Back To Prabhupada, Issue 81, 2024, Interactive
"Are personalities like HH Bhakti Vikasa Swami ("BVKS"), the self-proclaimed gurus of ISKCON, really Vaisnavas?
"First of all, we have to see who is going to speak about Krsna. Is it a devotee of Krsna? Is he a Vaisnava or not? If he is not, then immediately reject: "Oh, we are not going to hear from you." But people do not know. Any rascal speaking about Bhagavad-gita we hear. That is not the process. Then you will misunderstand. Avaisnava-mukhod..., sarpocchistam payo yatha. Just like milk is very good food, everyone knows. But when it is touched by the tongue of the serpent, it is poison, immediately. So we cannot drink poison. Don't hear Bhagavad-gita or any talk about Krsna from a person who is not a Vaisnava, who is not a devotee of Krsna. We'll misunderstand."
(Srila Prabhupada, Lecture, Bg., 1.44, 31/7/73)
When I read this quote, it brought up the question in my mind. I am not knowledgeable in these matters so I am hoping that you will be able to answer the question in depth in a future edition of your BTP. All Glories to Srila Prabhupada. Prabhu, just to let you know that I was initiated in year 2000 by an ISKCON guru who fell down.
Hare Krsna,"
- Nigel Hardy, City of Bradford, UK
You have asked for an in-depth answer, and we can answer the question in 6 ways.
1) Srila Prabhupada cites Lord Caitanya's teaching that the "simple definition" of a Vaisnava is "a person who immediately reminds one of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna" (SB, 4.21.37, purport).
Therefore, it could be argued that virtually everyone in ISKCON is a Vaisnava, as just by seeing them in devotional dress one may "immediately" think of Krsna.
2) However, Srila Prabhupada expands on this "simple" definition to explain that it is possible for persons to misleadingly pose in the dress of Vaisnavas. Even though such persons could in theory "immediately remind" one of Krsna, Srila Prabhupada states that such persons are not Vaisnavas and "many" of them exist in the Krsna consciousness movement:
"There are many jealous people in the dress of Vaisnavas in this Krsna consciousness movement, and they should be completely neglected. [...] When Narottama dasa Thakura says chadiya vaisnava-seva nistara peche keba, he is indicating an actual Vaisnava, not an envious or jealous person in the dress of a Vaisnava."
(Cc., Madhya-lila, 1.218, purport)
Thus, such envious persons are not considered to be one who is an "actual Vaisnava". Indeed, it is stated about such envious persons that:
"Enviousness is immediately disqualification of Vaisnava. Immediate. He is not a human being."
(Srila Prabhupada, Room Conversation, 17/10/75)
Thus, there can be "many" persons in ISKCON who are not Vaisnavas, such as the GBC gurus, and they can be recognised due to their possessing envy. For example:
a) If such GBC gurus have not been authorised to take Srila Prabhupada's position as ISKCON's diksa guru, then in doing so they would be stealing for themselves the position and disciples that belong to Srila Prabhupada.
b) In the section "Nonsense Challenges" on the following page, we have quoted an ISKCON leader giving an argument against accepting Srila Prabhupada as ISKCON's diksa guru. He states that to do so would be "over-estimating" Srila Prabhupada's glories. Other ISKCON leaders have made similar complaints. If they are incorrect, then they would be guilty of objecting to Srila Prabhupada getting glory, and this would tie in with one then wanting to take that glory away from Srila Prabhupada and steal it for oneself instead.
And we have documented that the GBC gurus have, indeed, unauthorisedly usurped Srila Prabhupada's diksa guru position. Thus, when one complains about the rightful glory of someone else's position or steals that position for oneself, this is usually proof that the person was envious of that person's position.
c) It is admitted by BVKS himself that there are GBC gurus who possess envy:
"It can be tough being lauded as a great spiritual personality when you have your own internal struggles with lust, pride, envy"
(BVKS, Talk, "Guru Issues" - 7, published 1/12/21)
3) In the previous section, we quoted Srila Prabhupada speaking about those who are in the dress of Vaisnavas, but are not actually Vaisnavas. Two purports later, Srila Prabhupada further states about such a person that they are a kali-cela or "a disciple of Kali-yuga":
"Bhaktivinoda Thakura therefore says
that such a pseudo-Vaisnava is not a Vaisnava at all but a disciple of Kali-yuga."
(Cc., Madhya-lila, 1.220, purport)
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In BTP 36, we documented in detail how the behaviour of the GBC gurus displays the characteristics of such kali-celas, in the article "Combating Kali-celas Passing As Vaisnavas." This document can be read here.
4) Srila Prabhupada provides a symptom by which we may detect such a non-Vaisnava in the dress of a Vaisnava. He states they don't know the philosophy:
""He has got a tilaka and galaya mala. Bas. That's all." He does not know what is the philosophy. If you do not know the philosophy of Krsna consciousness, if you simply mark your body with tilaka and kanthi, then you are not proper servant; you are not qualified."
(Srila Prabhupada, Lecture, 4/6/76)
We have extensively evidenced GBC gurus being ignorant of even basic Krsna consciousness philosophy, such as guru-tattva, whilst boldly misleading their followers with a false philosophy. For example, BVKS offensively attacks Srila Prabhupada's transcendental status by comparing Srila Prabhupada's spiritual position to a dead skeleton (see BTP 71 "Attacking Srila Prabhupada's Transcendence" and BTP 72 ""Psycho" Attack on Srila Prabhupada Continues"), and he teaches that "good as God" gurus can be corrupt and envious (BTP 72, ""Jackass" Guru-tattva").
5) There is a group of persons called "sahajiyas", who are referred to as "so-called Vaisnavas" (Cc., Antya-lila, 6.278, purport), "covert Mayavadis" (Cc., Madhya-lila, 12.195, purport), and "apa-sampradaya, which means "outside of the sampradaya"" (Cc., Adi-lila, 7.48, purport), due to not being considered real Vaisnavas. In the BTP 38 article "Documenting the New Sahajiya Movement", we show that the GBC gurus are such sahajiyas.
6) Finally, we can answer this question from a practical standpoint. There are persons who accept that the GBC gurus may be deviating and should not be taking part in the guru hoax, but they say that it is still too "harsh" to say that they are not even Vaisnavas. However, the quote you presented in your question explains that the reason why it is important to distinguish whether or not a person is a Vaisnava is so that we do not hear from or associate with those who are not Vaisnavas. Thus, regardless of the label one wishes to assign to the deviators in ISKCON, and whether one believes they are still to be considered Vaisnavas, most persons who accept that they are deviants will not hear from or associate with them for that reason. And, thus, they treat them practically as if they are non-Vaisnavas anyway!
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