Back To Prabhupada, Issue 75, Vol. 4, 2022
Srila Prabhupada taught that it is through the spiritual master that we can receive the mercy of Lord Krsna:
"So spiritual master means who has received the mercy of God, and he can deliver to the confused man."
(Srila Prabhupada, Room Conversation, 23/5/74)
Srila Prabhupada defines the qualities of a spiritual master who is able to give such mercy:
1) Pure devotee
"In the Caitanya-caritamrta (Madhya 19.151) it is said: "By the mercy of the spiritual master who is a pure devotee and by the mercy of Krsna one can achieve the platform of devotional service. There is no other way.""
(The Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 1)
2) Authorised
"nobody can become a spiritual master, without obtaining power from the right source. [...] where from the spiritual master receives the mercy? [...] the spiritual master also receives his power from the ocean of spiritual qualities, that is, from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. [...] one has to offer his respectful obeisances to such authorized spiritual master."
(Purport to Sri Gurvastakam, 2/1/69)
Thus, the mercy-giving and mercy-receiving spiritual master must be authorised, having got his power from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and also be a pure devotee. This perfectly describes Srila Prabhupada.
The GBC gurus claim that they are also transmitting this mercy from Krsna. For example, in BTP 72 article ""Jackass" Guru-Tattva", we quoted GBC voted-in guru HH Bhakti Brnga Govinda Swami preaching that Lord Krsna's mercy could flow even through a "jackass". And GBC voted-in guru HH Bhakti Vikasa Swami ("BVKS") claims that:
"What is actually happening when I give initiation? [...] There's a transmission of Krsna's mercy"
(BVKS Talk, "Who Am I to Initiate?", 25/9/22, quotes in the shaded boxes below are also from this talk)
And, in the same BTP 72 article mentioned above, we also quoted BVKS stating that he is unqualified to be a diksa guru, and that the GBC gurus can be far from pure, being riddled with corruption and envy. But, we have just seen Srila Prabhupada explain that the mercy-delivering spiritual master is a "pure devotee", not a jackass, nor one who could possibly be corrupt or envious in any way.
Thus, the GBC gurus do not have the power to transmit Krsna's mercy like Srila Prabhupada does. Further proof is provided by BVKS himself:
"You may say, "Well, who are you to give Krsna's mercy?", [...] in reply then, "Who are you to say that Krsna's mercy is limited to what you think should be the proper format for the transmission of that mercy?""
So, not being able to answer when challenged to show that he is able to actually transmit Krsna's mercy, his response is to simply retort that we cannot even ask such a question, as mercy cannot be "limited". Yet, BVKS is the one who has boldly claimed to be able to transmit Krsna's mercy. So, he is the one who has to back up his claim with evidence – saying mercy cannot be limited is not evidence. Otherwise, by BVKS's non-"answer", literally anyone in the whole world could also similarly claim to transmit Krsna's mercy – because, after all, who are we to "limit" the mercy to some specific format?
Plus, it is the GBC gurus who are actually saying that "Krsna's mercy is limited" to what they think the "proper format for the transmission of that mercy" is, as they claim that Srila Prabhupada is not able to continue transmitting his mercy as diksa guru to new devotees due to not having a physical body.
"So what am I doing giving initiation? Isn't it a cheating process? Well, Srila Prabhupada writes here, "In the mundane world, anyone possessing his master's power of attorney can act on behalf of his master." So if you're given the power of attorney, then you can do"
BVKS claims the GBC gurus giving initiation is not cheating if they have been given the "power of attorney" to do this by Srila Prabhupada. We saw earlier that the spiritual master who receives mercy from Krsna is authorised by having obtained the power to become spiritual master directly from Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. Yet, it is not denied that the GBC gurus are only getting the power to become gurus not from Krsna or Srila Prabhupada, but from waiting around long enough and wielding enough influence to lobby the GBC to give them the necessary number of votes to enable them to become a guru. By any measure, this is a purely bureaucratic and political process. BVKS's own example perfectly illustrates this, since he accepted that there is no question of him even becoming a diksa guru – as this would be a joke:
""Monitor guru" seems to be the most suitable position for me – an older student guiding a younger one, [...] the teacher of both is the same. ‘Nikunja-yuno' etc. in relation to me? Not even a joke; it's ridiculous. Do I have to pretend to have attained manjari-hood?"
(BVKS, Vedic Village Review, Issue 14, Sept, ‘90)
Rather, he admits that whomever he preaches to would also be a disciple of Srila Prabhupada – "the teacher of both is the same". Thus, he was one of the earliest preachers of "rtvikism"! But then, a little later, he simply lined up to get voted in by the GBC to be one of its "gurus". And he admits they act as "rtviks" on behalf of the GBC who vote them in:
"the gurus in ISKCON, they don't have the independence to initiate of their own volition and in that sense they're working as if a rtvik of the GBC"
(BVKS Talk, "Guru Issues, Part 21", 3/7/22)
So, yes, it is a "cheating process", as neither BVKS, nor anyone else, received power of attorney from Srila Prabhupada to become his successor diksa guru. They got GBC votes to become GBC rtviks!
For mercy to be transmitted via the GBC gurus, Srila Prabhupada would have had to teach that something so important as being able to transmit mercy depended entirely on something so whimsical and contrived as the ever-changing vagaries of the GBC's voting process for gurus. But, Srila Prabhupada did not. And, hence, as BVKS would have to accept, they are cheating, not giving mercy.
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