05/24/98 - 1825 (see also VNN stories# 1047, 1697, 1736, 1818)

Justice After All?

USA (VNN) - The BBT versus BBTI courtcase is only the tip of the iceberg.

Written by Swami B.A. Paramadvaiti, former BBT manager for Swedish, Danish, Finish, Portuguese BBT from 1974-1984. Several times threatend by BBTI with Court cases even for publishing a picture of Srila Prabhupada. Author of "NO Copyright on Krishna"

Dear Vaisnavas, please accept my dandavat Pranams. Please excuse me for taking your time to present MY TURN on the issue of copyrights and the spirit of Srila Prabhupada's movement. The reconciliatory reflections and proposals of Bhagavan das fall short off addressing the real problem of BBT copyrights and Iskcon management.

I agree that things should have all through been settled peacefully in discussions etc. regarding the conflicts of God brothers. But as Bhagavanji knows only too well, the way Srila Prabhupadas disciples have been dealt with and the truth has been distorted is the reason that many devotees are so unhappy and upset. Copyrights of the holiest books on earth in the hands of either party are ludicrous. This could never have been the desire of Srila Prabhupada.

Since I published many books as a BBT manager and sent them personally to Srila Prabhupada I know very well how he felt about a new book coming out from any one of his BBT divisions which were never centrally incorporated in those days.

Since Srila Prabhupada was an expert manager he established rules to guide us to be responsible. Not a farthing should be misused. Everything belongs to Krishna. He also wished, like every father, that his sons and daughters would be able to follow the spirit of love and trust, which he had taught and not damage everything by wrong motivation.

Now for some reason, only Sri Krishna could fully explain, everything has taken the opposite turn.

The BBT functions are still useful, but due to the shortcomings of the trustees and their questionable motivations now this case has surfaced. No greater blessings could happen at this point then the judge's decision to declare the writings of Srila Prabhupada public domain. This would join them with such illustrious authors such as Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur, Srila Jiva Goswami, Srila Rupa Goswami, Srila Krishna das Kaviraj, Srila Vedavyas etc. No bad company.

If anyone dares to prohibit a disciple of Srila Prabhupada to publish his words, glory and picture, he must be out of his mind. He must think that Iskcon is some kind of corporate multi-national structure and that he is the life long CEO of it. And competition has to be eliminated if you cannot buy them or threaten them into submission. Iskcon has been polluted by this "American Way" style of thinking and management. There are hundreds of clear evidense in this connection. By understanding them you will also understand the following points:

1. Why the Iskcon leaders vilified and personality assassinated venerable Vaisnavas such as Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Maharaj. An offense, which brought down many of them and has evil remnants lingering on in the veins of Iskcon up until today.

2. Why Iskcon does not let local people manage. Their GBC "friends" are overloaded with work, often do not speak the local language, often are not accepted by local devotees, have more temples under their charge then Srila Prabhupada proposed (six) and have more countries in their zones then they can even visit in one year.

3. Why there is no real forum in Iskcon ever where all concerned Vaisnavas can speak out and be heard, where grievances are addressed and attempts are made to resolve them.

4. Why they don't easily trust even their own god brothers to take Sannyas or to open new branches unless they are under "full control".

5. Why they do not want to put Srila Prabhupadas books on the Internet to help the world. All Gaudiya Math books are on the Internet. Do they have no generosity? I went out for years even in harsh winters motivated to give everyone in the world a book of Srila Prabhupada. Money was never a consideration for Srila Prabhupada. Preaching was his love and legacy.

Again, all this is only the tip of the iceberg. And what happens to an outspoken fellow like myself. You get titles from Iskcon authorities, which sound like this: Black snake, prostitute, enemy of Srila Prabhupada, eat it, traitor, don't deserve to live etc. That this kills you in the eyes of simple Iskcon devotees is no accident. It is the purpose.

The bottom line: These people are not qualified to say who is or who is not a follower of Srila Prabhupada. Therefore they can also not decide who can or who can not publish the teachings of Srila Prabhupada.

Therefore they may not hold the copyright of these holy writings to harass others. And the current litigants could also continue to publish more and more. Nobody would stop them. It is hard work to publish transcendental books, distribute them, open new temples and to train up new devotees. If anybody thinks that these are the activities of cheaters I really wonder what their own mentality must be like. And if a cheater sneaks into these activities only Krishna can take care of it, which he does after a while.

Bhagavanji wants to save money on this court case. He gives a detailed run down of these expenses. But to my point of view the damage done to the life of only one devotee is a higher loss then all the money owned by all BBT's together. And all of them did and do so much damage to Srila Prabhupada's Iskcon and to his heart the BBT.

If reconciliation is considered at this special moment, I want to present the voice for those who may not dare to speak up out of their natural Vaisnava humility. The voice of the simple, disheartened disciple or grand disciple of Srila Prabhupada.

We all love Srila Prabhupada and want to preach and publish in peace. We do not need ANYONE of you big egopads. Get out of the way. Let us live and preach happily in the company of like-minded devotees, whether they are from Iskcon, from Gaudiya Math or God knows which devotee family. You may do the same. We will not disturb you if you stop claiming monopoly on the world of "zones", books and siddhanta and thus ruin the good public image of our spiritual master. We do not need your Mega-castles, robots, cyberspace bunkers, flying saucers, pendulum swinging Sannyasys or Reiki Master GBC's. The GBC service was assigned by Srila Prabhupada to serve all the Vaisnavas. It is better to resign if one does not want to do so.

Or do you want to submit me to an imposed Exorcism by Iskcon famed Ghost hunters. What else are you going to do with people like me? I know there is very little you fear. Self-rightiousness has blinded you to the fact that Vaisnava Aparadh are words with no meaning to you and Karma is some kind of a preaching formula. I wish this court case to be settled out of court for the pleasure of all, just like Bhagavanji suggests.

Every disciple in our family has the right and duty to preach, publish and serve his Guru to his heart's happiness. Abuse to this principle goes against Srila Prabhupada's inner spirit. As Srila Sridhar Maharaj explained: "Everyone has to be happily accommodated in the family of Krishna Consciousness." That is the only business of GBC and BBT. But if you will not care to please all Vaisnavas with your settlement, it will only be a question of time to return to the same or a similar situation. And if it were for the truth I would gladly speak out in court that you all have no rights in controlling the legacy of the Guru Parampara, of the Sakti Avesa Avatar Srila Prabhupada.

To all those who think that they own the writings of Srila Prabhupada, I also have a humble suggestion which does also apply to myself. Go and wash pots, clean toilets and go out on Harinam with a good book bag full of nectar. We may even meet out there and laugh and cry about all the foolishness we did for whatever reason.

Daso smi
Trying to be your servant
B.A .Paramadvaiti

PS. The World Vaisnava Association has opened a Bank of Vaisnava writing and art material which is available to all preachers.