Bhagavad Gita Sanskrit by Anuradha Paudwal

[PADA: All the rest of the chapters are on this user's youtube site. ys pd]

Disappearance of Srila Jagadisha Pandit

Srila Prabhupada explains the unique position of Jagadisa Pandita

Sunday, January 1, 2017, [Mayapura, West Bengal, India time]
compiled by Yasoda nandana dasa

jagadīśa paṇḍita, āra hiraṇya mahāśaya
yāre kṛpā kaila bālye prabhu dayāmaya

SYNONYMS

jagadīśa paṇḍita—of the name Jagadīśa Paṇḍita; āra—and; hiraṇya—of the name Hiraṇya; mahāśaya—great personality; yāre—unto whom; kṛpā—mercy; kaila—showed; bālye—in childhood; prabhu—the Lord; dayāmaya—merciful.

TRANSLATION

The thirty-first branch was Jagadīśa Paṇḍita, and the thirty-second was Hiraṇya Mahāśaya, unto whom Lord Caitanya in His childhood showed His causeless mercy.

PURPORT

Jagadīśa Paṇḍita was formerly a great dancer in kṛṣṇa-līla and was known as Candrahāsa. Regarding Hiraṇya Paṇḍita, it is said that once when Lord Nityānanda, decorated with valuable jewels, was staying at his home, a great thief attempted all night long to plunder these jewels but was unsuccessful. Later he came to Nityānanda Prabhu and surrendered unto Him/ Sri Caitanya-caritamrta - 1975 Edition : Cc. Adi-lila : Adi 10: The Trunk, Branches and Sub-branches of the Caitanya Tree : Adi 10.70 :

Books : Sri Caitanya-caritamrta - 1975 Edition : Cc. Adi-lila : Adi 11: The Expansions of Lord Nityananda : Adi 11.26 : PURPORT :

It is said that Gaurīdāsa Paṇḍita was always patronized by King Kṛṣṇadāsa, the son of Harihoḍa. Gaurīdāsa Paṇḍita lived in the village of Śāligrāma, which is situated a few miles from the railway station Muḍāgāchā, and later he came to reside in Ambikā-kālanā. It is stated in theGaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā, verse 128, that formerly he was Subala, one of the cowherd boyfriends of Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma in Vṛndāvana. Gaurīdāsa Paṇḍita was the younger brother of Sūryadāsa Sarakhela, and with the permission of his elder brother he shifted his residence to the bank of the Ganges, living there in the town known as Ambikā-kālanā. Some of the names of the descendants of Gaurīdāsa Paṇḍita are as follows: (1) Śrī Nṛsiṁha-caitanya, (2) Kṛṣṇadāsa, (3) Viṣṇudāsa, (4) Baḍa Balarāma dāsa, (5) Govinda, (6) Raghunātha, (7) Baḍu Gaṅgādāsa, (8) Āuliyā Gaṅgārāma, (9) Yādavācārya, (10) Hṛdaya-caitanya, (11) Cānda Hāladāra, (12) Maheśa Paṇḍita, (13) Mukuṭa Rāya, (14) Bhātuyā Gaṅgārāma, (15) Āuliyā Caitanya, (16) Kāliyā Kṛṣṇadāsa, (17) Pātuyā Gopāla, (18) Baḍa Jagannātha, (19) Nityānanda, (20) Bhāvi, (21) Jagadīśa, (22) Rāiyā Kṛṣṇadāsa and (22 12) Annapūrṇā. The eldest son of Gaurīdāsa Paṇḍita was known as big Balarāma, and the youngest was known as Raghunātha. The sons of Raghunātha were Maheśa Paṇḍita and Govinda. Gaurīdāsa Paṇḍita's daughter was known as Annapūrṇā

jagadīśa paṇḍita haya jagat-pāvana
kṛṣṇa-premāmṛta varṣe, yena varṣā ghana

SYNONYMS

jagadīśa paṇḍita—of the name Jagadīśa Paṇḍita; haya—becomes; jagat-pāvana—the deliverer of the world; kṛṣṇa-prema-amṛta varṣe—he always pours torrents of devotional service; yena—like; varṣā—rainfall; ghana—heavy.

TRANSLATION

Jagadīśa Paṇḍita, the fifteenth branch of Lord Nityānanda's followers, was the deliverer of the entire world. Devotional love of Kṛṣṇa showered from him like torrents of rain.

PURPORT

Descriptions of Jagadīśa Paṇḍita are available from Caitanya-bhāgavata, Ādi-līlā, Chapter Six, and Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-lila, Chapter Fourteen. He belonged to the village of Yaśaḍā-grāma, in the district of Nadia near the Cākadaha railway station. His father, the son of BhaṭṭaNārāyaṇa, was named Kamalākṣa. Both his father and mother were great devotees of Lord Viṣṇu, and after their death, Jagadīśa, with his wife Duḥkhinī and brother Maheśa, left his birthplace and came to Śrī Māyāpur to live in the company of Jagannātha Miśra and other Vaiṣṇavas. 

Lord Caitanya asked Jagadīśa to go to Jagannātha Purī to preach the hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana movement. After returning from Jagannātha Purī, on the order of Lord Jagannātha he established Deities of Jagannātha in the village of Yaśaḍā-grāma. It is said that when Jagadīśa Paṇḍita brought the Deity of Jagannātha to Yaśaḍā-grāma, he tied the heavy Deity to a stick and thus brought Him to the village. The priests of the temple still show the stick used by Jagadīśa Paṇḍita to carry the Jagannātha Deity. ri Caitanya-caritamrta - 1975 Edition : Cc. Adi-lila : Adi 11: The Expansions of Lord Nityananda : Adi 11.30

Books : Sri Caitanya-caritamrta - 1975 Edition : Cc. Adi-lila : Adi 14: Lord Caitanya's Childhood Pastimes : Adi 14.39 : PURPORT :
The Caitanya-bhāgavata, Ādi-līlā, Chapter Six, fully describes the Lord's accepting viṣṇu-prasāda on the Ekādaśī day at the house of Jagadīśa and Hiraṇya. Regular prasāda is offered to Lord Viṣṇu on Ekādaśī because, while fasting is recommended for devotees on Ekādaśī, it is not recommended for Lord Viṣṇu. Once on Ekādaśī in the house of Jagadīśa and Hiraṇya Paṇḍita there were arrangements for preparing special prasāda for Lord Viṣṇu, and Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu asked His father to go there to ask for the viṣṇu-prasāda because He was feeling sick. The house of Jagadīśa and Hiraṇya Paṇḍita was situated about two miles from the house of Jagannātha Miśra. Therefore, when Jagannātha Miśra, on the request of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, came to ask Jagadīśa and Hiraṇya for the prasāda, they were a little astonished. How could the boy understand that special prasāda was being prepared for Lord Viṣṇu? They immediately concluded that the boy Nimāi must have supernatural mystic power. Otherwise how could He understand that they were preparing special prasāda? Therefore, they immediately sent the food to Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu through His father, Jagannātha Miśra. Nimāi was feeling sick, but immediately after eating the viṣṇu-prasāda He was cured, and He also distributed the prasāda among His playmates.
________________________________________________________________________________________________

pare yajna-patnyau shri-jagadisha-hiranyakau
ekadashyaà yayor annaà prarthayitva’ghasat prabhuh

The wives of the sacrificing Brahmins in Vraja took birth as Jagadisha and Hiranya. The Lord (Mahaprabhu) asked for and ate their Prasad on the Ekadashi day.
(Gaura-ganoddesha-dipika 192)

asid vraje chandrahaso nartako rasa-kovidah
so’yaà nritya-vinodi shri-jagadishakhyah panditah

In Vraja there was a dancer named Chandrahasa who was very expert in the tasting of rasa. In Chaitanya-lila, he became Jagadisha Pandit who also took great pleasure in dancing for the Lord.
(Gaura-ganoddesha-dipika 143)

At first, the Deity was kept under a bata tree near the Ganges, and later the king of Krishnanagara, Krishnachandra, had a Temple built there for Him. Jagadisha Pandit’s Temple is currently being managed by the Shri Chaitanya Gaudiya Math. (In the image: Jashora Temple, Mayapur).

Disappearance day of Jagadisa Pandita on Jan. 1, 2017. "The wives of the sacrificing Brahmins in Vraja took birth as Jagadisha and Hiranya. The Lord (Mahaprabhu) asked for and ate their Prasad on Ekadasi day..."

Bhajahari Murphy In ICU Hospital

Please pray for our dear God brother Bhajahari Murphy in a coma in hospital due to heart problems. On this New Years Eve pray for him, may tonight's Harinam in London pray for him.please Share with all friends and Devotees. Hare Krishna!

[PADA: We have not had this situation detailed or verified, its all we got so far.]

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

Hey everyone. It's been a really bad day today.. Unfortunately my Dad Bhajahari Murphy has suffered a severe cardiac arrest at around 12.30pm today. They have done an emergency operation and he is now currently in an induced coma in intensive care. They are going to wake him up tomorrow around 1pm to see how he is. I have just got back from the hospital but will be going back when they wake him up..

Please pray for my pops, I really don't want to lose him :(

Stay strong Dad xxx

Hare Krishna same information from his son Mikey, Hi everyone. At the hospital now. They were planning to wake my dad up around 1pm but they have decided to wait until tonight or tomorrow now. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. Thank to all of you for your good wishes and support xx

7 Hour Kirtan Dec 31st skm.pondy

Bhakti Viksa Swami: ISKCON -- A society no one can live in?

Srila Prabhupada wanted to make a house the world can live in, has Bhakti Vikas Swami's program made ISKCON into a house, even most of the leaders cannot live in, which is why most of them left?

MORAL DIVERSITY, BOOK BANNING, AND THE CONSERVATIVE AND THE LIBERAL POLEMIC IN ISKCON

By Dhanurdhara Swami

I recently started to write a review of a book that was banned in ISKCON, but my book review soon morphed into something else: a study of moral diversity as a template to bridge the gap between the Society’s conservative and liberal wings.

Three months ago, I was included as a receiver to a flurry of impassioned but reasonably well-reasoned protest letters from the disciples of Bhakti Vikasa Swami to a long list of ISKCON leaders, arguing that it was improper for the GBC to ban their guru’s book "Women: Masters or Mothers"? 

[PADA: Right, often the disciples of one particular GBC guru think their guru is "the ONLY pure person in ISKCON," and all the others are bogus. That means ISKCON is being divided into smaller and smaller teeny personality cults, as occurred in the Gaudiya Matha. "A dozen gurus with a dozen disciples." And these "jagat acaryas" do not agree with one another, so the unified preaching effort is stunted or halted. 

This shows how badly the GBC and their appointed acharyas like Bhakti Vikas Swami are misrepresenting the Vaishnava guru parampara of Krishna -- by making it appear that Krishna's pure devotees and gurus are infighting among themselves like cats and dogs -- over simple points of basic siddhanta. Of course some Narayana Maharaja leaders are also infighting, for example one group is saying that Srila Prabhupada was a GOPA or cowherd boy, so that means Narayana Maharaja comes out in the "higher rasa" as an alleged manjari or GOPI. Same problem, it means their gurus are infighting and disagreeing.]

I was a little annoyed at first. I am not an ISKCON leader, and I hadn’t read or seen the book, or even had an interest to do so. But as I received letter after letter, my interest was piqued to find out why this book was such a controversy. I protested to the writer of the next letter I received, “I am not an ISKCON leader, nor even technically in ISKCON, and I have not even read the book. If you choose to continually copy me on your complaints, at least send me a copy of the book!” And she did.

[PADA: Oh swell, this is very typical, various people first off pose as the big swamis, gurus and leaders of ISKCON and later, after they ruin the society, they leave and make outside comments. Its somewhat amazing that often these bogus GBC gurus themselves seem to realize they have made ISKCON so rotten, stinky and uninhabitable, even they cannot live in the dog manure pile they created, so they have to decamp. And they might even clean out the safe and also take "a disciple" who is their "new lover" along with them, as they depart the broken sewer pipe disaster scene they created.  

As one devotee said, "Its like a person who has been passing big farts in a room full of people -- and then the culprit is leaving the room -- so everyone else has to suffer while he leaves the scene because -- he know what a horrible stink is about to happen." In this way, even their biggest gurus and folks like: Hansadutta, Bhagavan, Harikesha, Hrdayananda, Satsvarupa, Jayapataka, Ramesvara, Bhavananda and others, they are sort of now "retired" Jagat guru messiahs. Yep, even they could not stand the stinky pile they made here.

Yep! After they ruin the ISKCON society then they walk away and let the house burn to the ground, after they started it on fire. OK at least Jayatirtha and Kirtanananda were excommunicated. Of course this begs the question, what is an excommunicated acharya or messiah? So the apparent plan is -- to turn ISKCON into a giant mess, and leave, or maybe hide out in Salem India in the middle of nowhere like BVKS? Or they excommunicate their messiahs after first coercing if not forcing thousands of people to worship them, creating total chaos in the aftermath.

And their help mates like Brahma Tirtha, Ravindra, Hari Sauri, Prabhavishnu, Prithu, Trivrikrama and others are also not able to explain why they poured gasoline on the ISKCON false guru devastation fire either. Again, even Bhakti Vikas swami is semi-retired, he has given up on fixing the mess he created in the West by his support of the bogus messiahs' project over here, so he hides out in South India -- as the rest of the society is burning down to the ground. 

As one devotee said, Srila Prabhupada built a house everyone could live in, then the GBC built a house that even they could not stand to live in, so most of them had to leave as well, because the stink they made was so odious even they could no longer tolerate it. Of course Dhanurdar has had a lot of criticism from many of the ex-kulis, and this is forcing the rest of the GBC to distance themselves from him as well, due to social pressure, about the only thing apparently that makes the GBC do the right thing.]  

In a sense, whether I agreed with the author’s opinion or not, I couldn’t fathom why the book should be banned. It was mostly quotes from Srila Prabhupada espousing the more traditional view of the role of women in society, and the author gave many reasonable and well-argued supporting arguments. The cover was too provocative, and some parts were too polemical — some bordering on the pejorative, especially in discussing a topic with such a history of abuse — but I just couldn’t justify the ban, and neither could the GBC.

[PADA: Well there you have it, what is the point in discussing how women need to be subordinated to these male gurus and / or GBC leaders, when these leaders are often not protecting women and there is a pattern of the women being exploited. First of all, you'd need actual men who do actual men-like things, such as taking care of women, which is not happening much with this lot.]

I decided that it would be better to just highlight the core issue and address the controversy in a more general way. While pondering how to tackle the issue, I came across a relevant lecture by Jonathan Haidt, a NYU professor of sociology, entitled “The Moral Roots of Conservatives and Liberals.”[1]

“Conservatives speak for the institutions and traditions and seek order even at the cost of the those at the bottom” — and the flaw of the liberal mindset — “Liberals speak for the weak and oppressed, want change and justice, even at the risk of chaos.”

[PADA: Promoting illicit sex gurus is not conservative?]

Bhakti Vikasa Swami argues that if we had senior women who held to the most traditional line of women’s deportment and temples organized strictly according to these same strictures, our preaching would be more successful. 

[PADA: Right, Bhakti Vikas swami's program kicked out thousands of devotee women who were unwilling to comply and worship his illicit sex acharyas project. Worse, a number of these women complained that the children's gurukulas were creating problems for their children, and all of this apparently fell on Bhakti Vikas Swami's program's deaf ears. BVKS is criticizing the women for wanting a voice, but their voice was (is?) not allowed. 

And thus these women possibly could have saved hundreds of kids from being abused? So the BVKS paradigm is the opposite of success, he has created chaos by aiding a policy chopping off the complaints of the victims of the abuse being conducted and orchestrated by his guru party.]

I think this points out a weakness of Maharaja’s presentation — that his preaching has not been on the front lines of the First World and that he thus has only limited realization of the deep sincerity and mindset of the people whom preachers in the West confront. For his view to have credibility, he or his followers would have to lead the way and show others how to impact the First World with his tone and presentation.

[PADA: Good point, Bhakti vikas swami is preaching mainly in India where the traditional role of women there will be somewhat more accepted, but how to translate Vedic culture into the West is not being done on a large scale by these leaders.] 

Srila Prabhupada was on the front lines and credited much of his success in the West to his liberality. Those who have successfully followed suit as preachers in the First World also seem morally diverse. That is not to say that his presentations and expectations then or what he would have demanded now were liberal or divorced from the tradition. They were not; but they were tempered — or relevantly applied — out of fairness to the times in which people were living and out of compassion for their souls.

[PADA: Right, we need to have a more diverse voice in the society or it will suffer, the ivory tower imperious leadership model simply does not work whether in ISKCON or North Korea.]

Bhakti Vikas says many of the senior women in ISKCON are “suffragettes.” 

[PADA: Hee hee, this is good. These women are suffering under the jackboots of the GBC guru regime, hence suffragettes is quite acurate.]

So, what about all the direct quotes by Srila Prabhupada describing varnasrama and its traditionalist values? If that’s what Srila Prabhupada wanted, then by all means his followers should take up the service to implement it and show others its value — but only as long as they don’t, in trying to implement it, lose their heart and kick too many good, sincere, Krishna conscious women aside — women who can be good mothers with love and respect for tradition but who also need to be reasonably empowered according to their natures and karmic situations.

[PADA: Good.]

Bhakti Vikasa Swami is an excellent writer and a substantial preacher in ISKCON. His voice for conservative values is an important one. And he does have a point. There are radical voices in the modern world that don’t represent Srila Prabhupada and whose influence in ISKCON is unwanted, and people do need to be educated in the value of tradition and what Srila Prabhupada wanted. I just think Maharaja would be more successful if his vision were a bit more morally diverse and he showed the fairness, compassion, and practicality that Srila Prabhupada demonstrated in spreading this Krishna consciousness movement.

[PADA: To simply say that women are mothers and not masters is off-putting the whole issue -- that most of the Srila Prabhupada disciple women of ISKCON left the society being disgusted with BVKS and his hokey gurus. Its off-putting the real issue -- that a lot of these women brought important and crucial topics forward and they were squelched and suppressed. 

Its off-putting the fact that most of these women were loyal to Srila Prabhupada and could not be bought and sold out to surrender to a hokey guru program like BVKS was bought and sold out, because they had more integrity than him. And in general, BVKS is avoiding the real reason most of these women, their husbands and their children abandoned ISKCON, because they do not want to worship the BVKS illicit sex acharyas program, which bans, beats, molests, sues and kills vaishnavas. And if most of the leaders themselves have to abandon the ISKCON ship, and leave the mess they have made out of ISKCON, how can we expect the women to stay on board to clean up their mess? ys pd] 

India's most bankrupt state builds RS-3600 Crore Statue

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Cash-strapped-Maharashtra-government-okays-Rs-3600-crore-Shivaji-memorial-in-Arabian-sea/articleshow/55063425.cms

[PADA: Wow. This is like the GBC, a number of devotees are sick and dying in their cars, and the GBC spends millions of suing the ritviks and making the TVOP building. ys pd]

*** At a time that most of the kshetra temples in the state are in bad repair, and cows in the state are dying from eating plastic, much more dying than cows being slaughtered. Ouch! 

Jaya Radha Madhava (kirtan video)

Hindu Deities Offensively Commercialized

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-hindu-products-commercial-inappropriate-20161221-story.html

Adelaide ISKCON Investigation Update

YES DEAR READERS. IT IS A MIXED BAG HERE IN ADELAIDE AT THE MOMENT.

Tragically, the Australian GBC still stubbornly support the local Temple President against the expressed wishes of all but about 3 members of the community. The Temple President is a man who believes it is appropriate to turn a blind eye to the sexual abuse of women and indeed punish victims.

Fortunately these great souls, Jaya Nair and Sad Gosai, pictured here with me, both committed Adelaide devotees devoted to Their Lordships Sri Sri Radha Syamasundara, are determined to carry on with the program of freeing their local Temple from such unwholesome influences.

They will use whatever means they can to restore the integrity of the Temple management and make the yatra an attractive place for those seeking Truth through the process of Krsna Consciousness taught to us by His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada.

As our local GBC men refuse to engage in a discussion to listen to the concerns of devotees and all appeals to the international GBC have borne no results at all, Jaya and Sad Gosai will be providing more documents to the office of Senator Nick Xenaphon who has been in touch confirming his concerns. Through his office staff, he has requested more information on the local situation. Thus the meeting with the Senator will take place after more preparation. I am moving to Victoria in the new year but will return for these meetings.

In other related news, the comprehensive report has been submitted to The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in ISKCON Australia. Now is the time to practice patience and allow the Commission time to deal with this vast amount of information.

Seeing how they have dealt with similar cultures of cover-ups and denial in other organizations like the Catholic Church, the Salvos, the Anglicans etc, we can feel confident that in time, the "leaders" will be made accountable for their mishandling of child sex abuse cases and their criminal negligence in failing to protect vulnerable children from known predators in Hare Krsna communities. We hope that survivors will feel some relief knowing that their ordeals will be properly heard and acknowledged.

So everything is going on.

In Australia, many devotees are in holiday mode over the hot summer period. Best wishes to you and all your family members. Overseas, some readers are watching snow fall from inside their heated homes. Best wishes to all of you as well.

Hare Krishna! SDD

Love Krishna and everything will be alright

http://www.iskcontimes.com/love-krishna-and-everything-will-be-alright/

Montreal Prabhupadanugas December Newsletter

https://www.harekrishnamontreal.com/2016/12/27/bhaktivedanta-lives-in-sound-society-newsletter-december-issue/

Jaya Rsi Das Leaves His Body

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/bus-739556-sedan-octa.html

May have had a medical emergency and hit a bus. He was supposedly a Srila Prabhupada disciple who went over to the Narayana Maharaja program. Lets hope he has a better chance to serve Krishna in the future. ys pd 

Indradyumna swami's "Child Hugging" Issue (Sanaka Rsi)

Indradyumna Maharaja's "over affection" for children, especially girls, seems to have been causing some friction and debates over the years, but it seems self-evident that the GBC will not correct or reign this deviation in. The problem of the GBC's "gurus" over affection for females of different age groups has been ongoing, for example Ramesvara was seen "dating" a young female student and the GBC did not seem to be able to correct that issue properly. 

Vipramukhya used to have his female disciple "Prema-lata" massage his feet, and the GBC did not react properly. Jayatirtha was having an affair and he was "suspended and then reinstated" as the acharya of the Jagat, and so on and so forth.

So it seems there is a lot of loose definition of "acharya" going on here. Of course Kirtanananda was covered with the hands of many little boys when he was seated on his "Vyasa" seat, and we saw some photos of many "big leaders" who were there all chanting "Jaya Bhaktipada" and they were encouraging this process. Bhavananda has always had an entourage of young men following him everywhere, and so on. And Indradyumna has been a big supporter of the Bhavananda GBC guru empire and so forth.

So it seems like the GBC gives out "acharya" titles to people who are not fit for that title, and then they "overlook" all the deviations, problems, defects and difficulties their false acharyas are generating -- to keep up their "the emperor has no clothes" false acharya's project. The good news is, more people are starting to realize how defective their whole program is, and the critics are finally speaking out to protest these bogus acharya scams. 

Did we forget to mention that Indradyumna has been a leader of the "Radha Kunda Babaji consultation" deviation? So Indradyumna's followers are fanatically defending his actions, and this is being seen as the bogus personality cult process that it is. Its a good starting point. ys pd 

angel108b@yahoo.com      

What is the Issue with Indradyumna Swami’s “Grandfatherly” Hugging of Children?
BY: SANAKA RSI DAS

Recently Ramaragava prabhu released a thoughtful, 15 minute video interview with Leela Smarana prabhu, one of the earliest gurukula alumni. I posted this video on my Facebook wall and, as is often the case with gurukula related topics, a heated debate ensued. The focus of the debate was the nature of Indradyumna Maharaj's interactions with children. Many interesting points were raised and this inspired me to write something about the exchange.

What emerged is that many grown up gurukula alumni (mostly girls) feel that the exchanges they had with Maharaj when they were children were not only acceptable, but that they actually cherish them and have a special attachment to Indradyumna Maharaj. Their experience is something important and it needs to be taken into account when considering Maharaj's actions.

Unfortunately, due, precisely to this strong attachment that many of Maharaj's followers have for him, the debate became heated, and many of his supporters are outraged that anyone would even suggest that there is anything remotely inappropriate with Maharaj's interactions with children.

In response, a gurukula alumni lady wrote a post on her wall saying that "she will want to pummel to death anyone who says anything offensive towards Indradyumna Maharaj". What was surprising is that her post got 88 likes! And on the comment thread there were two other devotees that expressed similar unsavoury sentiments… Only one person pointed out that making death threats is not appropriate or acceptable.

Many of Maharaj's followers are upset, but none of them seems willing to entertain the notion that Maharaj is in good part responsible for the criticisms he is now facing. Had he behaved in a fashion that is respectful of social norms and his ashram, like many of his Godbrothers, we wouldn't be having this discussion.

What troubles me most is not the threats, because I do not regard them as serious. I see them as an expression of anger. I think that those words were probably spoken in jest and as much as I don't believe there is ever anything funny about death threats, I am far more concerned by the cult mentality that they represent… It suggests that the Hare Krsna community hasn't matured that much in 50 years. Death threats are something out of ISKCON's dark ages in the 1980s.

From the standpoint of his Sannyasa Asrama, there simply is no room for his interaction with women of any age, certainly not the sort of interactions he is accustomed to.

I find some of the exchanges he has with children to be highly inappropriate (with or without parental consent). In this 40 minute video you can watch Maharaj interacting extensively with children and judge for yourself.

He disregards norms of basic social respect and child safety. In doing so he is setting a bad example and precedent, not only because those who have unhealthy inclinations towards children may view what he does as some sort of a licence, but also because they could reasonably assume that Hare Krsna children are still a soft target. Not to mention how this experience may affect the children themselves. Could it teach them that it is ok for older men to touch them the way he does?

At times Maharaj has taken photos of children and posted them on his public Facebook profile without parental consent; some of these children were in bikini.

A few months ago Indradyumna Maharaj visited one of the Hare Krsna schools in Alachua and again, without parental consent, he went around giving hugs, cuddles, etc… in breach of the school code of conduct and safety policies. Naturally this alarmed some of the parents. Fortunately, the management treated the incident with the seriousness it deserved, and it is unlikely that there will be a repeat.

If any other 70-year old man came to one of our schools and started to hug and cuddle children the way Maharaj does, we'd probably call the police. As a society, ISKCON has allowed Indradyumna Maharaj a to have special licence; he operates under a different set of rules from anyone else. Is this justified, beneficial and appropriate?

A friend explained how Maharaj has, over the years shown an interest in assisting, supporting and inspiring young Hare Krsna devotees, but that although he has never been personally accused of anything, he is friends with a number of known offenders. He also shared an anecdote of when he was at a program on Padayatra in New Zealand with Maharaj sometime in the '90s. 

A devotee brought his mother along to the function; she was appreciative and positively impacted, but she expressed her surprise to see the interactions Indradyumna Maharaj had with the young women in his entourage. He concluded by saying that perhaps Maharaj ought to be aware that his interactions with young girls may be sabotaging his preaching service to Srila Prabhupada.

The other problem is that with his actions, Maharaj is making a statement to the (devotee) world that ISKCON leaders don't care to follow the rules. By doing so Maharaj is undermining the importance of child protection policies, the authority of the Child Protection Office and ultimately the GBC. When the leaders disregard their own authority structure, they encourage the rise of vigilantes... and by definition, vigilantes cause social disturbance. The reasoning is something along the lines of: "If the leaders don't care to follow the rules, why should we"?

Some of Maharaj's followers claim that he gives "The touch of love" to these children. They further claim that his critics, blinded by conditioning, cannot differentiate between "The touch of Love and the touch of lust".

If we can learn anything from the accounts related in the Bhagavatam of the many Sages that after inconceivable austerities, take "unscheduled sabbaticals" when they meet some pretty damsel, it is that it's unwise for anyone to assume that we have overcome lust.

The bottom line is that even if Indradyumna Maharaj is indeed a liberated Mahatma that has completely transcended sex desire, he still ought to follow the example set by Srila Prabhupada and Caitanya Mahaprabhu in his dealings with women, for surely he does not regard himself to be above them.

I believe that if Maharaj is 100% pure and he has the best interest of these children (and women) at heart, he can still serve, encourage and interact with them in a non-physical fashion, respectful of the social requirements of his ashram. There is no need whatsoever for him to touch them for prolonged periods of time, take them on his lap, hug them, cuddle them, etc...

So, is there a problem with the way Maharaj interacts with children? I think so, but judge for yourself!

Vrndavana Chandra Mandir (video from November 2016)

Photo Tour of Vrndavana Area (Vaisnava.cz)

http://www.vaisnava.cz/clanek.php3?index=80&no=180&hl=ANOhttp://www.vaisnava.cz/clanek.php3?

Merry Krishnas! (Silent Night by Kelly Clarkson etc.)

Seattle lecture-Oct 18 1968

The test of any scripture is how one is developing love of God. Phalena paricīyate. If you find that following some religious principles you are developing your love of God, then it is perfect. It doesn't matter whether it is Bible or Koran or Bhagavad-gītā. It doesn't matter. We have to see what is the fruit. If the fruit is that people are developing love of Godhead, then it is perfect.

Don't try to understand whether this is good, this is good, this is bad, this is... No. Try to understand by the result. Just like the same way: if you see the fruit, then it is first class. So it doesn't matter whether it is Bible or Gītā. If you can develop love of Godhead by reading Bible, it is first class, and if you can develop love of Godhead by Bhagavad-gītā, it is first class. And if you do not, then either it is Bible or the Koran or Bhagavad-gītā, it has no effect for you. So it is up to you. 

Not by comparison, but by your own activities. If you actually follow the instruction given by Lord Jesus Christ, you will also develop love of Godhead. There is no doubt. Similarly, if you follow the instruction of Kṛṣṇa, you will also develop. So it is up to you. You try to follow. If you do not follow, simply try to make a comparative study "This is good" or "This is bad," "This is bad" or "This is good," that is called śrama eva hi kevalam [SB 1.2.8]—simply laboring. Why comparative study? Just see how much you are developing love of Godhead, that's all. Phalena paricīyate. "Whether it is apple is there, that's all right; never mind what is this tree. I'm concerned with the apple." Yes.

The ISKCON GBC vs "The Angry Mob" (Damodar Das)

First of all, Neophytes are told not to act as diksha gurus.

Damodara Dasa 

December 19 · I am often viewed as being some kind of "die hard" ISKCON apologist. In this post - lifted from another thread - I am trying to better express a more nuanced perspective - essentially a call for a different way of surfacing and addressing issues within the global Vaisnava community particularly where we wish to see different behaviour from ISKCON's leaders..... 

<<<OK, please note what I am saying here?

<<<Show me examples of where "pressuring the leaders" has ever precipitated a true shift in consciousness and new behaviours, priorities and values.>>> 

The products of a successful change campaign would, IMHO, be "a shift in consciousness" and revised behaviors, priorities and values, etc. Better sanctions against perpetrators of abuse would be "satisfying" only superficially. Apart from the "deterrent factor", in and of themselves, they do nothing to make things safer or better for children nor do they right the wrongs. 

At best it slakes our thirst for perceived "justice". But is it the goal to see wrongdoers adequately punished or to improve outcomes for children. Because the movement has an unfortunate history of opposition exchanges, most leaders have developed a "siege mentality" whereby they practically can't even hear what the "angry mob" is screaming about. 

As such, they merely batten down the hatches and hope that the screaming will subside. I am not condoning such behavior on their part - nor excusing it, merely observing it. 

And suggesting that it might be possible to trigger a more mature conversation around the shared interests of doing the right things, for example for the kids, if we weren't so set on putting every leader "in the dock" as either being a perpetrator of abuse or a neglectful sympathizer. If that is the only identity that we afford them then it's hardly surprising that they're not interested in participating in such a "conversation." 

And it begs the question "are we really interested in having a conversation?" - one that leads to collective insight and action. Because it occurs to me that every time that the Society's leaders are put on trial in the court of public opinion - in absentia - that it lessens the likelihood of their interest in participating in such a conversation. 

They (and quite rightly it would seem) recognize that it wouldn't be a conversation since the "mob" has already concluded that they are unworthy, morally-defective, un-empathetic, soulless bureaucrats who are merely pursuing their own agendas and self interest. 

I suspect that many leaders - perhaps the majority - would be in agreement that "more needs to be done" but don't know where to begin. They are not the powerful executives that people assume them to be who, through a simple decision, could bring about change overnight. 

Most would perceive their power and influence to be much more limited than that. It's true that many individuals have command of resources that could be redirected into things like "child protection" causes and, as we have discussed before (Sanaka), rather than expending so much time and energy on a moral "beat up", it might be more productive to firm up concrete proposals for constructive solutions that they could invest in. 

There is a degree of social complexity inherent in all this that certainly confounds most leaders and is also perhaps underestimated by those who are incredulous that the leaders haven't "done more" about all this. Most "sadhus" are woefully unequipped to manage the realities of a complex global organisation - lacking many of the essential competencies that this would require. 

That doesn't make them uncaring frauds necessarily. 

My estimation of most leaders - having engaged with the majority up close over long periods of time - is that they have an appetite for "preaching" and hearing and chanting. When it all gets messy - knotty organisational issues that cannot be resolved with a simple edict or quote from sastra - then they tend to retreat into the world that they understand. 

Angry mobs only accelerate this retreat and their general distaste for "management".  Of course, the narrative of "good versus evil" may appeal to us - since that assigns us a noble identity of being crusaders for truth. But, if our indulgence in that paradigm serves to further delay any constructive conversation, insight and way forward then we are likely somewhat equally culpable for not finding a way forward. 

If our goal really is progress - rather than pursuing our "hero" agendas (where we get to be the good guys and "they" get to be the evil villains) - then, at some point, we have to clearly perceive reality. The GBC is not a particularly powerful, well-resources, adequately skilled group of leaders with a dodgy moral compass. There are a group of well-intended (for the most part) "preachers" who have a deep commitment to trying to further Srila Prabhupada's aims - but are, for the most part, completely out of their depth in terms of organisational leadership. 

And I suspect that most would readily admit that. "Why don't they just resign then?" I suspect most would if they felt that there were responsible and capable individuals ready to step up and take their place. The sooner we see them as well intended allies and undertake the more difficult work of mutually respectful collective problem solving, the quicker we'll make progress as a society. 

But while ever we're having too much "food" setting them up as "powerful yet corrupt" demons and ourselves as morally outraged heroes, then we will place our own indulgence in this self image ahead of genuine progress. And we will be wailing in the wilderness for many more decades without having anything to show for it. It's far more difficult to frame up a solution-focused conversation with these leaders than simply harangue them from afar. 

It might also expose many of us as being "light on" in terms of having practical, well-conceived solutions. Spotting and condemning others for stuff that's not as it should be has always been far easier than formulating pragmatic and effective solutions. If we could shift tack then I suspect that there would be absolutely no basis for resistance. Then, any unwillingness by others to constructively join in the conversation would truly - and visibly - be their moral failure. 

But it shouldn't take a degree in psychology to figure out why the current campaigning is hardly likely to induce ISKCON's leaders to willingly participate in the "conversation". All they perceive is a mud-slinging match where just about everyone else has already concluded that they are moral reprobates and that there will in reality be little chance of progressive outcomes since the mob seem primarily interested in getting a pound of their flesh. 

It is a sign of organisational immaturity - and arguably ill conceived priorities - that there is not yet a trusted "truth and reconciliation" grievance process. But I doubt that the leaders are simply withholding such a process out of a desire to remain unaccountable and simply to pursue their own selfish agendas unencumbered. I suspect that the absence of any such substantive progress in this regard is that people on all sides of this haven't yet figured out how to design and resource (fund and staff) such an operation and, for good reason, people suspect that it would likely descend into a non-productive mud-slinging match. 

As long as the mob engages in "demonising", publicly portraying the Society's leaders as morally bankrupt, pursuing selfish agendas with no care for the majority of devotees, spiritually-deficient, etc then such fears - and their deterrent effect on participating in mature conversation - seem reasonably well founded. 

Do we actually want to "talk with" these presumed all powerful leaders? Or are we content to shout at and about them? Are we committed to progress and therefore open to honing our own craft as "influencers without authority" or are we getting enough "jollies" from being the "righteous crusaders" - even if unheard - that we see no reason to change tack?>>>

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

[PADA: Pressuring the leaders may or may not produce results, but generally the ISKCON GBC / leadership only "responds" when their program runs into trouble with -- law enforcement, the mundane courts, and the mundane media. And then they might finally "respond" when they are exposed for their bad managing (if not criminal) program. Yep, then Anuttama goes on TV saying, "well jeepers, we really had no idea this was going on" (right, we just banned, exiled, beat and killed the people who were mentioning these problems). 

And thus a lot of devotees have concluded, the exiled just have to oppose and expose the GBC's gurus and leaders, because these leaders are not responding to the exiled's complaints generally, or at least not until it reaches "a crisis." Then the leaders might send in the fire brigade to deal with the crisis, otherwise they seem to be more or less oblivious to all the chaos they are creating. 

Here are a few examples of how external pressure seems to get the best results:

1) We started out saying that Kirtanananda is bogus, for years, and eventually the GBC had to agree with us and say -- KS is being suspended for criminal behaviors. The story of how the GBC's and / or ISKCON leaders failed to contain Kirtanananda's odious criminal and molester regime was placed solidly into the public eye in major news medias ALL over the USA, and even internationally. And this story was also the theme of the book "Monkey On A Stick," which indicated that the GBC's program had been using violent tactics, including murders, to enforce their deviant and sexual predator's messiah's project.  

That simply means, the Federal Marshals, media and the courts verified what PADA and others had said all along, and this means the GBC as a general rule, do not listen to us devotees, but they might be forced to listen to us -- only when it comes to the attention of law enforcement, courts and public news media. 

Recently these same GBC folks have buried Kirtanananda's carcass in a "samadhi" in Vrndavana, which means, they still think that their criminals and sexual aggressors of young devotees are fit to be worshiped as God's messiahs -- in a samadhi. So they have not really learned much from all this, and this type of thing shows "the angry mob" folks that the GBC are still poking a stick in the eye of the devotees at large, who are opposed to placing such odious deviants in a samadhi in the holy dham.  

In sum, the GBC self-evidently does not care one iota about the opinions of the devotees, aka the opinion of "the angry mob." This type of thing simply verifies what the angry mob already believes, that the GBC wants to do things that anger and upset the angry mob, because they have no interest in the concerns of the angry mob.  

2) We said New Vrndavana was producing a criminal atmosphere, and this was verified later when it was raided by the Federal authorities and local Sheriffs, and then this became a huge news media story as was posted in every major newspaper in the world. 

So its not merely the angry mob of devotees who are opposed to the GBC's mis-managing, there are millions and millions and millions of ordinary people who read these horror stories of the GBC's (mis) "managing prowess" -- and then many of the regular citizens of the entire globe think the GBC's are incompetent fools; Or worse, the leaders are compromised with deviants posing as messiahs; Or worse, they have been promoting these deviants as messiahs and suppressing those of us who opposed them (sometimes with assassinations); Or worse, they are burying said deviants in a samadhi even today. 

3) We said that some ISKCON leaders are promoting / harboring drug dealing, and later on Laguna Beach temple was raided by Federal FBI authority. This again was another major news media story and was published in the major USA newspapers. Again, the opinion of the devotees was suppressed, and so the issue had to be handed off to karmi law enforcement, karmi courts, and the karmi media who exposed all this. The GBC leaders do not seem to care for the opinion of the devotees, and so these problems tend to eventually get to the point that outside authority has to reign in these problems for them.  

4) We also complained that the GBC's bogus "scam-kirtana" tactics were alienating and infuriating the public, and then ISKCON was sued in 1980 by the Syracuse New York Federal court for "systematically defrauding the public," and they lost their case, and had to pay the fines. This story was again, in all the major newspapers all over the world, and there was even a huge article about this in the "Men's magazine" "Hustler", which means the story was basically everywhere. 

Then! Many millions of ordinary people agreed with us -- that the GBC's are crooks, never mind the angry mob believes that too. Once again, the leaders did not listen to the devotees who warned them of the potential for this to blow up, so the outside authorities had to reign in the GBC's mis-managing. And the poor devotees had to pay for the court fees and etc., and they had to live with the horrible publicity generated by the GBC's leaders. 

About this same time -- Ramesvara's scam-kirtan program was dressing LA devotees as SANTA CLAUS, and some of them were arrested and handcuffed. A karmi friend of mine said, wow your leaders not only want to give Krishna a bad name, they even want to give Santa a bad name!  

5) Same basic thing when New Vrndavana's drug mules were arrested, using minor age girls to to put dope in their underwear and fly around the country, with the hope that minors would not be charged with a crime due to being underage. Great idea, use your children to do crimes because the police do not arrest children! OK once again, shows that the GBC has not been taking care of these issues, and so the police, courts and media have had to fix it for them.

6) We said that GBC friendly people like Bhakta das are also criminals, and sure enough, his place was raided by Federal authority and he was busted for allegedly selling $10m of designer drugs. This story was in the major news media in the USA. Later, he was busted for "child porn" (or some such crime?) in Puri India, and this story was in the major news media in India -- and some in the West. 

How did you guess, then our GBC bucket boy friends like Janardan / Sanat / Mukunda / Prahlad (UK) / Dayalu Nitai's HKC Jaipur etc. all began to promote this Radhanath lovers club leader Bhakta das as their biggest hero and spokesman. Yep, if there is one class of person they need to listen to, its the people who promote sexual predator messiah's programs; and they sell designer drugs which apparently can cause madness, murders, deformed babies and so on; and they are arrested for sex crimes. 

This is their idea of a bona fide shiksha guru? 

As Srila Prabhupada says, birds of a feather. And, you mean to say this is the highest quality person these Kirtanananda bucket boys can find to defend their favorite molester messiah's GBC's guru program? Even Al Capone would make a better representative of religion than these guys? 

Worse, these above folks have been de facto saying Jayananda is bogus for "carrying meat because he was driving a taxi where customers had groceries." Yep, harming people with bad drugs, and sex crimes arrests, is their idea of a "good devotee with a good income," while the SRILA PRABHUPADA APPROVED taxi driving job is bogus. So they are clearly on the side of the evil doers. 

Thus, its not just the GBC who are creating these problems, its their dedicated lackeys, pals and boot lickers who aid and abet their odious process. Worse, they are even attacking Srila Prabhupada for "taking dirty bad taxi driver money," they even think the acharya is defective for taking honest income money, because the acharya is not encouraging their program -- of selling designer drugs to make money? Notice, its almost always that the illegal drug scam program, the supporters of molester messiahs program, the arrest for sex crimes program, that gets boosted by these thinkers, and the honest income idea is -- the bogus and bad idea?

7) We also said that Bhavananda was having sex with taxi drivers while posing as the GBC's guru, and the GBC suspended him for these crimes. But then later, the GBC reinstated him, and this infuriated almost the entire Vaishnava community. Almost everyone was totally fried with the GBC's gurus and managers. OK our good pal Tamohara still thinks there is nothing wrong with Gaura Govinda Maharaja getting voted in as guru at this recoronation of Bhavananda ceremony.

Anyway! The result was and is, that many people agreed with us -- that the GBC are corrupt promoters of sexual deviants as their Vishnupada acharyas. Many ex-kulis are still very angry that Bhavananda was never charged with any crimes by the GBC, even criminal neglect, and instead the GBC made him a big manager at Mayapura. This looks like corruption on steroids, the people responsible for making the molester nests and webs program, are given a big post by the GBC? Then the GBC wonders why there is an angry mob against them?

8) Then we have guys like Jayadvaita saying that their gurus are "engaged in illicit sex with men, women and children." Swell, again, what if the mob disagrees and thinks gurus are pure devotees? There is no concern for that the mob wants?

9) Hansadutta's farm was raided by Federal Marshals. Yep, huge story all over the media "The Machine Gun Swami." Later he shoots at occupied buildings with four loaded guns, more newspaper stories. Where is the GBC while all this is going on? Asleep at the switch? Nope, they are saying Hansadutta is right, Kirtanananda is the only pure devotee on the planet!

10) OK! Their Mississippi Painting business was raided by a SWAT team.

11) OK! The New Orleans police said Chatur Bahu's murder was "an inside job."

12) OK! Apparently illegal New York temple sale is not be legally stopped by the GBC leaders? Or what?  

13) Of course then we had the child abuse issue, which was another issue totally botched by "the managers." Jaggadisha das actually went on public TV to say, he had no training how to care for children, so he was not able to manage them. Ummm, he and the other leaders did not know that these children need food, blankets, soap, medicine, and freedom from abusers? And this is the de facto public statement, we did not know -- children need to eat?

Worse, an increasing number of the victims were starting to commit suicide by the mid-1990s, never mind all the other problems they were experiencing from depression and other dysfunctional issues. What was the GBC going to do now that they had excommunicated / exiled / beaten down folks like me and Sulochana for complaining that there is a child abuse issue, especially as we protested in the 1980s, and the problem was not yet solved? 

OK how did you guess, once again an outsider person, namely the Windle Turley law firm, had to take the GBC to task for what appears to be -- their criminal child negligence. Their countless committees did not seem to have any means of addressing what to speak of resolving the issue. 

Worse, according to some of the younger persons living in the society at the time, the abuse problem had not been really fixed either, and so there were a number of young people still in an "insecure" situation. And so, the Windle Turley lawsuit gave a lot of relief to the victims, it vindicated their claims, which helped reduce the suicides to almost nil. 

At the same time, hundred of parents removed their kids from GBC controlled places after the lawsuit was filed, and according to some of these kids -- the lawsuit "saved them" from getting abused. In fact some of these kids wrote to tell me their lives were saved from this lawsuit.

Now of course there were critics to the lawsuit from the GBC side and from their sympathizers. They first of all complained that the lawsuit was going to cost a lot of money, which is what many ex-kulis tell PADA -- that the leaders are more interested in buildings than people. Another complaint was that the children had a bad attitude towards the religion, oh jeepers, really!

Even Krishna Kanta Desai of the IRM wrote a piece on the IRM web site complaining that he was not in favor of hundreds of children being saved from molesting by being pulled out of GBC managed program, and the suicides went down. He was not happy that kids were reporting their lives had been saved by the lawsuit, because he apparently thinks almost like Jayapataka, children are simply expendable items to toss in the trash when they require help, just after you've ran over them with your army tank. 

Yep! "Us children are just expendable pieces of trash," that is exactly what some of them told me was -- how they were being treated by this group. Then these leaders and their dedicated people wonder why some kids have a bad attitude? Well these guys are creating the impetus for the bad attitude ... duh! 

Krishna Kanta simply followed the GBC's idea, he also felt just as many GBC leaders did, that the ongoing molesting and suicides was not that big of a problem, and he also told me not to introduce the poison issue because "we could lose buildings." Wow! Krishna Kanta thinks it my job to make sure Jayapataka has a building to conduct his guru pooja in!

And the IRM was then joined by their co-pals like Sanat / Mukunda / Prahlad / Dayalu Nitai's HKC Jaipur, etc. they also complained and objected that the child molesting and suicides were being halted. And they even said helping Srila Prabhupada's children from being victimized is some evil program, so clearly, they wanted all the victimization to continue. They are simply GBC part II, shills for the evil program, according to a number of the victims -- who told me exactly that. 

Some women told me that when they were young girls the lawsuit saved them from getting married to much older men, again, almost no one cared that they were saved, ok except us -- and the victims. These GBC folks and their cheer leaders were angry, that these girls were saved! This is amazing to us, these girls are crying because they were saved and these heartless people are upset and crying -- that these girls were saved! 

Yup! Why were these girls not put into the trash bucket where they belong? Thus, we have some people, like the above group, still saying that they wanted all the victimization to continue. So they are helpmates to the GBC's criminal program, its that simple.

Of course, the real issue is, that these leaders are promoting themselves as faultless gurus, and this gives them a sort of carte blanche open account to conduct all sorts of illegal things, because "no one should criticize the guru." So the root of all this seems to be, most of the GBC's leaders are thinking they are gurus who are as good as God, above the law, beyond reproach from any sector, and so all these criminal problems develop as a result. Dr. J. Stilson Judah told me these people are antinomianism, lawless in the name of religion. And he said, watch your back, they can kill you.

Good news!, now the GBC has done us all a huge favor. They took Bangalore to the Supreme Court to "prove" that they are the actual gurus, and Srila Prabhupada is not the guru. Well, this is also not working out the way they had hoped for, hee hee! So anyway some GBC folks wrote to tell us PADA has cost ISKCON over a hundred million dollars for helping along all these legal actions. Well, had the GBC sat down and talked to me, none of this would have been required? And the GBC kicked out hundreds and hundreds of people who were collecting millions of dollars each, so they are tossing out hundreds of millions of dollars like old newspapers.

Sridhara Maharaja said "I'm a form-breaker, not a form-maker." Yep, his bogus guru program broke down the Gaudiya Matha and now it is breaking down ISKCON. The good news is, more people are waking up to all this and they want to jettison these bogus gurus and worship the actual acharya Srila Prabhupada. So we are winning gradually. 

Our blog site hits have gone WAY UP, so apparently, more people are taking notice of all this. In any case, we do not need to talk to the GBC, we are doing our own talking and people are taking notice. So, if you can get something done to oppose the GBC, goody, and if you can make your own program also goody, but in any case, being independent of them seems to be the consensus, hence, the numbers of the angry mob is growing every day, and it will continue no matter what. ys pd

Sri Devananda Pandit Tirobhava Tithi (ISKCON Times)

http://www.iskcontimes.com/sri-devananda-pandita-tirobhava-tithi-disappearance-day/

Spiritual Master is Eternal (prasadam.uk)

http://www.prasadam.co.uk/component/content/article/1-newsflash/322-newsflash-41.html

Initiations Paper in Hungarian Language

https://www.iskm.international/hungarian-translation-of-ia77-paper-released/

India's Rupee Change is Making Millions Destitute (Steve Forbes)

http://www.forbes.com/sites/steveforbes/2016/12/22/what-india-has-done-to-its-money-is-sickening-and-immoral/#3cfb70321148

[PADA: Its amazing that a country that already has so many problems with banking transactions, bad cell phone service, 86 percent of the economy running on cash, no banks in a number of villages, millions and millions of people without any basic cell phone to make ANY wired-payments, probably millions of beggars who rely on cash or else they starve to death, the majority of women having no bank accounts at all etc. ... would all of a sudden think their country is ready to go "cash less" and everyone is going to use their cell phones for making banking by wi-fi transactions. 

Even the USA could not pull that off, because there are too many parts of the USA economy that rely on soley on cash. India is certainly not ahead of the West with their levels of technology. Not only that, India did not print enough new bills. Ooops, and the new bills do not even fit in the existing ATM machines, that is -- if you can find an ATM machine in many places, and if you can find one that actually works. This was clearly not thought out very well. 

We have read some reports of many business shutting down because there is no cash to pay the workers or suppliers, beggars dying from starvation, beggar's children dying from starvation -- because their mothers could not get cash to feed the children -- and so on and so forth. The upshot is that more and more and more and more people seem to have no means of buying food, and they will suffer and die, at least until when (or if) this is all sorted out. 

All this suffering for millions of people -- to allegedly stop a few crooks, who will simply devise new means of crooked behavior. Its not going to stop the crooked from cheating, they will simply find new means to do that. This is why Srila Prabhupada said -- the more that India tries to get into industrial and technological life, the more of a mess there will be there. Right! Thank God Akshaya Patra is at least going to feed a number of children while all this mess is going on. ys pd]     

Russia's "Anti-Missionary" Laws Imbroglio

http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2242

42 Ways To distribute Books!

http://www.iskconbookdistribution.com/42-ways-to-distribute-srila-prabhupadas-book/

ISKCON Food For Life Awarded

http://www.fflvrindavan.org/en/chief-minister-awards-fflv/

[PADA: This is an official GBC / ISKCON program. Oddly, some of the GBC leaders call this program "Food For Death" because it is "mundane welfare work" and people should be doing harinama instead. OK, and where is the big harinama program of these critics? 

PADA thinks that these food distribution programs are way better than doing nothing, at least its giving Krishna a good name (for a change). The GBC leaders are evidently not interested in doing a big harinama program for the most part, and they never will be in their current lifetimes it seems. Thus at least some so-called social welfare process is better than a disappearing act, which is happening in most other places, with very few exceptions. 

Srila Prabhupada did say no one should go hungry in a radius around our temples, and we should thus serve out prasadam to folks in our area. And if some otherwise hungry people are getting some nourishment, I see no overall harm in providing this service. Of course that being said, if the food is being offered to these mundane GBC gurus, that's not very good. 

The GBC has a long way to go to catch up to the much bigger Akshaya Patra distribution program run by the Bangalore folks. What is amazing is that some GBC are saying the whole food distribution scheme of Bangalore is bogus, meanwhile they are creating the very same thing in their own camp. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. ys pd]  

Bhakta Torben Nielsen on "Playing the Role" of Guru (Denmark)

Playing the Guru Role

BY: BHAKTA TORBEN NIELSEN (DENMARK) —

"In ISKCON I have become a spiritual master only when the society, mainly the GBC body, gave me the responsibility or approved me as a spiritual master, that's why I am functioning as a spiritual master.

I am not functioning as a spiritual master on my own right.

I am actually functioning as a part of ISKCON's structure.

Just as ISKCON, in the temple we need temple presidents and GBCs and so forth, similarly in ISKCON the initiating spiritual master is a role that we are playing."

Bhakti Charu Swami, GBC and initiating 'ISKCON' guru.

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

[PADA: Right. the program of Bhakta Torben and his GBC pals like Rocana are more or less (or sometimes actually) saying that the GBC's gurus are "playing the role of a diksha guru," "doing the service of diksha guru," "accepting the post of initiating guru," and so forth -- as if being a guru is something like "doing the job" or "taking the post" of being the janitor in an office building. Yes, as a matter of fact, I am not really the next messiah of the jagat, but hey, its a good job for me, and it pays well! 

What? Yes, as a matter of fact, I am -- doing the job -- of being another Jesus. Wait a minute! So being another Jesus is something one "plays a role" of doing? Why does Torben's program think people can "play act" at being another Jesus? You mean to say that the play actor in the theatre who is acting in the role of Jesus, is actually able to perform the function of Jesus and absorb the sins of others? 

It seems these people cannot separate people who "play act" as Krishna in the Ramananda Sagar Krishna movies, and the actual Krishna? How can someone "play act" as Jesus or Krishna in the first place, and actually take seriously that they can perform the function of either? Sorry, you'd need to be actually on the level of Jesus or Krishna to perform their functions in reality, you cannot "play act" as these entities like some sort of drama stage play on Broadway. Of course the Bellevue mental home is full of people who think they are taking the role of Jesus, Napoleon, Hitler and so on.    

Torben also informed me that "all of the disciples of Srila Prabhupada can (play?) act as diksha gurus." Umm, nope, Srila Prabhupada said NONE of us can act as diksha gurus and take other's sins -- or we will get sick, fall down and fail, from taking said sins. Of course this could also be the real plan of these people, lets make all of the Prabhupada disciples get sick, fall down and die. Pretty good plan! Its working!

So their whole idea reminds me of our neighbor's little kid's party here a few months ago, they had a big party for mostly little girls, many of whom were dressed like the princess from the movie "Frozen," and other assorted Disney princess' were there, and there was even a few princes in the mix, or maybe some of them were kings. 

Yep, dress like a princess and you are one! 

The kids were all running around, and then jumping into a few inflatable giant child tumbling "castles." So this is the sum and substance of the Rocana, GBC, Torben, Gaudiya Matha, Sridhara Maharaja et al. program, you really do not need to be another Jesus, you can simply go to a Frozen princess party, and dress like Jesus and "make pretend" you are him, and claim to take sins from others. Or as Sridhara Maharaja said "just wear the uniform of the acharya," and you are one. 

How is that working out for you guys by the way? Their whole guru tattva platform rests on the idea, OK same ideas as a kids Frozen princess party, you "take the role" of the princess, and you are one? And that is why Srila Prabhupada said the whole Gaudiya Matha guru's program is simply summed up as, taking the dress of acharya without having the qualifications of acharya. Same deviation is being repeated. 

Oddly, after the GBC, Rocana and Torben folks rubber stamp their foolish "another Jesus," then they complain their bogus Jesus are "not accountable and transparent." Well duh, a person like Jesus does not need to listen to conditioned souls like you guys, he is in direct communion with God. Torben and Rocana have made giant web sites complaining that their bogus Jesus are deviating, ummm, well maybe you guys made a mistake rubber stamping these people as the next Jesus in the first place? 

Of course God, and ooops Rocana and Torben, dictate to the acharya.

Ok that means, Torben thinks God is an idiot because God does not know how to dictate to His acharyas, so Rocana and Torben have to "take the role" of God and dictate to their bogus rubber stamped acharyas. Ummm, maybe you guys should not have rubber stamped all these bogus Jesus in the first place, and created all these Frankenstein monsters you can no longer control? 

ys pd angel108b@yahoo.com]

Dress like a princess, and you are one! Wow! Who knew that was the secret!