09/28/1998 - 2282

The Last Hope

USA (VNN) - by Upananda dasa

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the appearance of His Divine Grace Tridandi Promode Puri Maharaja it behooves us to examine the status of institutional practicality in the face of malpractice. In the words of Srila Gour Govinda Maharaja one should cling to the mission of his spiritual master like a leech to the body. The body , however, if diseased to the point of uselessness must be abandoned altogether unless there is any possibility for a cure. Some time before the disappearance of Srila Gour Govinda Maharaja it was stated by Srila Promode Puri Maharaja that Iskcon was continuing in its status in the world on the strength of the purity of His Holiness Gour Govinda Swami. Now that he has left Iskcon that status may still stand if his ideals are upheld but looking at the circumstances at his departure, we pause to rethink.

 Consider, dear devotees the pain mentioned again and again by Gour Govinda Swami on the sabotage of tattva, our Gaudiya Vaisnava siddhanta, by men of praise who sat on the GBC and in the absence of Maharaja, who was the GBC for Orissa, voted to stop the preaching of the infallibility of the soul in Vaikuntha. By majority vote the men of lesser realization concluded that the nitya-baddha jiva was first nitya-siddha. This conclusion went against the efforts of Gour Govinda Swami's efforts to establish the conclusion of Jeeva Goswami, Bhaktivinode Thakur and his own spiritual master Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami. It put the issue of Jiva-tattva in jeopardy. But despite its importance, other tattvas were also being misunderstood, such as Guru-tattva, Shakti-tattva, Gaura-tattva and Nama-tattva.

Gour Govinda fought to establish the shastric concordance of the above truths but when lesser men out-voted him, the tattva became subject to change and therefore untruth. This was the cause of so much pain to Maharaja that he could not tolerate it. But how could he convince those who were obstinate and no doubt in many cases envious. His final diary entry was,"I have tried to give them the primary (understanding), but they prefer the secondary."

In the Chaitanya Charitamrita Srila Prabhupada had said that the acharya is never appointed but reveals himself by his self-effulgent knowledge and exposition. Gour Govinda Maharaja was an important bridge for the devotees of Iskcon to come to proper understanding of Krishna Consciousness. If that bridge was crossed no doubt many wonderful things would have taken place. But instead, he became the object of scorn, ridicule and abuse, the results of which are plaguing the movement and will continue to do so unless those who have perpetrated such injustice come to their senses and in a mood of repentance beg for the mercy of the offended and the Supreme Lord. To force a maha-bhagavat into early death is inconceivable for a so-called society of devotees, and yet history bears the proof. As Goethe once said, " There is nothing more terrifying than ignorance in action".

Has "Iskcon" now turned 'asara'? Is the present "Iskcon" false and the real Iskcon existing elsewhere? If the society is full of envy and unable to recognize a pure devotee can it claim to be the genuine intention of its founder-acharya? Srila Prabhupada had stayed with Gour Govinda Swami in Bhubanesvar for 17 days and thrice with his cane thrust into the ground proclaimed, "I leave my mercy here, I leave my mercy here, I leave my mercy here."

Chandrasekar could not recognize Sanatana Goswami outside his house when the Supreme Lord was staying there. But then again he had no occasion to hear from Sanatana. To hear from an acharya an then deny him sounds like something of Judas Iscariot. Or may we even look at the institution they way the early Americans looked at the British in eighteenth century. Just reflect for a moment if you will and see if there are veritable similarities in their preamble to the Bill of Rights.

"When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitles them, a descent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to separation... that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government... all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty to throw off such government and to provide new Guards for their future security."

Our founding fathers were against tyranny of the British and yet the situation rings very familiar. If men are not ruled by God one philosopher said, they must be ruled by tyrants. That the disciples of Gour Govinda Swami left Iskcon after knowing what had taken place is no wonder and no fault. The mission of the spiritual master can continue even without the institute. It is a grave hope that the present leaders of Srila Prabhupada's society will repent for the past actions sincerely enough to work for a new society that would be pleasing to Shree Chaitanya Mahaprabhu before the intelligent class of men left in the society abandon it altogether. Such an action is a possibility but as to whether it will actually take place, time will tell. Perhaps it is too late as a year and a half has already passed since the departure of Gour Govinda Swami. May Lord Nityananda and Lord Chaitanya please be merciful to us for as Srila Gour Govinda said before his departure a very dangerous time is coming upon us.