06/24/98 - 1886

Conning Krishna?

India (VNN) - from The Sunday Statesman (one of India’s oldest and most respected newspapers in India) Impressions - 7 JUNE 1998 (center spread)

Is a section within the International Society for Krishna Consciousness using the name of Lord Krishna to perpetuate falsehoods and form a power caucus?

Gautam Mukherjee investigates this complex question

It all boils down to a question of belief. If you believe, it’s all-important. If you choose not to, it’s as naught. If you believe, all kinds of things logically follow - and issues like succession, lineage and parampara (tradition) become paramount. If you don’t, then these are just abstruse points of order and you wonder what the fuss is all about.

As things stand, the International Society of Krishna Consiousness - Iskcon for short - is a house deeply divided, with one section adamantly opposed to some of the prevalent practices the other equally insistent it is acting in line with the Acharya’s will... This has led to a lot of bad feelings, culminating in some pretty vicious personal attacks - with senior gurus not exempt from the fray. That the situation hasn’t as yet reached breaking point is more due to the sincerity and loyalty of devotees on both sides than anything else - for this sore had been festering for over two decades.

The dispute is spread over a fairly wide range of subjects - not least of all money - but at the core is the controversy over the ritvik (surrogate) system and its supersession. Instituted by the founder of the movement in his last days, it was repealed immediately after his demise - but some say it was perfect and never should have been tampered with. Their opponents point out that the new system is superior in many ways, simpler, and more efficient in gaining them converts and holding on to them; but the other group says - with some justification - that it promotes corruption, creates power caucuses and, maybe, goes against the very tenets of their faith, at which price they wouldn’t want more disciples. They insist - strictly from within, of course - that the system be revoked, if not immediately then in stages...

Who’s right? Who’s wrong? Or is there anything called right and wrong in matters like this? But before we attempt an answer, let’s first take a look at the ramifications of the question.

At the outset there’s something that needs to be made clear: this conflict has racist overtones, and there’s no shying away from that. Although the Gaudiya Math from which the Iskcon is derived is based in West Bengal’s Nadia district the organisation has progressed far beyond the confines of this state, or even this country. It’s a truly international movement.

Unlike predominantly Indian orders such as the RK Mission and Sai Baba, Iskcon - and some others like the Rajneeshites (Osho) - have a large proportion of foreigners among the fold, perhaps an overwhelming number. This makes matters difficult; and the management of such institutions is invariably a balancing-trick that few can master.
Not just the Gaudiya Math but nearly every other Eastern sect is autocratic, with authority stemming from the head; while Western sects are more broad-minded, more consensual in their approach. In the West, when the present head retires or passes away, a new head is often elected - as happens in the Catholic Synod - but in the East this would be unthinkable. Here, the outgoing head nominates his successor in 90 per cent of the cases. That’s the way it’s always been. Parampara.

But in their modern avatars many of these sects run into a problem: can you have a foreigner as a head? As long as the original head of the sect is in this world, holding it together with the force of his personality, things remain under control; but the moment he goes - as he ultimately has to - the tug-of-war starts. With neither side willing to give way. His Indian followers will not tolerate a foreigner succeeding as guru, while his foreign disciples doubt, maybe rightly, if any other Indian reaches the required level of saintliness. Usually he leaves behind some sort of governing body, which is all right as a short-term measure but tends to breed dissension in the long run. Wouldn’t it be funny if the Indian arm of such a sect broke away - not necessarily Iskcon, maybe the Ranjeeshites, who’ve had their own share of trouble over succession - leaving the foreign wing like a ship without a home port?

Specifically, the founder of Iskcon had stated prior to his departure: ìI will live from my books and you will utilise.î Because there was no one to carry the movement forward he had designated his books and tapes - his collected wisdom - as Acarya (head) for all time to come; his argument was that though he was departing this world, in spirit he would continue to be present through his works - and the answers to all queries could be found therein.

In a strange way, it was very similar to the course that his own guru, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Thakur, had adopted six decades ago. When asked to nominate a successor he had declined, saying, ìThey are all my gurus. I learn something from all of them.î He believed a ìself-effulgent acharyaî would emerge from among his senior disciples; and had suggested that a governing body be set up to head the Gaudiya Math in the interim. But the suggestion was never taken up and the Math collapsed speedily, with each of the senior disciples going his separate way.

The interesting thing to note here is that as early as the mid-1930s the head of a major Hindu institution was so fazed by the advent of modernism - the first trickle of inquiries had already started coming in from abroad - that he felt compelled to defer such an important decision; and the problem has multiplied in the meanwhile, not diminished.
The founder of Iskcon, A C Bhaktivedanta Swami, was a truly remarkable man. Born Abhoy Charan De in Calcutta at the tail end of the last century, he ran a chemical business and was a householder for 10 years before he took his monastic vows only three years prior to his guru Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Thakur’s departure. He had four children, was the junior most among his guru’s senior disciples, and doubtless because of this he faced many hurdles. Though all disciples who’d attained a certain level of seniority were supposedly equal, in matters of rivalry and jealousy they were as human as anyone else - and many felt he was only a jumped-up novice.

His initial ventures in Calcutta and Allahabad didn’t take off and he was reduced to being a jobbing printer in Calcutta before taking passage on a ship bound for Boston in 1965 - in response to an inner calling. His contribution may appear to have come in a ìlate burst of revolutionary spiritual achievementsî, but the first 69 years of his life can be viewed, in retrospect, as preparation for his later dazzling successes ... Almost singlehandedly and having to overcome forces trying to strangle the movement from within, A C Bhakavedanta Swami toured the world for several years before meeting success; battling for the most part, alone, with limited resources and a dauntingly long supply line back to his home base in Calcutta. Yet he managed to create a magnificent edifice, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. The stated reason for this was that some new custodian of the parampara of the Gaudiya Math had to be found ñ the original body clearly having succumbed to temptation and grown corrupt and lax.

Today the annual Rath Yatra may be the most obvious and visible facet of its existence but Iskcon is into a hundred different things - from well-visited Websites to schooling. Its 157 branches span the five Continents (50 in India alone) and its followers number 4.5 million (of whom half a million are in India) with nearly a million full-timers. But numbers are not the only measure of its success. In recent times it has made inroads into hitherto unknown places - such as the Arab world, parts of Africa and behind the former Iron Curtain. Furthermore, it commands the respect of noted academicians, scientists and captains of industry and counts amongst its followers the leader of more than one nation. It also owns a hugely popular publishing house (BBT, or Bhaktivedanta Book Trust) which brings out publications on Vaishanvism and tapes and CD’s containing religious discourses. Then there are business ventures like the global vegetarian eatery chain ìGovindaî; plus properties all over the place. And when to these revenues is added the tax-free donations it receives from its many wealthy devotees in the West, Iskcon’s total income could top $8 billion a year. (Please note that the figures mentioned are, in the absence of official figures, the guess of well-informed sources.)

Yet at the end of his life A C Bhaktivedanta Swami must have been a troubled man: when the linchpin of the order was gone, would it hold together? And, just as important, would its aims and ideals stay intact, or would it be subverted by the accountants and management experts who ran its day-to-day affairs, and transformed into a commercial venture pure and simple, albeit selling religion rather than any specific goods or services?

The guru of a Hindu sect is a very powerful man. Not only are his powers absolute but he is also supposed to be a perfect being, a sort of living deity whom his followers are encouraged to worship in person. (Perhaps it was in keeping with this trend that A C Bhaktivedanta Swami assumed the title of Prabhupada ñ ìat the Lord’s lotus feetî ñ to which he was not properly entitled: the title having been given to his mentor Srila Bhaktisiddhanta, also known as Singhaguru or Lion-hearted Teacher. Undeniably he liked to be referred to as Prabhupada, but he was equally careful never to use the title in his official dealings.) In addition, he performs another great function, that of giving initiation or diksha. To those who have been nurtured in Western philosophy this might be a difficult concept to swallow: the guru as a direct link with the divine or, in other words, an embodiment of the spirit and that one could be in touch with the supernatural simply by being in his presence, hearing his words or receiving the touch of his fingers upon one’s forehead. In this Eastern mysticism, the spirit is perceived as not so much a god or a superhuman being but a celestial vibration permeating the cosmos, the very mention of whose name is enough to make the connection, set the programme rolling; and the mantra is the magic password... It’s the invisible, unbreakable thread that joins clusters of galaxies to quarks; and nirvana is the capacity to feel what is happening to every individual everywhere, with some power to effect changes for the good.

“Jare dekho tare kaho Krishna Upadesh.” Or, Preach Krishna Consciousnesss - Lord Chaitanya’s own words, uttered five centuries ago. Even a child can do it, act as a Sikshaguru or tutor in matters religious - stressed the Acharya of Iskcon always. But the Dikshaguru is something else altogether. Since he initiates disciples, he has to be perfect. And of perfect beings within the order there was only one. Does that mean that the giving of diksha has stopped since he passed away in 1977? Certainly not, otherwise the movement would have been halted, for the taking of initiation is a very important step in the life of a believer. But the function is now carried on by ritviks and the trouble arises because they’ve started calling themselves Dikshagurus. The governing body commission set up in the wake of the acharya’s departure has been approving persons as Diksagurus - with certain implied powers - after examining them to see their competence, of course, much in the line of the bureaucracy which grants licences to foodstalls and auto-drivers. That some of them have subsequently been found wanting in moral piety, or even to be outright thieves or lechers, has been an embarrassment for the governing body. Yet even that is a small thing compared to certain other aspects of the present system.

For the spiritually motivated, the taking of diksha has an enormous significance, for it embodies the total surrender of oneself to Lord Krishna. From that point on, one effectively becomes an instrument of Krishna’s will, and everything that one does is, in some way, for the further glorification of Krishna; and the Dikshaguru becomes one’s spiritual master. One turns to the master for all sorts of advice; and the danger is when the master is human and subject to the same defects as all of us. Which is why Iskcon’s founder stated very categorically, “The governing body council should all be the instructor guru. I am the initiator guru...”

Diksha is not to be taken lightly. It is the culmination of years of religious refinement. It binds one to the observance of certain rituals; and one is awarded a new name, a spiritual name (though the niggling doubt remains that someone who’d been born John Smith can never be a true believer - no matter how learned or charismatic or fluent in Sanskrit he may be, and even if he got himself named Gautama Swami - because of his birth and conditioning).

There are three phases, and most people spend an entire lifetime without moving beyond the second. The first and second are often clubbed together; but it-is the third, the taking of Sanyasa Diksha, which is by far the most important: because one enters monkhood by it after shaving one’s head and participating in an elaborate fire yagna as per the Narada Pancharatra, an ancient text.

In each phase, a mantra is whispered into the devotee’s ear by the Dikshaguru - or one substituting for him - and he becomes his disciple for life. In this context; the ritvik is a deputy - standing in for the guru, a person knowledgeable enough and pure enough to carry out the ritual and inspiring enough to give the devotee a glimpse of the Eternal. But by no means can he command the disciple’s fealty. AC Bhaktivedanta Swami was not the first to employ ritviks - it is sanctioned by parampara - and surely in these hurried modern times he won’t be the last!

The Acharya himself set the system into motion because of failing health and responsibilities, and because he couldn’t be in two places at once. Eleven ritviks were appointed from among his senior disciples, but today the governing body council-appointed Dikshagurus number in their hundreds.

Anyone who can pass some tests and obtain the approval of two-thirds of the governing body commission can become a Dikshaguru. This leaves the system open to all kinds of evil practises: nepotism, corruption, favouritism and politicking. Besides, it could be an attempt to secure power by the backdoor; and at some stage in the future, when one is sufficiently strong, foist a new, living guru upon the movement in clear defiance of A C Bhaktivedanta Swami’s will where it is expressly stated that "there is no need of any Change".

There are those who are trying to tamper with Iskcon’s basic structure - some in a spirit of honest enquiry but others because they have their own axes to grind, the loaves and fishes of office, prestige, power and control... Very many well meaning devotees, both monks and otherwise, are pained because of the schism, and a goodly number who used to be active in the old days have stopped coming or have even quit altogether...

No one can or should be able to bend the rules governing succession, or ignore or jump the line of descent in his quest for power, no matter what proportion of the governing body commission’s support he is able to muster. Said Srila Bhaktisiddhanta (and repeated time and again by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami),ìIt is best not to accept any disciples.î Yet one fears this is just what is taking place these days; and that some people masquerading as Dikshagurus are meddling with devotees minds in the guise of trying to help them with their personal problems.

Perhaps it is all for the best, even the rumour that the movement has been used as a front for money-laundering and hawala transactions by certain unscrupulous elements. Let’s not be too condemnatory because a certain amount of confusion is inevitable whenever there is a change of guard. And for a movement which is expected to last another 9,500 years by its devotees, a period of two decades is nothing more than the blink of a cosmic eye.

The purpose of this article is not to inflame passions or create mischief or put up barriers between Indians and foreigners. There are sincere devotees on both sides of the divide who believe their way is right; and if this piece of writing helps them reconcile their differences even a little, it will more than have done its job. But there are those within the movement whose motives are hidden and run contrary to Iskcon’s best interests.

THE FOLLOWING IS AN INSERT ARTICLE AT THE FOOT OF THIS CENTER SPREAD

The Last Emperor
The founder of Iskcon was the First and last living guru or acharya. But he himself was the product of a long line of acharyas

The eleventh Acharya in an unbroken Line from Lord Chaitanya. That was how A C Bhaktivedanta Swami described himself. That is his lineage and just to prove it a panel of five faces of the five previous acharyas appears beside his photograph in all Iskcon temples - under-emphasised and without comment, but without which he has no sanction.
Succession in a Hindu order is according to very clear norms. Usually the outgoing head nominates his successor, who takes charge after his passage, but it is not always so. Sometimes, the new head takes over before hand because the previous one has grown infirm or otherwise wishes to give up the office; and sometimes there is a hiatus of a few years if the incumbant is not up to the mark in learnedness, ability to attract followers or leadership qualities, in which case the institution has to remain headless till he is coached to perfection. But there has been no "self-effulgent" acharya even though sons have succeeded fathers. In the line of Madhavacharya, worshipping Lord Krishna along with his consort as Radha-Krishna, the Gaudiya Math movement was started in Nadia district in the 15th century. It spread the message of universal love through sankirtan (folk-singing), scripture-reading and homely explanations of the texts; and not unsurprisingly it became popular among both Hindus and Muslims and grew throughout Bengal (including present-day Bangladesh). Ahimsa (non-violence), vegetarianism and physical and moral chastity were cornerstones of the faith. It kept growing; and during the tenure of the 10th Acharya, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Thakur, it was realised that the Gaudiya Math could not be confined to a single spot. So, erudite well-versed missionaries of the order were dispatched to the furthest corners of Hindustan and abroad to preach. Soon, the Math had a presence in places as far apart as Lahore and Kerala, and Karachi and Burma.

Yet none of them was anywhere near as successful as A C Bhaktivedanta Swami in his ventures abroad, though it took nearly 40 years. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Thakur had said, "We'll go on our preaching mission riding horses, elephants, trains, boats and aeroplanes," and it proved to be prophetic; In other ways, too, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Thakur was a far-seeing man. He's the one who really set the ball rolling way back in 1911 when he proved in a landmark debate conducted in Balighu in Midnapore that any suitably qualified person who had surrendered to the Vaishnava-parampara was empowered to perform Saligram Puja, chant from the Vedas and be the equal of any Brahmin in carrying our devotional activities. And this is the basis on which Western devotees are accepted.

Wu is the most important thing in Zen philosophy. It means acquiring a new view-point It's like adding an extra dimension to one's senses (also known as satori in Japanese), an extra flavour to life. The 1911 incident was a dear expression of Wu at work. It happened again in the late 1960s. The present problem within Iskcon is not intractable. So, will some Wu come around and wipe it out?