Excerpts from GBC commissioned document on exploitation
compiled by Jagannatha Suta Dasa
March 10th, 1978
It is not so much that there are many reports of the breaking of regulative principles on these parties, but that the breaking of principles is being justified as necessary to push on Lord Caitanya's sankirtana movement. The philosophy that's being preached on these parties (either outrightly or subtly through rhetoric or innuendo) can be briefly summarized as follows: Any service outside of book distribution and laxmi collection is Maya. If a women's party member wishes to leave the party and do another service (cooking, Deity worship, etc.) she is told that if she leaves the party she will be cut off from Srila Prabhupada and Lord Caitanya's movement. If the women's party member is feeling the desire to marry, she is taught that to take a husband is a complete fall-down-her service will be finished because she will wind up 'serving the husband's senses.' Hence, only her party leader can engage her in Srila Prabhupada's service since any service outside book distribution is Maya. Since the party leader takes care of her and engages her in service, the girls consider him to be their "eternal husband." (This thinking is encouraged by the party leader.) If a woman wants to leave the party leader (her "husband") she is told that she is unchaste-a victim of "prostitute" mentality.
The party leader usually believes, and often preaches, that if a woman has some sexual agitation and wants to leave the party, it is better for her to relieve her desires within the framework of the party than to leave and get a husband. Hence, the party leader is not at all averse to showing her physical affection if that is what she needs to stay on the party. The philosophy is that if she must have sex-better to have it with the party leader because that way her sankirtana service will continue and she will gradually get purified. If however, she leaves to get married, her service is finished and she must live with the guilt of leaving her "real husband" (the party leader).
This philosophy of "the end justifies the means" does not end with the party leader's willingness to give the girls anything they need to stay on the party. In her interview with me, Mother Danistha (who spent three years on Jiva dasa's party as party coordinator) explains that when Jiva found out his wife Manini was pregnant, he told her (and instructed Mother Danistha to preach to her), that she should "dance hard at aratik" and "ride in bumpy vans" to see if it was "Krishna's desire" that she have the child. If she had the child her sankirtana service (and thus her connection with Srila Prabhupada and Lord Caitanya) would be finished.
It is this fanatical perversion of our philosophy that I wish the GBC to be aware of: That anything-having sex with the mothers, beating them, taking drugs-can be justified as being necessary to push on Lord Caitanya's sankirtana movement.
All of the above aforementioned claims are verified in the following reports. Please read each carefully (especially Mother Danistha's). I also request you to carefully study the section entitled the Positive Alternative. It includes a very insightful interview with Mother Sadhvi (number one big book distributor in Seattle yatra).
During Srila Prabhupada's last days on the planet, Ramesvara Maharaja informed His Divine Grace about the Laguna Beach drug scandal and the sensational headlines it was making. Ramesvara Maharaja told me that Srila Prabhupada said we should be so careful-we could ruin everything.
It is in the same spirit that I humbly appeal to the GBC to deal with the present situation so that we can
avoid any unnecessary embarrassment to Lord Caitanya's Sankirtana movement.
I hope this meets you all well and increasingly absorbed in Srila Prabhupada's loving service.
Your servant,
Jagannatha Suta dasa
General manager-BBT Press
Excerpts from Interview with Dhanistha Devi Dasi
Ex-member of Jiva dasa's party
Mother Dhanistha (MD): In the beginning on Jiva's party, he was very strict about his association with the women. Like he would stay in his room if we were changing clothes or nightgowns or if he was chanting japa. He'd just make sure that there was some space around him, you know, respectful space so that the devotees wouldn't become familiar. That was when we first started and a few girls, five or six. And then after he went to visit Dharmatma's party he was trying to learn, he and Manini and I went to Dharmatma's party in Pittsburgh. It was right at the beginning of the party, maybe a year and a half, almost two years ago. After he visited Dharmatma's party. The purpose was to find out how his women did so big. Like he has Mother Mahara, and so many devotees who were doing very nicely, always fired up. Dharmatma's main explanation of why they were doing so big was that they had a satisfying situation, like a relationship with him. The party leader taking a position of husband, friend, advisor, they could take shelter of him. So if they had any problems they could always feel that they could go to him and they'd have some shelter. Plus it kept their idea of having to get married, and find a husband or something, kept that suppressed so they could do sankirtana.
So Jiva, he just, he was always comparing Dharmatma's situation to his situation, how he could improve the mother's parties. So Dharmatma was saying then they feel secure and then they can carry on their service. And Jiva was always wanting to know what his relationship was with the women, how intimate he was with them, like that.
Jagannatha Suta US): Jiva was wanting to know Dharmatma's-.
MD: Yes, Dharmatma's relationship with the women. So Dharmatma told him that you cannot explain this to the other devotees, you know, that aren't in a party situation like this. They won't be able to understand the nature of women and they're not getting-like-we're being empowered to do this service by Lord Caitanya so that women can engage nicely in Krsna's service. Sometimes, he said, you're going to find-he'd (Dharmatma) been doing the party for awhile, two years, maybe longer-and he said you're going to find that they're going to need affection, personal association with you. So if you give them that, they'd be satisfied and peaceful. Because they are by nature so lusty that they can't, you know, ur-dess they have this affection, this personal association, their minds become disturbed. So jiva was, jiva was taking everything in as being absolute, because he could see the results of their sankirtana was very nice.
JS: How did you know this was going on, how did you know Dharmatma was telling him this?
MD: Jiva told me. He would tell me everything. So Jiva would ask him, "What do you give them that they need?" He said, "Well, I just give them anything that they need to go ahead and conduct their service...... And he would dress in front of them and things like that while Jiva was there. He'd be putting on his clothes and a devotee would come in to speak to him, he'd continue putting on his clothes, you know.
JS: A woman?
MD: Yes, one of the mothers. And jiva said it was just real natural, that there was no agitation. But it didn't ever seem possible to me. But he said this way, if they become that familiar then they feel safe because they feel that they have an obligation to remain chaste to someone who's like their husband. They feel some security there in that kind of intimate relationship. So when we came back-also he had never hit the women before, jiva, not to my knowledge. But after visiting Dharmatma, he'd found that Dharmatma would sometimes hit the women or slap them, something to, he said that in certain situations this is what they need in order to bring them back, you know, if they get too offensive or so rebellious against following instruction they should be hit or beaten or whatever. And it was emphasized that this was an important part of their program. So when jiva came back then he would, he just gradually started getting heavier with the women as far as, if they didn't follow instructions. I don't remember any specific incidents.
JS: If they were anything less than fully surrendered.
MD: Yes. Yes. Karuna basically I guess was a prime example. I just remember after she first came, after a couple of months or so in the movement, she was, she wouldn't follow some instruction, I don't know what it was, but he hit her really hard in the face and bloodied her nose. That happened a few times with her. It was just gradually going that way, the devotees, if they got really-just refused to obey an instruction-after a certain amount of time he would hit them. Some devotees he wouldn't at all. He'd relate differently with each individual devotee. And he said that he was trying to be instruction by Krsna what to do.
It was so they would have respect. He said there's two things he dislikes the most and that's disloyalty and disrespect. So if the devotees weren't cooperating he'd set an example and hit them. It wasn't really frequent, I mean once in a while but there were a few intense incidents over the past year or so. One time Mother Kusala was, I don't know the situation, she was in the kitchen and jiva was there. She just refused to obey an instruction and she was very offensive in her attitude. She didn't say anything but she was just refusing to follow an instruction for some reason. And he started to hit her but she blocked. It was just like a reflex, that she started to hit back or something. And that made Jiva very angry and so he hit her pretty hard in the face with his fist or the back of his hand maybe. But that's not-what happened is she hit up against the windowsill and it cut her arm very much, she had to get some stitches. It knocked her out a few minutes. That happened with her....
JS: What was it that you felt that you couldn't do some other service?
MD: Because any other service, other than sankirtana, if you were a sankirtana devotee, was just a falldown.
JS: Even if you want to do Deity worship that was considered a falldown?
MD: Yes. Because Sankirtana's the highest, preaching is the highest service. So Nada was really wanting to get married that time and she approached him and told him she was going to leave the party, she wanted to get married. So at first he was indifferent, you know, she didn't know how to react because she actually had no where else to go. Then he saw that she was still determined and so he became real angry and he just really beat her up. And, he broke her arm. Maybe two months before I left. But he told me that she tripped over a cord and Campak was there and she also told me that same thing.... So I was just preaching to her basic philosophy like that, and that's when she told me personally that Jiva had actually broken her arm.
Tusita said she would see him take ten pills of codeine, the mothers would feed it to him. She said she saw that. He would have the mothers go in and get codeine for him at the hospital at the emergency room. It was very easy to get with this prescription, Campak had a prescription for a large amount.
Satsvarupa would come and give classes, glorifying the party, you know. So with the stamp of approval of the GBCs and temple presidents and as a result I was just suppressing it because Jiva preaches the philosophy that we're so fallen that we'll never become purified without a gradual process taking place.