Where do the ritviks come from?

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Sankarsana prabhu wrote:

 

> Srila Prabhupada called himself the "Founder-Acharya" of ISKCON,

> not the Acharya of the ISKCON because he wanted that there should

> be many Acharyas within ISKCON. He directly ordered us to become acharyas

> within ISKCON. We humbly request Krishna Priya Mataji to stop presenting

> all of her concocted gibberish. It's time to put this ritvik nonsense

> to rest once and for all.

 

Thank you, Sankarsana prabhu, for those words. I would like to second that

and add that the ritvik nonsense was put to rest already long time ago. As

Jayadvaita Swami said in one post here, the ritvik idea was a dead horse

right from the beginning. It has never been alive.

 

Let's not forget how the ritvik idea was conceived. It was conceived from a

combination of anger and envy. I recall sometime in the mid-80s when

Nityananda and Rupa Vilasa sent out their challenging horse to the GBC in

the form of the magazine Vedic Village Review. Nityananda was angry at the

GBC because they had demanded that he take responsibility for his part in

the Robyn George case and pay the court costs, which was only reasonable

because he had been hiding the girl (who at that time was a minor) and had

been having sex with her.

 

So, greatly angry at the GBC, Nityananda (with the help of Rupa Vilasa)

conceived of the ritvik idea to turn all devotees against ISKCON and the

GBC. I guess they thought that most grand-disciples would cheer at the idea

of becoming Prabhupada disciples over night.

 

Later on Nityanda went to jail, as the petty criminal he was, and his whole

Vedic Village project crumbled. After Nityananda came out of jail he

continued his crusade against the GBC by inventing the poison rumors. That's

right, the very same person who invented the ritvik idea invented the poison

rumors. Any devotee should be able to see a pattern emerge here.

 

Anyway, the challenging horse in the form of ritvikvada was quickly slain in

a magazine put out by the GBC in response. Since then ritvikvada has been

refuted in countless papers, articles and debates, and I know of no devotees

in ISKCON who actually think the idea has any merit. The only place

ritvikvada is alive is on the net, and the only reason it keeps rearing its

head is because people like K. Kant and the IRM keep adding fuel to the

dying flame.

 

So that's where ritvikvada comes from. It is nothing but Kali at work. On

the one hand (in TFO), they pretend to be the true followers of Prabhupada,

and with the other hand (as the IRM) they circulate a magazine called BTP,

in which are listed all the faults and shortcomings of leading Prabhupada

disciples. Now, is that doing Srila Prabhupada a favor? Can you imagine what

Srila Prabhupada would have said to a group of disciples who came before him

claiming to be his real and true followers, and then proudly presented him

with a magazine like Back To Prabhupada? His anger would have disintegrated

them on the spot. There is just no doubt about it. And they claim to be the

true followers of Prabhupada, I mean, please, is this a real conspiracy or

am I just imagining something?

 

Another thing is that I have as much claim to be a Prabhupada disciple as

anyone. Prabhupada was the first devotee I met. He convinced me of Krishna

consciousness. He saved me. He was the first one I knew as my eternal guru

after having read SOS. But I was completely clueless about what and who he

was. When I went to the temple the first time in 1982 I seriously thought

that Prabhupada'd be sitting waiting for me in an obscure house in

Copenhagen. That's how dazed and clueless I was. I remember feeling somehow

betrayed when the devotees in the temple smilingly told me I was too late.

 

I had definitely surrendered to Prabhupada in the heart, but how would I

have known him if it weren't for his disciples. How would I know Srila

Prabhupada if it weren't for Prabhupada Lilamrita, Servant of the Servant,

and all the other accounts and biographies written by his disciples? How

would I know Prabhupada's books if hadn't been for his disciples in the BBT?

 

How would his teachings in the form of his books, classes, conversations

etc. and all the videos and everything else about Srila Prabhupada be

recorded and preserved for future generations if not for the work of his

disciples? Srila Prabhupada's whole program of ISKCON was launched by his

disciples. It it weren't for them Prabhupada could not have done what he

did. That's one thing that shows just how much we owe these devotees; and

then we have to hear someone KK Desai point out al their faults. Who the

hell is he? What did he ever do for Prabhupada? What's his qualification to

judge these great souls, whatever their faults may be? And why must we only

hear of the ones who so called failed, or fell down, or showed

short-comings? What of the big silent, solid mass of ISKCON devotees who go

on day after day, year after year, with giving their lives to Prabhupada's

mission? What about all the gurus, sannyasis, and grihasthas who didn't fall

down, who didn't deviate, and who continues to this day to provide wonderful

examples and inspirations for the devotees. Don't they figure into the

equation of Srila Pranhupada's legacy?

 

Obviously none of us would have been here if it weren't for Prabhupada's

disciples of whom many gave their whole lives to his mission and continue to

do so to this day. Seen in this light it must be concluded that the ritviks

deliberately seek to undermine the faith in Srila Prabhupada's direct

disciples, for by doing so, they also undermine the faith in Srila

Prabhupada. How can you have faith in an acharya who was unable to produce

even one single disciple qualified to carry on the disciplic succession?

 

Personally I think that modern ritviks simply don't want to surrender to a

guru, and therefore they use ritvikvada as an excuse to avoid that. That's

why they spread the propaganda that only the supermost, excellent,

radiating, self-illuminating, topmost maha-bhagavat devotee can become guru.

Clearly, after Prabhupada left, such a devotee is not around anymore and so

they don't have to listen to anyone. But it is all propaganda, for nowhere

do we find this view of the guru collaborated in Srila Prabhupada's

teachings.

 

So I agree completely with Sankarsana Prabhu, it's about time we put and end

to this ritvik nonsense, because that's all it is. It is actually demonic,

so let's recognize it for what it is and be off with it.

 

Hare Krishna.

 

ys. jdd