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EDITORIAL June 25, 1999 VNN4158 Comment on this story Sake vs. Stake BY BY TARUN KRSNA DAS EDITORIAL, Jun 25 (VNN) — For the STAKE of Mahaprabhu's mission or for the SAKE of Mahaprabhu's mission, many irregularities occurred. Did Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad, Founder-Acharya of the largest branch of the Sri Chaitanya Tree, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, choose any successor? After weeks of being at Srila Prabhupad's Raman-reti Vrndavan bedside, under the guidance of Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayan Mhrj and with the digging assistance of Amsterdam's Bhakta Gerio, Tamal Krsna Gosvami placed SP in his samadhi tomb. 3 weeks later, Tamal Krsna Goswami returned to New York. From December 6th thru 10th of 1977, at 340 West 55St, Manhattan, New York, Tamal Krsna Goswami proceeded to give morning lectures during which time he mentioned more than once that Srila Prabhupad had not chosen any successor. Excepting the poison issue, Tamal Krsna Goswami was being honest. Notwithstanding the honesty, the following occurred. Three months later, a vatican-like puff of white smoke rose from our Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir roof indicating some new news. You had to see it to believe it. What Dreams May Come. And even then.... Gaur-purnima Mahotsav, March 1978, Mayapur. Tamal Krsna Goswami and the other shaven ten, the chosen few, the Eleven sent from Heaven had secretly met and agreed d'en haut, from up above (the 3rd floor), that for the stake of, id est, for the sake of the mission, to carry on the parampara, to continue the process of initiation and to increase the spiritual family, these 11 persons could and would take on the role of gurus. They should subsequently descend in order to be presented to the rest of us la-bas, down below, as Srila Prabhupad's indubitably absolute, airtightly appointed, exclusively authorized, bonafide, genuine successors. Bhagavan das, GBC for Western Europe, was coincidently being coaxed by Tamal Krsna Goswami into accepting sannyas from Tamal Krsna Goswami. At that time Bhagavan das had a chaste wife and 3 children under 10 years of age. He had his doubts. Witnesses recall that while strolling along Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir's 3rd floor veranda, Bhagavan das asked Tamal Krsna Goswami, "After we present ourselves as chosen by SP, what do we say to our godbrothers who do NOT accept us as gurus or even PROTEST!? Tamal Krsna Goswami quickly gave his eveready sparkplug reply, "We say they are envious. That's all. We say they are envious." Thereafter, that became the chosen 11's standard retort and slogan: "Anyone who disagrees is envious." Bhagavan das willingly or unwillingly went along with it, for the stake of, for the sake of the mission. 2 years later, Jayatirtha das, GBC of Great Britain, South Africa, Detroit, etc, the only one left out of the 11 who hadn't yet put on saffron, still wearing white, looking pale in contrast, was also being cajoled into renouncing. The idea was to show the world how all 11 had given up this mundane world. They wanted to make a strong show of oneness and spiritual unity straight across the board. At that time JT also had a chaste wife and 3 year old son. He was literally coerced into presenting himself as an uttama-adhikari in blazing orange. He too, had his doubts, but like Bhagavan das, he too went along for the highchair ride. Pratikula peer pressure is very strong; beware of it!! Srila Prabhupad accepted sannyas after his youngest child was over 20 years old. Nothing premature or artificial about that. And His Divine Grace didn't do TOO badly by not rushing but rather waiting and preparing himself for the appropriate time!!! Srila Prabhupad also told us a story of one man who took sannyas. Just after accepting sannyas, he saw his son. Father and son began to embrace. Then both of them began to lament and cry, regretting the father's new vow. Srila Prabhupad commented: "If you are both crying, both lamenting, then why have you taken sannyas?" Srila Bhaktiraksaka Sridhar Mhrj, commenting on Sriman Mahaprabhu's 4th Siksastakam verse, elucidated: "na dhanam na janam na sundarim... kanaka, kamini, pratistha = fortune, females and fame, respectively. The mayavadi sannyasis can easily give up the pursuit of kanaka and kamini, money and sex, but because they desire to control and BECOME God, it is very difficult for them to give up pratistha = name and fame." Srila Sridhar Mhrj next went on to evoke the gravest, most serious, while at the same time most succinct instruction I'VE ever heard, at least in THIS lifetime: "One layer of false ego may consume many births." So far I've understood, KC is based upon hearing from the right sources, those free from any worldly motive to stake any claim for themselves within this anityam asukham lokam: this temporary, miserable world. Luckily there were and are some proper vaisnav sadhus dwelling in the holy dhamas and/or traversing the world even TODAY. Thinking, feeling, willing, the mind. Ergo, anyone who really wants to CAN, MAY and SHALL get illumination beyond this subtle cloud of pratistha meaning that 'claim-staking mist'. Improved association is available as soon as we are ready. ps: On a more practical positive note, Bhagavan das' daughter, Manjari dd, has taken shelter of Srila Narayan Mhrj and Sri Gaudiya Vedanta Samiti, another branch of that Sri Chaitanya Tree. pps: On a similar note, Jayatirtha's son and widow Manjvali took shelter of Srila Sridhar Mhrj and Sri Chaitanya Sarasvat Math, yet another branch of that same many-branched Sri Chaitanya Tree. Thank God for vibhuti-bhinnam: Divine diversification ki jaya! Comment on this story | Contact VNN about this story | Send this story to a friend
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