ISKCON Constitution Links / "Operation Acharya" 02 12 26

DEVAKI HAS CANCER

PADA: She did write a good piece about how the GBC gurus are staying in their posts until the end of their lives -- and are thus not making room for the second generation to be the next wave of leaders. So the second generation is leaving ISKCON not seeing any place for them to participate. She is right. 

Anyway, another ISKCON person with cancer. Yeah, my Mormon nurse friend who reads my blog is correct, it is an epidemic. It could be stress, it could be a lot of things, and my ex-witch lady friend says -- it is coming from eating food offered to contaminated people. A lady friend of PADA has cancer and is not going to take any treatment, she is done with this place and just wants to go. Don't blame her for that. 

Something toxic is going on, for sure. Not sure the exact cause, but it is an epidemic -- for sure. I feel sad for these people, and wish her God speed in any case. Cancer is not fun. I have seen devotees with it and have seen the results first hand. ys pd 

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THE ISKCON CONSTITUTION:

PADA: It was too long winded for me to wade through. Lots of people complained, it is just more of the same: "we are the ultimate managers, you are not, so shut up already." ys pd

https://constitution.iskcon.org/constitutiondocument 

as linked to from the bottom of the page at https://iskconnews.org/iskcon-constitution-formally-inaugurated-at-the-2026-agm-in-mayapu

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Operation “Acarya”: 

The Secret Elimination of a Spiritual Leader and the Takeover of ISKCON.

The death of ISKCON founder Srila Prabhupada in 1977 was long considered a "natural death." However, facts that emerged decades later indicate that it was one of the most successful operations by Western intelligence agencies to neutralize an ideological threat.

Motive: Why did Prabhupada become a danger to Washington?

In the mid-1970s, ISKCON ceased to be a group of "singing hippies." The movement transformed into a powerful international structure with enormous assets and, more importantly, an ideology that undermined the foundations of Western society.

Anti-systemic: Prabhupada openly called modern Western civilization a "society of swindlers," calling for the rejection of consumerism and the creation of alternative settlements (varnasrama).

Influence on the Elite: Scientists, rock stars, and the children of high-ranking officials came under his influence.

Geopolitics: The independent movement, equally influential in the US and India, was an "uncontrollable variable" for the CIA at the height of the Cold War.

Chronology of capture and liquidation: key stages.

1974–1975. Decision-making and infiltration.

US intelligence agencies (under programs similar to MK-Ultra) begin developing a plan to "modify" ISKCON.

Strategy: Not to destroy the organization (which would create an aura of martyrdom), but to replace the leader with a docile apparatus.

Action: Increased infiltration into Prabhupada's inner circle. Formation of a group of "trusted" Western disciples, whose ambitions and psychological weaknesses make them ideal conduits for the alien will.

Information blockade. A "ring" is created around Prabhupada. Secretaries begin filtering his mail and restricting independent access. During this period, reports on his health begin to appear in his handlers' correspondence, although he himself is still active and traveling.

1977 (March – November). The active phase of liquidation.

This is the key period of the operation.

May 1977: Prabhupada is persuaded to write a "will" and appoint 11 assistants (ritviks). The intelligence agencies receive a legal basis for the future transfer of power.

Summer 1977: His health deteriorates sharply. Modern hair tests conducted later confirm that it was at this time that cadmium, a heavy metal that causes gradual organ failure, mimicking natural exhaustion, began to enter his body.

Isolation in Vrindavan: He is transferred to India, where the intelligence agencies can more easily control his medical care and avoid independent examination.
November 1977: The Finale. Prabhupada openly declares on an audio recording: "Someone has poisoned me." His words are ignored by the "committee," and he resigns a few days later.

1978–1986. The Zonal Acarya Period.

Immediately after the founder's death, embedded agents (some of whom are part of the Eleven, while the rest are "useful idiots") stage a coup. They declare themselves "new messiahs," divide the world into spheres of influence, and impose a strict dictatorship. Disciples who attempt to raise the issue of poisoning or point out deviations are persecuted or even physically eliminated.

Creation of "Corporate ISKCON" (GBC ISKCON 1993).

When the "Eleven Dictators" model began to threaten the image of the United States due to scandals (drugs, murders), the intelligence agencies rebranded.
Goal: Create a respectable legal entity.

Result: The GBC ISKCON 1993 is established. This structure has finally secured the brand and assets, emasculated Prabhupada's radical teachings, and transformed them into "showcase Hinduism," loyal to any government.

Summary: Result of the operation.

By 2026, it becomes clear: Prabhupada's liquidation was not simply an internal conflict among disciples, but a high-tech operation to seize ideological resources.

The leader is eliminated.

The teachings are replaced (edits to the books).

The organization is controlled by Western legal and financial institutions.

What's next? The disclosure of archival data in 2026-2027 promises to be the end of the GBC ISKCON 1993. When it is proven that the current leadership is the legal successor to a group of conspirators acting in the interests of foreign intelligence agencies, the question of this organization's legitimacy will be closed forever.

According to preliminary reports, Tamal Krishna, Jayapataka, and Bhavananda were recruited by US intelligence agents, as was Kirtanananda and his entire "New Vrindavana"—a base for intelligence agencies where the poison could have been stored. The criminal case against Kirtanananda was forced and more of a rescue than a punishment. Kirtanananda knew about Prabhupada's poisoning. Tamal Krishna was later eliminated by the intelligence agencies—a witness cleansing operation.

After the failure of System 11, the decision was made to switch to the GBC ISKCON 1993. This switch was carried out by the fifth intelligence agent, Ravindra Svarupa, who also knew about Prabhupada's poisoning. Ravindra Svarupa had also long served as the chief GBC and the supervisor for Russia, building intelligence influence in the country using the "guru-disciple" method.

At a time when the world is reeling from the horrific details of the Epstein files, a small document about the assassination of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, approved at the very top and classified as "Secret," could easily become public knowledge.

PADA: This is something I get a lot of, even way back in the 1980s. ISKCON has been taken over by a government agency like the CIA, or the Illuminati and so on. I am not so convinced. First of all, why would a paid CIA agent spend his whole life acting as a Hare Krishna leader or guru? 

I think he would want to have mostly a regular Joe life and not be a pretend guru for his entire lifespan. One would really have to be dedicated to the job to spend all the days of their entire life on one job. Ooops, then there are people like Tamohara who think PADA is a paid CIA agent!

That really does not make much sense. CIA folks usually infiltrate something on a temporary basis -- to gather info, then maybe get rid of people or arrest people etc. but not stay on one job forever. They generally do not live out their whole entire lives as spies or agents inside of a particular cult. 

It is also hard for me to believe that people like Satsvarupa, Kirtanananda, Jayatirtha, Tamal, Bhavananda and others could even qualify as government agents -- when they are basically foolish ex-hippie type guys, and Bhavananda was hanging out with Andy Warhol etc. These guys would not pass the tests. 

But were they capable of plotting to take out Srila Prabhupada and taking over ISKCON -- and maybe poisoning Srila Prabhupada in order to conduct the take over? Well yes, they were quite capable of that, and I believe they did exactly that. 

But it was somewhat of an amateur job. For starters, we never would have got the November poison tapes, the appointment tape, and other evidence items from a truly organized professional group. Even if we had got the poison tapes by chance, they would have eliminated a person like me for exposing their plots. 

It looks like an amateur take over job to me, but even amateur killers who want to take over the assets of the father or leader can be very effective. And no doubt fathers and leaders are killed every day by motivated children and / or lower level leaders who want the top spot. So yeah, it was a conspiracy, and it was effective, they did take over. 

But no, it was not a professional CIA agent master class operation. But a lot of devotees are catching on at least to this point, it was an organized take over scheme among these leaders. That is a fact.

And yeah, anyone who tries to expose things is suppressed, by the clique or its enforcers. So I think the whole thing was sort of loosely put together by a bunch of motivated people, many of them stoner heads, and Vodka drinking fools like Hansadutta. And the plan was later on uncovered due to the sheer negligence of putting together a solid plan, along with the fact that these guys could not carry on the fake guru act for very long because they were such fallen and conditioned souls.

All that being said, there is a reason this keeps coming up. The idea that the GBC is some sort of highly trained professional Government Agency / Illuminati operation is making them way larger than they really are. They became some sort of super demons with super powers. 

I think that is because so many people failed to oppose them, and so now they want to make excuses for why so many never opposed the GBC guru scheme -- "no one could oppose the mighty CIA Illuminati."

Well yeah, but if 20 people with protest signs had gathered in front of a temple "this place worships homosexuals and pedophiles as its messiahs," then the protesters could have effectively shut down one or many temples in the GBC program. But no one thought that was a good idea. Even people who found out their children were molested told me they did not want to report the crime, to "save ISKCON." 

These people who "saved ISKCON" in reality only saved the pedophile guru process, and not ISKCON. Rather ISKCON suffered by allowing all this abuse to go on, while worshiping the orchestrators of the abuse process. So in that sense, the acquiescing rank and file were also part of the conspiracy to make all this possible.  

Do I believe Hansadutta, a life long Vodka drinker fool who was having sex with hald dozen ladies -- was a professional CIA agent? Nope. He was a drunken womanizer, but he became guru by what I would call an amateur guru appointment hoax, that had all sorts of holes in the plot. 

OK there is no way this guy was a professional at anything. The police told me, Hansadutta is a low level criminal who makes so many mistakes, we arrested 72 of his disciples because they were so clumsy performing crimes. 

Even Himavati, Hansadutta's then ex-wife, was busted by the police for wearing the same clothes that were purhased on a stolen credit card. Amateur hour. Not CIA level. 

But if we make the boogey many way bigger than he is, then that gives us an excuse not to chase him out of the Church house. And I believe that is what happened here. We could not confront an amateur hour criminal operation, because we were amateur hour criminal hunters, so the criminals won by default and not by any brilliant strategy. 

Nowadays all their plots and schemes are being uncovered, and the poison plot is the worst, second only to all the child abuse. But it is all coming out now, and a professional CIA program would not have been exposed like this, because their "rule No.1" is -- no one should be able to expose our plots, we should be operating in secrecy. "Go in and go out without being detected." 

That is not happening here. All their plots and schemes are unravelling one after another. On the other hand, it speaks volumes against the mass of rank and file for allowing all this to transpire without protest. They added fuel to the fire that burnt down the house by -- a conspiracy of silence. That is also a conspiracy. 

Anyway, these GBC guys were motivated, they cooked up an appointed guru scheme, and even today some of my God brothers argue with me that there is no precedent for worshiping a departed pure devotee. They drank the kool aid, and that is how they helped all this happen. 

There are many components to the conspiracy, and most of the rank and file supporting or at least acquiescing is a big reason this all developed. None of this looks professional to my karmi friends who are looking at the whole mess from outside. 

One of them told me -- "this is just a bunch of goof balls, posing as gurus, who are not being challenged by the other goof balls -- who are in the congregation. The Emperor CLEARLY has no clothes, but no one wants to say anything. The whole lot is all goof balls, because even we outsiders know -- the Emperor has no clothes." Well yup.

ys pd angel108b@yahoo.com   

Bhakti Vikas Swami / ISKCON Poly Crisis / Discriminating Who is Guru 02 11 26

PADA: For some reason BVKS recent videos can only be viewed, but cannot be shared. And he is also making a series of short videos one after another, which seems like he is sort of trying to correct the mess he made on the previous ones. 

Anyway! I cannot listen to all this, but I did catch one glaring mis-representation which needs addressing. He said the major splits in post-1978 ISKCON are the ritviks and the women guru splinters. 

Wrong! The first splinter group was created by Bhakti Vikas swami's GBC gurus, when they announced in 1978 that Sridhara Maharaja is the shiksha guru, and senior most advisor etc. Then Sridhara Maharaja was the ghost writer of many early GBC papers. 

For example Sridhara said there should be the Acharya of the Zone, which is called the Zonal Acharya. Later on -- things soured, and the GBC decided Sridhara was taking over too many people. So they wrote a paper around 1982 condemning Sridhara and saying anyone who associates with him is out of ISKCON.

OK many of the ISKCON senior sannyasas and maybe 500 or more of Jayatirtha's disciples all left ISKCON, and started various splinter groups of competing organizations. There was the Peace Krishnas, Pancadravida in Soquel, Jagat Guru in South India, Sudheer Krishna in San Jose etc. The result for the UK was that Bhaktivedanta Manor went nearly bankrupted -- due to losing all the manpower. 

They even lost Croome Court. However some pedophiles who were using chloroform on children were roaming around Croome Court for some time. So this was the first big splinter, and ISKCON lost almost the whole Zone of Jayatirtha and most of his people as a result. The Sridhara folks are still around in various forms, siphoning people out of ISKCON. But one of their biggest swamis, Paramadvaiti swami, was caught having sexual affairs and his mission sort of broke apart.   

   

 

ISKCON'S POLY CRISIS HEE HEE!

But he cannot participate in any Sridhara Movement either. 

This is another example of following Sridhara's people, but he now says he is not part of any of their organizations. Pranada is promoting him as an authority on her female diksha guru campaign. Does anyone not notice that Sridhara endorsed a bogus guru after 1936, and he endorsed the GBC 11 after 1978, causing havoc and mayhem, and no small amount of banning, beating, molesting, lawsuits and murders? Yeah that is the path we need to follow!

OK after all that then Narayan Maharaja became the darling of the GBC. And he was hanging out in Texas with Tamal and all that, and saying we are ritvik poison. Well yeah, we were having Tamal sued for $400,000,000. Same thing, NM was starting to become too powerful and influence and so the GBC axed him out, and forbade people from visiting him. And hundreds of people, including some prominent leaders, all left and started a competing organization against ISKCON. 

Of course the 1986 murder of Sulochana caused hundreds of people to leave, and New Vrndavana to become a ghost town. The $400,000,000 lawsuit caused many parents to pull out their kids and leave, and so on and so forth. There has been many splinters, spin offs, people leaving in droves, and all sort of things -- apart from the ritviks and the women guru advocates. So BVKS is misprepresenting the actual history. The ritviks are one of many splinters from ISKCON, and as we see, ISKCON is experiencing "a poly crisis" where more splitting is inevitable.

ys pd angel108b@yahoo.com

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NOT STABLE

Thanks prabhu, Yeah Jayamadhava many times disagrees with me, and I do not think he has a stable platform on the issues. He seems to confuse the issues, and sometimes confuses me as a person supporting various issues, which I never supported. 

Garuda is sometimes an ally and sometimes not, but so is Jayamadhava. My kids told me the whole problem is, I was blowing the fire alarm alert starting in 1979, but almost no one cared, rather everyone waited until everything was at a crisis state, the Titanic was taking in tons of water, before they agreed with me. But it was a little late in the game.

OK they waited until the house was burnt to ashes, the gurukula kids were all alienated out, the media was full of scandal stories, books were being changed etc. Then after the house was nearly demolished, they offered to help me with a bucket of water, way too little, way too late. 

I have some friends working on the BBTI legal issue and I hope they can make progress, we have to see. But it is all very late in the game and Garuda should never have been the BBTI issue front man on any other issue, but he became a prominent figure by default because -- everyone else ran away and did not help at all. When no one else does anything, someone doing something becomes prominent, which is also how I became sort of prominent, I was the de facto point man -- by default. ys pd

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Devotion, Discernment, and Shared Responsibility (SRD)

Over the past few years I have given a lot of thought to the nature of the guru disciple relationship, surrender, authority, and conscience.

I share some of my thoughts, not as conclusions, but rather as evolving ideas that I am still striving to discover, grasp and integrate. As far as I understand, in Gaudiya Vaishnavism, surrender to Sri Guru is sacred. It is not optional; it is fundamental. We are taught that grace flows through the guru and that with faith it opens the heart, and that humility and trust allow spiritual transformation to occur.

I do not question that. I have had some personal experiences of transformation and insights through grace and faith. At the same time, I have become increasingly aware of a vulnerability that can arise within a tradition that revolves around the surrender to a vertical authority. I don't see it as a structural flaw in the philosophy itself, but rather something that I have witnessed emerge in practice.

When a teacher’s spiritual authority and guidance become intertwined or dependent on assumptions of moral perfection, acknowledging the possibility of ethical failure can be perceived as deeply destabilizing; not just personally, but spiritually.

In such atmosphere, raising a concern is sometimes viewed as a form of betrayal. Questioning is discouraged as offensive and ethical discomfort can begin to feel like a threat to faith itself. It is my understanding that the Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy, is more nuanced than this.

On one hand the guru is described as Sakshad Hari, but on the other, the guru is also clearly distinct from Svayam Bhagavan.

The guru is a via-medium; a representative, but not the Absolute Himself. We speak of the need for guru, sadhu and sastra to be coherently aligned, but the guru is not isolated and immune from evaluation. We are encouraged to engage our intelligence in order to surrender, not to discard it.

Disciples are rarely prepared to tackle the possibility that their guru may be fully aligned sometimes, and act as a transparent conduit and misaligned at other times and act in ways that are destructive.

We have all witnessed instances where surrender to the guru drifted into something more absolute and beyond scrutiny, something perilous that is not in line with the teachings of our Acharyas. An extreme example comes to mind. A few years ago a respected Gaudiya Vaishnava teacher was credibly accused of sexual misconduct with some of his young male students. 

This teacher was not a guru, but to this day he has a large following of dedicated supporters. Attempting to defend the teacher, one devotee argued that his behaviour could not have been motivated by lust for he really wanted or needed to believe that his teacher was a fully liberated Maha-Bhagavat.

He suggested that perhaps his actions must have been motivated some form of selfless intervention of a higher spiritual or esoteric nature, something that lesser evolved devotees could not understand. He tried to argue that the teacher's only motive must have been to cure the students of their own lust.

Aside the fact that there was no evidence presented to support such an outlandish proposition, what unsettled me was not only the extreme nature of the claim, but what seemed to drive it.

If the supporter admitted moral failure on the part of his teacher, his entire spiritual narrative surrounding that teacher would become fractured and incoherent. Preserving the narrative of sanctity seemed more urgent than examining a conduct that to me was so obviously harmful.

It is easy to dismiss the example and the reasoning as extreme. But I cannot simply point outward. I have witnessed subtler versions of the same ideology at work in myself. When something sacred to me feels threatened, I felt a strong pull to reinterpret, soften, or spiritualize what disturbed me — not necessarily out of malice, but out of fear that the authenticity of the transmission, its meaning and my identity itself are at risk.

This acknowledgment has forced me to ask uncomfortable questions.
Does devotion require that discernment and moral concern take a secondary place?

Is faith strengthened by suppressing doubt, or by learning to examine it honestly?
If acknowledging human limitation destabilizes me, what does that say about the foundation of my faith?

What happens to the tradition, the teacher and the students, if the teacher is expected or attempts to live up to a superhuman ideal of perfection; one that requires a metaphysical justification for abuse of power, immorality and harm?
If spiritual teachers are placed beyond ordinary ethical evaluation, it can create a burden that is not humanly sustainable. If students equate surrender with silence, this will gradually erode discernment. In the long run, I don’t see how either of these outcomes can serve the individuals or the purity of the tradition.

Bhakti does not ask us to abandon intelligence. We are encouraged to take full responsibility for our spiritual lives by exercising our discernment before we surrender, not to surrender our discernment. Conscience/discernment (Vivek) is not an obstacle to devotion. It may in fact be one of the ways Sri Guru protects us from harming ourselves.

Devotion without discernment can drift into unhealthy dependency. Discernment without compassion, love and devotion can harden into counterproductive cynicism.

I am now of the view that a genuine and transformative spiritual experience, however meaningful, is not an automatic guarantee of absolute purity and perfection of the teacher or settle questions of responsibility, abuses of power, or impact.

Personal transformation does not erase the need for shared ethical clarity. I hope to learn how to hold devotion and discernment together without dismissing one in favor of the other. The work, as I see it now, is not to choose between them but rather to find a way to integrate them; especially when doing so is uncomfortable.
If my faith depends upon the impossibility of moral failure of my teachers, then it is more fragile than I may wish to admit.

I like to believe that a mature spiritual culture should be able to withstand truth, especially the most painful truths, without feeling that transcendence itself is threatened. But rather recognizing that honoring the truth, however devastating that may be, may be what brings us a little closer to Krsna.

I do not offer these reflections to weaken faith or to cast suspicion on authority itself. I offer them because I hope they may be of some value to the devotee community.

If we can find ways for love to coexist with accountability, and surrender with discernment, then what we preserve will be more valuable and stronger, not weaker.

I do not have any conclusive answers, I do not know how the guru as Sakshad Hari can coexist with the guru that is also human, but I am looking the possibility that Grace may operate through a person without erasing their humanity.
These are unsettling questions and observations that I am learning to live with.

PADA: Yep. I said in 1979 that Jayatirtha is a predator. And Srila Prabhupada says -- when a guru has amorous affairs with his own followers -- is the same as a father having an affair with his own daughter. So if we worship a predator, as a society, we will become what we worship -- and there will be many other predators attracted to the predator worship magnet. And predators will be allowed and protected, just like he is. And worse, we are offering food to a predator, and people eating it are getting the predator beeja, or contamination. Well as we know, they removed me and kept the predator guru. We become what we worship, and worship of predators will make a society that protects them, that is really common sense. And as a matter of fact, ISKCON became a magnet for predators and protecting them and etc. ys pd

Legal Notice / Stuck in ISKCON / Tale of Wisdom / No Care 02 10 26

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LEGAL NOTICE

PADA: I think this legal notice is a little old, maybe a few years back, since it is addressed to Gopal Krishna swami, who is deceased. Some folks have said that India is a terrible place to try to report women and children physical or sexual abuse, because the police and courts are often corrupt, inefficient, and in any case slower than a slug on my driveway. 

Another person told me that dealing with the court system in India is not very fruitful because of the "dense" and complicated nature of their court system. Srila Prabhupada himself said as much, the Gaudiya Matha was "40 years in court with no resolution." 

Very sad because meanwhile, if there is an ongoing abuse problem, more victims are being added and previous victims are sometimes feeling trauma -- often feeling depressed -- and maybe taking their lives etc. Very sad when we have to depend on the un-dependable courts to deal with actual issues in ISKCON. 

Of course as soon as we take things to court, the GBC folks, Krishna Kant's IRM, Dayalu Nitai's HKC Jaipur, Hitler's disciple Mukunda UK, Mathura Pati / Prabhupadanugas EU folks start crying like lost puppies. Oh no, someone is attacking our favorite molester messiah's project in court! 

How will our favorite molester messiah's swamis afford a nice town car now? Yep, children being abused, and even taking their lives -- is never the problem. The expense of the swami's new town car is always the problem. No wonder there is a problem then? You guys are first of all making the problem, and then, making it worse.

ys pd angel108b@yahoo.com  

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LEGAL NOTICE, No. 4

Notice under Section 9 of ‘Religious Institutions Act, 1988’

R/w section 19(1), 21(1) and 21(2) of POCSO Act, 2012

FROM

Tirtha raja dasa, UTN Director & Founder

Mobile No. 7981 779 760; E-mail: tirtha.raja.108@gmail.com
TO

1. Mr. Gopala Krishna Swami, Chairman, ISKCON Bureau
2. Mr. Basu Ghosh, Vice Chairman, ISKCON Bureau
3. Mr. Sankhadhari dasa, Secretary, ISKCON Bureau
4. Mr. Braja Hari dasa, Treasurer, ISKCON Bureau
5. Mr. Devaki Nandan dasa, Member, ISKCON Bureau
6. Mr. Ravi Gomatam, Member, ISKCON Bureau
7. Mr. Loka Nath Swami, Member, ISKCON Bureau
8. Mr. Bhakti Rasamruta Swami, Member, ISKCON Bureau
9. Mr. Bhakti Purushottama Swami, Member, ISKCON Bureau
10. Mr. Bhakti Vinoda Swami, Member, ISKCON Bureau
11. Mr. Bhanu Maharaj, Chairman, ISKCON GBC, Mayapur
12. Mr. Revati Ramana das, Vice Chairman, ISKCON GBC, Mayapur
13. Mr. Guru Prasad swami, Member, ISKCON GBC
14. Mr. Anuttama das, Member, ISKCON GBC
15. Mr. Tapan Mishra das, ISKCON GBC, Mayapur
16. Mr. Gauranga das, ISKCON GBC, Mayapur
17. Mr. Braja Vilas das, Co-Director, ISKCON-Mayapur
18. Mr. Subekshana das, Co-Director, ISKCON-Mayapur
19. Mr. Jayapataka Swami, Member, ISKCON GBC
20. Mr. Radhanath Swami, Member, ISKCON GBC
21. Mr. Prahladananda Swami, Member, ISKCON GBC
22. Mr. Bhakti Chaitanya Swami, Member, ISKCON GBC
23. Mr. Hrudaya Chaitanya das, ISKCON GBC, Mayapur
24. Mr. Sahadeva das, Chairman, ISKCON India Continental committee
25. Mr. Sumitra das, Vice Chairman, ISKCON India Continental committee
26. Mr. Pancha ratna das, Chairman, ISKCON India Advisory Committee
27. Mr. Sura das, Vice Chairman, ISKCON India Advisory Committee

Subject: In spite of several requests through legal notices, you are violating and disobedient to the mandatory law under section 9 of ‘Religious Institutions Act, 1988’, by Non-reporting of Crimes against Children inside ISKCON Gurukul and thereby protecting and helping the Accused persons to escape from legal punishment by taking Law into your Hands.

Reference:

1. Legal notices served by Registered Post to the office addresses of
· Jayapataka Swami & Other GBC members, ISKCON, Mayapur office dated 19-12-2022
· Bureau, ISKCON, Mumbai office dated 19-12-2022
· Chairman, ICC, ISKCON, Secunderabad office dated 19-12-2022
· Radhanath Swami, Chowpatty office dated 19-12-2022
· Gauranga das, GEV office dated 19-12-2022
2. Legal Notice served through E-mails dated 14th November of 2022; 29th November of 2022 and 8th December of 2022.

Sir/Madam,

1) Take this notice that the legal notices are served at ISKCON office address by registered posts as mentioned in the above Reference about compliance of the mandatory law under Section 9 of ‘Religious Institutions Act, 1988’, read with section 19(1), 21(1) and 21(2) of POCSO Act, 2012. However, till date there is no reply about your compliance of the mandatory legal obligation.

2) Annexure No. 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 are the Postal evidence that the legal notices are served and received by your offices at various addresses by Registered Post.

3) Annexure No. 6, 7 & 8 are the evidence that the legal notices are served and received by the above leaders of ISKCON through the Electronic-mail addresses.

4) However, all of you mentioned in S.No. 1 to 27 are in gross violation of discharge of the legal obligation under Section 9 and Section 2(f) of the 

RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS ACT, 1988; read with section 19(1), 21(1) and 21(2) of POCSO Act, 2012.

5) In the light of the above grounds and in the interest and welfare of entire ISKCON congregation, I seek and demand your reply within FOUR weeks that why I should not initiate both civil and criminal legal proceedings against you ISKCON leaders for gross violation of the mandatory legal obligations under section 19(1), 21(1) and 21(2) of POCSO Act, 2012 (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act); read with Section 9 of ‘Religious Institutions (Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1988; read with Hon’ble Supreme Court Judgment, dated 2-11-2022, [Criminal Appeal No. 1874 of 2022; 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 898]. Failing which it will be adversely inferred against you all ISKCON leadership.

Hence this Legal Notice dated 3rd February of 2023

LIST OF ANNEXURES

Annex-1: Registered Post to GBC, ISKCON, Mayapur office dated 19-12-2022
Annex-2: Registered Post to Bureau, ISKCON, Mumbai office dated 19-12-2022
Annex-3: Registered Post to Chairman, ICC, ISKCON, Secunderabad office dated 19-12-2022
Annex-4: Registered Post to Radhanath Swami, Chowpatty office dated 19-12-2022
Annex-5: Registered Post to Gauranga das, GEV office dated 19-12-2022
Annex-6: Legal Notice served through E-mail dated 14th November of 2022
Annex-7: Legal Notice served through E-mail dated 29th November of 2022
Annex-8: Legal Notice served through E-mail dated 8th December of 2022
P.S: Selected Legal provisions of RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS ACT, 1988

Section 9. Certain persons bound to give information to police.—Every manager or other employee of a religious institution shall be bound to give information to the officer incharge of the police station within whose local jurisdiction the religious institution is situate of any contravention or any impending contravention of the provisions of this Act and any failure to do so shall be punishable under section 176 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860).

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STUCK in ISKCON

Kshama Buddhi: I SAW THAT MANY DISCIPLES OF PRABHUPADA GOT STUCK IN ISKCON, FEELING THAT THEY COULD NOT RETURN TO OUTSIDE LIFE AGAIN HAVING GIVEN UP THEIR FUTURE TO SERVE PRABHUPADA IN ISKCON.

These Godbrothers became "institutional puppet dependents," sticking to ISKCON no matter how deviant and corrupt the GBC guru cabal had become. I could not do that.

I could not give my life over to a movement that had become corrupted. After leaving ISKCON I was with the Sridhar Maharaja group for a few years before I departed their San Jose temple, never to return to cult life in the movement again.

I made my choices way back then and I have been living with the result of those choices since then. Life hasn't been easy outside the movement. Life was not easy inside the movement. My life stopped being easy when I joined the Navy in 1975.
The struggle lessened after the kids were all grown.

When my youngest daughter turned 18, I felt like a big weight had been lifted off my back. She had already left home to be with Japa by then, but nonetheless, it was a landmark in my life when that day arrived.

When I moved my family to Alachua over 31 years ago, the temple was an old mobile home on the temple property. My son helped build that temple. He was friends with a devotee kid whose dad was cutting and laying the marble in the temple. My son and his friend would help carry the marble pieces to the devotee that was doing the marble work. I think he also built the first altar for the new temple.

I wanted better for this community. There were no fraud gurus allowed back in the early days, but in time -- the ISKCON parasites managed to get their dirty little fingers on the temple administration and so the temple went to Hell with these fraud gurus swooping in occasionally to mislead and misguide some unfortunate newcomers.

Now, it's a community that has lost it's way and become a melting pot of these misguided and deceived younger devotees that foolishly accept one of these corporate crony gurus as spiritual master, pushing Prabhupada to the side of his own movement.

There is no shelter but the books of Srila Prabhupada and the Holy Name. The movement is corrupted and deviated. You can either go along with the corruption or you can reject it. I have always rejected it and I always will, no matter how hard life can be in the struggle for existence.

I am in good place these days. I am independent of the cult. I feel sorry for those who are dependent sycophants and parasites of ISKCON. It was never meant to be your career or your job. When ISKCON became a job or a career for these lifelong dependents, it lost it's authenticity and legitimacy and became a scam and a fraud upon society, pushing fraud gurus who had no power or authority to be gurus in ISKCON.

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TALES OF WISDOM 

by Prabhupāda Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura

Translation and Commentary, Śrī Sarasvatī-toṣaṇī by Śrī Prema Prayojana dāsa

CHAPTER 31

MORALITY, IMMORALITY AND THE TRANSCENDENT MORALITY OF DEVOTION (SUNĪTI, DURNĪTI AND BHAKTI-NĪTI)

Śrī Rāmānuja was an ancient preceptor (ācārya) of the Śrī Vaiṣṇava tradition. He appeared in this world near Mahābhūtapurī in Perambedūr Nagara, close to Madrās, in the year 1016. Before Śrī Rāmānuja, the preachers of this philosophy were referred to in the Dravidian language as ‘Ālvaras’, denoting great liberated associates of Bhagavān. Among the Ālvaras, there was a revered saint known as Tirumaṅgai Ālvara. Some say that he appeared in the eighth century.

In his youth, he travelled to pilgrimage sites and dedicated himself to the devotional service of Bhagavān. His sole principle was that all things in the world have been created for the service of Lord Nārāyaṇa. Therefore, it is one’s duty to serve Lord Nārāyaṇa with all these things in the most appropriate manner. He believed that there is no meaningful purpose for any object or living being if it is not utilized in the service of Lord Nārāyaṇa. While travelling to various pilgrimage sites, four individuals endowed with extraordinary qualities accepted him as their spiritual master and became his disciples.

The first disciple was named ‘Toḍavāḍakkun’ or ‘Tarka Cūḍāmaṇi’, signifying that no one could defeat him in logical debate. The second disciple was called ‘Tāḍaduyān’ or ‘Dvāronmocaka’. He could open any security lock just by blowing on it. The third disciple was ‘Neḍelāi Merippan’ or ‘Chāyā Graha’. Whenever he touched someone’s shadow with his feet, they would become motionless. The fourth disciple named ‘Nīlmel Naḍappān’ or ‘Jaloparicara’ had the ability to walk on water.

Tirumaṅgai, along with his four disciples, travelled on a pilgrimage to visit various holy places. During this time, they arrived at an ancient and dilapidated temple where the four-armed form of Lord Raṅganātha reclined upon the bed of Śeṣa. At that time, this famous temple was the residence of animals and birds, and it was surrounded by a jungle inhabited by ferocious animals. A servant would come for a brief moment every day. He would place fruit and water in front of the Lord and then quickly run away from there as soon as possible.

After witnessing this, Tirumaṅgai was deeply inspired to build a magnificent temple for Śrī Ranganātha. Along with his disciples, he travelled to different countries, seeking alms for the construction of the temple. However, all the wealthy individuals they approached called them scammers, bounders and thieves and chased them away without giving even a penny.

Tirumaṅgai was not disheartened by this. Rather, he became even more determined to serve Śrī Raṅganātha. He called his four disciples and said, “My children! You have witnessed how the wealthy are blinded by their riches. Nārāyaṇa, the husband of Lakṣmī, the Goddess of Fortune, has deposited a small portion of His own wealth with them. They should use that wealth to serve Nārāyaṇa. However, they have misappropriated this wealth and assumed that they are the owners. 

How averse to the service of Śrī Nārāyaṇa they are, as they live a life of luxury. They rest on beds as soft as the foam of milk in their lofty towers while the deity of Śrī Nārāyaṇa is lying broken and neglected in the jungle. Alas! They do not even think about this injustice. It is the duty of wealthy householders to serve and worship Lord Viṣṇu. Otherwise, their journey towards hell is inevitable. Therefore, auspiciousness must be bestowed upon these affluent people by any means possible.”

Then Tirumaṅgai properly utilized the great talents of his disciples in Viṣṇu’s service and manifested his desire to bring auspiciousness to those wealthy people. He summoned his first disciple, Tarka Cūḍāmaṇi, and instructed him to ensnare wealthy individuals in the net of logical debates. While the debate was going on, the second disciple, Dvāronmocaka, opened the doors of the treasury using his skills and freely collected together masses of treasure. 

Through his disciple Chāyā Graha, Tirumaṅgai made the wealthy householders motionless and looted all their wealth. Through the disciple capable of walking on water, he collected a significant amount of wealth from the royal towns surrounded by water. It seemed as if he were the leader of a formidable group of dacoits, amassing an immense amount of wealth for the service of Raṅganātha.

Tirumaṅgai gathered renowned sculptors from various countries to commence the construction of the temple. After the labour of a thousand sculptors for four years, the first outer portion was completed, and in two more years the second and third. In eight years the fourth, in twelve years the fifth, and in eighteen years the sixth outer portion was completed. The construction of the complete temple took sixty years, by which time Tirumaṅgai was eighty years old.

After the completion of the inner sanctum, the nearby king was eager to assist Tirumaṅgai. Some were inspired on seeing his prosperity, while others assisted him in his service out of fear. They all acquired some piety (sukṛti) by assisting a great saint (mahā-puruṣa). Although it seems that Tirumaṅgai adopted the occupation of a robber from an external perspective, because he never endeavoured for his own personal enjoyment, he was exclusively engaged in the service of Bhagavān. 

He did not spend a single penny of that wealth on himself.

When the construction of the temple of Śrī Raṅganātha, with seven concentric townships, was successfully completed, Tirumaṅgai paid the builders their due wages. In the end, there was no money left over. In such a situation, almost a thousand robbers surrounded him and demanded money. Tirumaṅgai whispered some advice in the ear of his disciple Jaloparicara, who was skilled in walking on water. 

Jaloparicara told the robbers that he would take them to the location where the stolen wealth was stored. He called for the same ship that had been used to bring huge stones for the construction of the Śrī Raṅganātha Temple. The robbers boarded the ship with Jaloparicara and they set off. The Kāverī River was overflowing at that time, during the monsoon season. 

Jaloparicara took the ship to the middle of the Kāverī River where he intentionally sank it, along with all the robbers. Jaloparicara walked on water and returned to his guru. Those robbers had actually come there to kill Tirumaṅgai.

On the return of Jaloparicara, the great sage Tirumaṅgai said, “The Kāverī River is the destroyer of sins and the bestower of devotion to Viṣṇu. By giving the robbers samādhi (last rites) in the purifying waters of the Kāverī, their souls will undoubtedly be accepted in the service of Śrī Raṅganātha. Do not worry about them. By not allowing the robbers to loot and commit violence against vaiṣṇavas, you have given them the opportunity to go to Vaikuṇṭha. 

Is this not highly beneficial for them? We took their assistance only for the service of God. If anyone follows this path for personal gain, it will certainly be considered the terrible sin of murder and the path to hell. There is no doubt about this.” To this day, the northern part of the Kāverī River where the robbers were eliminated is still called ‘Koliran’, meaning the place of murder.

From Tirumaṅgai’s example, we learn the lesson that bhakti-nīti, or the transcendent morality of serving the Supreme Lord, is superior to and cannot be compared with any worldly morality (sunīti) or immorality (durnīti). The morality and immorality prevalent in society must be done for the sake of the pleasure of the Supreme Lord, Śrī Hari. In this regard, there are two scriptural statements found in the Bhakti Sandarbha (Anuccheda 148) of Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī Prabhu. In the Revā-khaṇḍa of the Skanda Purāṇa, Śrī Brahmā says:

sa kartā sarva-dharmāṇāṁ bhakto yas tava keśava |
sa kartā sarva-pāpānāṁ yo na bhaktas tavācyuta ||
pāpaṁ bhavati dharmo’pi tavābhaktaiḥ kṛto hare |
niḥśeṣa-dharma-kartā vāpy abhakto narake hare |
sadā tiṣṭhati bhaktas te brahmahāpi vimucyate ||

O Keśava! One who is Your devotee has performed all religious duties (dharma). O Acyuta! One who is not Your devotee has committed all sins. O Hari! The religious duty performed by one who is not Your devotee is only sin, and although he completely performs all religious duties, he still always resides in hell. However, even if Your devotee has killed a brāhmaṇa, he becomes liberated.

In the Padmā Purāṇa, Bhagavān explains:

man-nimittaṁ kṛtaṁ pāpam api kṣemāya kalpate |
mām anādṛtya dharmo’pi pāpaṁ syān mat-prabhāvataḥ ||

The sinful actions performed by My devotee for My sake are considered virtuous deeds, whereas the righteous actions performed without honour for Me turn into sinful acts by My influence.

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura would narrate this anecdote to illustrate that the character of a true devotee of Hari cannot be measured by the insignificant yard stick of sense perception (pratyakṣa-jñāna) because all their actions are solely for the satisfaction of Śrī Hari. In devotion (bhakti), there is a beautiful harmony of all things. The great devotees, like snake charmers, can take along with them even cruel and wicked individuals, who are like poisonous snakes, and still accomplish their tasks. However, if someone else imitates this, his demise is inevitable.

From an external perspective, the immortal preceptor (ācārya) shows the pastime of accepting many persons with ulterior, material motives (anyābhilāṣī) to assist in his devotional service and to generate spiritual merit (sukṛti) for the living beings. However, when those individuals begin to adopt the attitude of a merchant (vaṇija-vṛtti) in their dealings with the spiritual master or the ācārya, then the spiritual master destroys them for their own auspicious benefit. This truth is established by the examples of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s annihilation of the Yadu dynasty and by
Tirumaṅgai drowning the robbers who had assisted in the construction of the Śrī Raṅganātha temple in the Kāverī River.

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NO CARE FOR THE WORKERS UPDATE

Dear friends,

Śrī Mādhava-Mahotsava Prabhu from New Dvārakā (ISKCON Los Angeles) has recently suffered a serious medical emergency and is currently hospitalized. He is expected to remain in the hospital for several weeks and will face a long and difficult recovery afterward.

At this time, Mādhava-Mahotsava Prabhu is unable to work. He serves as a substitute teacher, and the sudden loss of his income has placed significant financial strain on his family. While his wife, Tulsi Gopi Mataji (Norma Barajas), continues to work and has some support from family, the situation remains very challenging.

We humbly ask the community to come together and support Mādhava-Mahotsava Prabhu, Tulsi Gopi Mataji, and their family during this difficult time. Any donation, no matter the size, or even sharing this fundraiser will make a meaningful difference.

Thank you for your kindness, prayers, and support.

Please support here: https://gofund.me/12e794aa3

Your Servants at Vaishnavas CARE International

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UKRAINE

Yep prabhu, Trump is not directly helping Ukraine, but he is putting the squeeze on people buying things from Russia, and that is helping bring down their resources to continue the war. Meanwhile Starlink internet has been stopped for Russians and that is having a big effect on their logistics. Overall, things are getting worse for Russia. 

Meanwhile Ukraine's ladies drone operation team has been supplied with giant pink drones, which can carry five munitions drops at a time. They said now they can take out vehicles with some munition types, some are designed for high impact in trenches, some are designed for a larger dispersing areas for shrapnel like a field and etc. And now they have thermal, night vision and motion sensing, so they can operate in fog etc. They said it is a lot easier to use these new drones. 

They also noted that if they just injure someone, he is likely to use his own weapon to finish himself off, because help will not arrive anytime soon. So they cannot take credit for taking out that guy because he is taking himself out. These ladies with their pink drones mean business! Anyway Trump is adding his two cents to harm Russia's capacity, and it is better than nothing. ys pd  

ISKCON Constitution: Centralization and bureaucracy: GOVINDA DASI 02 09 26

ISKCON Constitution: 

More centralization and bureaucracy

GOVINDA DASI

DEFINITELY LONG-WINDED BUT ALSO WORTH A QUICK READ:
The NEW ISKCON “CONSTITUTION” inaugurated on Feb. 4,2026, in Mayapur
_______________________________________

Subject: Gemini AI analysis of Iskcon’s constitution

The Architecture of Ecclesiastical Hegemony: A Comprehensive Analysis of the ISKCON Constitution and the Crisis of Institutional Legitimacy.

The formal inauguration of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) Constitution on February 4, 2026, in Śrīdhāma Māyāpur, ostensibly marked the culmination of a decades-long effort to codify the administrative and theological framework of a movement that has transitioned from a charismatic startup to a global religious institution. This document, offered ceremonially by the Governing Body Commission (GBC) Chairman to the murti of the Founder-Ācārya, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, seeks to present a unified and enduring framework for governance that aligns with both scriptural mandates and modern legal requirements. 

However, a rigorous structural and comparative analysis reveals that this constitution fundamentally lacks the essential features of modern constitutionalism, such as an enforceable bill of rights and a clear separation of powers, while institutionalizing a degree of centralization that contradicts the explicit, recorded instructions of the founder. The resulting document functions less as a charter for the protection of its constituents and more as a mechanism for the consolidation of power within the GBC, creating significant risk for temple administrators and individual devotees alike.

Structural Deficiencies and the Omission of Fundamental Constitutional Safeguards:

In the landscape of modern political and organizational theory, a constitution is defined not merely by its existence but by its capacity to limit power and protect the governed through established precedents. The ISKCON Constitution, particularly as evidenced through Draft 4 and the 2026 finalized text, omits several basic features that are considered central to the legitimacy of any constitutional order. The most significant omission is the lack of an independent judiciary or any mechanism for judicial review. 

In states like India, the "basic structure" doctrine ensures that even a sovereign parliament cannot alter the core features of the constitution, a principle upheld by the Supreme Court to prevent majoritarian tyranny. Within ISKCON, however, the GBC remains the "ultimate managing authority," acting simultaneously as the legislative body that creates the law and the final court of appeal that interprets it. This collapse of functions into a single body removes the "checks and balances" necessary to prevent the misuse of power.

Furthermore, the document is notably silent on the specific legal rights of the individual devotee, a vacuum that stands in stark contrast to the robust Bill of Rights found in almost all democratic constitutions. While the constitution mentions "protecting the rights of individuals" as a purpose, it fails to define those rights or provide a mechanism for their enforcement. 

PADA: Yeah Rocana was saying that the GBC guru system of "voting in acharyas" is a valid and great idea, but he said there is no good system to enforce the GBC "guru rules" -- when their fall down or their acharyas break the rules. Duh. An acharya is not subordinate to a committee of conditioned souls. But yeah, there is no mechanism to enforce containing wayward acharyas, nor any protections for the citizens.

There is no stated right to due process, no guarantee of a fair hearing before an impartial body, and no right to compensation for mistreatment by leadership. Instead, the document focuses on the "rights" of the organization and the GBC’s authority to maintain "standards". This structural imbalance ensures that the individual remains legally "powerless" within the movement’s hierarchical justice system.

Constitutional Feature | Standard Democratic Model (e.g., India / USA) | ISKCON 2026 Constitutional Framework |

Separation of Powers | Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches are distinct and independent. | GBC holds ultimate authority over all three functions; no independent judiciary. 

Individual Rights | Enforceable Bill of Rights protecting citizens from the state. 

Focus on organizational and GBC rights; individual rights are undefined. 

Judicial Review | Courts can strike down unconstitutional laws or executive actions. 

No body exists to nullify a GBC resolution; the GBC is the final arbiter. 

Electoral Mandate | Regular, transparent elections by the citizenry establish legitimacy. 

GBC is largely self-appointing; the 1970 electoral mandate is excluded. 

Due Process | Strict procedures for prosecution and defense must be followed. 

Procedures for the "powerless" are often summary; "cronyism" affects enforcement. 

The omission of these features creates a document that is fundamentally "pro-GBC" in its bias. By framing the GBC as the "instrument for the execution of the Will of His Divine Grace," the constitution elevates an administrative body to a status of quasi-infallibility, where dissent is often interpreted not as a legal or managerial disagreement, but as a theological "offense".

PADA: Quasi infallible, heh heh heh. 

This theological grounding, while perhaps inspirational to followers, serves to shield the GBC from the types of scrutiny that are standard in non-profit and religious organizations globally.

Inherent Contradictions: Theology vs. Bureaucracy

A critical examination of the ISKCON Constitution reveals deep-seated contradictions between its stated spiritual aspirations and its operational mechanisms. The most prominent contradiction lies in the tension between the desire to be "less legalistic" and the reliance on a dense, hierarchical corpus known as "ISKCON Law". 

PADA: Yeah, when someone was asking his GBC guru about some of the "laws," the guru did not even know which ISKCON law was being discussed. He said he has not read all of the laws, and was not aware of many of them. 

While the constitution’s preamble and dedication use the language of "love and trust," the actual governing statutes establish what management theorists call a "Machine of Bureaucracy". In such a system, the standardization of work processes and the strict adherence to central rules become more important than the individual spiritual development of the members. This contradiction is particularly evident in how the society handles "sensitive matters" like child protection and the "ritvik" controversy; rather than transparent legal processes, these are addressed through appendices that reinforce GBC policy under the guise of "founder's instructions".

Another significant contradiction exists between the claim that ISKCON temples are "financially independent" and the reality of "ecclesiastical management" by the GBC. A temple cannot be truly independent if a centralized body has the authority to appoint and remove its administrators, set its spiritual and managerial standards, and require significant financial contributions to a global fund. 

This "illusion of autonomy" creates a situation where temple administrators bear all the financial and legal risks of their local operations, while the GBC maintains the power to intervene and exert control without corresponding financial responsibility. This structural contradiction leads to frequent friction between local interests and central mandates, as seen in the protracted legal battle over the Bengaluru temple, where the GBC sought to exert ownership over a temple that claimed independent legal identity.

Level of Governance | Stated Purpose (Constitutional Rhetoric) | Operational Reality (Ecclesiastical Practice) 

 Global GBC | To preserve the founder’s teachings and maintain unity. 

Acts as a centralized bureaucracy with unchecked legislative and judicial power. 

Zonal Secretary | To supervise and assist local centers "nicely". 

Exercises absolute authority over temple presidents and local personnel. 

Temple President | To act with "local initiative" and financial independence. 

Functions as an "at-will" manager subject to summary removal by the GBC. 

Individual Devotee | To progress spiritually in an environment of safety and respect. 

Remains legally "powerless" with no enforceable rights or grievance redressal. 

These contradictions are easily overlooked by trusting followers because they are often presented through a "Founder-Ācārya" filter. By quoting Śrīla Prabhupāda extensively — more than fifty percent of the text consists of such quotes — the GBC leverages his charismatic authority to justify a bureaucratic system that he, in fact, warned against. 

This "traditionalist bias" creates a theological shield; to question the constitution is framed as questioning the founder himself, even when the document’s administrative specifics deviate from his recorded letters and legal mandates.

The Devotional Perspective: Decentralization and the "Love and Trust" Mandate
From a devotional and management perspective, the 2026 Constitution must be measured against the explicit instructions of Śrīla Prabhupāda regarding the discouragement of centralization. 

In a seminal 1972 letter to Karandhara, Prabhupāda wrote, "Forget this centralizing and bureaucracy... Once there is bureaucracy the whole thing will be spoiled". He envisioned a movement where "each temple must remain independent and self-sufficient" and where management was handled locally by local men. The 2026 Constitution, however, formalizes a trajectory of increasing centralization that began in the early 1970s and was explicitly rebuked by the founder at the time.

The most critical management instruction overlooked by the 2026 Constitution is the 1970 "Direction of Management" (DOM). This legal document, signed by Prabhupāda, established a system of "checks and balances" where GBC members were to be elected by Temple Presidents for three-year terms. The GBC’s failure to implement these elections represents a fundamental deviation from the founder’s management vision. Instead of the GBC serving as the "servants of the Temple Presidents," the 2026 Constitution cements their position as a self-appointing, permanent oligarchy. 

This lack of an electoral mandate is not a minor detail but a theological failure (guru-aparādha), as it ignores the specific "TOPMOST URGENCY" instructions given by the founder to establish a representative governance structure.

Management Principle | Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Instruction | 2026 Constitutional Implementation |

Centralization | "Do not centralize anything... centralization is nonsense proposals". | Establishes global ministries and mandatory centralized standards for all local centers. |

GBC Election | GBC to be elected by Temple Presidents for 3-year terms. 

GBC is self-appointing; electoral mandate is absent from the 2026 text. 

Bureaucracy | "Krishna Consciousness is for training men to be independently thoughtful... not for making bureaucracy". | Creates a complex, multi-layered "Machine Bureaucracy" with limited accountability. 

Temple Autonomy | TPs are responsible; GBC is to see that things go "nicely," not exert absolute authority. 

Zonal Secretaries exercise "absolute authority" over local management and finances. 

The 2026 "3/35 Vision" in North America serves as a contemporary example of this tension. While it uses the rhetoric of "empowered devotees" and "strong communities," the structural mechanism—the "Growth Acceleration Teams" (GATs)—functions as a service office that reinforces zonal unity under the GBC’s direction. 

In a truly decentralized model, these support structures would be initiated and controlled by the local temples they serve; under the 2026 Constitution, they are top-down initiatives designed to ensure that the "front-line leaders" (Temple Presidents) remain focused on the central mission while administrative control is consolidated at the zonal level. This management shift from "local initiative" to "zonal compliance" represents a profound departure from the organic growth model of the movement's early years.

Impact on Temple Administrators: Support vs. Ecclesiastical Control
For temple administrators, the 2026 Constitution presents a dual reality of nominal support and absolute ecclesiastical oversight. According to the GBC’s "Governance Structure" document, Temple Presidents are encouraged to act with "local initiative," yet they are simultaneously defined as "working under the supervision of their assigned GBC zonal secretary". 

This creates a "managerial sandwich" where the TP must satisfy the spiritual and financial demands of a global hierarchy while maintaining the daily operations of a financially independent local center.

The support available to these administrators primarily comes through Zonal Support Offices and specialized Ministries (e.g., Deity Worship, Education). However, this "support" often takes the form of additional regulations and certification requirements. For example, the 2025 resolution on Deity Worship mandates that all courses must be approved by the Deity Worship Ministry and taught only by authorized devotees. 

While intended to maintain standards, such centralization strips the local Temple President of the authority to train and empower their own priests based on local needs and talent, forcing them to rely on a central bureaucracy for basic temple functions.

Category of Support | Nominal Resource | Actual Power Dynamic |

Managerial Guidance | Zonal Secretaries. | Exercise the power to remove the TP if "standards" are not met. |

Spiritual Standards | GBC Ministries (Education, Deity Worship). | Centralized control over local curriculum and liturgical practices. |

Conflict Resolution | ISKCONResolve (Mediation). | Voluntary; a powerful leader can refuse to participate, leaving the TP unsupported. |

Financial Security | "Financial Independence". | Local centers bear all risk; "cronyism" often dictates which projects receive central backing. |

The most precarious aspect of the Temple President's position under the new constitution is the removal process. While the 1970 DOM mandated that a Temple President could only be removed with the "support by the local Temple members," the current legal framework allows for removal or censure by the GBC and its Zonal Secretaries for "misconduct" or "spiritual discrepancy". 

This lack of local "veto power" over leadership changes means that Temple Presidents are functionally accountable only to the GBC hierarchy, not to the community they serve. This shift facilitates a culture of "cronyism," where loyalty to the GBC is more vital for administrative survival than effective community leadership.

The Individual Devotee Perspective: Inaction, Cronyism, and the Crisis of Justice
From the perspective of an individual devotee—the group categorized as the "powerless" in critical analyses of ISKCON Law—the 2026 Constitution and its associated legal framework fail to provide meaningful protection against mistreatment. The document lacks the "language of justice". 

Words like "fair," "impartial," and "equal" appear in ISKCON Law primarily to describe management concerns (e.g., "fair market value") rather than the spiritual or moral treatment of devotees. There is no explicit section in the constitution or the underlying law that guarantees an individual devotee the right to be treated with justice by their superiors.

This systemic failure is compounded by the "phantom" nature of ISKCON’s judicial institutions. The Justice Ministry, according to internal critiques and GBC resolutions, has been "essentially defunct for many years" and has failed to establish a robust judicial process. Instead, the society relies on "ISKCONResolve," an ombudsman-style office that provides voluntary mediation. 

While mediation is useful for collaborative disputes, it is structurally incapable of delivering justice in cases of "official misconduct" or "abuse of power" because it lacks decision-making authority. A leader accused of wrongdoing can simply refuse to mediate, and the victim is left with no further recourse within the institutional framework.

Group in Power Hierarchy | Legal Protections | Disciplinary Exposure |

The Powerless (General Devotees) | Virtually none; no stated right to justice or compensation. | Subject to two full pages of "crimes and punishments" (censure, excommunication). |

The Officials (Temple Presidents) | Limited; right to appeal to GBC Zonal Secretary. | Subject to over two pages of rules for discipline and removal. |

The Lawmakers (GBC Members) | Substantial; disciplinary rules are opaque and often confidential. | No explicit GBC law detailing the process for disciplining a deviant member. |

The phenomenon of "enforcement inaction" is most pronounced in a culture of cronyism. When standards are "heaviest on the powerless... and most lenient with those who make the laws," the hierarchical nature of justice ensures that leaders are rarely held accountable for the same behaviors that would lead to the excommunication of a rank-and-file member. 

For example, while Temple Presidents are legally required to be "honest and trustworthy" and avoid "intimate dealings," there are no such explicit mandates for GBC members in the published law. This disparity creates a profound sense of disillusionment among the membership, who observe that "justice" is often a tool used by the hierarchy to maintain control rather than a principle used to protect the vulnerable.

Institutional Biases and the Marginalization of Dissent

The 2026 Constitution also institutionalizes biases against specific groups and viewpoints, often under the guise of "maintaining standards". One of the most significant biases is against internal dissenters, particularly the "ritvik" movement. Appendix 1 of the constitution explicitly rejects and bans "Ritvikism," labeling it as a deviation from the founder's instructions. 

While the GBC has the right to define its theology, using a constitutional document to permanently "ban" a competing interpretation of the founder’s mission functions as a form of "ecclesiastical silencing". This bias ensures that any devotee who holds a dissenting theological view is automatically categorized as an "offender," making them subject to the society’s disciplinary machinery.

There is also a latent bias regarding the status of women and cultural diversity. While recent resolutions mention "equal facility" for men and women, they often add the caveat "where culturally appropriate". The power to define what is "culturally appropriate" rests with the GBC, allowing them to pass "culturally sensitive resolutions" that can be modified for specific regions. 

While this appears flexible, it actually centralizes the definition of cultural norms; a Regional Governing Body (RGB) must apply to the GBC to adjust a resolution, meaning that local women's rights or social equity programs are entirely dependent on the approval of a global body that is predominantly male and traditionalist.

Axis of Bias | Mechanism of Marginalization | Institutional Impact |

Theological Dissent (Ritvik) | Explicit constitutional ban and categorization as "offense". | Excludes alternative interpretations of succession and initiation from the legal framework. |

Gender Equity | "Separate but equal" language paired with "cultural appropriateness" caveats. | Subordinates women's rights to regional "cultural norms" approved by the GBC. |

Local Autonomy | Rejection of the 1970 DOM electoral mandate. | Marginalizes the voice of the Temple Presidents and congregations in global governance. 

Member Rights | Omission of an enforceable Bill of Rights and independent judiciary. | Leaves the rank-and-file devotee without a legal shield against administrative abuse. 

The bias toward the GBC is not merely administrative; it is psychological. By framing the GBC as the "Foundational Instructing Spiritual Master" (śikṣā-guru) for the entire society, the constitution attempts to merge administrative authority with spiritual authority. This makes it difficult for "trusting followers" to distinguish between a managerial error and a spiritual directive. For a follower, questioning a GBC policy becomes equivalent to questioning one’s spiritual guide, a mentality that is highly conductive to the "culture of cronyism" where loyalty is prioritized over truth or justice.

Case Study in Governance Failure: The Bengaluru Litigation and its Implications
The long-standing dispute over the Hare Krishna Hill temple in Bengaluru provides a critical "real-world" test of the ISKCON Constitution’s legitimacy. For decades, ISKCON Mumbai (representing the GBC) and ISKCON Bengaluru (an independently registered society) have fought in the Indian court system over control of the temple and its vast resources. 

While the GBC’s constitution and laws claim that all ISKCON properties belong to a centralized authority, the Supreme Court of India has wrestled with the fact that many of these centers were founded with independent legal identities—a fact that aligns with Śrīla Prabhupāda’s "decentralized" instructions but contradicts the GBC’s "centralized" operational model.

The reopening of the case in 2026 by a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court underscores the "institutional authority and public trust" at stake. The court’s willingness to examine allegations of "forged or fabricated documents" used to establish ownership demonstrates that the secular legal system is often the only place where the GBC can be held to the standard of "fairness and finality". 

This litigation highlights the core flaw in the 2026 Constitution: because it provides no internal mechanism for independent arbitration, disputes between the center and the periphery inevitably escalate into costly, multi-decade secular lawsuits that damage the reputation of the entire movement. If the constitution had included the "checks and balances" and the "local autonomy" mandates of the 1970 DOM, such disputes could have been resolved through internal representative processes rather than in the public eye.

Synthesis: The Crisis of the 10,000-Year Plan

The 2026 ISKCON Constitution is presented as a document that will guide the movement for the next 10,000 years. However, without the basic structural features of modern constitutionalism—separation of powers, a Bill of Rights, and a representative electoral mandate—it remains a "machine bureaucracy" masquerading as a sacred charter. The inherent contradictions between its "love and trust" rhetoric and its "centralized control" reality create a high-friction environment for temple administrators and a dangerous environment for individual devotees.

The document is heavily biased toward the preservation of GBC power, shielding its members from the accountability that is demanded of their subordinates. By bypassing the 1970 "Direction of Management" and its requirement for elected, rotating leadership, the GBC has established a governance structure that is fundamentally at odds with the founder’s instructions to "discourage centralization". For the movement to achieve true institutional stability and spiritual vitality, its constitution must evolve from a manual of administrative control into a genuine charter of rights and representative governance. Without this evolution, the movement risks a future of increasing schism, legal entanglement, and the loss of the "love and trust" that was intended to be its true foundation

PADA: Well for starters, the ritviks are out, because we are: challenging the idea of offering bhogha to conditioned souls (which is why so many ISKCON folks are getting cancer?); we are making lawsuits to get original books -- and we are printing some originals; we are making lawsuits to address mass child mistreatment; and we are making new devotees of Srila Prabhupada. Yep, all that has to be stopped. ys pd 

WS: Iskcon will never make a comeback. 

RM: I only got to the part where it reckons ISKCON is a major global institution That says it all No one knows who ISKCON is That died long ago Hindus kinda know what ISKCON is and it's got a bad reputation from what I have seen 

GD: What an analysis! That was exhausting to read! And I can't imagine how exhausting the original document from the GBC! Jai ho! Govinda Dasi! Didn't Srila Prabhupada say our movement is based on love and trust? I think you said that in your well done analysis. I can't imagine how much time was spent on the production of that document that could have been spent on preaching, sankirtan. 

Wasn't S.P. original instructions for the GBC was to travel and preach to all the temples in their assigned zones, to encourage the devotees and maintain the standards of Bhakti are being followed? 

HH: I see more bureaucracy, more centralization, more going down the rabbit hole. GBC is trying to reinvent what Srila Prabhupada gave, making it crystal-clear and understandable for anyone. Though their reinvention makes the wheel an uncomfortable square. 

RM: I think Gemini established that their Constitution lacks any checks and balances and only serves to protect its Oligarchy members and to hell with individual members Did I get that right It's a hard read on a small phone screen.

GPD: Maybe better to stick to plan A given us by the founding acharia of iskcon Acbsp. Plan B hasn't worked in the last 50 years, how's plan C going to work if it deviates from the basic moral spiritual and other guidelines given by the iskcon acharia and the deciplic succession. 

GD#2 This post is a Gemini analysis of ISKCON’s new constitution. I searched for a copy or PDF of the actual constitution so we can judge the document for ourselves, but I could not find it, Does anyone have a link to the new constitution they can post here? 

PDD: While I appreciate it allllll being written and posted, can someone out there give a shortened version? 

TD: At the istaghosti they twice promoted it as a "living document" as though that were a plus. That just means it can change any time for anyone's convenience. That makes it sound like it deals with issues of the day rather than fixed principles you can always count on. 

KO: Kind of sounds like the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church

HA: Ship without a captain... ISKCON....? May be an image of sinking boat.

MA Dasi: There are many sincere bhaktas in the movement but not in the drivers seats. 

FSD: Chanting 16 rounds is the foundation...morning program 4 regs. prasadam.

AJD: Thanks for sharing. This analysis almost says it all as to how the GBC is trying sincerely but is seriously failing in many critical areas. For example, one iskcon guru was found guilty of child sex abuse by the ICPO and was banned. But the abusers buddies on the GBC overruled the conviction. This was clearly a very very serious abuse of power. 

RMD: I would like to see and share the actual GBC 2026 constitution. It is beyond any doubt that the great sinister movement has infiltrated ISKCON and those who follow Kali are doing their best to destroy it. Srila Gour Govinda Swami did say there are some real bhaktas in the society and that's why it still exists. 

I pray for protection of those souls and pray for the purification of ISKCON. Hare Krishna. 

GD#2: Those who follow Kali are doing their best to live off of it, it seems without having to perform any real seva !!! It seems ISKCON has become their private social security income!!! 

YMD: Eish, too long, wheres da essence ... I attend Sunday love feast n lecturer there don't utter anything about krsna, da lecture slowly traverses into money ....n how dedicated da Temple President is...idk why but..... 

BB: ISKCON has become a cold, impersonal business arrangement. They glorify the Hindus who give big donations and all the rest are not important.