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EDITORIAL January 18, 2000 VNN5292 Comment on this story Principle Of Acarya Purusa In Ramanuja Sampradaya BY LOCANANANDA DAS EDITORIAL, Jan 18 (VNN) — A suggestion has been made to study how the Ramanuja sampradaya applies the principle of acarya purusa, whereby a facilitator guru acts as the humble representative of the great acharya, Sri Ramanuja, for the purpose of guiding and initiating those who follow his teachings. Some may scoff at the idea of seeking wisdom outside of our own disciplic line, But His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada actually quotes one of their great acharyas on the subject of initiations: "Srimad Viraraghava Acharya, an acarya in the Ramanuja sampradaya, has remarked in his commentary that candalas, or conditioned souls who are born in lower than sudra families, can also be initiated according to circumstances. The formalities may be slightly changed here and there to make them Vaisnavas." (S.B. 4.8.54) His Divine Grace instituted a program by which people born in families lower than sudra anywhere in the world could take to Krishna consciousness and receive formal initiation to solidify their connection with the guru parampara. Srila Prabhupada recommended that officiating acharyas, acting as authorized representatives of the founder acharya, perform the initiation ceremony after his departure to complete the diksa process. To make such a procedural adjustment, according to Viraraghava Acharya, is the prerogative of such a great vaisnava acharya as His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. To understand Srila Prabhupada's recommendation for officiating acharyas one must first realize that anyone who is seriously studying Srila Prabhupada's books and folllowing his instructions is not without a spiritual master. Once faith in the words of the acharya has arisen, the eternal bond between the master and disciple has been formed. To insist that candidates for initiation must then shift their faith from Srila Prabhupada to a "new" guru is a gross misapplication of the verse: yasya deve para bhaktir... ""Only unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed." Srila Prabhupada was the empowered world acharya who fulfilled the prediction of the exalted Thakura Bhaktivinode who foresaw a great spiritual personality appearing to unite devotees from East and West under the banner of Mahaprabhu's sankirtana movement. His Divine Grace came to establish religious principles 5,000 years into this Kali yuga and his mission is referred to in one particular purport in the Bhagavad-gita where he explains the reason for the Lord's descent: "In each and every incarnation, He speaks as much about religion as can be understood by the particular people under their particular circumstances. But the mission is the same -- to lead people to God consciousness and obedience to the principles of religion. Sometimes He descends personally, and sometimes He sends His representative in the form of His son, or servant, or Himself in a disguised form." (B.g. 4.7 purport) To speak against the system of initiations Srila Prabhupada personally proposed is to obstruct the natural progress of his mission. To institute some other program for initiations within his organization has already proven to be a fatal error. There is no doubt that when asked how initiations would be performed after his departure, he replied, "by officiating acharyas". Those who are aware of Srila Prabhupada's desire to have senior disciples act as officiating acharyas to initiate his granddisciples view the GBC's current "as good as God" diksa guru campaign and their harrassment of "non-guru" godbrothers as a reprehensible deviation and insult to His Divine Grace. It is not within the purview of the GBC to overrule direct instructions given by the founder acharya of ISKCON. In fact, it is grounds for removal or disbandment. We pray, however, that this will not be necessary and that Krishna will enlighten these sincere devotees from within by giving them the spiritual intelligence and conviction needed to reset ISKCON on the correct path. The proposal to investigate the system followed in another vaisnava sampradaya could provide ISKCON's leaders with a valuable clue once they agree to follow Srila Prabhupada's recommendation for initiation by officiating acharyas. The question remains whether ISKCON leaders will fess up to having taken devotees on a wild diksa guru goose chase, and whether ISKCON devotees will accept another apology. Comment on this story  Contact VNN about this storySend this story to a friend
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