Back to Prabhupada, Issue 20, Summer 2008
By Krishnakant
We have already clearly documented how ISKCON’s guru system is a monumental hoax, based on 11 ritviks (deputies) unauthorisedly transmogrifying into diksa gurus, and then taking part in voting in others as diksa gurus, after Srila Prabhupada departed. Now, in his eagerness to defend his own unauthorised voted-in guru status, our “Rolls-Royce” guru (see earlier story), His Grace Sankarshan Prabhu, claims that the guru hoax began even whilst Srila Prabhupada was on the planet, completely contradicting the GBC’s whole stance that Srila Prabhupada did not want his disciples to initiate until after he departed from the planet!:
“The July 9 letter was an instruction of how Srila Prabhupada would accept disciples while he was still on the planet. In October of 1977, he said that he would stop accepting disciples through the ritvik system and that his disciples should start initiating their own disciples.”
(E-mail from Sankarshan Das, October 11th, 2007 9:22 AM)
Mr Rolls-Royce here claims that even whilst Srila Prabhupada was on the planet in October 1977, he stopped accepting disciples via the ritvik system set up in July, and instead handed over to his disciples to start initiating their own disciples! The reality, of course, was the exact opposite:
Srila Prabhupada: Hare Krsna. One Bengali gentleman has come from New York?
Tamala Krsna: Yes. Mr. Sukamal Roy Chowdury.
Srila Prabhupada: So I have deputed some of you to initiate. Hm?
Tamala Krsna: Yes. Actually... Yes, Srila Prabhupada.
Srila Prabhupada: So I think Jayapataka can do that if he likes. I have already deputed. Tell him.
Tamala Krsna: Yes.
Srila Prabhupada: So, deputies, Jayapataka’s name was there?
Bhagavan: It is already on there, Srila Prabhupada. His name was on that list.
Srila Prabhupada: So I depute him to do this at Mayapura, and you may go with him. I stop for the time being. Is that all right?
Tamala Krsna: Stopped doing what, Srila Prabhupada?
Srila Prabhupada: This initiation. I have deputed the, my disciples. Is it clear or not?
Giriraja: It’s clear.
Srila Prabhupada: You have got the list of the names?
Tamala Krsna: Yes, Srila Prabhupada.
Srila Prabhupada: And if by Krsna’s grace I recover from this condition, then I shall begin again, or I may not be pressed in this condition to initiate. It is not good.
Giriraja: We will explain to him so that he will understand properly.
Srila Prabhupada: Hm? Hm?
Giriraja: I said we will explain to the Bengali gentleman just as you have described to us, so that he’ll be satisfied with this arrangement.
(Room Conversation, October 18th, 1977)
As can be seen, it’s not that Srila Prabhupada stops initiating disciples, since those initiated by his deputies (ritviks) would still be his disciples. Rather, he has merely stopped performing the initiation fire yajna (ceremony) for those persons who approached Srila Prabhupada to be initiated by him in person, as he was not well enough to carry out a whole ceremony, and instead told the ritviks (deputies), who were already in charge of conducting all initiations in ISKCON, to take care of this personal request as well. Therefore, rather than stop initiating via ritviks and asking his disciples to become diksa gurus as Sankarshan Das claims, Srila Prabhupada actually directs his ritviks to act even on the odd occasion where someone had asked Srila Prabhupada directly to conduct the initiation, just as they had already been acting since July 9th, 1977, for the whole of ISKCON in general.
