Emergency relief conducted by devotees

[Guest guest]

Udupi

 

 

 

Dear Priyavrata,

 

You wrote:

 

>The simple fact is:

>Prasadam distribution is an essential part of the Sankirtan yajna.

 

Agreed.

 

>It

>should NEVER be restricted, contained or bureaucratized into a

>useless and innefective diners club, accessible only to the elite.

 

I share your view: Prasadam distribution should be liberal and

generous and should not be boxed into an ineffective program or one

restricted only to the elite. I fully believe that distribution of

prasadam should be done liberally, energetically, and profusely.

 

My only point is that it should be done in conformity to the specific

guidelines Srila Prabhuapda gave us.

 

This sometimes involves restrictions. For example, Madhu-sevita

Prabhu, who served as a resident brahmacari in Sridhama Mayapur in the

1970s, wrote me:

 

"When Prasadam distribution was going full steam in Mayapur, we

received an order from Srila Prabhupada containing the prohibition to

let people take Prasadam outside the Iskcon premises: they'll mix it

with fish, Srila Prabhupada said."

 

This, obviously, was a restriction--but it was a legitimate

restriction because it was given by our authority, Srila Prabhupada.

 

As for other points in your letter. . .

 

You wrote:

 

>Srila Prabhupada EXPLICITLY asked us in his PURPORTS that

>"Everyone should be given a chance to take prasada...(CC 1.32)".

>"This activity should be extended UNIVERSALLY to stop sinful eating

>habits...(CC Mad 4.93)". . . .

 

>You said yourself that Prabhupada's purports are superior in

>authority to the many letters he wrote to disciples and yet the basis

>of your argument always comes back to some LETTERS he wrote,

 

Prabhuji, as a rule of thumb: Quoting out of context is lousy.

 

Apart from the context of what Srila Prabhupada said, what I said has

a context too. Okay, maybe you didn't know the context. The comment of

mine you allude to comes from my article "The Folio VedaBase: What to

Make of What You Find," which appears in the VedaBase front matter. In

that same article I also wrote:

 

" by no means. . say that the instructions in his letters can

simply be waved away as 'relative.' But one must be careful to

understand how, when, and to whom he intended them to apply. . .

All such letters have authority."

And "Letters and conversations may often give significant, even

invaluable, knowledge and guidance not to be found anywhere else."

If you read the article, you'll also find more that's relevant to the

way you argue. For example, you wrote:

>Here's a lecture that states

>just the opposite of what Prabhupada said to JPS:

>

>"Everywhere. In the hospitals, charitable societies, Industrial

>places, everywhere-distribute this prasada and chant this Hare

>Krishna..." (SP lecture, New York December 16, 1966)

And as I wrote in that same article about the VedaBase:

"All other things being equal (which they may not always be), a later

instruction outweighs an earlier one."

So that snippet from a lecture in December of 1966--when ISKCON was a

five-month-old startup amidst the hippies of New York--hardly

impresses me as weighing more heavily in this matter than Srila

Prabhupada's very explicit instructions to Giriraja Swami in 1972

(when he was the president of ISKCON Bombay) and the equally clear and

specific instructions in 1976 to Upendra Prabhu (then head of ISKCON

Fiji) and in 1976 to Jayapataka Swami (then co-director of ISKCON

Mayapur).

>Maharaja, I think we will have to agree to disagree,

Well, that's an improvement. Last time you wrote me (and not with the

best of etiquette):

>I am busy now arranging for prasadam distribution to the fallen

>souls. I will reply to your email and happily defeat all your

>arguments soon.

So I guess if you've gone from "happily defeating" me to suggesting we

"agree to disagree," we're making progress.

>I am not going to waste my time on this discussion any

>more.

Good. Very good.

>you are

>NEVER going to convince me that distributing prasadam to the fallen

>souls at an emergency spot is not bonafide.

I'm sure that's true. I've simply presented the evidence, and it's up

to you how to deal with it.

That said, if you wish to focus on distributing prasadam in

poverty-stricken areas, at emergency spots, and so on, that's okay

with me. I don't object. What ISKCON should do as in institution is

one question, but what you should do as an individual devotee is

another. As an individual devotee, deciding how best to serve Krsna

and your spiritual master is finally up to you.

Thank you.

Best wishes. Hare Krsna.

Hoping this finds you in good health,

Yours in Srila Prabhupada's service,

Jayadvaita Swami