More Patna Discussion / ISKCON and Women / Aryan Women 02 15 26

You can get English sound if you click on the CC

PADA: This is my recent AI art of Radha and Krishna, made on the Gemini Google platform. I am pretty happy with it, and I went in and touched up some areas on I-pad Procreate. Jayate. ys pd

1) O Gopinatha, Lord of the gopis, please hear my request. I am a wicked materialist, always addicted to worldly desires, and no good qualities do I possess.

2) O Gopinatha, You are my only hope, and therefore I have taken shelter at Your lotus feet. I am now Your eternal servant.

3) O Gopinatha, how will You purify me? I do not know what devotion is, and my materialistic mind is absorbed in fruitive work. I have fallen into this dark and perilous worldly existence.

4) O Gopinatha, everything here is Your illusory energy. I have no strength or transcendental knowledge, and this body of mine is not independent and free from the control of material nature.

5) O Gopinatha, this sinner, who is weeping and weeping, begs for an eternal place at Your divine feet. Please give him Your mercy.

6) O Gopinatha, You are able to do anything, and therefore You have the power to deliver all sinners. Who is there that is more of a sinner than myself?

7) O Gopinatha, You are the ocean of mercy. Having come into this phenomenal world, You expand Your divine pastimes for the sake of the fallen souls.

8) O Gopinatha, I am so sinful that although all the demons attained Your lotus feet, Bhaktivinoda has remained in worldly existence.

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Krishna Sanctuary

Seems to be a nice project. 

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ISKCON and WOMEN

PADA: Henry Doktosrski sent me an article on how women in general were viewed very negatively at New Vrndavana. And as a result many women were exploited and abused. He blames Srila Prabhupada for creating this environment. Except, my view is that New Vrndavana folks were getting the "Kirtanananda's filtered" view of women, and Krishna consciousness, and Kirtanananda was cherry picking certain negative quotes, while avoiding positive quotes, to suppress women -- and to suppress those quotes. 

And his program suppressed those of us citing these positive quotes, to the point their empire would have us assassinated for publishing and citing these positive quotes -- that opposed their views, being afraid of being exposed. 

For example when people at New Vrndavana said "Srila Prabhupada says Kirtanananda is a pure devotee." OK he might have said that once. Yet he also said: KS is a crazy man -- who needs to go back to Bellvue; KS indulges in a strange form of sense gratification (homosexuality); KS stole my Gita manuscript -- and so forth. 

Srila Prabhupada also said Jayatirtha is my tirtha, and his followers slammed that in my face all day long. But he was falling down. Just because Srila Prabhupada makes a few encouraging statements about someone, that is not an absolute endorsement.  

When someone who is elderly is encouraging a kindergarten child, they may say things that are not meant to be absolute. When we tell a toddler -- you are doing a great job bringing me my shoe, that does not mean the child knows how to fetch the other shoe and etc. It is encouraging, but not making an absolute statement of fact.   

I had a gay friend in San Francisco who told me, unfortunately there are homosexuals who see women negatively, as competition, and they treat women rudely and badly. They want to keep women in a lower status, to cut down their competitors, so the homosexual program is enhanced. In short they are ENVIOUS of women.

And that is evidently why Kirtanananda called his istagosthi meetings with women "fish night," and Devamrta said women are like toilets, and the list of negative comments from these (homosexual ilk) leader guys from New Vrndavana are endless really. OK these guys were many times homosexuals -- who did not like women -- and they created an anti-women atmosphere.

I personally never understood that we should exploit, suppress or oppress women from the teachings of Krishna. Rather, women are supposed to be my spiritual soul sisters --  eternal spirit souls -- fully equal to myself -- who are now in a female shaped, temporary material covering or body. And it is our duty to see them as spiritual soul equals, parts and parcels of God, and not as our inferiors. 

One thing many people probably do not know is that most of the help I got at the start of PADA was from -- women -- who were acting as my spies and agents to get my news stories for PADA. And a woman was the first person I helped to sue ISKCON for child abuse, in 1986. Women were somewhat at the forefront of helping me challenging the homosexual and pedophile messiah's program, and subsequently mostly women are on the ISKCON Vedic Inquiry child welfare forum etc. now. 

OK women do a lot to challenge the GBC, and they still are, more than many or most men. Srila Prabhupada also told us that women are the backbone of religion in India, since 90% of the people at our Pandal festivals were -- women. He encouraged those ladies, and therefore wanted us to do the same. 

In sum, the lady I helped with the 1986 lawsuit was more brave than all the ISKCON men put together, because it was somewhat dangerous to challenge the GBC regime at that time. Many of the men simply did not help, or worse, said I was making offenses to the seniors etc. So my view was always that women can be a good source of inspiration and help, and they have been. 

Instead of suppressing women, I was always encouraging them, and that was my understanding of the Krishna philosophy, women should be treated with maturity and respect. Or as Srila Prabhupada says, treat all women as mother. 

New Vrndavana was a sort of really bad place for women, because these leaders -- who are envious of women -- began to artificially make women an inferior class of person -- and then there was a lot of sexual and physical abuse of women as a result. But I never liked these leaders, nor did I like the way women were being made into lesser class beings by some of these leaders, when the women should be seen as equals and moreover respected as "living temples of Vishnu" and Krishna's parts and parcels etc. 

But I am a guy who is kind to my neighborhood squirrels and birds, and I feed them every day. I have no tolerance for mistreating any living being, it is not the correct idea of the Krishna religion. All living beings should be seen as temples of Vishnu, especially the Vaishnavi ladies who are worshiping Vishnu.   

What Srila Prabhupada also said was, every woman should be protected and hopefully married. And he suspended sannyasa saying the leaders should be grhasthas or married people. He said women should be honored and protected, thus he never authorized exploiting them, never mind mistreating them, beating them, and so forth. Nor did I ever feel that mistreating or exploiting women is what the Krishna society is supposed to be doing.  

In any case all religions have some form of ashram type program to try to keep the men monks or brahmacaris separated from the women. And the women try to avoid the men by living as nuns or brahmacarinis. In Muslim countries the ladies cover their faces and so on. That is because Srila Prabhupada is correct, men mixing with ladies can turn into lusty affairs. That is common in all religions.   

In New Vrndavana, in the name of avoiding lust, practice of austerity and renunciation, some men were having affairs with a number of women. Some women were given coercive divorces and were married off to other men. Some women told me they were never officially married, there was simply a "garland exchange," and not a legal recorded marriage, and thus they were un-officially married and re-married with no documentation. 

Much worse, adult homosexual men were having various forms of sex with men and boys who were still minors. And some of the females there told me they were being married off when they were not yet 18. OK so there was a lot of lusty stuff going on left, right and center, including heterosexual, homosexual and even pedophile lusty affairs, or in sum -- illicit sex with men, women and children. 

That means Srila Prabhupada is correct -- lust is the main enemy of spiritual practitioners. So if someone thinks New Vrndavana is an example of Srila Prabhupada's teachings, they are severely misguided. Srila Prabhupada says illicit behavior takes a person to hell, and that behavior was rampant at New Vrndavana in all forms. 

When Jane Wallace visited new Vrndavana she was mortified to see Kirtanananda sitting on a big seat, covered with the hands of young boys. Worse, some of the big leaders were in the audience there singing "Jaya Bhaktipada." She asked me if this is pedophile heaven, I said yep it is. And she said thank God we met at least one Hare Krishna who knows this is pedophile heaven. 

She also said many of the ladies there have "children who look different, as if the children came from different fathers." She asked me if the ladies there "are being passed around to various men." And I said -- probably yes. OK so a woman news reporter, who has no knowledge of the Vedas, immediately -- withing a few seconds -- understands that New Vrndavana is a pedophile cult, while the "men" there were all chanting "Jaya Bhaktipada." 

Sorry, these folks are not following Srila Prabhupada, or even basic common moral religion principles. Worship of homosexuals and pedophiles as messiahs is not done even in the mleccha society. And when we had New Vrndavana sued on the $400,000,000 case, the lawyers said New Vrndavana is the worst place for children abuse in the whole USA ISKCON.   

When Ravindra Swarupa wanted to remove Kirtanananda, 300 families (many Prabhupada original disciples) made a petition to keep KS as the guru there. OK so this was a homosexual and pedophile personality cult, which has nothing to do with Srila Prabhupada. Unfortunately, it fooled a lot of people into thinking it is bona fide. It never was. 

Sulochana said Chakradhari was murdered because he protested at an istagosthi that Kirtanananda was having affairs with boys. I would say many -- if not most -- people there knew something bad was afoot. 

Yeah I would say, a lot of people there must have known about all these illicit, illegal and exploiting things going on there, if they were not participating in the crimes themselves. It is just impossible for me to believe all the banning, beating, molesting, lawsuits, and murders were not known by a lot of people. 

In any case, we never believed that Kirtanananda was purely representing Krishna -- ever. I never really liked the guy, and we knew him, Hayagriva, Umapati and others were from the Mott Street boys program, and we suspected they were not solid followers the whole time. Nor did we ever think a Mott Stret boy could be catapulted to being a pure devotee in the space of 10 years, especially when these guys were chastised so badly right out of the gate. 

Anyway, for those who thought the GBC's program was Prabhupada's program, you made a huge mistake. He was apparently poisoned by that sabha to get him out of the way. And what happened next was not his desire, order, mission or movement. 

Jane Wallace was able to figure out in two seconds what a lot of these people could not figure out in two decades, and many of them still cannot. This was a not a religious movement, it was "pedophile heaven." She thanked me for being the one of the only Hare Krishnas who knew what was what, because almost all the other devotees defended the program. Kirtanananda was later buried in a samadhi, because a lot of people still don't get it. 

OK they got suckered. 

ys pd angel108b@yahoo.com  

HOW TO VIEW WOMEN:

BG 13.3 I AM THE KNOWER WITHIN ALL BODIES

kṣetra-jñaḿ cāpi māḿ viddhi
sarva-kṣetreṣu bhārata
kṣetra-kṣetrajñayor jñānaḿ
yat taj jñānaḿ mataḿ mama

Translation of Bhagavad Gita 13.3

O scion of Bharata, you should understand that I am also the knower in all bodies, and to understand this body and its knower is called knowledge. That is My opinion.

Commentary by Sri A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada of Gaudiya Sampradaya:

While discussing the subject of the body and the knower of the body, the soul and the Supersoul, we shall find three different topics of study: the Lord, the living entity, and matter. In every field of activities, in every body, there are two souls: the individual soul and the Supersoul. Because the Supersoul is the plenary expansion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, Krishna says, “I am also the knower, but I am not the individual knower of the body. 

I am the superknower. I am present in every body as the Paramatma, or Supersoul.” One who studies the subject matter of the field of activity and the knower of the field very minutely, in terms of this Bhagavad-gita, can attain to knowledge.

The Lord says, “I am the knower of the field of activities in every individual body.” The individual may be the knower of his own body, but he is not in knowledge of other bodies. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is present as the Supersoul in all bodies, knows everything about all bodies. He knows all the different bodies of all the various species of life. A citizen may know everything about his patch of land, but the king knows not only his palace but all the properties possessed by the individual citizens. Similarly, one may be the proprietor of the body individually, but the Supreme Lord is the proprietor of all bodies. The king is the original proprietor of the kingdom, and the citizen is the secondary proprietor. Similarly, the Supreme Lord is the supreme proprietor of all bodies.

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This article, ‘The Vaiṣṇavism of Ancient Āryan Women,’ was first published in Sajjana Toṣaṇī, Volume 2, Issue 9, in 1885. In it, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura narrates the account of Śaṅkarācārya’s mother, who, as she lay on her deathbed, expressed her longing to attain Vaikuṇṭha.

by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura

(This article has been compiled from the Śaṅkara Vijaya composed by Sāyanācārya).

Nowadays, who would not feel delighted when the subject of the steadfast devotion of Indian women is discussed? We shall not now speak about the two maidservant daughters Pil and Pilyā described in the Bhaktamāla, nor about other noble women, because the time for that has not yet come for us. The devout lady of whom we shall now inform the learned and respectable readers may be said to be well known even among the mature educated class of men.

Eleven centuries ago, in the village of Kālapi in the land of Kerala, there lived a brāhmaṇa by the name of Śivaguru Śarmā. He was the father of Śaṅkarācārya, the crest-jewel of parivrājakācāryas, and his wife was the mother of that best of ācāryas, Śaṅkara Svāmī. Śaṅkara’s mother gave birth to that world-renowned Śaṅkarācārya on the day of Śukla Ekādaśī in the month of Vaiśākha in the 71st year of the Śaka era.*

niṣe nāgebha bahnyabde vibhave māsi mādhave

śukle tithau daśamyāstu śaṅkarāryodayaḥ smṛtaḥ

ārya vidyā sudhākara dhṛta tat sampradāyikṛta śloka

“In the year 3889 of the Kali Era (778 CE), in the month of Mādhava, on the bright tenth lunar day, the birth of Śaṅkara is remembered. This śloka, upholding the nectar of āryan learning, is composed according to the sampradāyika tradition.”

Later, after Śaṅkara had embraced the order of sannyāsa and, while travelling through many lands, was residing on the mountain called Śṛṅga, surrounded by his own disciples such as Sureśācārya and engaged in discussion of the Vedānta śāstra, at that time the final hour of his mother approached. At that time, the mother of the venerable world-teacher – due to advanced age and the frailty of widowhood – was exceedingly weak. 

Seeing that her own end was near, she began repeatedly recalling her only son who was a sannyāsi. Śaṅkara, being omniscient, was able to hear the anguished cries of his mother even while residing on the Śṛṅga mountain. Then, leaving his disciples, by the power of his yogika strength, he immediately proceeded to the village of Kālapi and paid respects at his mother’s feet. The wife of Śivaguru, seeing her child before her as if in a dream, became exceedingly joyful and began to say, ‘Son, my final moment has now arrived. I am an ignorant and helpless woman. Please tell me what duty I should now perform.”

Hearing his mother’s words of distress, Śaṅkara began to instruct her about the non-differentiated Brahman that he had previously expounded. But his mother, showing her inability to grasp that, replied, “Son! I am a woman – I have no capacity to contemplate that non-differentiated Brahman. Therefore, please teach me about a beautiful, tangible form of Brahman.”

Then Śaṅkara instructed his mother to contemplate the nature of all beings and the essence of Bhūtanātha (Śiva). He began to recite in the bhujaṅga-prayāta metre a hymn in praise of the eight forms of Mahādeva. Pleased with that hymn, Śiva, wielding the trident and Pīṇaka bow, sent his attendants to honour her. Seeing this, Śaṅkara’s mother became dissatisfied and said, “I will not go along with the attendants of Śiva.”*

*vilokyatān śula pināka hastam

naivānugaccheyamitibruvastyām

Having seen them, with trident and Pināka in hand, she said, ‘I will not follow.’ (Śaṅkara Vijaya)

Then the crest-jewel of parivrājakācāryas, perceiving that no other recourse remained, understood his mother’s unparalleled bhakti to Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Overjoyed, he began to recite verses in praise of the supremely merciful Lord of Lakṣmī, who is most affectionate to His devotees.

For the benefit of the readers, three ślokas gathered by Sāyanīya Mādhavācārya are quoted here:

bhujagādhipa bhogatalpa bhājaṁ

kamalākṣa sthala kalpitāṅghri padmaṁ

abhivījitamādareṇa līlā-

vasudhābhyāṁ calamāna cāmarābhyāṁ

vihitāñjalinā niṣevyamāṇaṁ

vinatānanda kṛtāgrato rathena

dhṛta-mūrtibhirastra devatābhiḥ

paritaṁ pañcabhirañcitopakaṇṭaṁ

mahanīya-tamāla-komalaṅgaṁ

mukuṭī-ratna-cayaṁ mahār’yantaṁ

śiśiretara-bhānu-śīlitāgraṁ

hari-nīlopala-bhūdharaṁ hasantaṁ

(Vishnu) He who uses the coils of the serpent-king as a couch; whose lotus-feet are placed upon the bosom of Lakṣmī; who is gently fanned with affection by Līlā and Vasudhā, with cāmaras moving to and fro; He who is attended with folded palms by the joyful son of Vinatā (Garuḍa), who acts as His chariot; who is surrounded by His five weapons (the conch, discus, club, bow and sword) who have assumed personified celestial forms; whose limbs are tender like the revered tamāla tree; who is adorned with clusters of jewels set upon His crown; whose face is radiant like the sun; who playfully outshines the sapphire with the beauty of His body – I praise that smiling Hari, the supporter of the earth, who is blue, like a sapphire.

Śivaguru’s wife, hearing this regal prayer to the Supreme Deity, Śrī Kṛṣṇa composed by her own son as his own means, became exceedingly joyful; and while contemplating the enchanting form of Śrī Śrī Mādhava, she abandoned her body like a yogī. At that moment, Viṣṇu swiftly arrived, accompanied by a celestial aerial car radiant like the autumnal moon. Seating Śaṅkara’s mother upon that Vaiṣṇava vimāna, He carried her beyond the realms of the Sun, the Moon, Varuṇa, Indra, and even Brahmaloka, and brought her to the supreme abode of Lord Viṣṇu, in other words, Vaikuṇṭha-dhāma.

(‘The Vaiṣṇavism of Ancient Āryan Women,’ was first published in Sajjana Toṣaṇī, Volume 2, Issue 9, in 1885 and translated by Swami Bhaktivijñāna Giri)

More Cancer / Vrndavana Corruption / Passing Devotees / Holding Power etc. 02 04 26

PADA: Very young mother -- who is at the cancer hospital. Sorry folks, I believe that offering food to deviated people contaminates the food, and causes ill effects. My ex-witch devotee lady confirms this, offering food to deviated people would make the people ingesting that food -- suffer ill results. And it is affecting many devotees, or even affecting the whole ISKCON society wholesale. 

In sum, offering food to deviated people is a Satanic practice, and it will make people suffer, and it is. I feel very sad for the victims, they just have no idea what is sattvic offering and what is not. She has two lovely little kids, and if she is gone, they are going to suffer. I cannot help but notice none of the big ISKCON authorities ever mentions anything about this.

ys pd angel108b@yahoo.com  

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VAISNAVAS ESPANA

Administrative crisis and corruption complaints in ISKCON Vrindavan

Although we know that ISKCON Mayapur is the most corrupt yatra or project of ISKCON organization globally—where the main guru or local leader, Jayapataka, has always protected his malicious disciples and has covered up many barbarities happening there—, now the crown jewel, ISKCON Vrindavan, is facing an administrative crisis due to the corruption and internal complicity of some of its leaders.

Srutakirti, an administrative member, married several years ago a young Russian-Armenian who suffers delusions of grandeur and exhibits excesses of authority and cruelty, believing herself a kind of empress because of her high profile husband within ISKCON. Therefore, the devotees of the pujari department and a wide majority of the congregation have decided to confront them after tolerating the abuses of this couple for a long time.

At the same time, the three ISKCON Vrindavan Presidents are involved in corruption acts, supporting the Accountant, who manages the funds and has a decisive voice in executing money generating projects, without presenting a clear accounting to the public. The latter character is a Hindu named Visnunam, who before moving to Vrindavan was implicated in the suicide of a married devotee with whom he was having a secret extramarital relationship.

Already installed in Vrindavan, Visnunam, with its rhetoric and strategies, has managed to control administrative decisions and obtain complicity from other higher ranking members. He is currently accused — with evidence — of maintaining a new extramarital relationship with a young devout European resident in Vrindavan. 

Their handling of donations, management of some guest houses belonging to ISKCON Vrindavan and their responsibility in the mismanagement of the new goshala located in a village of Vraja, away from the Krishna-Balaram Mandir are also questioned. Death of dozens of cows and bulls has been reported in said goshala due to negligence of administrator or supervisor: Visnunam.

The situation has provoked a wave of protests on social networks, from which this information has been obtained, which, according to various sources, is true, verified and widespread viral circulation. Unfortunately, the GBC allotted to ISKCON Vrindavan, Guru Prasad Swami, avoids taking relevant actions.

The character in the video is Pancha Gauda das, one of the three presidents of ISKCON Vrindavan and staunch defender of Visnunam and other corrupt individuals. In the attached photos you can see Visnunam and Srutakirti and Vishakha.

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RAGAMATANI PASSES

A Dasi: A friend of Ragamatani Acbsp sent me an email informing me she passed away in Dec. She was 68. I was sad and also surprised because she had the cleanest diet of anyone I knew. She had not been an active devotee for a long time, but was always very favorable. I remember her beautiful voice when she chanted bhajans with great feeling. I'm sure that will go to her eternal credit. I think there are some matajis who will remember her.

PADA: I don't really know about this lady, but she was reported as "an angel's voice" bhajan singer, and she supposedly stayed at New Vrndavana for some time. But I do wish her God speed on her soul's future destination. She has not been active as a devotee, well no kidding, most of them were purged and alienated out of ISKCON.

ys pd 

angel108b@yahoo.com 

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AUSPICIOUS PASSING OF MANIBANDHA DASA PRABHU (Patita Pavana dasa) 

1 Feb. 2026: We have received word that our Gurubhai Shriman Manibandha dasa Prabhu has passed away. His daughter-in-law Chaitanya devi and son Swarupa messaged us. More details will be forthcoming. We’ll describe the stars of his passing at the end of this short tribute. 

For many devotees, the first encounter with Manibandha was in Calcutta in the early 1970s. The temple there at Albert Road did not have sufficient bathing facilities for the large crowds of devotees who stopped over at Calcutta on the way to Mayapur. We had to take bath in the pond across the street. Always the entrepreneur, Manibandha sold gumchas to the devotees to raise funds for the temple. For many devotees, it was an early “welcome to India.” 

I knew Manibandha in El Cerrito, California in the 80s when we’d sometimes picnic at Lake Anza at Tilden Park in the hills overlooking the Bay. He was supporting himself as a carpenter there. On one job, he found a large stash of gold coins that someone years earlier has squirreled away in the rafters of a house. He could easily have kept the priceless treasure, and no one would have been any wiser. 

Instead, without a second thought he handed the hoard over to the current owners. However, like all followers of Prabhupada from all generations, he had a superior wealth--daivi sampath. From his time of disappearance, the blessings of the Sat-Guru Shrila Prabhupada and Krishna are evident upon the departed devotee. 

He passed away in the morning after sunrise meaning that he got “the triple crown and then some.” Not only is the Sun in uttarayana, and it was daytime, but the tithi was the holy day of Magha Purnima. This is the last day of the Magha Mela when the sounds of the Holy Name are roaring from the Ganges and at holy places all over Bharat. 

Chaitanya dasi told me that he was under some medical care. He had just taken his bath, and when the nurse came just a few moments later, he had quietly disappeared—just like that! 

The Supreme Lord Krishna informs Arjuna (Bg 8.24), agnir jyotir ahaḥ śuklaḥ ṣaṇ-māsā uttarāyaṇam “Those who know the Supreme Brahman pass away from the world during the influence of the fiery god (Agnideva), in the light (daytime), at an auspicious moment during the (waxing) fortnight of the Moon (shukla paksha) and the six months when the sun travels in the north (uttarayana)." All glories to Manibanda on his way to Krishna's lotus feet by the blessings of Shrila Prabhupada. 

Disappearance chakra of Manibandha Prabhu, 8:55 AM EST. Ocala. FL. Sun and Moon in opposition denoting Full Moon Moon, in his own sign of Cancer, Mars exalted, and Ketu (the planet of liberation or moksha karaka) in his own sign in Leo lagna (ascendant). IMAGES: Manibandha Prabhu as a brahmachari and householder.

PADA: I knew Manibandha many years ago. He had this kind of friendly and enthusiastic personality, which I appreciated. I remember he would sort of prank me with his joking behaviors. 

But after 1978, I never heard anything about his situation. Another ISKCON purge victim? Not sure what was going on with him, but in any case, also wishing him God speed in his future situation. ys pd  

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From the incisive Pranada Devi, shared with her permission:

"The threat of a split isn't the possibility of a split, it is a split.

It is final. Indian leaders will not follow the GBC on anything they don't wish too and they have more agenda items than VDG. Therefore they are an independent body whether the GBC international acknowledges it or not. By succumbing in an effort to prevent a split, they are not facing the reality that the split has ALREADY taken place.

The GBC now stands at a grave threshold. If they recognize that the threatened schism has already, in essence, occurred — that the moment collective obedience was replaced by coercion, unity was broken — they might find the courage to hold steady. Acknowledging reality is their first act of strength. Pretending that harmony still exists only ensures paralysis.

Because as long as the Indian leaders continue to leverage disobedience as a form of negotiation, the separation will not only remain — it will deepen. The split is no longer a looming possibility; it is a continuing condition born of an attitude that refuses shared accountability. 

And until that attitude changes or is directly addressed, the society will live divided, even if the paperwork is slow to admit it. So the GBC’s task is not to prevent a division that has “not yet happened,” but to recognize that it already has — and to respond not with appeasement but with fidelity to Srila Prabhupada’s governing principle. Only clear acknowledgement can restore moral authority; submission will only confirm the loss of it."

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Mahesh Raja says:

Dusyanta dasa: What would be that strong, or very strong, principle that a devotee could actually deliver His Diksa Guru or Shiksa Guru?

Mahesh: Your words “actually deliver” this is a MISTAKE. There is no question of DELIVERING a Diksa guru because the Diksa guru by QUALIFICATION is MAHA BHAGAVATA he is ALREADY LIBERATED:

Madhya 24.330 The Sixty-One Explanations of the Atmarama Verse

MAHA-BHAGAVATA-srestho
brahmano vai gurur nrnam

sarvesam eva lokanam
asau pujyo yatha harih
maha-kula-prasuto ‘pi
sarva-yajnesu DIKSITAH
sahasra-sakhadhyayi ca
na guruh syad avaisnavah

The guru MUST be situated on the topmost platform of devotional service. There are three classes of devotees, and the guru MUST be accepted from the topmost class. The first-class devotee is the spiritual master for all kinds of people. 

….When one has attained the topmost position of MAHA-BHAGAVATA, he is to be accepted as a guru and worshiped exactly like Hari, the Personality of Godhead. ONLY SUCH A PERSON IS ELIGIBLE TO OCCUPY THE POST OF A GURU.))

+++++++++++++++++

Let us go back to the EXACT quote in question:

The conclusion is that a disciple or an offspring who is a very strong devotee can carry with him to Vaikuṇṭhaloka either his father, mother or śikṣā- or dīkṣā-guru. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura used to say, “If I could perfectly deliver even one soul back home, back to Godhead, I would think my mission—propagating Kṛṣṇa consciousness—to be successful.” 

The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is spreading now all over the world, and sometimes I think that even though I am crippled in many ways, if one of my disciples becomes as strong as Dhruva Mahārāja, then he will be able to carry me with him to Vaikuṇṭhaloka.

Link to this page: https://prabhupadabooks.com/sb/4/12/33

1) The Maha Bhagavata (the DIKSA guru) is not lacking QUALIFICATION – he does NOT require to be delivered.

2) The HUMBLENESS is Vaisnava qualification it should NOT be taken that Maha Bhagavata is lacking ability to deliver his disciples : ” Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura used to say, “If I could perfectly deliver even one soul back home, back to Godhead, I would think my mission—propagating Kṛṣṇa consciousness—to be successful.” The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is spreading now all over the world, and sometimes I think that even though I am crippled in many ways, if one of my disciples becomes as strong as Dhruva Mahārāja, then he will be able to carry me with him to Vaikuṇṭhaloka.” 

It is NOT about Maha bhagavata asking for delivering him. Vaisnavas QUALIFICATION of being HUMBLE should NOT be MISINTERPRETED : Diksa guru is MAHA-BHAGAVATA by QUALIFICATION he does NOT require to be delivered – he is LIBERATED.

Note: here is a perfect example of Vaisnava being HUMBLE:

SB 1.9.24 P The Passing Away of Bhismadeva in the Presence of Lord Krsna
Bhismadeva knew well that Lord Krsna is the original Narayana. His worshipable Deity was four-handed Narayana, but he knew that four-handed Narayana is a plenary expansion of Lord Krsna. Indirectly he desired Lord Sri Krsna to manifest Himself in His four-handed feature of Narayana. 

A Vaisnava is always HUMBLE in his behavior. Although it was cent percent certain that Bhismadeva was approaching Vaikuntha-dhama just after leaving his material body, still as a HUMBLE Vaisnava he desired to see the beautiful face of the Lord, for after quitting the present body he might not be in a position to see the Lord any more. A Vaisnava is not puffed up, although the Lord guarantees His pure devotee entrance into His abode.

Note: A SPIRITUAL MASTER MUST BE LIBERATED.

Bg 7.14 P Knowledge of the Absolute

Another meaning of guna is rope; it is to be understood that the conditioned soul is tightly tied by the ropes of illusion. A MAN BOUND BY THE HANDS AND FEET CANNOT FREE HIMSELF–HE MUST BE HELPED BY A PERSON WHO IS UNBOUND. BECAUSE THE BOUND CANNOT HELP THE BOUND, THE RESCUER MUST BE LIBERATED. THEREFORE, ONLY LORD KRSNA, OR HIS BONA FIDE REPRESENTATIVE THE SPIRITUAL MASTER, CAN RELEASE THE CONDITIONED SOUL.

710216LE.GOR Lectures

So if for ordinary living entity there is no death, how Krsna can be appearing and dying? No. Therefore, janma karma me divyam yo janati tattvatah. One who knows in truth how Krsna is appearing, how Krsna is disappearing, he is learned. He is learned in the spiritual science, and for him, as soon as he becomes learned, well-versed in the spiritual science, Krsna science, he immediately becomes liberated. Caitanya Mahaprabhu confirms, yei krsna-tattva-vetta sei guru haya. 

Because one who has understood Krsna in truth, he is liberated person. Therefore he is guru. GURU CANNOT BE A CONDITIONED SOUL. GURU MUST BE LIBERATED. Because without complete knowledge of Krsna, without being free from the contamination of the three modes of material nature… One cannot understand Krsna on account of his being engrossed with these three material modes of nature. And Krsna says, “One who understand Me rightly, he becomes immediately free.” Tyaktva deham punar janma naiti.

69-06-10. Letter: Mukunda

You are correct when you say that when the Spiritual Master speaks it should be taken that Krishna is speaking. That is a fact. A SPIRITUAL MASTER MUST BE LIBERATED.

68-04-26. Letter: Janardana

Regarding the action of Bon Maharaja: We shall discuss the matter when we meet. For the present, you may know that this gentleman is very much materially ambitious. He wants to utilize Krishna Consciousness for his material name and fame. Sometimes he greatly offended our Guru Maharaja, and it so happened that at the last stage, practically Guru Maharaja rejected him. And the result, we can find that instead of becoming a great preacher of Krishna Consciousness, this gentleman has become artificially a head of a mundane institution. 

To become a very important man in the mundane estimation is not success in Krishna Consciousness. He was first deputed by my Guru Maharaja, along with our late God Brother, Bhakti Pradip Tirtha Maharaja, to open a missionary center in London, and they stayed there for 3 years, but didn’t make any appreciable advance. Except that spent enormous money of my Guru Maharaja, and later on they were called back to India. So that is a great history; it is not possible to say everything in this letter, but for the present, be satisfied with these words, and later we shall talk more and more. 

ON THE WHOLE, YOU MAY KNOW THAT HE IS NOT A LIBERATED PERSON, AND THEREFORE, HE CANNOT INITIATE ANY PERSON TO KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS. IT REQUIRES SPECIAL SPIRITUAL BENEDICTION FROM HIGHER AUTHORITIES.
Reply

Note: when the disciples took Srila Prabhupada (Maha Bhagavata) in an Airplane from New York to New Delhi that does not mean they liberated him. It just means that they could do some practical devotional service.

The conclusion is that a disciple or an offspring who is a very strong devotee can carry with him to Vaikuṇṭhaloka either his father, mother or śikṣā- or dīkṣā-guru. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura used to say, “If I could perfectly deliver even one soul back home, back to Godhead, I would think my mission—propagating Kṛṣṇa consciousness—to be successful.” 

The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is spreading now all over the world, and sometimes I think that even though I am crippled in many ways, if one of my disciples becomes as strong as Dhruva Mahārāja, then he will be able to carry me with him to Vaikuṇṭhaloka.

Link to this page: https://prabhupadabooks.com/sb/4/12/33

=======

NOT HANDING ISKCON TO THE YOUNGER GENERATION

WHEN WE DON'T HAND OVER OUR TITLES AND POSITIONS

As we get older and gradually reach the vanaprastha age, delegating ourresponsibilities to the younger generation and allowing them to take charge is of the greatest importance. If this does not take place, it invites stagnation to creep into our life and the lives of others around us. Our own attachments to positions and titles will keep us trapped in the illusory understanding that only we can do it - nobody else around us is qualified!

We may even see other young and capable devotees as a threat to our position, and in subtle and even unconscious ways we may keep them down, not allowing them to fully manifest their capacities. We are fearful of being pushed aside and out of service.

In this way, we don't let go of our titles and positions - unable to dissolve our false designations, which we have been carrying with us for many years. Consequently, we cannot move on to higher levels of detachment and spiritual experience, but will be stuck to our positions and ego satisfaction. Whenever one door closes, so many others will open up to us. Having the courage and detachment to conclude a certain phase in life and move on is the price to pay for new opportunities to open up.

Unless a leader applies those principles, it also invites stagnation to the lives of others around us, since the younger generation will not be empowered to rise up and accept more responsibilities. Every generation has a valuable contribution to make to Mahaprabhu's sankirtan mission - every generation moves things forward. 

The heroes of yesterday will not be the heroes of today, and the heroes of today will not be the heroes of tomorrow. When a man is in the age between 25 and 50, he experiences a strong drive to do things, an urge to move mountains. Krishna has built this mentality into a man's nature by giving him a stronger false ego - to make sure somebody moves things forward. 

If a leader waits until he is 75 when he gives up his post, the next generation is already around fifty - the time when they should retire and hand over the responsibilities to the next generation. Thus, everyone misses out on the spiritual benefit they could receive; including Lord Chaitanya's sankirtan movement.

A mature devotee who knows the art of empowering the young generation will not be afraid of losing his post. He will happily assist others to become even more glorious and successful then he was - it will give him the greatest satisfaction. He will accept the role of giving guidance and advice, sharing his life experience and wisdom. 

At the same time, he will be open to new and innovative ideas and will endeavour to protect the young generation from failures and deviations. Such a leader will be respected as a dear well-wishing friend, and people will be eager to inquire and learn from him. In this way, the generations work cooperatively, in mutual respect and service attitude.

If this does not take place and an organisation sticks to outdated and rigid forms of autocratic leadership while hanging on to their posts until the moment of death, the young generation will not feel inspired to be a part of it. As a result, such an organisation will not thrive but rather become stagnant, lacking a youthful and dynamic spirit. 

Particularly, intelligent and capable people will not see any room for them to develop themselves and make their contribution to Srila Prabhupada's mission. Hence, they may rather give their time and energy to develop their material career, or join other spiritual organisations.

Or else, they will get frustrated, start criticising and making politics - even getting together to plan a revolution! They may recognise such a strategy as their only hope to remove a leader and create room for the next generation. Needless to say, such behaviour is against Vaishnava etiquette and invites conflicts. 

Consequently, it is crucial for leaders and managers to recognise the importance of handing over their responsibilities and posts and move on to greater fields of activities - at the right time, before a health crisis or revolution may force us. Once again, serving under the guidance of a well-experienced mentor can greatly help us to do this step. Thus, the cooperation between the generations will be harmonious, and Lord Chaitanya's sankirtan movement will even become more attractive and glorious.

Your servant, Devaki dd

Please visit www.theholynameretreat.net
www.therootsofspiritualculture.net

=====

OUR SWARUPA

Swarūpa, means 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧,𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐊𝐫𝐬𝐧𝐚.
𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 his 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, going 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 home, 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 Godhead -- when he turns back towards 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 home, 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 Godhead,
then he is 𝐦𝐮𝐤𝐭𝐚. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

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Our svarūpa, means 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, is jīvera svarūpa haya nitya-kṛṣṇa-dāsa [Cc. Madhya 20.108-109], 

𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐊𝐫𝐬𝐧𝐚.

So as soon as we place ourselves in 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞,
then you are 𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 immediately.

When we understand this, and try to get free from this business,
then we become eligible for going 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 home, 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 Godhead.

Tadā janaḥ samparivartate 'smād.

Samparivartate, 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 his 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧,asmāt.

And when he turns back towards 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 home, 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 Godhead, then he is 𝐦𝐮𝐤𝐭𝐚.

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

(Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.5.9-Oct. 31, 1976-Vṛndāvana)

https://prabhupadavani.org/transcriptions/761031sbvrn/
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So as soon as we place ourselves in 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞, then you are 𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 immediately.

If we determine, decide finally, that we shall now continuously, vehemently fixed up in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, very simple thing...

Kṛṣṇa consciousness is described by Kṛṣṇa in the Bhagavad-gītā, man-manā bhava mad-bhaktaḥ. That's all. "Always think of Me," man-manāḥ, and bhava mad-bhaktaḥ, "be ready always to serve Me."

Bhakta means, where there is bhakti and Bhagavān.
Then bhakta.

If there is no Bhagavān, and there is no activities to serve Bhagavān, there is no bhakta also.

So bhakta means there must be Bhagavān. Sevya, sevaka and sevā. Sevya sevaka sevā, three things. Sevya means who is to be served, the master, sevya.
And sevaka means the servant.

If there is master and servant then there is sevā. This sevā is called bhakti. So here, mano-hṛdaya-granthir asya karmānubaddho dṛḍha āślatheta,
when he decides, "No more these things."

Ato gṛha-kṣetra-sutāpta-vittair janasya moho 'yam.

When we understand that "I am becoming more and more implicated," puṁsaḥ striyā mithunī-bhāvam etam [SB 5.5.8].

"By this sex desires I am becoming more and more implicated. This implication is engaging me more and more in karma, karmānubaddha." When we understand this, and try to get free from this business, then we become eligible for going 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 home, 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 Godhead. 

HISTORY OF THE VAISHNAVA COMMUNITIES (Krishna Govinda)

I WORSHIP GOVINDA, THE PRIMEVAL LORD

PADA: Some interesting histories here. Overall, throughout history "opportunists" seem to harm the original message and movement, and even hi-jack the original movement. Seems to be a pattern -- which repeats. Now there is a growing body of folks who think Srila Prabhupada was -- homicidally poisoned -- to make room for the hi-jackers take over ISKCON. That is the growing perception, and that is what the evidence suggests.

However, thanks to the recent historical advent of the internet and social media, hiding the plots and schemes of the hi-jackers, if not the exploiting and abuses made by the hi-jackers, is increasingly -- harder. Yup. 

Someone asked if the POSCO law that protects children in India -- made in 2012 -- does not act retroactively, which would exclude many prior ISKCON victims. I don't know, but that is possible. Maybe someone can tell us.

ys pd angel108b@yahoo.com 

Krishna Govinda

HISTORY OF THE VAISHNAVA COMMUNITIES

My vyasa-puja offering to beloved Srila Prabhupada, who built a house in which the whole world can live.

In Crnomelj, Slovenia, 27.8. 2024., Mahaprabhu Gaura dasa

1) PREFACE: A DUAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE SPIRITUAL COMMUNITY

The ultimate understanding of the spiritual community is "vasudhaiva kutumbakam", the whole world is the family of God. Bhakti-yoga, on the other hand, becomes a career ascent for some in the spirit of exclusionary competition. When they build walls instead of bridges, they call it a "community." Then, in a vicious circle of cognitive dissonances, they lose touch with reality. They close themselves in their own world of theological abstractions, idealizing dogmatic formulas, and floating in the vacuum of priestly privilege. They make the uncontrollable Divine Love a hostage to controlled religious protocols. They deform the spiritual community into a cheap substitute for an end in itself.

Modern man has become a vigilant critic of such an "organized religion", which repels more independent, already established and intelligent people, and attracts mainly mentally and economically unstable persons (B.G.7.16.: arto, artharthi). Lazy people and lunatics are very fond of equating spirituality with psycho-social small-mindedness, and they let themselves be guided by religious opportunists. But a contemporary modern man ridicules such "religious sheep" who, "spiritually blessed", celebrate "the emperor's new clothes".

On the other hand, belief in pure bhakti elevates our relationship with the religious community to a purified spiritual and salvific relationship. Into the esoteric affiliation of the immortal soul to the eternal spiritual community through guru-parampara (a higher affiliation that is not identical with an institutional scheme). Such a purely devotional affiliation and fidelity transcends secular religion, which is the prey of the opportunists, who enjoy priestly privileges in an exclusionary spirit. Belief in pure bhakti, despite the parallel accompaniment of a derailed religious community, purifies the heart and leads to spiritual insights.

An authentic relationship with the spiritual community goes to the core of personalism and answers our deepest searches, goals and needs. It is therefore essential to extract it from the dual, "schizophrenic" framework of secular religion. A schizophrenic split occurs when, instead of internalizing membership in a spiritual community (guru-parampara), we seek benefits in a religious corporation (institution, sect), and thus become obsessed with religious hierarchies, control, authoritarianism, and coercion.

However, when we re-evaluate our belonging and allegiance to Srila Prabhupada and ISKCON from obedience to a religious corporation to a central relationship to the guru-parampara, we see Srila Prabhupada's institutional experiments as secondary to the primary guru-disciple relationship. Otherwise, institutional consciousness damages our spiritual consciousness without us realizing it. Sectarian consciousness hardens the heart and makes us "witch hunters," or at least their intermediaries or silent supporters.

A bonafide guru such as Srila Prabhupada, however, is not a politician who divides devotees, but a philosopher who combines the full spectrum of human inclinations and tastes in the service of a mission that encompasses the whole range of devotional diversity and transcends political correctness. The spiritual community, then, is a spiritual family, not a religious corporation of faithful clerks who think they can "hold God by His testicles." (as our Balkan saying goes).

In the spiritual family, the spectrum of different devotional opinions does not compromise the spiritual-family affiliation itself. In the religious enterprise, however, institutional single-mindedness reigns over relationships and spiritual competence. Personnel politics and political correctness in Vaishnavism as a religious corporation act as a pyramid scheme, attracting narcissistic and psychopathic manipulators and serving them on a golden platter. An authentic spiritual community, however, has different laws.

2) INTRODUCTION: ORGANIZED RELIGION DID NOT EXIST?!

The preface appetizer is the glasses with which to read the rest of the text. The trigger for this essay, however, was someone's thesis that before Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur and Srila Prabhupada Gaudiya-vaishnavism did not exist in the form of organized religion. This thesis is only partially and conditionally true. The traditional Gaudiya-Vaishnava movement first drew pragmatically on the various structures of Hindu and Islamic feudalism. However, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura and Srila Prabhupada organized this traditional movement in a new way in the 20th century.

In the Treta- and Dvapara-yuga, there were structured Vedic-Vaishnava states. Later, Gaudiya Vaishnavism has the role of a "state religion" only at the level of municipalities and "pocket states". However, after the final collapse of Varnashrama micro-feudalism, Queen Victoria's decree of 1859 starts an era of modernist Hindu religious institutions, experimented with by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura in the last third of the 19th century and Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati in the early 20th century in India, and Srila Prabhupada in the later 20th century worldwide.

Our spiritual movement is their institutional legacy. Therefore, we should know the difference between the Vaishnava movements in tradition and modernity, as well as the difference between the soft, middle, and hard institutionalization of Vaishnava organized religion in Shiksa- and Diksha-Sampradaya, as all of that was understood by our founding acharyas of our movements in early, mature, and late modernism: Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, and Srila Prabhupada. And above all, we should understand all this institutional constellation through the glasses of spiritual consciousness.

J.T. O'Connell, (1999:215-239) divides the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava branches into hard, soft, and medium. The hard ones have centralized leadership and coercive sanctions, mechanisms for managing money and real estate, such as monasteries (matha). Soft are informal gathering and devotional singing. Medium are societies (sabha) with a semi-obligatory scheme, such as weekly meetings where someone cooks, donates, organizes something. It's the golden middle of the congregational movement.

Some Prabhupada-anugas believe that a hard, coercive and centralized form of community is a criterion for everyone, and that it defines orthodoxy and guru-parampara. All primary and secondary historiographic sources deny this. A spiritual community in our linegae (bhagavata-parampara) is a siksha-sampradaya and not a sectarian diksha-sampradaya, which imposes hard institutionalism and centralization in the style of a religious-business corporation.

The Vaishnava movement is neither a monastery nor a business-management corporation that is an end in itself, but a spiritual family (guru-parampara) that is unpredictably trans-institutional. The history of this movement always confirms the principle that the movement escapes from the box into which it is pushed by institutional officials who are pathologically obsessed with surveillance and hierarchy.

3) THE TRADITIONAL INSTITUTIONS OF VARNASRAMA AND PANCHARATRIKA AND REFORM THROUGH BHAGAVATA MYSTICISM

In the Vedic scriptures we find more detailed descriptions of the organization of Vaishnavism at the state level. Maharaja Yudisthira in the Mahabharata asks grandfather Bhisma, who was lying on a bed of arrows, how to organize the traditional Vaishnava state religion (theocracy). Likewise, Maharaja Yudisthira in the seventh canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam at the Imperial Rajasuya Sacrifice asks Narada Muni in more detail about spiritual Vedic social philosophy. There are many more such examples, and in them we read one and the same common analytical as well as synthetic scheme:

Ancient Puranic Vaishnavism defines organized religion as an institution of "varnashrama-dharma." The Vedic scriptures explain this umbrella institution at the level of the state, community, family, and individual. They introduce a collective institutional consciousness that each individual must be subject to such an organization of religion (be situated) because otherwise he cannot satisfy God (Vishnu Purana 3.8.9). Here, the acharyas also raise the question of the contradiction between varnashrama rigidity and the transcendent role of bhakti-yoga, which is independent of varnashrama-pancharatric institutions.

The organization of Vaishnava communities in the tradition has three factors: two institutionalizing (varnashrama and pancharatrika) and a third de-institutionalizing (the bhagavata school). Vedic social philosophy (varnashrama) is outlined in Pancharatrika (a system of vaishnavas-tantric religious organization) and bhagavata (a school of spiritual mysticism) through numerous stories of how vaishnavas in Vedic times took into account aspects of churchism (varnashrama-pancharatra) and mysticism (bhagavata) into account in their personal practices and the joint organizations of the Vaishnava community, or how they developed their understandings and relationships in the common practice of the nine processes of pure devotional service (S.B. 7.5.23: Sravanam kirtranam visnuh...).

Varnashrama families formed communities of Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, Vaiyshas, and Shudras. The Gurukula determined the personnel policy of the Varnashrama-Pancharatric religion, and the kings affirmed the religious dynamics. Varnashrama, however, soon degraded: the priestly elite looked down on the rest, obsessively fearing that someone more capable would wrest their power and privileges from them. Thus the priests start with totalitarianism and "mafia" activities, or plutocracy to defend their "status quo". The community begins to stagnate, spiritual dynamism dies, elitism and populism collide and clash.

Varnashrama is than replaced by a caste system, which can be pedigree-based (birth over qualities), party-spirited (the ethos of group political correctness), or "meritocratic", which in today's context would be, for example, for someone elbowing himself to Srila Prabhupada's inner circle 50 years ago, and using certain karmic skills to make himself to enjoy elite privilege for life. All these perversions of varnashrama-dharma are already transcended in the teachings of the theistic evolution of Vyasa-Buddha-Sankara-Madhva, which culminates with Lord Caitanya in the general Indian Renaissance of the 16th century.

The mysticism of Srimad Bhagavatam becomes the final code that outlines the civilization of Vaishnavism in very unconventional and de-institutionalizing (anarchic) ways. The dynamism of the Bhagavata school empowers everyone, as Lord Caitanya used to say to everyone throughout his six years of traveling through South India: "Stay where you are, stay at home and tell everyone about Krishna. In this way, become a guru at My command. With your actions like this, you are always in My company."

4) THE MIDDLE AGES AND THE HERITAGE OF MADHVA-SAMPRADAYA

In our list of thirty-two in the guru-parampara, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura includes the names of the adherents of Madhva diksha-sampradaya: 5. Madhva, 6. Padmanabha, 7. Narahari, 8. Madhava, 9. Akshobhya, 10. Jaya Tirtha, 11. Jnanasindhu, 12. Dayanidhi, 13. Vidyanidhi, 14. Rajendra, 15. Jayadharma, 16. Purusottama, 17. Brahmanya Tirtha, 18. Vyasa Tirtha.

These are the superiors of monasteries. The monastic movement was a hard institution with the most rigid control of the Brahmacharis and Sannyasis who suppose to follow the Varnashrama-Pancharatric precepts, commandments and prohibitions perfectly. The head of the monastery, who administratively managed all this successfully, became an "acharya" and a "diksha-guru", and the above list of fourteen such "temple-presidents" who most strictly organized religion is in our list at the beginning of the Bhagavad-gita.

Then the story of the beginnings of Gaudiya-Vaishnavism says that the 19. Lakshmipati, 20. Madhavendra Puri, 21. Ishvara Puri and 22. Lord Caitanya resign from such organized religion and embark on a kind of "anarchic spiritual mysticism." The above four were not "temple-presidents", so they cannot possibly be in guru-parampara in Madhva-sampradaya. When Sri Caitanya visited the Vishnupada temple in Gaya, he did not take a pancharatriki-diksha from the head of the monastery there (which would have included him in the Madhviya organized religion), but a mystical initiation from some administratively incompetent marginal person.

The founding of Gaudiya-vaishnavism is therefore a good textbook example of the contradiction between traditional organized religion (pancharatrika, which leans firmly on varnashrama) and the school of Bhagavata (anarchic spiritual mysticism), which transcends hardened church structures in order to elevate the universal spiritual message to a trans-cultural, supra-civilizational, and global level.

This is precisely the success of Caitanya-vaishnavism. In the Middle Ages, the scholastic Vedantism of Ramanuya, Madha and others laid the monastic foundations for the movement. Gaudiya Vaishnavism de-institutionalizes the temple movement as an end in itself, and carries the purified essence of Krishna consciousness into the modern age and the Vaishnava Renaissance of the 16th century.

Then, in early, middle, and late modernism, this shiksha-sampradayic and from diksha-apa-samradayas purified movement blossoms in the trilogy of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati and Srila Prabhupada. The progressive anarchy of the Vaishnava Renaissance and Rupanuga Shiksha-Parampara transcends Diksha-Sampradic sectarianism. Our movement now is therefore global, universal, dynamic and progressive.

5) BHAKTI-ADHIKARA AND THE SYNTHESIS OF MYSTICISM AND CHURCHIANITY

The paradox between churchism and mysticism in organizing the Vaishnava movement encompasses the contradiction between the two interpretations of spiritual competence. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura in Sri Gaudiya Kanthahara (3.3-23) gives two parallels to bhakti-adhikara, the question of who is a beginner (kanistha), mature (madhyama) and pure devotee (uttama). According to the Vaishnava organized religion, which relies on the Pancharatric definition of bhakti-adhikara in the Padma Purana, the novice is an external devotee, a mature devotee is a second-initiated "inner devotee" and a member of the priestly elite, and a pure devotee (uttama-adhikari) is an exemplary, established preacher and guru.

The model division "external devotee-inner devotee-guru" is the most appropriate and practical scheme for organizing religion. Yet the Bhagavata school overthrows this model with a definition in the Srimad Bhagavatam, where Havi Yogendra explains to King Nimi that the highly predictable and most practical model of pancharatrika organized religion is superseded by the unpredictable and unsystematic model of spiritual mysticism (S.B. 11.2.45-55). The Acharyas before Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur attempt to harmonize this dual scheme of pancharatrika-bhagavata in different ways. Many aspirants are theologically confused by this.

Havi's short axioms are interpreted progressively in the Bhagavata school. The second-initiated inner devotee is only a kanishtha-adhikari if he looks down on the external devotees and confuses the ecclesiastical hierarchy with spiritual competence. A true madhyama-adhikari must have a healthy emotional relationship with God, camaraderie and genuine collegiality with equals, and a benevolent paternal role towards the younger ones, instead of treating them as "canon-fodder". 

And most importantly, bhagavata-uttama-adhikari is an incomprehensible mystic who can only be understood by another uttama-adhikari. It is beyond our intellectual and cognitive capacity, so the movement therefore is not ours, but is the monopoly of bhagavata-uttama devotees, it is acharya-sampradaya. The movement, then, is not the prey of opportunists, but a monopoly of mystics, whom we serve in the spirit of the family, independent of corporate protocols.

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura (Vimala-prasada) started the modern organization of our branch of Gaudiya-vaishnavism with such a predisposition. In his works, he reflects on the synthesis between the Pancharatrika and Bhagavata schools, and tries to inculcate his dual harmonic vani-vapuh movement in his students. Srila Prabhupada then reforms and revives his guru's ideas on a global and universal level. To understand this, one must not amputate him from his pre-1965 background, which is inadequately and insufficiently explained in Srila Prabhupada Lilamrita.

6) TWO PERFECT TRANSCENDENTALISTS IN THE ROLE OF FATHER AND SON

Vimala was from an aristocratic family. His father, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, raised him as a scholar and missionary from an early age. Vimala was the best student at the university, at the age of twenty he became the family guru at the royal court of the Vajshnava state of Tripura and then the secretary at the Tripura embassy in Kolkata. And yet, Vimala chose as his diksha-guru not another aristocrat, scholar and successful established man, but (from the outside) a "street mendicant" who was the complete opposite of the above. Thus Vimala completely transcends pancharatrika-ecclesiasticism and leans principally on the incomprehensible Bhagavata mysticism.

Vimala writes in 1917 (I paraphrase): if my guru had been fully Kṛṣṇa conscious for only 23 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds within 24 hours, and for a single second he had not been fully Kṛṣṇa conscious, I would not have been able to accept Him. But as he is fully Kṛṣṇa conscious 24|7 I am with each of my inhalations and exhalations (as Narottama dasa Thakura would say, "sei mora prana-dhana", you Rupa Manjari are my life air), fully aware of the fact that He is fully Krishna conscious. One uttama recognizes the other. We no longer have any intellectual, cognitive, or exegetical competence here. Through such a synthesis of mysticism and churchism, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura established modern Rupanuga-gaudiya Vaishnavism as an organized religion. Understand who can.

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura has been called a "living encyclopedia of the history of the Vaishnava movements" because he has studied all the books on the subject in the original monasteries of South India. On this subject, he wrote a framework study for his 800-page doctoral dissertation, "The History & Literature of the Gaudiya Vaishnavas and their Relation to Other Medieval Vaishnava Schools", which Sambidananda Prabhu, one of the three Gaudiya Matha missionaries in England in 1933-34, defended at the University of London against the demanding Indologists, historians, anthropologists and Orientalists there, to whom the entire Gaudiya-Vaishnava opus was accessible in the London Library. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura could only dream of this 50 years earlier.

For over twenty years, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has been reflecting on the historical development of the organization of the Gaudiya Vaishnava communities in numerous articles in his newspaper Sajjana-toshani, where he connects the traditional basis with his contemporary preaching. During his long sick leave 1891-93 he preached extensively in Bangaldesh, which he describes in his diary. He travels with his preaching group, conducts harinama-sankirtana every day, and has evening programs in large tents where up to 4,000 villagers come. Thus, in a good year, he initiates over 15,000 students and establishes over 300 nama-hatta groups. He also writes six collections of poetry and a couple of books of prose. He took a break from his family and work and made the most of his sick leave.

And finally, by 1900, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura "burns out". Although through his soft institutionalism (inviting villagers to an evening program) and middle institutions (nama-hatta groups, which he institutionalizes according to the model of the "market of the holy name", Godruma Kalpatavi), he achieves success, and as a highly successful civil servant with the highest administrative positions in the judiciary, tax administration and district headquarters that the English have given to the Indians, he is accustomed to everything and understands all aspects of management and administration, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura eventually "burns out" and, deeply disillusioned with his followers, loses faith in organized religion.

7) SRILA BHAKTIVINODA THAKUR'S MOVEMENT HIJACKED

In January 1900, Vimala-parasad receives initiation from a mystical guru in a very unusual way: no witnesses, no fire and no deities. Father and son then in a suspicious manner withdrew from active preaching in the metropolitan city of Kolkata in March 1900, and spent time in Puri until 1905. And then the son spent a full nine years and five months from 1905-1914 to chant 3x64 roundss of japa as Haridas Thakur, with the intention of reforming his father's movement. 

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, however, no longer returned to active preaching. Why these retreats when Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur's preaching was at its peak? In a famous 1903 article, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura reveals that his movement was hijacked by opportunists, which made him completely lose the will to preach:

''(…) Gradually, a number of groups were formed in villages and towns to sing the holy names of Hari. In this way, the glories of pure Vaiṣṇavism (...) overwhelmed everyone with their beauty and sweetness. Seeing such an unexpected response from the Bengalis, we began to preach pure Vaiṣṇavianism with increasing enthusiasm. (...). Then (...) there was a sudden change. Glowing superstitions (...) suddenly took various forms (...) The demonic religious principle reappeared in the form of māyāvāda (...) some Indian and foreign yogis began to support smārtism [obsession with rules and regulations] (...) some useless people who loved sensual gratification (...) began to create disturbances in society and identified themselves as sahajiyas and bāulas [sophisticated musical accompaniment to sankirtana for the purpose of enjoyment]. (...) A few worm-like people who enjoy the stool of glory began to advertise themselves as "the Incarnation of the Lord" (...) Some (...) acted as ācāryas and began to spread ideas that were opposed to Vaiṣṇavism, as if they were Vaiṣṇava religious principles. When we saw all such unimaginable activities, our hearts began to break. (...).''

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura comes to the shocking conclusion that it is impossible to purify the hearts of religious opportunists who, under the guise of close disciples and closest associates and supporters, appropriate the spiritual movement. The guru cannot take karma away from false disciples, his instructions cannot enter their hearts, and no preaching helps here. This is made public to everyone:

''(...) As long as desires that oppose devotional service are not destroyed from the heart, no amount of good instruction can bring any benefit. Such instructions (...) will not enter the heart. No preaching or discussing devotional service will bring good results because of their bad karma. Your discourses and debates will therefore not yield any result. (...)''

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura was a top civil servant, mediator and expert on interfaith disputes and terrorism. Over the decades of his professional career in this field, he has worked with traditional (Islamic and Hindu law) and modern (English law) views and aspects of religious organizations. He tries to warn his Vaishnava community about three factors that, in his estimation and experience, destroy every spiritual mission, both modern and traditional:

''(...) This community will not remain undisturbed if its members do not vigilantly avoid selfishness, hypocrisy, and the desire for honor and prestige. In Bengal, these three flaws pollute every great spiritual mission that is established and as a result, that mission is eventually destroyed. (...).''

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, however, could no longer stop his opportunistic disciples, whom he does not even mention by name, history has wiped them out. Our spiritual history skips those who cunningly administerate buildings, projects, and treasuries, and as acharya-sampradaya, it considers only pure devotees irrespective of bodily designations, personnel policies, and institutional schemes. This movement is not an institutional continuation, as an end in itself, but a spiritual family. The institution is only a temporary missiological means it is not identical with Sampradaya.

SRILA BHAKTISIDDHANTA SARASVATI THAKURA'S SECOND ATTEMPT

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, however, has not given up yet. To his father's soft and middle institutionalism (the Navadvipa Dhama Pracharini Sabha and the Vishva Vaishnava Raja Sabha), which he restored in 1919, he also added the Sri Gaudiya Matha in 1920, where he tried to reform the movement through hard institutionalism, control and coercion in the monasteries.

Throughout childhood youth, for 33 years, he actively observbed the development of movement together with his father and thought about how to improve it. In 1927, he writes that vaishnavas are divided into pure (shuddha), mixed (mishra) and corrupt (biddha). The mixed are sincere, and the corrupt practice the "almost completely perverse spirituality" that his father tried unsuccessfully to elevate:

"(...) he addressed the Miśra-Bhakta and Biddha-Bhakta classes, among whom he found supporters and sympathizers. (...) Ṭhākur Bhaktivinode, himself a pioneer of śuddha-bhakti, found that it was necessary to more or less tolerate the influence of misra-bhaktas and biddha-bhaktas [mixed and corrupt devotees] within the movement."

Through hard institutionalization, his son tries to avoid dishonest and corrupt opportunists taking over the movement. He is convinced that if he wants to spread the movement among the educated of the world, the sannyasis and brahmacharis (who should not own buildings, positions and enjoy privileges) will be an essential asset. Many of his disciples write that without sannyasis, his father's movement would have collapsed to the end. With his 24 sannyasis, almost all of whom highly educated, English-speaking itinerant preachers, he achieves great success. All this gives the appearance of lasting success, with which he is trying to convince the disciples of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur as well.

The vast majority of them adhere to the congregational movement of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura (which Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura keeps in parallel), which is not so much avant-garde, progressive and dynamic, as it is based not on the "militant" monasticism of intense preaching, but on more static but stable family and neighborhood ties in mission. Very soon within ten years, however, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura realizes that even Brahmacharis and Sannyasias in most cases preach intensely in order to enjoy luxury, prestige and followers. The litmus paper of this realization is the Bagh Bazaar Marble Temple, where great preachers expose their intrigues and tricks to gain rooms.

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur's Sri Gaudiya Matha, his reformist missiological experiment by 1932 deeply disappoints him. In the article, Putana, the second part of which is later subtitled "Organized Religion", he explains very directly why, 30 years after his father's disappointment, even the son has lost faith and hope that the intense preaching of Krishna consciousness can change preachers and the world. His conclusion is that in all the history of religions, no one has yet been able to find a solution to the inconveniences of organized religion, which is being hijacked by corrupt opportunists:

''(...).The idea of an organized church in an intelligible form, indeed, marks the close of the living spiritual movement. The great ecclesiastical establishments are the dikes and the dams to retain the current that cannot be held by any such contrivances. They, indeed, indicate a desire on the part of the masses to exploit a spiritual movement for their own purpose. They also unmistakably indicate the end of the absolute and unconventional guidance of the bona-fide spiritual teacher.(...).''

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur, deeply indignant at his self-serving disciples, therefore insists that his hard institution be continued collegially (through the GBC council) instead of calling a single successor. His leading disciples do not accept his idea, which led in 1937 to a posthumous split into first two and soon dozens of different groups, each operating for themselves, without being overarchingly connected according to the GBC's model proposed.

9) SRILA PRABHUPADA'S THIRD ATTEMPT

Srila Prabhupada participated as an "outside devotee" from 1922 to 1937. His independence is disparaged by some of his godbrothers, but Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati supports it. After the disappearance of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati (1937), Srila Prabhupada first endorsed the GBC-elected successor – the new acharya of Gaudiya-matha – in 1937-40. He then realizes that Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati wanted collegial leadership of the GBC Council and not one successor, so he distances himself from both the factions of Sri Caitanya Matha and Gaudiya Mission, and joins the third, independent confederation group of Sridhara Maharaja, Madhava Maharaja, Kesav Maharaja and others.

In 1942 he co-founded the Gaudiya Vedanta Samiti and the Gopinatha Gaudiya Matha with them, and in 1944 they conferred on him the title and name "Bhaktivedanta". But Srila Prabhupada maintains an independent position from the hard-institutional consciousness, and with his "solo-projects" such as Back To Godhead (1944-1960) and The Lague Of Devotees (1953) he aims at the global and universal supra-sectarian dimension of the movement. He wants to unite all his godbrothers through one common movement, even as he successfully leads ISKCON in the 1970s. At that time, he reformed the scheme of Gaudiya-matha, Gaudiya Mission and Vishwa Vaishnava Raja Sabha into a similar internal model: ISKCON, BBT and Life Membership.

He announces the congregational movement alongside the temple and varnashrama communities. He opens a franchise of Govinda's, Bhaktivedanta Institute, and Food For Life. In short, a whole range of soft, middle, and hard institutional schemes where he can embrace everyone, and place each devotee above secondary institutional affiliation and corporatism into the corresponding scheme of the primary relationship between guru and disciples. In 1700 letters, he clearly points out this primacy over the secondariness of institutional boxing and the exclusionary rivalry of beginners.

To the disciple Yamuna, who laments that she can no longer preach because she is "no longer [in the hard-line] ISKCON", he writes, "wherever you sing Hare Krishna, there is ISKCON". At a public program at the Albert Hall in London, he tells random visitors who have come out of curiosity for the first and last time, "thank you for participating in this Krishna Consciousness ovement." Srila Prabhupada understands that the movement encompasses soft, medium, and hard institutionalization, and that ISKCON is not a closed club of elite select people who enjoy privilege at the expense of others and deny others personal access to Srila Prabhupada.

10) DIFFERENT INTERPRETATIONS OF SRILA PRABHUPADA'S MOVEMENT

It usually takes at least a hundred years, or three generations of disciples, to think through the full range of interpretations of the life of the great spiritual founder. It is impossible to have the whole picture on the basis of Srila Prabhupada Lilamrta (1978-1983), who breaks new ground and outlines the basic scheme of bhaktivedanta-vapuh, but on the other hand exaggerates interpreting Srila Prabhupada through the glasses of the sannyasis who took over the movement. The Lilamrita narrative is therefore later supplemented by over 35 alternative biographies that shed light on other aspects of the movement and student-teacher relationships.

The first question is whether Srila Prabhupada is an "ISKCON devotee" or whether he also belongs to the Gaudiya Mathu in parallel, as he documentedly nourishes both parallels of relationship, and even in the 1970s he allegedly considered himself a member of both the ISKCON and the Gaudiya Math. This apparent contradiction particularly evident in the years 1978-1982, when the vast majority of Srila Prabhupada's disciples refused to submit to the administrative-spiritual authority of the self-proclaimed maha-bhagavata uttama-adhikaris, or ''zonal acaryas'', who subjugate the GBC system in the style of mafia godfathers by removing as much as 90% of their godbrothers. They interprete disobedience to themselves as disobedience to Srila Prabhupada. They then fill the movement with their students.

The movement is also interpreted in two opposing ways. "Grihasthas and Matajis" testify to Srila Prabhupada's accessibility and personalism, and how he empowered them as full-fledged preachers and leaders of the movement. Some sannyasis have a different story: Srila Prabhupada endured the company of grihastas and matajis because he had no choice. He was pretending to be nice in front of them to wait for the proper opportunity to hand the movement over to the sannyasis in the second part of his ISKCON parties, turning the movement into hardline militant monasticism and into a money-collecting factory.

Most of Srila Prabhupada's disciples did not come to terms with the sannyasa-centrist movement. The first posthumous phase (1978-1986), also called the "Zonal Acharya System", removed about 90% of Srila Prabhupada's disciples from the movement, because the movement was now supposed to be primarily concerned with the relationship between the Zonal acharyas and their disciples, and the God-brothers of the Zonal acharyas were supposedly hindering this. 

1987-1993 was followed by a partial reform that did not completely eliminate these problems, but only consolidated the "GBC Church" as it is in today's corporate-collegiate form. The reform only increased the circle of loyal clerks and apparatchicks, but does not eliminate the problems of authoritarianism and abuse.

Srila Prabhupada's devotees then become "ISKCON devotees", the GBC-tattva largely replaces the guru-tattva, as the guru must primarily be an employee of the GBC system, the maintenance of which is an end in itself. Administrative and spiritual authority merge into one supra-personal "juridical person". Then comes the entry into the 21st century, into the age of electronic hyper-information, where the entire opus of bhaktivedanta-vani and siksa is accessible to everyone.

11) CONCLUSION: SRILA PRABHUPADA'S LEGACY IN THE 21ST CENTURY

In the pre-internet world, the ideology that ISKCON is "Srila Prabhupada's body" reigns. God leave no doubt that this body is not "spiritual." This indoctrination slogan of "ISKCON devotees" was demystified by the Internet revolution at the end of the 20th century and by the availability of the Bhaktivedanta Vedabase Folio. However, after the founding of Facebook (2008), the social media revolution reached the point that nothing can be swept under the carpet anymore. Google's algorithm exposes abuses of women and children, and abuses by institutional employees are openly discussed in public forums on social media.

Social networks introduce an egalitarian platform to communicate over hierarchical bullying of the "aparadha-police". In the cyber world, facts and informations apply over authoritative bullying and the manipulation of cognitive dissonances. The Internet essentially implements a "Brahminical forum", where freedom of speech transcends the threats of "authorities" who, in the style of "feudal lords", threaten and blackmail their subjects with personnel policies and political correctness in exchange for recommendations for the first and second initiations.

The Internet revolution intellectualized ISKCON in much the same way that the printing revolution in the last third of the 19th century in Bengal gave rise to the mission of Sril Bhaktivinoda Thakur. At that time, literacy tripled, and printers printed eighty times as many books in three decades as the Brahmacharis transcribed by hand in a thousand years. Every gentleman of the town reads his copy of the book . No more illiterate villagers who humbly listen to the village Brahmana who is threatening them with hell. Similarly, the Internet revolution empowers independent thinkers and gives them a platform to assert themselves without being intimidated by "lifelong authorities."

And Srila Prabhupada was a man of dynamism, progress, innovation and freedom. He escaped from the narrow-minded Vedic box and even broadened the horizons of freelance bohemians. Those who try to be more Vedic than Srila Prabhupada stifle the organic development of his movement with the idea that they have to destroy the movement from within in order to save it. The history of the Vaishnava communities, however, teaches us that Acharya is not a Talibanic warlord or a political commissar from North Korea, but a person of free-thinking views who encourages independent thinking, a culture of relationships and an authentic community that embraces all people. Srila Prabhupada built a house in which the whole world can reside. Thank you, Srila Prabhupada, for your living spiritual community.