ISKCON Mayapur Engaged in Human Trafficking of Children?

Human society must protect the women, children and elders.

JND: Link to full testimony:

https://www.facebook.com/gianni.menegazzo.5/posts/pfbid0Q3czXU1u8Afd7ZTKeJHiPenhRHzEkKcvzPaSnvZSXL6waqKEVPAiRCBAbTgHaBhKl

The Mayapur gurukula would not accept children from local devotee families who could not pay, but was opening the door for all sorts of random orphans from across multiple countries like Nepal and Bangladesh. The reasons are obvious. They wanted helpless kids with no adult oversight.

GG: Which is normally called ... international child sex trafficking.

DP: I Know Vedasara. Such a loving devotee. I was in charge of the Library and he came often to the library. Sometimes we played bhajans. Please greet him if

you happen to meet him. His brother brought me from Vrindavan whatever I needed before returning home. You triggered a lot of nice memories. But Mayapur is already run by a heavy JPS "mafia" ... I just finished reading. 

I am speechless, so much so, that I will send this testimony to my "guru," Sri Krishna -ksetra Swami. I want to hear what he will say, not much I suppose, and if that will be the case, I will definitely end my relationship with him. I am anyway wanting to do this for a year or two. The last few years have been mind-opening, a great revelator.

BK: Krishna Kshetra swami? See no evil, hear no evil, has no idea what is good and what is evil.

JD: I understand the passion for wanting things to be right but this is the material world I'm not sure that's ever going to be accomplished especially where these guys are making lots of money have followers and lots of power I think it's unlikely that anyone no matter how pure their motives will succeed ultimately. This material world is no place for a gentleman. So in our zeal to make everything right with this world I wonder what's happening to our Krishna consciousness? Soon we will all have to leave here is this the best use of our time I don't know I'm just asking.

BK: "Leaving behind" ... what legacy?

JND: All the small boys were getting raped every day by a dozen or more people in Mayapur, including the hired cooks. The victims get absolutely nothing. But ISKCON is currently paying 150,000 rs. a month to one lady who had an affair with Bhakti Vidya Purna Swami ... so she doesn't talk.

Meanwhile the "justice retards", rather than saying these criminals should be dealt with severely, are fighting to stop them from giving Bhagavatam classes, as though that is a suitable punishment for their crimes.

GG: I am shocked by this testimony. I lied. Not shocked at all. Only shocked it has taken so long for the truth to come out. Meanwhile, all the more victims were sucked into their molester program ... as the silent majority clammed up. I heard that Vedasara has some terminal illness. Is this about cleaning up the record?

=======================

Testimonial by Vedasara.

My name is Veda. I am a husband and a father. I live in America and have served as the president of the Atlanta ISKCON temple for 15 years. I'm also a teacher of Krishna Consciousness with many American students who attend university or are working professionals. I grew up in Mayapur Gurukula.

During my time in Mayapur approximately two hundred children came through the Gurukula. To my knowledge, there are not many who are still actively connected to ISKCON. Most of them only use karmi names now.

BB: What about the one's who took their own lives ... because they got no support. Worse than no support, they were mostly told to keep silent by leaders, even many times ... their own parents. How are we supposed to apologize to ... the dead? It is too late. They are no longer following, so now they are called "stupid useless fringies." Insult to injury. They were never of any value, they were throwaway kids ... and they knew it. And they still are cast outs, no one cares for them.

It is for these lost children I write this letter.

I’m also writing because recently, XXX, a brave young lady in Mayapur, broke her silence about sexual abuse by Bhaktividya Purna (BVP) Swami. I feel compelled to add my testimony to her’s.

Most of ISKCON believes that no boys ever came forward with allegations of sexual abuse by BVP Swami. It is not true. I know 6 boys who were sexually abused by BVP Swami. As early as 1998, a report of his sexually abusing a  Gurukula boy named XXX was investigated. That testimony was discredited and silenced. The boy was threatened, defamed, and forced to run away from Mayapur for his physical safety.

I will be the second boy to speak out.

HOW I CAME TO MAYAPUR

I came to Mayapur in 1983, at the age of 5, along with my older brother who was 8. We came from a remote village in Assam. My brother had decided to run away from home and I followed him. We ended up on a train without knowing where we were going. Somehow, we got off in Nabadwip and ended up in Mayapur. We were as good as orphans as we didn't know how to get back home. The devotees picked us up from the streets and put us in the Gurukula.

I stayed in Gurukula as a student for about 14 years and then served as the ashram coordinator and principal of the Bhaktivedanta Gurukula Village in Mayapur for another 6 years. The majority of the time I spent as a student living in the ashram of Bhaktividya Purna Swami (BVP Swami), who at that time was known as Anirdesha Vapu das. He is also known as Gurukul Maharaj.

When we first arrived in Mayapur, BVP Swami was in charge of the Gurukula and decided my brother should be put in the Sudra Ashram where the children were basically workers. I was placed in the Brahman Ashram. We weren't allowed to mingle or communicate for fear of the Brahmanas becoming contaminated.
By the time my parents finally found us, it was two years later. 

When they came to Mayapur I had become a fully indoctrinated, fanatical, brahmacari at 7years old. When they tried to take me home I told them they weren’t my parents and that my mother and father were Radha and Madhava. The teachers told them we now belonged to God, and without documents to prove we were their kids, my parents were sent back to Assam, broken-hearted.

GG: 7 years old and told not to go with the parents. That is basically kidnapping of children. This is an international child sex trafficking cult. Why has almost no one spoke up? They are all in on it?

FIRST-HAND EXPERIENCE OF SEXUAL & PHYSICAL ABUSE IN MAYAPUR GURUKULA

During my early years in Gurukula I was particularly vulnerable because I could not defend myself and I did not have parents to protect me. For the first 7 years, I was subjected to sustained and extreme, physical and sexual abuse by teachers and older students. I was separated from my brother and unable to get his help because he himself was being abused.

As a child in the Mayapur Gurukula, I was sexually assaulted by a total of 8 people. I was sexually abused multiple times by Gopavrindapal (AKA Swami Giri, who later took Sannyas from Nrisingha Maharaj), Vrajadish (an older gurukuli), Mrityunjaya (another older gurukuli), and XXX (a third older gurukuli who I am choosing not to name). I was also sexually abused by the restaurant manager, senior disciple of Bhavananda (I don't remember his name), also a pujari of Lord Narasimhadev (I don't remember his name), Nandaram (a teacher), and Bhaktividya Purna swami.

JD: That looks about right, there has been a giant molester organization going on here. All kinds of people were in on it.

My early memories are marked by a sense of pervasive and utmost terror. I remember a time when I used to sleep under my bed for fear of getting sodomized in my sleep. I kept a stick with nails by my side to protect myself. I lived in a state of physical, sexual and emotional danger and I remember being always hungry. It was a constant struggle for survival. 

Today the majority of my peers have long moved on from ISKCON and want nothing to do with us. I remember when XXX and other friends of mine reported to Bhaktividya Purna Swami that they were getting raped by teachers and some of the older boys, and instead of protecting them, Bhaktividya Purna swami would give them one of his trademark, sadistic and brutal thrashings.

He was a merciless and stern critic. Throughout my childhood he repeated to me that I was worthless and stupid. This sustained attack on my self-esteem made me an easy target for the vultures that circled around the Mayapur Gurukula to prey on young children. For much of my childhood I regarded myself as being both materially and spiritually orphaned.

JD: Sadistic child predator vultures of children. And the people who kept them there are part of the program. What kind of holy dham is this?

The facilities in the Mayapur Gurukula at that time were very basic, and our sanitary conditions were poor. There was no electricity. We lived in strawhuts. Initially we slept on the floor and later got some bunk beds. We used hand pumps to wash and had Indian style toilets without running water. This may sound very Vedic and idyllic, but for us it was just our reality. 

The straw huts did not provide any privacy, and as a consequence much of the sexual abuse took place at night or in the toilets. My introduction to the brutal sexual abuse of children came suddenly and unannounced. I remember one day I was going to the toilet and I noticed that one of the doors was open. I saw our cook / teacher named Shivaraj standing there naked. 

He was holding XXX, (one of the young boys no more than 5 years old) by his waist. The boy looked as though he was lifeless, his hands and feet were dangling towards the toilet and the cook / teacher was sodomizing him. At the time I remember wondering if the child was still alive.

PADA: That is why we call them the anal reconstructive surgery epidemic messiah's club.

I had no idea of what was happening, I had no point of reference to even begin to understand what I was witnessing, but I felt incredibly vulnerable and terrified! The man looked at me and told me that if I was to speak of this to anyone he would kill me. I nonetheless confided in one of the other boys and asked him what I was to do. He warned me that if I reported the incident, Bhaktividya Purna Swami would beat me mercilessly.

I lost my innocence at a very young age. One evening an older boy called Mrityunjaya came and pushed me against a tree. He was much stronger than me. He removed my gamsha and kaupins and proceeded to rape me. He was very impatient and rushed. He was so caught up in the moment that he did not even realize that I had instinctively placed my little hands over my back side because he was hurting me and that first time he hadn't actually penetrated me. 

The whole ordeal did not last very long. He ejaculated all over my behind and told me that he was going to be my protector and that nobody else would do this to me. But that turned out to be a lie.

I soon discovered that this was a regular part of life in the Mayapur Gurukula. Just like in the jungle, the strongest animals are at the top; in the Gurukula it was Bhaktividya Purna Swami and the other adults and teachers who sexually abused children. Every child was vulnerable to their abuse but it also followed a terrible pattern. The abused older boys of 16-17 years of age were abusing younger boys of 14-15 years, who in turn abused the 10-11 year olds, who then abused the 5-6 year old children.

PADA: Training children to become sodomizers. And that is why one woman said they are the Sodom and Gomorrah guru sampradaya.

In the evenings, we smaller children would try to walk in a group, because this gave us a little protection from the sexual assaults of adults and monitors (older boys). When older boys felt sexually agitated they would call us and have their way with us. If we didn't comply they would beat us and then report us to BVP Swami for insubordination, who in turn would also beat us. 

The only thing more frightening and painful than getting raped was getting beaten by BVP Swami. It was absolutely savage!

There was a streak of sadistic, methodical consideration that BVP Swami put into his ritual of torturing children with his sticks. One of them was shaped like a paddle. It looked like a cricket bat. This was reserved for the more minor transgressions. Another, called Bhet, was a thick, solid bamboo stick, similar to the ones carried by the Indian riot police for crowd control. 

This was used to punish mediocre offenses. Then he had a number of semi-flexible to fully-flexible bamboo sticks that worked like whips to punish the more severe offenses. These bendy sticks were unique because, up on contact, their respective flexibility caused a proportionate degree of pain and damage to the victims.

When BVP Swami wanted to beat a child he would line up the boys and ask me to bring his collection of sticks that he kept wrapped in a saffron cloth. He would then select his weapon of choice, depending on the gravity of the offense committed, and proceed to demean the child with an evil laugh. He then instructed the child to bend over and bare his bottom.

There was something frightening about his calm and composed laughter, followed by the name of the victim. “Hu hu hu. Krishna das.” Then all of a sudden he would strike with such force that the child would often fall to the ground, the skin ripped off his backside.

There was a boy called XXX, who was the toughest kid I have ever met, and who probably got tortured by Bhaktividya Purna Swami more than any other child. He was dropped at the Mayapur Gurukula along with his 3 brothers, when he was 4 years old. He also didn't have parents.

He was so tough that somehow or other, when he got hit, he would not even flinch or show any emotions. I think this was his way to try and preserve some last shred of dignity and self respect. For some reason this enraged BVP Swami even more, who would then continue thrashing XXX until he got him to scream in agony.

XXX, a friend of mine, told me of one incident before my time when three boys XXX, XXX and XXX were tasked with cleaning the rooms of Jayapataka Maharaj and Bhavananda Swami.

They returned late to the Gurukula for lunch Prasadam. For some reason Bhaktividya Purna Swami and two other teachers were enraged by their delay. They viewed it as a defiance of their instructions and authority. The three teachers locked up the kids in one of the dark rooms in the Goshala and beat them to a pulp.

After the beating, XXX took them to Jayapataka Maharaj and explained to him what had happened. JPS asked the boys to take off their kurtas. Their backs were covered in flesh wounds and bruises from the lashes. There was blood oozing from the places where the skin had been ripped off.

JPS was in disbelief. He actually broke down crying and kept asking, “How is this possible?” He then sent XXX to confiscate BVP Swami's stick collection. XXX noticed that the Bhet stick was broken. This 'unbreakable' solid bamboo stick had been broken on the backs of these children!

[PADA: But Jayapataka charged me like a roaring elephant when I was in Los Angeles having them sued for molesting. He was trying to intimidate me. Of course in Los Angeles Svavasa das loves to promote these child raping and child beating program's leaders like Jayapataka swami.]

Somehow, BVP Swami got new sticks and the beatings continued for decades.

***

The only treats that Gurukula kids ever got was a portion of the morning sweets. And they were cherished. Losing our morning sweet was a common and dreaded punishment. As there weren't enough sweets to go around for everyone, each child would get a sweet once every fortnight. This sweet was an extremely sacred and valuable prize.

XXX one of the boys in Mayapur, who was also an orphan, told me that on one occasion one of the teachers ejaculated on his maha prasadam morning sweet and forced him to eat it as he watched. As a child I was often very hungry, because the school did not provide us with sufficient food. 

One day I went to the restaurant and begged the manager for some food. He was a senior disciple of Bhavananda maharaj. He invited me inside. I then headed for the urinal to pee. He came, grabbed me from behind, and using some used cooking oil as lubricant he began raping me whilst I was still trying to pee. 

By this time I was so accustomed to getting sexually assaulted that my only request was to at least let me finish urinating. He didn't pay any attention to my protests and proceeded to sodomize me. It was the most excruciating and painful experience to date.

When he was done he handed me two cold samosas. That was the value of my body! I was so hungry that I just devoured them. I felt no sense of worth. I was discarded like a piece of trash. I felt numb and empty inside.

***

I remember XXX was a young boy from Finland / Russia. He was a prized target among the sexual predators at the Mayapur Gurukula, because he was a very young and cute child. He would often come crying to me in pain. He told me that teachers were taking turns at raping him, one after the other, so much so that his anus would often bleed after the attacks. I felt completely helpless.

[PADA: Yep, and when we told the Los Angeles devotees they are supporting a pedophile guru program in Mayapur, they gave me angry glares. No one should disturb their Sodomites religion.]

***

One day, one of the school monitors kicked and beat me savagely with his stick and fists in front of the other children. It was one of the worst beatings I ever got!
The experience was physically excruciating and deeply humiliating. My body was full of bruises and wounds. Somehow, the combination of the extreme physical pain and the public humiliation pushed me over the edge. I reached a low point of such hopeless desperation that I decided to end my life.

[PADA: Is it any wonder some of these kids take drugs, are depressed, and sometimes they take their lives. Is it any wonder some of them now have terminal illness from all the stress and distress. Is there any wonder some of them have serious mental issues, like the 17 year old kid who was always running down the street totally naked, screaming, and had to be captured repeatedly by the police? How did they get to that state? Their environment created that state.]

I walked to the Ganga and stood on the edge of the cliff overlooking the mighty river. Behind me the wind was gently blowing over the tall plants in the jute fields. I wanted Mother Ganga Devi to take me and liberate me from my suffering. I tied rocks to my feet and leaned forward ready to jump in, when suddenly an unexpected intervention convinced me to fight on. I felt the wind pushing back against my body as if it was a sign that Krishna didn’t want me to do it.

MY PERSONAL ABUSE BY BVP SWAMI

Often, the boys used to wrestle for fun and one evening I was wrestling a boy from Suriname. He accidentally kicked me in the gut. My stomach was hurting so much that I folded in pain and asked Bhaktividya Purna Swami to help. He told me to follow him to the round house.

The round house was actually a hut. It was centrally located in the Gurukula, and it was the only hut that had bamboo sidings that gave it some privacy. Maharaj asked me where my stomach was hurting. I showed him where I had been kicked. He then came very close to me and proceeded to lift my gamsha and kaupins. I was terrified! I just froze. I was afraid that he was going to rape me. I was still a prepubescent boy at the time. He played around with my hairless testicles for a while and then proceeded to forcefully masturbate me. As I am not circumcised, when he pulled back my foreskin, it caused me a lot ofpain.

***

It’s very hard to express the conflicting emotions I had after this incident. I felt simultaneously protected and vulnerable.

For most of my time in Gurukula I slept on the floor beside Bhaktividya Purna Swami’s bed, in House 4 (one of the straw huts) along with 8 other boys in mosquito nets. We all slept in a row, but I always slept right next to BVP Swami.
One night, when I was in deep slumber, somewhere in my semi-conscious awareness, I felt that someone was touching my genitals. 

After I ejaculated I woke up fully. I noticed that I had semen all over me. I then looked up and saw BVP Swami moving away. He walked towards the hand-pumps. When I heard that the noise of the hand pump stopped I knew that he was heading back. I wanted to avoid him, so I sneaked out into the darkness before he got back. I went to wash myself and then quietly went back to my bed, unable to sleep again. I can’t prove that he molested me this second time, but I’m convinced it was him because there was no one else awake.

3 other boys have personally told me that they were sexually abused by Bhaktividya Purna Swami. I know of an additional 2 boys who didn’t tell me themselves. It was common knowledge in the Gurukula that these boys, who are older than me, had also been sexually abused by him and had then gone on to abuse younger boys. For different reasons, only one of these boys beside me is willing to testify today.

[PADA: Yes, they don't want to testify because they are afraid of the regime.]

TESTIFYING AGAINST BVP SWAMI

One of these boys, XXX, reached out to confide in me that he was repeatedly sexually abused by Bhaktividya Purna Swami. This boy then in turn went on to sexually abuse several younger children in the Gurukula. I asked him if he would submit a testimony. He straightforwardly told me that he comes from a very poor village family and the way he sees it is that thanks to BVP Swami he got to be a part of ISKCON and create a good life for his family. Therefore he is happy to disregard the fact that BVP Swami sexually abused him. In other words, he sees it as a fair trade off.

I believe that the reason BVP Swami would beat the children that went to report sexual assault by the older boys is because he had himself sexually abused some of these very same older boys and was thus responsible for starting this cycle of multi-generational abuse.

For 14 years I stayed in BVP Swami’s Gurukula as a student until the age of 19. At that time, BVP Swami broke away from the Bhaktivedanta Gurukula Village and created another school called "Sri Rupanuga Paramartik Vidhyapith." He separated all of his Brahman boys to that new school, including me. Around the age of 20, I was given the service to be the ashram coordinator of the original Bhaktivedanta Gurukula Village which included all the other, non-Brahmana students and eventually served there as principal for another 6 years.

When Dhiragovinda prabhu helped to start the original Child Protection Office, he found himself swamped with hundreds of cases of child abuse from around the world that needed urgent attention.

The first time I felt somewhat comfortable speaking out against BVP Swami was at the beginning of 1998 when Dhiragovinda came to Mayapur to investigate the abuse in the Gurukula. I was already a grown man and had been serving as the principal of the original Bhaktivedanta Gurukula Village for some time. I was nonetheless still terrified!

I was so afraid to speak with Dhiragovinda that I requested to meet him somewhere outside of India. I did not feel safe to speak to him in Maypur. We met at the temple in Abentheuer, in Germany where I gave him my statement. At that time I only reported the physical abuse, as I was not ready to talk about the sexual abuse I suffered.

One reason why I did not make any mention of the sexual abuse is because I had seen what had happened to XXX, one of my friends who in 1998 reported the sexual abuse he suffered from BVP Swami.

He was attacked by BVP Swami’s boys, vilified and discredited. BVP Swami’s inner circle in Mayapur convinced the community that this boy was insane. He was forced to run away from Mayapur for his own safety. Their campaign was so effective that his testimony was eventually dismissed from the 1999 CPO investigation and BVP Swami was thus able to continue as he had been, mostly unaffected by the CPO restrictions.

Prior to the 2000 CPO report, BVP Swami had already deeply embedded himself in the power structure of Mayapur, securing the support of sympathetic god-brothers and placing loyal students and disciples in important positions of authority in the Mayapur management. He was also able to place one of his V students in a position that gave him privileged access to all the confidential GBC discussions. Some of these former students remain there to this day.

[PADA: This is called, molester regimes embedding with the management.]

When it became known that I had testified to the CPO, many of my childhood Gurukula friends turned on me. I was shocked. They knew as well as I did what happened in Gurukula. The influence in Mayapur of BVP Swami and his inner circle caused them to ostracize me and spread all sorts of rumors about me. Most of those friendships never recovered. One of these former students, now BVP Swami’s disciple, and a leader in Mayapur would ask me each year when I arrived, “Did you come here to cause trouble for Maharaj again?”

PROTECTION OF BVP SWAMI BY THE ISKCON INSTITUTION

The complexity of BVP Swami's methods is difficult to comprehend. He created far-reaching alliances among the ISKCON elite. He used us, his prized 'brahmin poster-boys', as some sort of currency to develop relationships with different Sannyasis and ISKCON leaders.

[PADA: Yep, far reaching alliances with the GBC elites. We knew that.]

He trained us from a young age how to serve the visiting Sannyasis and leaders in ISKCON in such a way that they were indebted to BVP Swami and his school. Every year, before the GBC meetings, each one of us was assigned to serve a specific Sannyasi or GBC. We would be on standby to assist them with their every need. 

We would wash their dirty laundry, clean their room, massage their feet and serve their meals. BVP Swami's most prized guests were given a private residence in one of the huts at the Gurukula along with their personal servant boys, for a full 'Vedic immersion experience'.

[PADA: Kirtanananda did a similar thing in New Vrndavana. His "boys" would serve the guests.]

Reading this someone might ask, “How is it possible for so many leaders to have visited the ashram, been served by the boys, and not be aware that something was very wrong?”

Over the years I developed a personal relationship with many of these Sannyasis, Gurus and GBCs. When it became known that I had spoken out against BVP Swami and the abuse in the Mayapur Gurukula, most of these leaders, whom I had served as a kid, stopped communicating with me.

[PADA: Stopped communicating, yep, typical of child molester cult cover ups and enablers.]

To this day, the vast majority of these relationships have never recovered. And there are many other kids like me, with similar experiences - speaking up and being cut out.

Even worse, my character was defamed by the people close to BVP Swami in the upper levels of ISKCON management, to prevent me from being given future service within ISKCON. This has been confirmed for me personally by three separate GBC members. That reputation has also never recovered.

I would like to make a side note with regards to Bhakti Vikash Swami. Although I’ve chosen not to share most names publicly in this letter he must be mentioned as he is supporting and encouraging abuse to continue. He stayed at the Gurukula many times and he has been an outspoken supporter of BVP Swami at least since the early 2000s. More specifically, he has defended the use of corporal punishment as an acceptable form of discipline for children. 

[PADA: Yep, and he has been one of our worst critics.]

He has gone on record to really over-state the importance of the one or two quotes where Srila Prabhupada spoke of corporal punishment, discarding all the other, far more numerous quotes where he unequivocally forbids it. 

He has now opened his own Gurukula in Salem, India. I am deeply concerned for the wellbeing of the children there. I cannot help but wonder how many of them are getting beaten. In an environment of violence other kinds of abuse also begin to flourish.

Nareshvara prabhu deserves a mention as well. He has been a prominent source of protection and support of BVP Swami both politically and financially for decades. He was there from the beginning and was Co-Director of Mayapur in 1991 when the findings of the Mayapur Gurukula investigation were made public. That investigation acknowledged the extent of the abuses (emotional, physical, and sexual) that took place in BVP Swami’s Gurukula. 

As Co-Director, Nareshwar Prabhu signed off on the letter publicly recognizing that these abuses took place and yet he continued to support BVP Swami to run the Gurukula anyway. Because he was the Co-director of Mayapur he had the power to protect and enable him.

The lack of adequate punishment and consequences for BVP Swami (in spite of multiple CPO investigations) has had many repercussions:

It further reinforced his position of power and control in the Mayapur hierarchy. Two of his disciples are currently and directly responsible for running the Mayapur management and the Gurukula. It deterred his victims from reporting new (and old) abuses, something that remains true even today after he has been finally removed from Mayapur (hopefully for good). For why would any victim want to walk through the court of public opinion and often uninformed judgment if it is to no avail? 

The lack of appropriate action by the authorities has been a strong deterrent. To this day some victims are still afraid to speak out! It also reinforced BVP Swami's belief that he was untouchable and invulnerable to any and all sanctions, making him increasingly more bold and fearless in his transgressions. By the end it became so bad that he was able to live for several years, almost full-time, in the girl's Gurukula (in full knowledge of the entire Mayapur community including the Co-directors of Mayapur, the Mayapur Executive Board, the local GBCs, and his many international friends and supporters) without anybody daring to question or stop him. He was therefore able to continue his predatory activities on innocent girls for years without anyone finding out.

FORGIVENESS

I acknowledge that when Maharaj first took charge of the Gurukula in Mayapur, he was young, inexperienced and unqualified. He found himself in a hostile and difficult environment. The school was short-staffed and underfunded.

[PADA: Well duh, they kicked us all out and spent $100,000,000 on lawsuits.] 

It is equally important to understand that these mitigating factors do not diminish his personal responsibility for his actions, transgressions and omissions.

While being the principal of the school BVP Swami sexually abused children. He was also very aware of the extent and gravity of the widespread sexual exploitation by others. At times he even punished the children that reported sexual abuse and asked for his help. He is accountable for all these things.

I want to also mention the misuse of the often-quoted verse Bhagavad Gita 9.30:

api cet su-duracaro
bhajate mam ananya-bhak
sadhur eva sa mantavyah
samyag vyavasito hi sah

“Even if one commits the most abominable action, if he is engaged indevotional service he is to be considered saintly because he is properlysituated in his determination.”

The misapplication of this verse has enabled the perpetuation of abuse of so many devotee children. BVP Swami and many other known offenders would not have been allowed to continue, would not have been given the facility to abuse more children, if they had not been 'forgiven' by our society. This kind of forgiveness is not being referred to by Krishna in this verse. How can you use Shastra to justify the abuse of children? It is adharmic.

It is important to acknowledge that only the offended party can forgive a Vaishnava aparadha. ISKCON leaders never had the authority to forgive theextreme offenses committed to these devotee children in the first place, and should never have repeatedly 'forgiven' BVP Swami. We as members of ISKCON should never have recklessly allowed the introduction and spreading of this misinterpretation of B.G. 9.30.

DEALING WITH TRAUMA

As a result of the extensive and extreme abuse I experienced in Gurukula, I have permanent trauma and physical damage for the rest of my life. Even now, at times I still wake up in the middle of the night in panic from childhood nightmares where I am helplessly running from the threat of sexual assault. My left shoulder is permanently dislocated from the beating I got when I dared to try to stand my ground against a sexual aggressor. 

This was the priceI paid for trying to defend myself. He was one of the martial-arts teachers in the school. He was so angry when I resisted his sexual advances that he kicked my chest and pulled my arm at the same time. This fractured my ribs and caused my arm to pop out of the socket. As I did not get the necessary medical attention my arm never healed properly. Even to this day I suffer from severe nerve damage and limited mobility in my left arm.

[PADA: Yep, like Bhakti Tirtha swami's goons beat up Kulashekhar and he lived in pain for the rest of his life and had to take pain meds. And he died untimely.]

Only 3 years ago, I was finally able to afford a colo-rectal operation to repair the muscular damage to my rectum that was caused by the repeated and violent assaults I endured for years as a child. This operation was re-traumatizing. While I was in the Mayapur Gurukula, over the course of 7 years, I was sexually abused multiple times by 8 different people. 

This caused such extensive damage that it has severely impaired my bowel movements for most of my life. This has been a constant reminder of the trauma I experienced as achild. Having to pay for this surgery felt like adding insult to injury and to make things worse the surgery was unsuccessful.

[PADA: Yes, and that is why Svavas das and the Los Angeles temple goons were against me, I was challenging their anal reconstructive surgery epidemic for kids messiahs program.]

I was recently diagnosed with two brain tumors, and the doctors told me that I have a limited time left in this life. My MRI scans showed that I have the marks of several old fractures in my skull that caused leakage in my brain. 

[PADA: Wow, the ISKCON leaders actually orchestrated killing this poor guy in slow motion, a long and painful life and eventually -- his death.]

The doctor told me that this is most likely the cause of my tumors. This condition affects my vision and impairs balance. I am in physical therapy for my balance and I go to India for medical check-ups and treatments where I can afford them.

When the doctors asked me about the cause of these fractures in my skull, I’m forced to explain to them that they were caused when teachers bashed my head against the wall as a child in Gurukula. 

Some studies suggest that emotional trauma can be more severe than physical and sexual trauma, but in my experience they’re all connected. The daily struggle of dealing with debilitating injuries, pain and physical limitations is a constant reminder of what I experienced. I’m forced to revisit my abuse ona daily basis.

BRAVERY AND COWARDICE

For many years I struggled to find a reason to continue living. I had made my peace with the fact that I was going to take my story to the grave until recent events turned my world upside down.

When I first became aware of the allegations that BVP Swami had sexually molested XXX in the girls' school, I was overcome by a deep sense of guilt that sent me into a very dark place. I had to contend with the fact that if only I had been more courageous, maybe this girl could have been spared this unspeakable violation of her innocence and this attack on her faith and relationship with Krsna.
I want to express my deepest admiration for the courage and strength demonstrated by XXX in coming forward to denounce BVP Swami. Her service to the children of the Mayapur community and ISKCON at large is monumental. It cannot be overstated!

BVP Swami is responsible for the severe abuse of multiple generations of Gurukula children; the generation that came before me, many children from my generation, and the generations after me. What to speak of what his actions have done for the reputation of Srila Prabhupada’s movement into the future?

Many of these children who are now grown adults, have spent their lives suffering in silence, struggling to survive, but not one of them has had the strength to do what XXX did. She was empowered to end the nightmare of fear and oppression that crushed me and so many of my friends. Her resolute actions have ensured that BVP Swami will never abuse another child in ISKCON again!

I hope and pray that this girl has finally put an end to the almost 40-year regime of emotional, physical, sexual, and spiritual abuse of devotee children in Mayapur. I also pray she will not pay the price I paid for speaking the truth. My guilt for the cowardice and silence is a burden I have carried. I don’t want to carry it any longer. I beg all the victims of BVP Swami that came after me to find it in their hearts to forgive me. I am determined to do everything in my power to ensure that no other child will be abused the way I was.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

Though justice must be realized, I have no animosity or desire for vengeance towards any of my abusers. I don't know what I have done in my past lives to experience such extreme consequences in my childhood. I understand and accept that everything that happened to me is a result of my past karma, and that my aggressors, though fully responsible for their actions to themselves and Paramatma, were only the postmen (insofar as I am concerned). They delivered my parcels to me. I forgive them all.

It’s possible that by choosing to write this letter I’m taking a serious physical risk to my safety, but if Krishna blesses me to use my karma to serve His devotee children, now and in the future, it’s my good fortune. If my suffering contributed to the protection of our children, I’m grateful; my life will be a success, the torture worthwhile and I’ll be a happy man.

Most of my life I have not had a family. By causeless mercy I have been invited to join the Sankirtan Movement of Mahaprabhu and Srila Prabhupada's family. I am eternally grateful to have been brought to the shelter of their lotus feet. This is my greatest privilege and good fortune. For whatever role Bhaktividya Purna Swami played in that I must also be eternally grateful to him.

Your servant,

Vedasara das

[PADA: Sheeshpers pilgrims. They ruined the man's life, and ended it early. OK they killed this guy ultimately. "Tortured and put to death." The GBC guys who he complained to rejected and ignored him. No help from any quarter. I am speechless at this stage, and that says a lot since that never happens otherwise. 

ys pd angel108b@yahoo.com]

(The above was shared with ISKCON GBC members.)

* * *

BADRINARAYAN SWAMI

"I personally had conversations with [AV], Bhurijan, and Dhanurdhara Maharaj about this (when Sri Ram tried to introduce even the mildest forms of child abuse prevention measures) and they fought it every single step of the way. This was over 12 years ago. If they had instituted those programs then, dozens and dozens of boys would have been spared… “ (2000)

* * *

“The support and endorsement that BVPS received from his seniors and peers enabled him to become the child abuser with the longest span of activity in the history of ISKCON.” - ISKCON Child Protection Office (2022)

* * *

SIVARAMA SWAMI

Sivarama Swami dismissed BVP’s decades of child abuse saying “But he gave 50 years of his life to ISKCON, and his abuse aside, he did valuable service.”

Sivarama Swami asked the GBC what kind of financial package would be set up for BVP.

As well as, "How can an abuser also be saintly—good GBC discussion topic. Its there in our main scripture and we can’t ignore it. At least I can’t. Nor should any devotee." (2022)

* * *

HRIDAYANANDA SWAMI

“Following up on Sivarama Swami’s clear, strong statement…” See above. (2022)

* * *

BHAKTI VIKASA SWAMI

“This all happened many years ago, and see what he has done in the meantime. Anyone who wants to blame him should go and see what he has done in Mayapur . . . Bhakti Vidya-purna Swami has developed that gurukula and he has done something wonderful.

We might also consider one statement of Krsna’s in the Bhagavad-gita (9.30): api cet su-duracaro, bhajate mam ananya-bhak / sadhur eva sa mantavyah, samyag vyavasito hi sah. Even if one commits abominable activities, if his resolution is to serve Me only, such a person, Krsna says, must be considered a sadhu. Do we want to edit this out of Bhagavad-gita? Is there some crime which is unforgivable?” (2016)

* * *

BHAKTI VAIBHAVA SWAMI

“My objection is . . . related to the fact he is being removed from the gurukula in Mayapur… forbidden to lecture in any ISKCON center. This year in Mayapur I felt very sad and indeed emotional, having to watch BVPS packing his things and leaving for good. I felt sad and wrote my letter of protest to Dhira Govinda prabhu that I cannot financially support such actions.”

“I want to see some balance in light of his outstanding service he has rendered over the many years.”

“You have to respect the moral rights of a sannyasi. To abuse a child is a crime and to abuse a sannyasi is a crime as well according to sastra.” (2000)

* * *

BADRINARAYAN SWAMI

“I don’t want to make BVP Maharaja’s life harder or soil his reputation further. I respect him as a preacher… I do not want to make a bad situation even worse by putting the above out into the public record.” (2000)

* * *

KAVICANDRA SWAMI

“BVPS tried to rectify the issue by making a nice school and treating boys nicely.” (2000)

* * *

KADAMBA KANANA SWAMI

“Deep down in his heart he knows he’s a devotee and that he stepped over the line, and therefore he knows that he’s being punished and that he deserved it, and in this way he’s still a devotee, he’s still saintly.”

“As far as the ‘api cet sudaracaro’ verse, to debate whether it’s applicable or not in this situation, is not very important.” (2022)

* * *

SRI PRAHLAD

“What I deny is the degree of physical abuse claimed by the victims. I also deny the need for punishment, as Maharaja has already been purified and reformed.” (2000)

* * *

First CPO Director Dhira Govinda speaking on Anirdesya Vapu’s (BVP) child abuse case (2022):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98VdfY86PUw

* * *

A HUGE THANK YOU TO THE ISKCON CHILD PROTECTION OFFICE FOR BANNING ANIRDESYA VAPU (FKA BHAKTIVIDYA PURNA) FROM HOLDING ANY INSTITUTIONAL ROLE IN ISKCON FOR THE DURATION OF HIS LIFE.

The leaders shunned me.