t first glance, it can seem as if the "guru" dispute between the IRM and the GBC, regarding who should be the diksa, or initiating, guru of ISKCON, is intractable and very complex. On the one hand, there is the IRM with hundreds of papers and documents, and many books, presenting reams of evidence for its position. On the opposite side, you have over one hundred GBC gurus and many thousands of their followers all sticking to their guns, convinced they are also correct. However, we will show that:
a) This dispute only requires that one question be answered;
b) Both sides have answered this question;
c) And both sides agree on the answer!
Emphases added.
Srila Prabhupada speaks about the person who has opened our eyes spiritually:
"Janme janme prabhu sei. Spiritual master who has opened the eyes, he is, spiritual master, the life of the disciple [...] Janme janme prabhu sei. Life of the disciple. Cakhu-dan dilo jei, janme janme prabhu sei."
(Srila Prabhupada, Conversation, 29/5/77)
"In a song we sing every day, Narottama dasa Thakura says, caksu-dana dila yei, janme janme prabhu sei: the guru gives spiritual insight to the disciple, and therefore the guru should be considered his master, life after life."
(SB, 6.7.21, purport)
Above Srila Prabhupada quotes this statement from Narottama dasa Thakura siksa–
Cakhu-dan dilo jeisiksa,
janme janme prabhu sei
– which means that the one who has opened our eyes ("Cakhu-dan dilo jei") is not just our spiritual master, but must be considered the master of the disciple "life after life" ("janme janme prabhu sei"). This must refer to the diksa or initiating spiritual master, because Srila Prabhupada refers to a singular spiritual master who alone will be the master "life after life" for the disciple. And we know that such a singular spiritual master must be the diksa guru, since only the diksa guru is singular, whilst instructing or siksa gurus can be many:
"A devotee must have only one initiating spiritual master because in the scriptures acceptance of more than one is always forbidden. There is no limit, however, to the number of instructing spiritual masters one may accept."
(Cc., Adi-lila, 1.35, purport)
In the quotes from Srila Prabhupada that we just presented, he says that the statement from Narottama dasa Thakura is sung every day. It is sung every day as part of the following prayer offered during "guru-puja":
Cakhu-dan dilo jei, janme janme prabhu sei, divya jnana hrde prokasito.
Thus, it is sung immediately before the phrase "divya jnana hrde prokasito", which, Srila Prabhupada states, refers to the person who is giving diksa or the diksa guru:
"Divya-jnana hrde prokasito. What is that divya-jnana? [...] This is divya-jnana. Diksa. Diksa means from this divya-jnana."
(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, 11/7/76)
Hence, this is further evidence that the person who opens our eyes is the same person who gives us diksa, i.e. the diksa guru.
Therefore, all we need to do is answer the simple question of who it is that has opened our eyes. Once that is done, then by the proofs given in the previous 2 sections, that will tell us who the diksa guru is. HH Bhakti Vikasa Swami ("BVKS"), a GBC voted-in guru, has answered this question very clearly with the following explanation:
"it's Prabhupada who gave me the eyes of spiritual knowledge, cakhu-dan dilo jei, that's what some who get initiated within ISKCON say, they go off to rtvikism. But okay, it's a fact, we all study Prabhupada's books [...] So when we say, ‘my guru, birth after birth' [...] we say cakhu-dan dilo jei, janme janme prabhu sei, it's addressed in the singular [...] and when we sing it before Prabhupada, we're all addressing it specifically to Prabhupada"
(BVKS Talk, "Guru Issues, Part 28", 11/4/24)
BVKS states that:
1) In ISKCON, the person who has opened our eyes is Srila Prabhupada, because "it's a fact" that we all study his books.
2) When in ISKCON everyone sings that verse from Narottama dasa Thakura about the person who has opened our eyes, it is addressed specifically to Srila Prabhupada. He even refers to our point that Narottama dasa Thakura's verse refers to the "singular" guru.
Thus:
a) There is no dispute that it is Srila Prabhupada who has opened our eyes.
b) Which means he is the diksa guru for ISKCON.
However, BVKS also goes on to claim:
"to enter into the life of devotional service, to guide us how to use our beads, how to bow down, what mantras to say, to explain further, to help resolve doubts, there are others who help and guide us. Among them you select one who you see to be ideal to approach, and ask humbly to be initiated"
Having been unable to deny that it is Srila Prabhupada who is the one who has opened our eyes, and is thus the one who is our diksa guru "birth after birth", BVKS bizarrely claims that it is he (and others like him) who should be the diksa guru! He claims that this is because the one we must get initiated by is the one who helps us practically in devotional life by telling us how to use our beads, etc.
But it is a fact that BVKS – and 99% of those who joined ISKCON when Srila Prabhupada was physically present – also had someone show them "how to use our beads", etc., which was not Srila Prabhupada. Yet, they all still became Srila Prabhupada's disciples, because the diksa guru is the one who has opened one's eyes, rather than the one who shows us how to open a bead bag! Thus, we have proof, from BVKS's own practical example, that just because someone gives us guidance on following devotional rituals, it does not make him the diksa guru. Hence, both by the teaching and example of BVKS, he has to accept that Srila Prabhupada is ISKCON's diksa guru.
By the teachings of BVKS and his and most of the other GBC gurus' practical example, it is accepted that it is Srila Prabhupada who has opened our eyes, and is thus the diksa guru, rather than the "temple commander" and others who may help us with day to day practicalities. But the GBC gurus like BVKS simply do not want to follow their own teachings, such is their lust to be diksa guru.
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