01/05/98 - 1467

Can Pure Devotees Be Killed?

USA (VNN) - by Narasimha Das

It’s my hope that the investigations, by Krsna’s grace, will yield conclusive knowledge. Yet we will have to pay a heavy price for this knowledge. It has been suggested by some leaders in ISKCON that the outcome of these investigations must prove no crime was committed. They apparently feel that any other conclusion would be a violation of our most cherished ideas about Srila Prabhupada. Surely we can’t expect to honestly investigate this matter if we are biased from the start. Nor should we allow investigations and reports, no matter how mundane they seem, to muddle our spiritual understanding of Srila Prabhupada.

At this crucial time in history, the danger is that thousands of persons who have some attraction for Krsna may get swept away by Maya due to misunderstanding Srila Prabhupada. While reading the reports of investigations, thousands of devotees worldwide have naturally felt distressed. We have heard things that seem to violate our conception of Srila Prabhupada and his movement. In 1972 Srila Prabhupada wrote to many ISKCON leaders and said that unless devotees are trained to understand the philosophy of Krsna consciousness very carefully, the waves of maya would carry them away. He said our little bit of attraction for Krsna won’t save us from the violent waves of illusion.

In recent weeks, I’ve heard new devotees, friends of devotees, and even senior devotees express misunderstandings and doubts, both subtle and gross, regarding Srila Prabhupada’s position. We hear questions such as:

1.) “If Srila Prabhupada is an empowered representative of Krsna, how could he have been killed?”

2.) “If the allegations are true, didn’t Srila Prabhupada know what was going on?”

3.) “If he knew poison was being given, why didn’t he do something?”

4.) “How could any of Prabhupada’s disciples become so demonic?”

In answer to the first question, everyone should clearly understand that a nitya-siddha devotee can never be assassinated by anyone. Even the most powerful demons or demigods can’t harm him. He is fully protected by Lord Krsna at every moment, and all his activities are transcendental pastimes, like those of the Supreme Lord. This is elaborately explained in Srimad-Bhagavatam and other scriptures. It may appear that a pure devotee suffers from some external cause, like an ordinary man, but this is not the fact.

In this regard, the great devotee Sri Uddhava said, “When I think of Lord Krsna -- how He was born in the prison house of Vasudeva although He is unborn, how He went away from His father’s protection to Vraja and lived there incognito out of fear of the enemy, and how, although unlimitedly powerful, He fled from Mathura in fear --- all these bewildering incidents give me distress.” (SB. 3.2.16) Devotees are naturally distressed to hear things that seem to contradict a proper understanding of the Lord’s absolute and all-powerful position. Yet the empowered acarya and Lord Sri Krsna -- both of whom descend from Goloka Dham for a specific mission -- often act like ordinary humans when they perform pastimes in the material world. Since Their “acting” is completely perfect, they bewilder even great sages.

Srila Ramanujacarya, for instance, hid for twelve years at a remote Narasimha Tirtha in South India, ostentatiously out of fear of his mayavadi enemies; and Srila Prabhupada appeared to labor as an ordinary householder in his early life. Such seemingly mundane activities are the inconceivable pastimes of pure devotees. Sometimes such pastimes are meant to bewilder faithless persons. It’s the nature of the material world that reality is not what it seems. We have to look deeper to understand the truth. We have to surrender and accept Vedic authority. Srila Prabhupada wanted followers who would be attracted by an example of pure devotion. Had he displayed mysticism he would have attracted the wrong people.

The Nectar of Devotion explains that a pure devotee is as powerful as (or in some cases more powerful than) the Supreme Lord Himself. Adept yogis can drink poison, manifest wealth from nothing, turn mice into tigers, and do many other things unimaginable by powerful materialists. Great yogis like Agastya Rishi and Vishvamrita have even surpassed the power of demigods. A pure devotee of Krsna is the greatest of all yogis (yoginam api sarvesam ) Bg. 6.47. All sastras and all acaryas confirm that the power and opulence of the mahabhagavata, the self-effulgent acarya, is the same as that of Lord Krsna Himself. Therefore we can safely conclude that Srila Prabhupada could not be killed by even an ocean of poison.

Regarding question two (“If the allegations are true, didn’t Srila Prabhupada know what was going on?”), the answer is: “Yes, he would have known.” Once in Hawaii two ex-devotees challenged him by claiming that because he was not omniscient, he could not manage ISKCON perfectly but had to rely instead on imperfect leaders in a hierarchy. These rascals said that Srila Prabhupada could not, for instance, understand all the workings of a Boeing 747. Because this attack was against Srila Prabhupada personally, he didn’t argue with these persons but rather rejected them as his disciples. They didn’t understand that the spiritual master is the external manifestation of the Supersoul, Who is all-pervading and omniscient. Srila Prabhupada, as Krsna’s viceroy, certainly had complete access to any information he wanted. By a snap of his fingers, he could have created one million 747s in the palm of his lotus hand. Only a fool would consider that a pure devotee like Srila Prabhupada needs to bother himself with trivial details of the cosmic manifestation. If it appears that a pure devotee is unaware of some details of the material world, it is because he prefers to remain absorbed in the details of Krsna’s transcendental lila. Or it’s because he wants to let others serve the Lord’s mission by offering useful information. The spiritual master, the acarya, is never limited by the ignorance that pervades material existence.

I can’t answer question three at this time (“If he knew, why didn’t he do something?”), but I can offer several reasonable answers that don’t violate the Vaisnava siddhanta.

A.) He didn’t want to create pandemonium in ISKCON at the time of his transcendental pastime of departure.

Had Srila Prabhupada called in one type of disciple and told him he was being poisoned, such disciple may have started a riot, perhaps attacking or killing several ISKCON leaders and their followers. Such a course may have also resulted in an offensive attempt to conduct an autopsy after Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance. Had Prabhupada called in another type of disciple, such disciple may have then been attacked or brainwashed by some strong leader who might have convinced him that he had misunderstood Prabhupada or that Srila Prabhupada had misunderstood the situation. Any of the scenarios above would have yielded disastrous results.

It should be noted, however, that Srila Prabhupada did in fact request all his disciples to come to Vrindaban to be with him. But his request was subverted and preached against by top leaders in Iskcon. Seeing how his leaders had already at least partially subverted ISKCON, he may have resigned himself to remain helpless in Krsna’s hands and in so doing display the most exalted mood of a paramahamsa.

B.) Out of his mercy for a rascal disciple, he may have wanted to give him a chance to rectify himself.

C.) The whole affair is an inconceivable pastime, and Srila Prabhupada simply accepted everything offered to him as the mahaprasadam of Lord Krsna.

Like questions one and two, question four (“How could any of Prabhupada’s disciples become so completely demonic?”) is fairly easy to answer. Although it’s hard to estimate the exalted fortune of those who had the opportunity to associate personally with Srila Prabhupada, we should understand that such a great benediction carries great responsibility. If one is slightly inattentive, ignorant, or jealous, he can create great offense. For this reason, the scriptures recommend that one not become too close or familiar with the spiritual master, who is like fire. In Vedic histories like Srimad-Bhagavatam , Mahabharata, and our sastras of Sri Caitanya lila, we see how the offense of envying a pure devotee can lead to the creation of a monster or a monstrous mentality. Even exalted personalities who had direct association with the Supreme Lord or His empowered amsas or aveshas have fallen prey to unthinkable activities due to jealousy of a mahabhagavata. There are many examples.

It’s possible that one or more of Srila Prabhupada’s senior disciples lusted for Srila Prabhupada’s position, which is equal in status to the position of the Supreme Lord, Sri Krishna. For this reason, he (or they) may have been possessed by a demon or by a demonic desire to subvert Srila Prabhupada’s mission for personal motive or special interests. It’s difficult for devotees to accept this idea because everyone has seen how these men sacrificed for Lord Caitanya’s mission. I know most of them personally, and have witnessed their dedication and love for Srila Prabhupada. Nonetheless, no one should be immune from scrutiny in the investigations, and the GBC should cooperate fully in solving this mystery.

The allegations we’re hearing are repugnant to honest devotees. If a crime was committed, it was the Crime of the Yuga. Even a slight suspicion of such a crime demands the fullest investigation. My own feeling is that no one deliberately gave Srila Prabhupada poison. I feel this way for personal reasons, not because I feel the crime would have been impossible. Opinions and emotions have little value in the search for answers. We need facts, real evidence -- not emotional opinions.

All devotees should carefully understand Srila Prabhupada’s infallible position as Vaisnava acarya and jagat-guru. Our understanding of Srila Prabhupada is being tested right now and more tests will follow. Even after passing these tests, no one should claim to understand everything about Srila Prabhupada’s pastimes. No one can say, “I know such thing could never have happened because I was so close to Prabhupada and this just doesn’t fit in.” Although Srila Prabhupada knows everything about his disciples, none of his disciples can claim to understand everything about him or his pastimes.

Nonetheless, we should never misunderstand his transcendental position. “He reasons ill who tells that Vaisnavas die.” Similarly, he reasons ill who tell that Vaisnavas are killed.