Gita Changes / Rupanuga Continued 07 22 26

Locan Ananda Das

THE ROD OF CHASTISEMENT IS GONE!!!

One of my favorite verses in the Bhagavad-Gita As It Is was once found in Chapter 10, verse 38:

"Among punishments I am the rod of chastisement, and of those who seek victory, I am morality. Of secret things I am silence, and of the wise I am wisdom." (B.g. 10.38, original)

Chapter 10 is entitled, "The Opulence of the Absolute" wherein Krishna enumerates some of His extraordinarily splendorous manifestations. On August 12, 1976, Srila Prabhupada was having an evening darshan in Tehran, the capital and largest city in Iran. He was talking about how ordinary people know little about the greatness of God. "They say, 'God is great,' but how great? That they do not know." Srila Prabhupada then asked his secretary at the time, Harikesa dasa, to read selected verses from the Bhagavad-Gita, beginning with Chapter 10, verse 20:

"I am the Self, O Gudakesa, seated in the hearts of all creatures. I am the beginning, the middle and the end of all beings." (B.g. 10.20)

Harikesa prabhu continued to read through the verses that followed, the chapter ending with verse 42:

"But what need is there, Arjuna, for all this detailed knowledge. With a single fragment of Myself I pervade and support this entire universe." (B.g. 10.42)

When he finished the reading, Srila Prabhupada said, "That's it. This is greatness. So we should not simply be satisfied 'God is great.' We must try to know how great He is. Then our God consciousness will be fixed up. It's all right?"
Atreya Rsi prabhu responded: "It's very beautiful."

So, in the course of that reading by his secretary, Srila Prabhupada heard the translation of verse 10.38 which included the phrase "the rod of chastisement." Not on any occasion did he ever object to that choice of words because it perfectly reflected his deepest understanding of this opulence of the Lord. It was his prerogative, and no one else's, as the empowered emissary of the Personality of Godhead, to choose the wording of this verse. This was Srila Prabhupada's language, and as he himself often said, he had to weigh every word carefully because he was describing the Supreme Personality of Godhead in Whom there is no imperfection.

Next, take a look at the original purport to verse 10.38 written by Srila Prabhupada, which begins with: "There are many suppressing agents, of which the most important are those that cut down the miscreants. When miscreants are punished, the rod of chastisement represents Krishna...." (B.g. 10.38, original purport).

I take it as my responsibility to bring to the attention of the devotee community to what extent this verse has been tampered with. That phrase, "the rod of chastisement", which so clearly expressed Srila Prabhupada's appreciation of the opulent attributes of the Lord delineated in Chapter 10, was removed, both from the verse and from the purport, by an irresponsible editorial department. 

Keep in mind that His Divine Grace never asked anyone to re-edit his Bhagavad-Gita As It Is. In fact, in the Introduction to the Bhagavad-Gita, he wrote:
"In the present day, man is very eager to have one scripture, one God, one religion, and one occupation. So, let there be one common scripture for the whole world -- Bhagavad-Gita..." This statement was made in reference to the original edition of the Bhagavad-Gita As It Is. It did not point to or include any later version of his work that he had not specifically authorized.

I did a little research online and found the revised translation of 10.38 as it now appears in the heavily edited book published and in print since 1983. Here is the revised translation of the verse:

"Among all means of suppressing lawlessness I am punishment, and of those who seek victory I am morality. Of secret things I am silence, and of the wise I am the wisdom." (B.g. 10.38, edited version)

The purport begins with, "There are many suppressing agents, of which the most important are those that cut down miscreants. When miscreants are punished, the agency of chastisement represents Krishna." (B.g. 10.38, revised purport)

Personally, I saw no need to make any changes to this verse or purport. It had been perfectly composed. In fact, I found that the revisions made the verse and purport both incomprehensible and meaningless. In addition, I would never change a single word in our scripture without the direct approval of the author. That policy is called arsa-prayoga, and it guarantees that the spiritual head of our institution would never be dishonored by headstrong, insensitive disciples acting independently to "improve" what was already perfect.

Srila Prabhupada was recognized as a great Sanskrit scholar. His depth of knowledge was unfathomable. With this in mind, the phrase "rod of chastisement" had a much deeper significance which the editors could not comprehend. I just scratched the surface by doing a little research and found a site online called Wisdom Library where this phrase was further explained in greater depth. There, it was stated that:

"In Vedic culture, the 'rod of chastisement' symbolizes a king's authority to uphold righteousness, enforce laws, and administer punishment, ensuring order and discipline among subjects, while representing the moral duty inherent in leadership."

Other scriptural references to the "rod of chastisement" include:

The Ramayana of Valmiki:

1) A metaphorical weapon symbolizing Rama's intended punishment against Ravana for his sins.

The Mahabharata:

1) A metaphor for punishment, which should not be used against harmless creatures.

2) Symbolizes the authority and responsibility of the Kshatriya to enforce law and order.

3) A symbolic implement representing the authority to enforce moral order, passed down through various divine entities.

It should be obvious that due to a poor fund of knowledge, and being infected with the urge to sidestep the authority of Krishna's pure devotee, many unwarranted changes were made to his books posthumously which should never have been allowed.

I thank the readers for having patiently read this essay. Please share it with others to help get the word out. Arsa-prayoga is the way to go. The original books of the most superior acarya are the way to learn what is true and what is eternal. So remember these prophetic words:

"Let there be one common scripture for the whole world -- the original Bhagavad-Gita As It Is, by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada."

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RUPANUGA CONTINUED:

Host: So let me get this straight. You are saying that ritvik is bunk, but you are saying that no one needs to be initiated anymore because Prabhupāda’s words are there in his books, which are nondifferent from him in some sense.

Rūpānuga Dāsa: That is what he said.

Host: Okay. Because I know one time someone asked Śrīla Prabhupāda — I think it was a reporter — “What will your disciples do after you leave?”

He said, “I shall live forever in my books.” And what did he say? “You shall utilize,” or something like that. So I am just trying to understand the difference between ritvik being not really appropriate or real, in that sense, but at the same time, you do not have to take initiation because you are already initiated by Prabhupāda’s books.

Rūpānuga Dāsa: Śrīla Prabhupāda— They hang everything on the word “henceforward.”

PADA: Except, the July 9th "henceforward" letter was not visible or even known to most devotees early on, nor was the May 28th tape, the will, the letters, the 1977 conversations and etc. In 1978 we did not "hang" everything -- or actually anything -- on the July 9th letter at the outset, because we did not have it. 

Nor was the letter even being discussed openly anywhere that I am aware of. This is called re-writing history, "everyone was discussing henceforward" when -- actually -- no one was. The Rupanuga GBC hid all these tapes and documents.   

Personally I did not need them. Srila Prabhupada had ALREADY said, hundreds (if not thousands of times) after I am gone -- make a Governing Body (proxies) and not gurus. Do not change anything (like the ritvik initiation program) -- none of that was important to the GBC and Rupanuga? 

That is when they started their idea, worship of pure devotees is temporary, worship of deviants and pedophiles -- is eternal. That was never stated anywhere, nor does it even make sense.

There are hundreds of quotes where Srila Prabhupada also says -- the acharya must be an utttama level, a pure devotee, gurus are not appointed, gurus do not fall down, and so on. What is interesting is that Rupanuga's GBC hid all these tapes and letters, and it was Sulochana and me who helped bring them out, in the mid-1980s. How was everyone "hanging on" to the words of these documents, that were not even being distributed or discussed? Or known widely?

And that is how and why we became targets for assassination, we were forwarding these lost documents and exposing the Rupanuga guru process as bogus. Now that we had to literally risk our lives in liberating these documents, "everything hangs on these documents." You guys hid these documents, we were not even discussing these documents right after 1978. 

Everyone was hanging on to the words in hidden documents -- which people were actually killed for distributing and liberating? Why weren't these documents readily available in the first place? People were all hanging on to unknown documents?

Nope! Everything hangs on you guys lying that your 11 bogus gurus had been appointed -- and then banning, beating and killing people who dissented, some of whom were murdered, when they found the actual documents in question.

Almost no one even knew about the "henceforward" idea until LONG AFTER we found these lost documents. Meanwhile people like me always -- ALL ALONG -- thought that Srila Prabhupada would continue to be the acharya, even in 1978, with no further documents needed. His books, his murtis, his temples, his devotees, all of the above should continue as his worshipers. 

If Srila Prabhupada had made a clear directive on May 28th 1977 that he was appointing 11 gurus, and that worship of pure devotees is temporary and worship of conditioned souls -- if not pedos -- is eternal, why was this not announced at the time? Why were all the documents hidden? 

Speaking of which, Rupanuga was told specifically to guard against the influence of BR Sridhar Maharaja, and the Rupanuga GBC all ran off to BR Sridhara Maharaja and made him the new shiksha guru of ISKCON. Rupanuga went along with that gang. 

I never thought anyone ELSE is going to be worshiped in ISKCON, ever. And then the Rupanuga program forwarded their replacement acharyas -- drunks, debauchees, illicit sex deviants, predators, sex fiends, porno swamis, homos, pedos, drug addicts -- even atheists -- as ISKCON's gurus "henceforward." 

There is no order for ANYONE to worship these deviated conditioned souls as gurus then or henceforward. Rupanuga NEVER SHOWS US the documented evidence that we were supposed to replace the worship of the acharya with the worship of his illicit sex fiend pals? 

Host: Right.

Rūpānuga Dāsa: That from that time on, everyone who is initiated will be my disciple. That is not what Śrīla Prabhupāda meant. That was henceforward, while he was still here.

PADA: That is not stated anywhere. Srila Prabhupada never said I shall only be worshiped as the acharya temporarily, until Rupanaga can concoct his homosexual and pedophile pals into being the next acharyas. Srila Prabhupada never said his worship would be temporary, EVER. Nor has Rupanuga EVER shown where he says it will be temporary. Nor has Rupanuga EVER shown where worship of conditioned souls is authorized. EVER!

Yes! Henceforward means from now on, hence and forward. It does not mean do this is on a temporary basis. And henceforward also means -- all bhogha should be offered to the acharya. Srila Prabhupada never said -- offer bhogha to Rupanuga's homosexuals and pedophiles messiahs -- anywhere! 

I forgot, offering food to pedophiles spreads the pedophile mentality beeja, and helped create a haven for pedophiles, as happened. As one gurukuli told us "there were pedophiles in every nook and cranny of ISKCON." Yeah, and we all know how they got there. 

Rupanuga cannot even change the mundane karmi laws and rules that are "henceforward." "Henceforward the speed limit is 35 miles and hour." Rupanuga gets pulled over going 55, and he says to the cops, I thought the 35 henceforward was temporary, so I am going 55. There was no order to change it?

Nope! It is not temporary -- unless it is specifically stated somewhere, and there is no change to that henceforward statement ever made anywhere. Nor do normal people think the speed limit henceforward is temporary, it is hence and forward indefinite time. From now on! No change was ever ordered or implemented.

Host: Okay. I can follow that.

Rūpānuga Dāsa: See?

Host: That is what I think too.

Rūpānuga Dāsa: Not after he disappeared, that the same principle would apply. “Henceforward” means “from now on.” But that did not mean forever. There are two different things. “Forever” and “from now on” are two different things. “Forever” is clear. It means to go on without stopping. It is eternal. But “henceforward” was like, “From now on, while I am with you, I am deputing these men to take disciples on my behalf.” 

That did not mean anything more. He did not say that the succession is going to change, that after I die there are no successors, and everybody has to be initiated to me. He never said that. 

PADA: What he said is, Rupanuga should appoint his homosexual and pedophile pals as the successors. Where does he say that?

He appointed these eleven people as regular gurus. 

PADA: Correct, a regulated devotee / priest / sadhaka / or brahmana is called a ritvik, he follows the regulations. A regulated devotee is a sadhaka and not a self realized soul. Nor can a regulated neophyte take the post of acharya, take sins, give pure divyam jnanam etc. 

Of course Rupanuga's team selected homosexuals and pedophiles as their messiahs and not even regulated people. Rupanuga keeps asserting that these people were regulated "regular" (sadhaka) gurus, but they were having illicit sex with men, women and children. Where is the regulation? They were regulated devotees? Nope!

This is a myth, they were falling down left and right, and could not follow the basic kanistha regulations. Rupanuga just piles one lie on top of the next. Of course even a regulated neophyte CANNOT take the post of another Jesus and absorb sins, even if he follows the basic sadhana. 

Now Rupanuga says Kalakantha can make more gurus, while most of their previous gurus have already fallen and blooped. They have not fixed their original first problem, making conditioned souls into acharyas. And yet they want to make more and more conditioned acharyas -- to add more misery, getting sick, falling down, blooping, scandals, lawsuits, banning, beating, molesting, suing and killing - and other problems -- to the mess they already made! 

Lets pour more petrol on the fire, that will fix it! Nope! Sorry, there is no such thing as eternal worship being temporary, and replaced with fools, drunks and debauchees, that is never found in anything Srila Prabhupada says.

ys pd angel108b@yahoo.com