meeting.)

Harinama dasa :[Here Srila Prabhupada clearly concludes his reply to Tamal and says that his disciples can become regular guru and accept their own disciples only when he orders them to. This clearly indicates that he did not yet give the specific order for his disciples to become regular (diksa) gurus and accept their own disciples in ISKCON in this meeting. He already repeatedly confirmed this fact with his prior repudiation (four times) in reply to Satsvarupa's original question on what the GBC were to do for 1st and 2nd initiations "when you no longer are with us" as already pointed out. So it is inconceivable that he changes his mind in replying to what is essentially the same question from Tamal vis-a vis, "Whose disciples are they?". Tamal's misunderstanding of this crucial meeting was later confirmed in the 1980 Topanga Canyon guru meeting detailed in subsection II.A. Unfortunately as secretary, his deviation was also written into the minutes of the May 28, 1977 meeting.
Furthermore, if someone tells you, "When I order, you jump off the cliff" would you jump? OF COURSE NOT! Clearly, Srila Prabhupada's use of the word "when" indicates that he did not yet give that order. A month later in his July 9, 1977 worldwide communique (given below) he gave his final orders on future initiations for Iskcon wherein he named 11 disciples to act as "ritvik representatives of the acarya" to initiate future disciples on his behalf "henceforward".] 

Nomenclature or Substance?

Sattvic Dāsa [ACBSP] – Calcutta: Dear Maharaja and Prabhus. Dear devotees of the Lord. Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda. I write this with a straw in my mouth. It’s been 35 years since the departure of our beloved Spiritual Master His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

What happened to his Institution? Our God-brothers in the position of GBC had a very important role to play in the preservation and expansion of ISKCON. They had been given the responsibility to be the “Watch dogs”, to be the one who would bark the loudest if any transgression had taken place. Why have they failed?

Since Srila Prabhupada’s departure we have witnessed the gradual disintegration and corruption of this wonderful society, a society that is meant to unfold the prediction of ten thousand years of spiritual awakening in human society.

Spiritual life begins with a submissive attitude of inquiry and service to the Spiritual Master.

The Spiritual Master is the via-media between the conditioned soul and Sri Krishna the Absolute Truth. The Spiritual Master ensures that the disciple is finally delivered from the clutches of repeated births and deaths in this material world. Srila Prabhupada taught us that The Spiritual Master is free from the defects of human nature (committing mistakes, propensity to cheat, imperfect senses and subject to illusion). Why then there have been so many downfalls? Why have the GBC not protected the most important institution in Vedic society? Why have they allowed conditioned souls with all of the above mentioned imperfections to sit on the most exalted seat, the Vyasasana, the seat of Sri Vyasadeva?

It’s obvious that a great mistake has been made, a mistake that has destroyed the faith of countless devotees not only in Srila Prabhupada and his society but also their faith in Sri Krishna. A great disservice has been done.

So many devotees service has been destroyed; so many good devotees have been thrown out of their father’s house by unscrupulous and callous leaders. Why?

When the GBC met Srila Prabhupada in Vrindavana in 1977 they very aware that His Divine Grace could have left the world any time soon giving his poor health. They asked him many questions. One very important question was regarding initiations “specifically at the time when he was no longer with us”.

Srila Prabhupada spoke about Officiating Acharyas and he also spoke about that there could be “regular gurus” had his order being received.

The only regular Guru we know is Srila Prabhupada or someone on his level of realization and purity. A self-realized soul free from the above mentioned human defects. And then we have the officiating Acharyas or those who were supposed to initiate on his behalf.

That they were to initiate on his behalf before his physical departure is not an issue. Everyone agrees with that. Our GBC’s only choices then were only really two, continue to initiate on his behalf or accept that the initiator Spiritual Master was a “regular” one, a Vaisnava on the topmost level of spiritual realization, a resident of Goloka Vrindavana, an intimate associate of Sri Sri Radha Krishna.

In fact there was an attempt to fool all of us into believing that the original 11 Acharyas were indeed on that platform. Those who objected were ruthlessly removed, persecuted, beaten and even murdered by the power that be.

In 1987 there was an attempt to reform and a meeting was convened in Sridham Mayapur where a 50 men committee was established to review the guru issue and find a solution to the problem. However the greatest hoax in human history was conceived by distributing the poison of Guru ambition to all thereby disintegrating the very fabric of Vaisnava culture.

Subsequently laws were concocted to contain the ongoing degradation thereby deepening their involvement in the greatest aparadha ever committed.

We want answers, we deserve answers. Our duty is to speak the truth. If we don’t know it then we cannot concoct one to suit our interests. What is the truth? Thousands of devotees have taken initiation again and again because they had faith in the leadership of ISKCON, believing that is what Srila Prabhupada established. That faith has been betrayed. This is a great sin.

Are the GBC ready to stand by their commitment and vouch that those who are in the position of Spiritual Master are indeed “regular” gurus taking the responsibility of delivering the disciples back home back to Godhead? If not the next question is who delivers the disciples from the clutches of material nature? Who takes the responsibility of taking them back to the spiritual Kingdom?

I know the answer and I am at peace with it. But what about all the devotees who have been told lies after lies? What about them finally getting some straight answers?

If Srila Prabhupada is accepted as the deliverer guru as rumors are spreading that that is indeed accepted by many of the GBC then the answer is self evident. Srila Prabhupada is the Spiritual Master and they are his disciples. I am not attached to nomenclature even though the word ritvik has been spoken by Srila Prabhupada. The fact is however that if Srila Prabhupada is the dispenser of Divya Jnana and the remover of the sinful reactions then he is the Diksha guru. Diksha means just that.

The next question is what is the role of those who gives the name and performs the fire sacrifice? They can’t certainly be gurus for they simply perform the formality of initiation.

What is their position then? I know the answer of this question also. However over the years the word ritvik has been so demonized that the simple hearing of that word creates a sense of disgust.

I am interested in substance not names or positions. Srila Prabhupada is the Spiritual Master of all members of ISKCON as everyone is following his discipline, his instructions. You call others any name you want but their role is only to fulfill the formality of initiation. Why then so much pomp and worship? This deviation has created the problem in the first place.

Let us come together. This is my humble prayer. Let us discuss once again how to reunite this family of Vaisnavas. Let us not leave any stone unturned.

Dear Godbrothers do not be swayed by ignorance and remain attached to a false concept of life. Haven’t we learned enough from past history? How many more good souls have to fall from their perceived positions before we wake up? Let the society of Vaisnavas, present and future freely worship Srila Prabhupada as their Spiritual Master their deliverer, their Via-media to transcendence. This is my humble prayer.

Your insignificant servant

Sattvic Dasa