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September 6, 1999 VNN4672 Related VNN StoriesComment on this story

Poisonous Whispers: Arsenic Killed Iskcon Founder In '77

FROM THE ASIAN AGE REPORT

USA, Sep 6 (VNN) — (02-09-1999) front page

By Ashish Kumar Sen

San Francisco: After over 18 months of research, disturbing evidence has surfaced around the death of Srila Prabhupada, the founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. A new book authored by Nityananda Das, himself an Iskcon disciple, shows the religious leader may have been poisoned by his own trusted disciples.

The hierarchy at Iskcon has, however, refused to be rattled by the allegations and feels it is premature to jump to any conclusion at present. The book is based on audio forensic test results of the "poison whispers, " analysis of Srila Prabhupada's hair samples taken in 1977, analysis of chronic arsenic poisoning symptoms in his health record of 1977, new translations of taped conversations wherein Srila Prabhupada discusses his being poisoned and an indepth look at the issues of water, medicines and suspects.

"In my opinion, the evidence is solid that Srila Prabhupada was poisoned, but by whom is not yet known. The level of proof coincidences, and circumstantial evidence makes for a very compelling verdict, " Nityananda Das writes in his foreword to his book Someone Has Poisoned Me.

For the past 15 weeks, the underground distribution of Someone Has Poisoned Me has circulated throughout the Iskcon devotee world in the US, Canada, China, India, England, Fiji, Trinidad, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Spain, Italy, France, Germany and many other countries. The spontaneous network through which these books have passed was formed by those wanting to know about the evidence which establishes that Srila Prabhupada was slowly poisoned by arsenic in 1977.

While hoping that further evidence will show all of his findings to be "no more than a false alarm, " Nityananda feels this does not even seem remotely likely.

The book was initially based on tape recordings of Srila Prabhupada's conversations with his disci- ples, in which he repeatedly mentions his suspicion of having been poisoned. It was the whispers of his disciples, later analysed by advanced technology, which proved to be incriminating.

"The whispers are attention-grabbing, but what Srila Prabhupada said is the primary evidence, and the rest is supporting evidence. Since then a positive hair analysis has very much strengthened the case, " the author writes.

The book zeroes in on Tamal Krishna Goswami, Jayapataka Swami and Bhakticharu Swami, all prominent members in the Isckon hierarchy, as being suspects in the founder's death. Tamal Krishna Goswami was Srila Prabupada's secretary and primary caretaker for most of 1977, the year the religious leader passed away.

The 20 tapes of Srila Prabhupada's last conversations had never been released or advertised by the BBT Archives tape ministry. So only a few devotees had ever listened to them.

Isha Prabhu, a devotee since 1974, examined the whispers carefully using sophisticated electronic equipment, and had enhancements done on the tapes by Federal Bureau of Investigation-approved laboratories. "My conclusion after hundreds of hours of analysis is that it is possible that Srila Prabhupada was poisoned, " Das quotes Isha Prabhu as saying. Another senior Iskcon member, former temple president and founder of the Florida Vedic College, Mahabuddhi Prabhu, has been quoted as saying: "We (my son and I) listened to the tape, we enhanced it and listened to it. We became a little shocked because we thought we heard something like 'Let's put the poison in the milk, ' and the more we heard it the more it sounded that way."

A majority of the members of Iskcon do not believe that the events alleged by the poison theorists could possibly have occurred. Iskcon's governing body commission has taken the allegations seriously and an official investigation was launched under the direction of Mr William Ogle, known among the Iskcon society as Balavanta Das, an attorney based in Florida. Mr Ogle expects his report to be completed by March 2000, which will coincide with Isckon's annual meeting at Mayapura in India.

"While some are claiming that harm was done to Srila Prabhupada, others question the credibility of the poison advocates, and charge that evidence for the allegations was exaggerated, or perhaps even manufactured, by persons motivated by ill will against the Iskcon society, " Anuttama Dasa, the Washington-based communications director at Iskcon, told The Asian Age.

Nityanand Das, however, says: "This book is not based on ignoble motives, and is not opposed to the principles of Krishna consciousness, Iskcon or the governing body commission. This is not an anti-Iskcon strategy."

Amid these various claims, the governing body commission believes it is important to wait for the facts to be compiled and the official report to be completed before any conclusions are reached. "Only after the report is completed will it be appropriate to address specific allegations, or to discuss if additional steps need to be taken, " Anuttama Dasa said.

Expert analysis of the tapes has "found" more incriminating whispers. Some of these are Ñ "'Let's poison him and go, the poison is going down, ' and 'put poison in different containers.'" Nityanand Das writes that Balvanta Prabhu had, in an earlier report, said: "It (the tape) contains a whisper which refers to poison. According to the laboratory technician it was, 'Let's not poison him and go' or 'Let's now poison him and go.' We are now sending the tape to another laboratory with more advanced equipment for further investigation."

Though it is difficult to make out the whispers due to so much of the quality being lost in transmission, several devotees have been taken by Naveen Krishna Prabhu in Alachua to a local sound studio to listen to the enhanced whispers. "Most agree, after listening carefully a few times, and there is no doubt in their minds, Srila Prabhupada was poisoned in a conspiracy by his own closest disciples, " Nityananda writes.