Kadamba Kanana Swami Was Not a Saint (CPD)

pada / angel108b@yahoo.com

CPD: There are some swami or authorities who say that Kadamba Kanana swami / KKS saved the Spain yatra or the New Vrajamandala farm. Certainly KKS was visiting this farm periodically from the year 2000 to the year 2006-2008 with the desire to prevent this project from being sold.

But still in May 2008 Vedavyasa prabhu managed to remove from the presidency of New Vrajamandala the person named by KKS, who was the trusted man and representative of KKS, and a person who really mistreated the devotees. In other words, almost no one liked the 'personal representative' of Kadamba Kanana swami ... because he was harsh and rude to the devotees.

The devotees of the farm -- after getting rid of the previous president -- put their trust in the new president thinking that he would protect the farm from being sold. But Vedavyasa, taking advantage of the fact that he had become the president of New Vrajamandala, and he was secretary of the GBC for Spain or something similar, made a study and for several months prepared a report secretly, hiding it from the devotees of the farm, to convince the GBC to accept the sale of New Vrajamandala.

In September 2008 the GBC seemed determined to sell the New Vrajamandala farm thanks to Vedavyasa's report. That means KKS had not achieved his purpose of saving the farm, or he was not aware of the situation, or he had agreed to sell the farm in a back door deal. The decision to sell the New Vrajamandala farm was stronger than ever in September 2008.

Gradually KKS no longer had any responsibility or power over this project.
Therefore to say that he saved the Spanish farm from being sold is not true. This is totally false.

After Vedavyasa's secret betrayal, several devotees from the farm organized to present the GBC with a common front and a serious proposal. Praghosa prabhu who was GBC of Spain, visited the farm in October - November 2008 to find out the opinion of the devotees there ... but with a very hostile attitude towards the devotees who opposed this sale. 

In other words, even if KKS allegedly saved the farm, it was over the objections of other ISKCON leaders, who favored selling it. Then when they say "he saved the farm," what they really mean is ... he saved the farm from the other ISKCON leaders. 

An agreement then was reached to give this project a trial period so that the devotees could demonstrate their real capacity to build this project and rehabilitate it since many repairs had to be made. After this period, a firm decision would be made about what to do with the farm.

A senior devotee from Spain, Param Purusa prabhu, who years earlier had been the leader of a traveling sankirtana group, a group of devotees exclusively dedicated to selling Srila Prabhupada's books throughout Spain, was elected by the New Vrajamandala community of devotees as the new president to start renovating the farm and show that this project could survive and there was no need to sell it.

Thanks to the character of Param Purusa prabhu, the farm began to be renovated and little by little the devotees managed with their efforts to prevent the sale of the farm against Vedavyasa's secret plan to sell it. At this time KKS no longer had any responsibility or power over this project and he didn't even come to visit the farm anymore. Giving credit to KKS for saving the farm is simply fake new.

It was only thanks to the combined efforts of the devotees of this farm that the sale was stopped, not KKS. KKS had nothing to do with this achievement. But the policy of the ISKCON leaders is to lie to artificially convince the followers of the greatness of one of them.

Years later Vedavyasa would take sannyasa and be appointed ISKCON guru. This is the true story. Unfortunately I can't say many positive things about KKS. I know him very well. He tended to ignore the real issues, or attack people bringing up real issues, and be friendly to the ISKCON corporate manipulators.

However, at this time it is desirable that KKS obtain the best possible destination since despite everything he is a devotee. I do not doubt that he has helped many devotees -- which is a very good thing -- but on the other hand he has also done a lot of damage to other devotees.

In the years 2003 to 2006 KKS tried to destroy a big family of devotees simply because they used legal means to prevent KKS from acting arbitrarily on a farm in Spain ... making totally negative decisions for that project. These devotees acted correctly ... warning that they would go to the established courts to prevent certain KKS plans that were obviously destructive for that farm. In other words KKS had a tendency to not fully consult when making arbitrary desicisions.

The retaliation was that KKS sanctioned those devotees ... who for many years were working for that project ... not to be able to visit the farm and could not even go to take darsan of the deities for years. But KKS was a newcomer, he had not done anything for that project. 

And KKS was just another one of the GBC leaders who was quick to remove anyone who was in disagreement, even if the people in disagreement are correct, and he is not. And even if the project will suffer badly from losing the senior and experienced personnel. Then people with less experience or even no experience replace them ... and this creates a huge problem.

Those experienced devotees had been selling books and collecting for this project for many years, but they were mercilessly kicked out anyway by KKS. And he knew many other devotees were getting kicked out of other zones the same way, but he never said anything is wrong with this policy to the GBC, or to us. 

These devotees thought that all these wrong impositions would severely harm that project and then KKS would simply up and leave ... and the damage would remain on that project. Simply by being stopped by these devotees, KKS could not tolerate being slighted, and for years he forbade them to even see the deities they had been worshiping for years. 

And then he created a vindictive and destructive program against them ... to isolate and punish them from the devotee community. In other words, he made up nasty rumors to discredit the people who disagreed with him. Character assassination, which is unfortunately another typical GBC type tactic. And KKS would use that tactic himself.

These devotees had many small children and they all suffered greatly from the consequences of being left without the association of devotees and unable to see the deities. All of this happened simply because of KKS's pride and unbridled anger. Of course his whole GBC program has done this to hundreds of families. They kick people out ... so then no one wants to speak up about problems, which makes the problems worse.

One can really see the authentic face or character of a person when one opposes that person's ideas, even if such opposition is for the good of a project and its members. Just as it happened with Brgu Muni when he had to find out who he was the Supreme : Lord Brahmā, Lord Viṣṇu or Lord Śiva.

It is very easy to create a false image of being good and kind when everyone adores you, serves you... but anyone who is not a "yes man" is kicked out the door. When someone opposes the ideas of KKS -- even correctly -- then we see the true character of him and his vindictive nature. KKS uses all the power in his hand to destroy the people who disagree ... regardless of the material and devotional damage he may cause to them. Whole idea is to crush the opposition and destroy the lives of anyone who opposes him. And he destroyed similar other lives the same way.

I do not see that his vindictive nature is the characteristic of a real sadhu. This is KKS. Again, at this time it is desirable that KKS obtain the best possible destination since despite everything he is a devotee. 

However, my personal experience with him for many years is that he was a very hot-tempered person and he would hold a grudge ... forever. If any devotee contradicted him, even with good manners, he tried to destroy him and his entire family both materially and devotionally. His nasty inner character was visible to those whom did not worship him. To those who offered him adoration, respect and service, he undoubtedly had a good temper.

This is a very easy thing to do even for a worldly person. He never had the character of a sadhu, of a devotee. He was spiteful and vindictive, abusing his institutional power. He was a diplomatic person, a politician.

Doing a samadhi for a materialistic devotee is the sign of the spiritual deviation.
The ship is sinking and even the most basic spiritual concepts are not maintained.
Yes, it is very easy to be kind to those who worship you. But kindness is especially appreciated with those who do not offer you worship.

Cinmaya means if you cultivate spiritual knowledge in large quantity, then your body is no more material. It is spiritualized. Cinmaya. Therefore GREAT SAINTLY PERSON´S body, after demise it is not burned; it is buried, samādhi, because it is cinmaya. 

Lecture on SB 7.9.26 -- Mayapur, March 4, 1976

Doing samadhi for ordinary people who have not attained the platform of uttama-adhikari, maha-bhagavata, is the most frivolous and irresponsible act possible.
In fact it is an insult to all Vaisnava-acaryas and saintly personalities who have proper samadhi. 

When some person investigates the life of those who ISKCON has made a samadhi and finds that they were ordinary people -- even some addicted to irreligious activities, these people might think that all the ancient samadhis of Vrndavana of bona fide acaryas and saintly people were for similar people, ordinary mundane people and sometimes even addicted to sinful activities.

For this simple reason, doing samadhi to one who is an ordinary devotee is an offense to all great saintly personalities. In future people may think that the great acaryas placed in samadhi were also ordinary people. It is very easy to be kind to those who worship you.

But kindness is especially appreciated with those who do not offer you worship.
Kadamba Kanana Swami was very nice and kind to those who worshiped him and very rude and violent to those who disagreed with him. Below are some of the symptoms of a real sadhu, a great saintly personality ...

---------------------------------------

Srila Srinivasa Acarya says in his Sad-gosvamy-ashtaka about the six goswamis of Vrndavana:

dhiradhira-jana-priyau priya-karau nirmatsarau pujitau


they are popular both with the gentle and with the ruffians, because they are not envious of anyone.

Dear to both gentlemen and ruffians, always engaged in pleasing activities, and completely free from envy, they are adored by all.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Srila Prabhupada:

Kṛṣṇotkīrtana-gāna-nartana-parau premāmṛtāmbho-nidhi

dhīrādhīra-jana-priyau.

Dhīra, dhīra means gentle, and adhīra means ruffians, not gentle.

So they were affectionate and popular both to the gentle as well as ruffians, these Gosvāmīs.

Everyone liked them.

So these Gosvāmīs were also very popular amongst all classes of men.

Dhīrādhīra-jana-priyau priya-karau nirmatsarau.

Nirmatsarau means not envious.

Link to this page: https://prabhupadabooks.com/.../los_angeles/november/18/1968.

-------------------------------------------------------------------


titikṣavaḥ kāruṇikāḥ

suhṛdaḥ sarva-dehinām

ajāta-śatravaḥ śāntāḥ

sādhavaḥ sādhu-bhūṣaṇāḥ

TRANSLATION

The symptoms of a sādhu are that he is tolerant, MERCIFUL AND FRIENDLY TO ALL living entities. He has no enemies, he is peaceful, he abides by the scriptures,
and all his characteristics are sublime.

PURPORT

One of the qualifications of a sādhu is that he is very tolerant and is merciful to ALL fallen souls. He is merciful because he is the well-wisher of ALL living entities, a sādhu is not inimical towards anyone,

(SB 3.25.21)

I don't want to bother anyone but seeing these fake samadhis is very annoying as it is a great insult to the bona fide great acaryas and saintly personalities of the past. Anyone can think that all samadhis were made for the same type of non-saint people. This is the great power of the mind.

You can convince yourself of anything and everything. Without applying the teachings of sastra and Srila Prabhupada one can consider anyone a great saintly person. It is only a matter of feelings and not of applying the sastra.

The Catholic Church also names saints due to certain interests...

Even Francisco Javier, who was the most severe torturer to apply the "Holy Inquisition" in India and China, was officially named a saint and is considered so to this day by all Christians who do not know his life and his deeds. The Catholic Church has named many saints by vote.

But of these thousands of saints, who really is an authentic saintly personality?
Unfortunately we at Iskcon are doing the same. We name a saintly person like Catholics to artificially create respectability among followers that there are many pure devotees among us. The Catholic Church is also very expert in this.

I do not doubt that KKS has helped many devotees which is a very good thing but on the other hand he has also done a lot of damage to many other devotees. And by his support of the overall GBC system, he did a lot of damage to a lot of people.