09/12/1998 - 2206

Some Obey Him

Editorial (VNN) - by Radhakrsna das

SOME OBEY HIM WHOLE-HEARTEDLY

This essay describes the various attempts made by individuals, to NOT tofollow the clear instructions and words, of Srila Prabhupada, in the name ofthe multifarious counter-checks of "guru/sastra/sadhu," "not in his books" andother excuses.

THE FOUR SYNDROMES, OR VADAS OF COMPLICATED MIS-INTERPRETATIONS OFPRABHUPADA'S CLEAR INSTRUCTIONS

1. The PLSBPS-VADA SYNDROME. Or the pre-liberated Sarvabauma Battacaryapastime syndrome. Sarvabauma was an eternal associate of Lord Chaitanya. Butin this pastime, he pretended to be a dry logician and preached to LordChaitanya his interpretation of the vedas, for 7 days. Lord Chaitanya saidthat he understood the vedic slokas very clearly, they were like the sun, buthis (Sarvabauma's) interpretations were like a cloud and obscured the clearmeaning of the vedas. Sarvabauma pretended to be confused in this pastime,and then was liberated by Lord Chaitanya.

Similarly, Srila Prabhupada has made clear instructions on this currentcontroversy. (See appendix below.) But it has been the fashion for disciplesto second-guess what Srila Prabhupada actually meant to say. They will crossreference his instructions with folio research and try to "approve" ordiscredit his final instructions. This resembles a lawyer trying to find a"loophole" to invalidate the clear evidence. Many criminals have walked awayfrom the courtroom, due to such "loopholes." But a simple devotee will see theclear hypocrisy in such things, and try to follow Lord Chaitanya'sinstructions in this pastime, not to cloud the clear instructions of SrilaPrabhupada by cross reference and over-intelligent interpretations. Let us tryto liberate ourselves, just as Lord Chaitanya liberated Sarvabauma in thatpastime. Srila Prabhupada said what he meant, and meant what he said. We donot need to strain our brains to figure out what he said, rather we need toaccept his words in the simple mood of following, in the mood of being hissimple servants.

2. Second is the SUKARACARYA-VADA SYNDROME. Bali Maharaja was given a clearrequest from Vamanadeva. Sukaracarya tryed to dissuade Bali from followingVamana's request, because Sukaracarya knew that Vamana was Lord Visnu, and heknew what the consequences would be. He was a smarta-brahmana, and he wasworried about his personal income and welfare. Because of his vestedinterests, he was willing to circumvent the order of the Supreme Personalityof Godhead.

It appears that some have placed personal interests and income and jobsecurity, etc, ahead of the clear orders of Srila Prabhupada. The purport ofthis should be clear to the readers. This only results in chaos anddissatisfaction of the spiritual master, which reeks havoc in spiritual life.

3. Third is the SONS OF YAYATI-VADA SYNDROME. Maharaja Yayati was cursed toold age, and he requested his sons to trade their youth with him, so on. Heasked the first son, but was flatly refused. He asked the other sons, so on,we know the story. Finally the good son obeys his father.

The purport is- BAD SONS disobey, whereas GOOD SONS obey the father. The goodson anticipates the desire of his sire and he obeys even before theinstruction is given. With proper reflection, we can surmise what the spiritof Srila Prabhupada's desire was for the continuance of his movement, andthis, obviously, involved his instructions of initiation. We have seen by thepresent guru system that chaos has indeed ensued. The current system does NOTreflect the spirit of Prabhupada's desires. A guru falls and the discipleseither bloop or they fight reform and get fanatical and hold on to the defunctguru. Or some disciples become sober, if they are intelligent. In SrilaPrabhupada's ritvik system, none of that would have happened. If the ritvikacarya fell, it would not be consequential. The disciple would go on in hisfaith. Also, 95% of Prabhupada's direct disciples would not have been drivenaway.

So many Prabhupada disciples still disbelieve the plan of ritvik afterdeparture. Partly this is because they have not studied the situation and readthe material. They give the same arguments over and over, which are defeatedalready in TFO. I've talked to them, and they haven't read the TFO, or theyskimmed it. Also, they fail to realize that Srila Prabhupada was capable tosee the future, to see what is happening right now. He was tri-kala-jnana, soit is not hard to understand that he ordered a ritvik system, in order tocounteract what he knew would happen in the future.

So, the good son will see the obvious instructions of Srila Prabhupada and tryto follow and stop the continuing chaos. The good son would try to pull SrilaPrabhupada's movement back together, by following Srila Prabhupada's simpleinstructions, which were given clearly in the first place.

4. Fourth, we have the JARASANDHA-VADA SYNDROME. Jarasandha was a demon inKrishna's pastimes, who was defeated 17 times by Krishna, but still he waspuffed up and ill advised by his counselors, and he still thought that hecould defeat Krishna in the end. This is the power of Maya, in making puffedup people think they can still win, even after overwhelming defeats in thepast.

In our situation, in the not so distant past, we have seen 6 fall from theoriginal 11gurus. We have seen huge chaos as the result. The leaders shouldhave learned our lesson from that. But no, like Jarasandha, they failed to seethe guru system as defunct and faulty. We continued with cosmetic alterationsonly. And now the 7th has clearly fallen, and the Jarasandha-vada-likeleaders still insist on the defunct guru system. It has failed so many times,and caused complete havoc in the spiritual lives of thousands of innocentpeople, but still they want to defy the clear instructions of SrilaPrabhupada, and continue on this suicidal path of chaos. This is the amazingpower of Maya and attachment to one's material situation.

CONCLUSION

We should educate ourselves on what Prabhupada said and read the TFO. Weshould all pull together, and give up the faulty syndromes of faulty logic andmis-following of instruction. We should do it for Srila Prabhupada. We shoulddo it for ourselves and for the sake of the world and humanity.

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APPENDIX- How can they say there's no evidence, or its all speculation, orphilosophically unsound? When the real evidence comes from Prabhupada's wordsand orders?

A. FROM THE BOOKS: (claim- "there's no evidence in the books." Wrong.)From Adi-lila 1.46: "..the spiritual master is always considered either one ofthe confidential associates of Srimati Radharani or a manifestedrepresentation of Srila Nityananda Prabhu." 2. "When one has attained thetopmost position of maha-bhagavata, he is to be accepted as a guru andworshipped exactly like Hari, the Personality of Godhead. Only such a personis eligible to occupy the post of a guru." (C.c. Madhya, 24.330, purport) -Note: from these statements, we understand that Srila Prabhupada could nothave "appointed" or "ordered" the original 11 men, or ANYBODY to be such a"confidential associate of Srimati Radharani." How could they be "ordered'when 7 biggies fall down hard and some became crazy?? Srila Prabhupada saidthat the bona fide acarya DOES NOT fall down-

Quotes from books, etc. - "Well if he is bad, how can he become a guru?" (TheScience of Self Realization, chapter 2) "The pure devotee is always free fromthe clutches of Maya and her influence." (S.B. 5.3.14) "There is nopossibility that a first class devotee will fall down." (C.c. Madhya, 22.71)"A spiritual master is always liberated." (Letter to TKG)

B. SASTRA - (claim - "no sastric evidence")The term "ritvik" is found many places in Srimad Bhagavatam. For one thing,there is no sastric forbidding of a post-samadhi ritvik system. No mentiondoes not mean that a great acarya cannot implement according to time andcircumstance. Managerial decisions in deep dark Kali Yuga are not described bysastra, and adjustment can be made by the great acarya. Sastra definitely doessay that the empowered GREAT ACARYA can order according to time andcircumstance, not being bound by rules, or "NOT SUBJECTED to any Vedic rulesor regulations"-

"Therefore the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and Isvara Puri isnot subjected to any Vedic rules and regulations" (C.c. Madhya, 10.137) AND- "As Hari is not subject to the criticism of mundane rules and regulations,the spiritual master empowered by Him is also not subjected." (C.c. Madhya,10.136, text and purport) (clearly Prabhupada wanted this system, due to timeand circumstance, seeing how unqualified aspirants could do harm to hismovement.)

C. SADHU - (claim- there's no support from sadhus)We should seek advice from sadhus, BUT ONLY accept instructions that are INLINE with our own founder-acarya. From book- Sri Krsna Bhajanamrta, by sadhu-Srila Narahari Sarakara.-

Verse 48: "A disciple may hear some instruction from another advancedVaisnava, but after gaining that good instruction he must bring it and presentit to his own spiritual master. After presenting them he should hear the sameteachings again from his spiritual master with appropriate instructions."And- Verse 49: "...a disciple who listens to the words of other Vaisnavas,even if their instructions are proper and true, but does not re-confirm thoseteachings with his own spiritual master and instead directly personallyaccepts these instructions, is considered a bad disciple and a sinner."

D. GURU- HIS DIRECTLY WRITTEN AND SPOKEN WORDS ON RITVIK ISSUE-

1. July 9th letter. Its signed and authorization is explained in TFO.2. His will - "The system of management will continue AS IT IS NOW and thereis no need of any change" and "provided the new director is my initiateddisciple following strictly.")3. Letters and conversations- "continue to become ritvik and act on my charge""Make your own field and continue to become ritvik and act on my behalf.' soon… TKG- "process of initiation to be followed in the future…"4. The tape of May 28th… "when you are no longer with us," answer- "ritviks."Parts of tape are in question, but Srila Prabhupada does not contradicthimself, saying ritvik, then something else in the next paragraph. Rather heanswered the question point blank, saying "deputy, or ritvik," understandingwhat "no longer with us" means. The rest of the tape cannot be accepted asevidence, as we strongly suspect tampering with the tape, as dubbing soundsare made, background noises change, as 2 experts said, "falsification." Thistampering has happened before, in LA with his tapes and letters, just ask theLA devotees.

E. OTHER EVIDENCE FROM PRABHUPADA'S WORDS- (just a few of many quotes)

Srila Prabhupada: "He, [Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura, founder ofthe Gaudiya Matha] before passing away, he gave them all direction - and heNEVER said that this man should be the next [guru] acharya. But these people,just after he passed away, they began to fight, 'Who shall be the nextacharya? That is the failure. They never thought, 'guru maharaja gave usinstruction on so many things, why did he not say, "This man should be thenext acharya?"' They wanted to create somebody ARTIFICIALLY as acharya andEVERYTHING FAILED. They did not even consider COMMON SENSE - that if gurumaharaja had wanted to APPOINT somebody as acharya, why he did not say? Hesaid so many things and this point he missed? The main point? And theyinsisted on it. They declared, 'COME ON UNFIT PERSONS to become acharya,' thenanother man comes, THEN ANOTHER, then another. So better to remain a foolishperson perpetually to be directed by guru maharaja. So that is perfection. Andas soon as it was announced that, 'Guru maharaja is dead, now I am so advancedthat I can kill my guru and become [guru]'." (CONV 8/15/76) (Does this hitthe nail on the head?)

Tamala Krishna: "The process of purification must be there. ...No rubberstamp." Srila Prabhupada: "YOU CAN CHEAT, but it will not be effective. Just see ourGaudiya Matha. Everyone wanted to be guru. A small temple and "guru." Whatkind of Guru? The result is that now everyone is claiming to be [guru] acharyaeven though they may be kanistha adhikary [spiritual neophytes], with noability to preach. In some camps, the [guru] acharya is being changed threetimes a year. Therefore, we may not commit the same MISTAKE in our ISKCONcamp." (4/28/74) (Well, did we make the SAME MISTAKE, or not?)

 "... his associate gentlemen unauthorizedly selected one acharya and later itproved to be a failure. The result is that now EVERYONE is claiming to beacharya...in some camps the acharya is being CHANGED three times a year.Therefore amongst my Godbrothers NO ONE IS QUALIFIED to become acharya. So itis better NOT TO MIX with my Godbrothers very intimately," (How do 100 gurusfrom America become more qualified than the Vedic born disciples of SrilaBhaktisiddhanta?)

Note- How can we assume that the alleged "order" to be "eternal gurus" weremade in May 77, just a few years later, after understanding the above quotes?Do not the results confirm the above warnings?

F. OTHER WITNESSES AND PROOFS- (just a few)

1. Yasodanandana dasa's dairy entry of his conversation with TKG- "Afterdeparture?," said Yasoda. TKG said, "they'll be ritvik, its all on tape."Alas, the tapes were never to be found. Where are they? 2. Gauridas Pandit witnessed (right after July 9th letter) what SrilaPrabhupada said, as he fanned him, 2 feet away- Srila Prabhupada said "ritvikafter departure." Who do you believe? After the Topanga confession, Icertainly believe Gauridas. He is a simple devotee who only wants thismovement to succeed. He had no motive to exaggerate. On the other hand, theGosvami confessed the same to be true later at Topanga, and then tried to hidehis confession, and now everybody seems to ignore this glaring fact. The truthhere is not hard to see, that is, for the simple in heart.3. Satsvarupa Maharaja, Tamala Krishna Goswami, Jayadvaita Swami, and otherGBCs sometimes refer to "pre-ritvik" conversations which would have takenplace before May 28th. For example, in December 1980, at Topanga temple,Tamala Krishna discussed how five or six men went to see Srila Prabhupada andthey discussed the ritvik guru (officiating on behalf of Srila Prabhupada)instruction. Many suspect that certain GBCs have destroyed the tapes of thesetalks. It would not have supported the "guru appointment" theory.

I hope this message rests well, and I hope we unite together in the service ofSrila Prabhupada's simple instructions and effectuate a true revival, and notcosmetic patchwork.

Your simple servant.