Some Devotees Shocked

In one of the letters received in this barrage of papers regarding the Gopi Bhava club, some devotees are shocked, it said, that leaders and rank and file devotees could participate in this kind of belittling and offensive talk and behaviour towards Srila Prabhupada, but on the other hand, they allowed Tamal Krishna Goswami and all the so-called guru-acharyas and GBC to push Srila Prabhupada aside to make way for the "new guru-acharyas" back in 1977, immediately after the disappearance of Srila Prabhupada.

Those devotees were not shocked then, because at that time they envisioned themselves as one day sharing in the booty of the guru-acharya prestige which their god-brothers had so arrogantly assumed. Now that these same men had gone too far by boldly declaring Srila Prabhupada as a mere ordinary guru who is only capable of giving the basic, general thing, they are shocked. Why? Because they do not see how they will get their share of the guru-acharya loot if Narayana Maharaja, "rasika bhava acharya," becomes the prominent figure in the scheme of things. Therefore they do not want Narayana Maharaja; they want Srila Prabhupada as the centre, because it is easier to exploit Srila Prabhupada's legacy. After all they think Srila Prabhupada is dead and gone. If Narayana Maharaja is heralded as a "rasika bhava Vaishnava" surpassing Srila Prabhupada, how will these aspiring guru-acharyas realise their ambition? This is the real undercurrent of their concern.

Don't Get Caught In-between

What is the use of entering into the midst of these two contending camps? Both are disloyal or disobedient to the order of Srila Prabhupada--"Act as rittvik of the Acharya." Their struggle with one another is really about who will wield the power of authority in ISKCON. Will it be the GBC? Or will it be the gurus? This point is clearly expressed by Giriraja Swami during his meeting in Mayapur, where he challenges the authority of the GBC in the following way: But I would raise another point. To what extent is it the business of the GBC to try to regulate such instruction? The GBC tried to regulate or certify Vaishnava literature through the apasiddhanta, or breach of Vaishnava etiquette. For example, when Hari Sauri's first diary came out, things were published that shouldn't have appeared, in terms of Prabhupada's direct instruction, and in terms of Vaishnava etiquette. And the book, having the official GBC ISKCON Review Board certificate, put us in an awkward position, as much as the GBC was in an awkward position when the official GBC-approved gurus fell down. So I think it is neither realistic nor practical nor advisable for the GBC to try to take the position of assessing Gaudiya Vaishnavas and certifying that one is good for association and another is not. Srila Prabhupada has given so many instructions about association in the Nectar of Instruction and other places. If the devotees have questions about the application of the principles, they can ask their gurusor any senior devotees in whom they have faith. It is really a question whether the GBC wants to start certifying Vaishnavas not under the authority of the GBC and trying to control or stop devotees from meeting them. In the case of the Review Board, even if we did not certify a book, there was no way to stop a devotee from reading it. They ended up reading whatever they wanted, approved or not. So this is a very critical issue. Whether the GBC should even try to certify people not under the GBC's authority and legislate the devotees' association. (Giriraja Swami addressing Mayapur meeting)

So this is the vital nerve of the whole controversy between the Gopi Bhava Club and the GBC.

All problems facing ISKCON are due to one cause: both GBCs and gurushave disobeyed the order of Srila Prabhupada and have become contenders for his position, or for his post of authority. Instead of simply accepting Srila Prabhupada as the authority, as the absolute spiritual head, as the Sampradaya Acharya, everyone is contending for his post. The fact is that the GBC should serve Srila Prabhupada and carry out his order, and the rittvik gurus should serve the GBC. Then there will be no question of controversy.

But without Srila Prabhupada as the Sampradaya Acharya, controversy will never end. Today it is Gopi Bhava, tomorrow it will be something else. If we keep Srila Prabhupada as the Sampradaya Acharya and keep unconditional allegiance to his word, there will be no opportunity for conflict. Now there are two camps--GBCs and Gopi Bhava gurus. As time goes on, more camps will split off from these two, each claiming a unique angle of vision or interpretation of what Srila Prabhupada meant, instead of following his order.

All this controversy exists only because originally the GBC allowed the gurus to take the powerful position of guru-acharya, disregarding Srila Prabhupada's actual order ("Act as rittvik of the Acharya"),because they anticipated their own ascension to the post of acharya in due course of time. The GBCs and gurus are partners in crime. One partner (Gopi Bhava) is committing murder, and the other camp is shocked, because they did not think it would come to this, namely, actually killing Srila Prabhupada. They thought of just enjoying a little sense gratification in the name of guru, but now it's too late, and what can be done?

The real solution

What will happen next? After everything is said and done, the only real solution to this and all other problems facing the devotees individually and collectively within and without ISKCON is uncompromising surrender and allegiance to the order and instructions of Srila Prabhupada, the Sampradaya Acharya. Rather than waste our valuable time and energy combating and counter-combating each other over the endless issues and side issues in this regard, we should aim our time and energy, money and words at the innocent public on the basis of worshipping the Sampradaya Acharya, Srila Prabhupada. The results will be testimony to the validity of the premise that Srila Prabhupada should be worshipped by one and all as the Sampradaya Acharya. Thus, all devotees can be united in one harmonious family, as Srila Prabhupada wanted us to be.