"It is foolish beyond measure to impose the condition on Srila Prabhupada that he has to state 48 times that he wanted his disciples to become gurus. Where did Krishna Kant get that idea?"

Has Jahnu das actually read the exchange in question? If so then perhaps he needs to take a crash course in English. This idea originated with the Maharaja not myself. It was his original assertion in a lecture that sparked off the whole discussion, and this was explained by Vishwa Pran prabhu right at the beginning of the ‘Master of Evasion’ article.

As was explained, Maharaja asserted in a lecture (given in Alachua on May 19th, 1997) that Srila Prabhupada had said 'many dozens' of times that after his 'departure' his disciples would become 'gurus and acaryas'; and he made that statement in opposition to the 'ritvik' idea that Srila Prabhupada should continue to initiate. So after hearing the tape I merely wrote to the Maharaja asking him to kindly produce the quotes - that's all. What's wrong with that? I made a totally reasonable request. One could only object to that if one is in support of a totalitarian regime based on evasion and lies, where we have to except what anyone says without question. It is interesting to note that even Maharaja did not object to this request. He stated repeatedly that he would indeed go and get the quotes (or send a disciple) and that they certainly existed in the form he had stated. All this is clear from reading the exchange. So why should Jahnu object?

It is also ludicrous to title his article 'Krishnakant- Master of Evasion', when the exchange is merely myself continually requesting to see quotes, and Maharaja repeatedly not producing them. What exactly was it that I evaded in asking Maharaja a question, the basis for which he had originated? How is this evasion? Jahnu needs to look up the word in a dictionary. When he does he will find it is not defined as ‘the activity of asking someone to substantiate their claims’.

Jahnu then states:

"Isn't it enough that Srila Prabhupada, as shown below consistently and explicitly expressed his desire for his disciples to succeed him as guru:"

That was not what the discussion was about. No one has ever disputed the fact that Srila Prabhupada wanted all his disciples to become gurus who teach and preach by example, and that they should do this even after he leaves. It appears Jahnu is also trying to evade the issue at hand by changing the subject. Perhaps his many years of serving expert Masters of Evasion has somehow rubbed off on him. What is 'enough' is that Maharaja backs up EXACTLY what he asserted; not something else which Jahnu has decided is 'enough'.

Maharaja stated X, and I asked him to produce the evidence for X. It does not satisfy the request, nor do Maharaja any favours, to state that instead of X it is 'enough' for Maharaja to produce something else that sort of sounds a bit like X, as decided by Jahnu, who was not even involved in the exchange. Does Jahnu think he knows better than His Holiness Hridayananda das Goswami? In an instant Jahnu can produce relevant quotes Maharaja could not give in an entire year!?

These are the quotes Jahnu thinks will bail out the Maharaja:

1) Letter to Madhusudana - 1967

2) Letter to Hamsaduta - 1968

3) Letter to Kirtanananda - 1968

4) Letter to Kirtanananda - 1969

5) Letter to Tusta Krishna - 1975

6) Vyasa-Puja address -1969

7) Vyasa-Puja address - 1973

(He also includes a testimony from the Lilamrta)

Now let us see the relevance of these quotes to the exchange I had with Maharaja:

a) Only 2 quotes - numbers 1 and 5 even make any specific reference to departure and Gurus/acaryas coming into existence at that time - which is what Maharaja stated. Even then as we have shown in TFO, these are not orders for every disciple to become a diksa guru as soon as Srila Prabhupada departs.

b) Quotes 3 and 4 clearly speak of initiating whilst Srila Prabhupada is still present - so what these quotes have to do with what Maharaja said is not at all clear.

c) The other quotes are dealt with in the TFO and elsewhere and are not authorisations for every disciple to become a diksa guru as soon as Srila Prabhupada departs either.

In summary:

• Jahnu is pointlessly objecting to me asking Maharaja to simply produce the exact evidence which Maharaja claims exists in (variable) abundance.

• He then produces quotes that do not in any case correspond to Maharaja's claim - that there are 'dozens/many' quotes that sanction all disciples to act as 'gurus/acaryas' on his 'departure', to take over the responsibility of initiation.

So regardless of Jahnu's added attempts at evasion, our request still remains valid, and we would like to see these 'many' quotes if indeed they exist. How much longer will Jahnu choose to serve and defend the evaders?

Your servant

Krishnakant (IRG)