Back To Prabhupada, Issue 74, Vol. 3, 2022
There has only ever been one official debate authorised by the full GBC regarding the "guru issue", or what should have happened in ISKCON after Srila Prabhupada's physical departure. This was the debate organised by Martin Luther University, Germany, between the IRM and the GBC. For this debate, the GBC chose Krishna Kirti Dasa ("KKD") to represent it, and the full debate was published by the university as a book. This book is available on request, and the ebook is also available on our website.
KKD has now been selected again to officially represent ISKCON in regard to a debate. This time, it is on behalf of ISKCON India via the ISKCON India Scholars Board ("IISB"), of which he is the convenor. The IISB is ISKCON India's body of supposed brahminical advisors. Thus, on behalf of the IISB, KKD recently issued a "challenge" to the chairperson of the GBC's Sastric Advisory Council ("SAC"), Urmila Devi Dasi ("UDD"), regarding the issue of female diksa gurus ("FDG"):
"The ISKCON India Scholars Board formally challenges the Sastric Advisory Council to a public sastrartha*, refereed and judged by learned scholars agreeable to both sides, with regard to the adhikara of women to become acarya ("diksha-guru")."
(KKD Letter on behalf of IISB, 7/8/22)
*Means debate based on sastra.
The SAC is basically the GBC's version of ISKCON India's IISB.
As stated at the outset, KKD himself was previously involved in a debate defending GBC diksa gurus on behalf of the GBC. However, he failed to defend them, as we clearly demonstrated in our rebuttal to his GBC authorised paper which can be viewed here.
In this previous debate, KKD argued for successor diksa gurus to Srila Prabhupada, a position the IISB agrees with, and that the following quote is his evidence for this argument:
"Remarks such as
At the same time, I shall request them all to become spiritual master. Every one of you should be spiritual master next.
continue to be problematic for the hard ritviks."
But this quote KKD supplied from Srila Prabhupada would apply equally to all of Srila Prabhupada's disciples, both male and female – as Srila Prabhupada states that his request is directed to all and every single one of his disciples, since he uses the words: "them all"/"every one of you". Thus, by KKD claiming that the above quote is evidence that Srila Prabhupada wanted his disciples to become diksa gurus, KKD is accepting that Srila Prabhupada ordered FDG. And, therefore, he has already rebutted his anti-FDG position against the GBC and hence would lose any debate with the GBC's SAC! Thus, these quotes are actually "problematic" for KKD! (We have previously shown that, in reality, in these quotes Srila Prabhupada is not asking every single one of his many thousands of disciples to become diksa gurus, but qualified siksa gurus, preaching on his behalf. For example, see BTP 45 article "Srila Prabhupada's Guru Order".)
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KKD was initiated by HH Hridayananda Dasa Goswami ("HD") who gave KKD his initiated name which he still uses. However, as we covered in BTP 23 (QNN, "GBC Spokesman Against IRM Dumps Guru"), KKD rejected HD as his guru:
"for many years I have been an initiated disciple of Hridayananda Goswami. However, on account of recent news of his blessing of homosexual nuptials and his less-than-straightforward response to the devotee community about his involvement, I have formally ended my relationship with him as his disciple."
(KKD, 15/2/09)
However, KKD has also written a paper on behalf of the IISB trying to justify that HH Lokanath Swami ("LOK") should be allowed to maintain his diksa guru position in spite of his having signed a letter admitting to having sexually abused a minor whilst he was a diksa guru (see previous article). This paper titled "Vedic Jurisprudence and Atonement" claims:
"There is no mention of removing a person (Vaisnava) from the position of guruship, even for sins as heinous as brahmahatya, and even a sin such as brahmahatya does not necessarily mean that a guru is no longer bona fide."
The heinous sin of "brahmahatya" refers to killing a brahmana. So, in order to support LOK not being removed as diksa guru, IISB claims that one cannot be removed as a guru and can remain bona fide even if he commits really heinous sins such as killing a brahmana, thus also exempting one from being removed as a guru for the sexual abuse of a minor. But the IISB has not objected to KKD, its convener, considering HD to no longer be a bona fide guru and thus removing HD from guruship of himself for doing something which they are not even claiming was anywhere remotely close to being a "sin as heinous" as killing a brahmana. Therefore, the IISB:
a) Supports deviant gurus being unremovable and considered bona fide if the guru is LOK, but not in another case. This is a double standard;
b) Promotes the idea that deviant gurus may be bona fide gurus when Srila Prabhupada clearly states that a bona fide guru would never deviate in the first place:
"A bona fide spiritual master is in the disciplic succession from time eternal, and he does not deviate at all from the instructions of the Supreme Lord"
(Bg., 4.42, purport)
In the "debate" challenge sent by IISB to the SAC mentioned at the outset, it also accuses the SAC of having "deficiencies in its own scholarship". However, as we have shown:
1) The IISB convener has already lost this FDG "debate" before it has begun;
2) The IISB is exposed supporting a pro-deviant guru philosophy that is both inconsistent and opposed to Srila Prabhupada's teachings. And in the last issue, in the article "The Failure of ISKCON India's "Scholars"", we showed the IISB talking contradictory nonsense where it rejected evidence from both Srila Prabhupada and ISKCON India itself!
Thus, the IISB also needs to get its own "scholarship" in order!
Both sides in the FDG debate have continually been exposed by the IRM failing in trying to justify how they can replace Srila Prabhupada – whether with male, female or deviant gurus!
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