Kirtanananda Swami meets Srila Narayana Maharaja....

[Guest guest]

Has anyone seen the pic of Kirtananada Swami meeting Srila Narayana Maharaja?

[guru]

 

Has anyone seen the pic of Kirtananada Swami meeting Srila Narayana Maharaja?

 

Its available at www.purebhakti.com

[Guest guest]

I feel that this is going to be the beginning of what Tripurari Swami refers to as "unity in diversity" in the Vaishnava world.

 

This brings to mind the meetings of SNM with some of the prominent ISKCON leaders in 80's & 90's -- like Tamal Krishna Goswami, Satsvarup Goswami, Hrdyananda Goswami, Bhagavan das, Bhurijan and others. Seems like the gap is never bridged.

 

But with this new development, it seems very promising. Let us all pray for some meeting of hearts between the different Vaishnava sangas.

 

 

Radha-Krishna

 

Myrla

Australia

[Bhakta Don Muntean]

Oh well - I guess we might see a new era of - 'what'?

 

Don't forget that the good swami is a criminal - he wasn't prosecuted for all his crimes - he doesn't deserve this respect - it is a slap at Srila Prabhupada - all his victims [including those who he initiated and betrayed] and - the innocent public who shall search and see the history and then see these 'meetings' and then wonder about the community of devotees? Just my humble thoughts...

[Guest guest]

Well, here's the thing. . . I understand what you're saying, that Kirtananda Swami was a criminal, and as most criminals, he perhaps wasn't persecuted for everything he did. At the same time, it is not proper Vaisnava sadacara (conduct) to disrespect, or even fail to recognize someone who was one of Srila Prabhupada's first disciples and first sannyasis. Moreover, it is Vaisnava conduct to FORGIVE and to RESPECT all living entities who have even chanted the name "Krsna" just once. Rupa Goswami says, "Krsneti yasya giritam manasadriyeta" iti. Furthermore, despite his bad history, he is still preaching and supporting so many followers. Srila Narayana Maharaja is a sadhu amongst Sadhus, he is not engaged in politics and has no ambition to seek some high position beyond anyone else. As a proper Sadhu he is inclined to only see the good things in others despite their bad, or even horrible pasts. He wants all these sannyasis to keep their disciples and to keep preaching. Even sannyasis that have left their asram in his sanga were allowed to speak. He wants to engage people in the service of Krishna and that's his only desire. I think it was a most beautiful beginning for the future of the Vaisnava religion everywhere and I personally would like to see more of it.

[Bhakta Don Muntean]

 

Well, here's the thing. . . I understand what you're saying, that Kirtananda Swami was a criminal, and as most criminals, he perhaps wasn't persecuted for everything he did. At the same time, it is not proper Vaisnava sadacara (conduct) to disrespect, or even fail to recognize someone who was one of Srila Prabhupada's first disciples and first sannyasis. Moreover, it is Vaisnava conduct to FORGIVE and to RESPECT all living entities who have even chanted the name "Krsna" just once. Rupa Goswami says, "Krsneti yasya giritam manasadriyeta" iti. Furthermore, despite his bad history, he is still preaching and supporting so many followers. Srila Narayana Maharaja is a sadhu amongst Sadhus, he is not engaged in politics and has no ambition to seek some high position beyond anyone else. As a proper Sadhu he is inclined to only see the good things in others despite their bad, or even horrible pasts. He wants all these sannyasis to keep their disciples and to keep preaching. Even sannyasis that have left their asram in his sanga were allowed to speak. He wants to engage people in the service of Krishna and that's his only desire. I think it was a most beautiful beginning for the future of the Vaisnava religion everywhere and I personally would like to see more of it.

 

You may be right - but - this Kirtananada SWAMI isn't any vaishnava - Prabhupada says that not everyone dressing as a devotee in this society is a devotee.

 

Just read back in the history - he was a problem from the get go - Prabhupada gave his mercy to him and what did he do to repay Prabhupada?

 

So in most cases I would agree with you - but this guy's crimes are too serious and he never really made amends for these things - he only went to prison for 'some' of his crimes.

 

Is he going to blend the Christian faith with vaishnava again? Didn't go too well the first time - maybe he didn't learn from that?

 

Do not compare his fall-down with that of others - this guy was connected to murder and molestation - these are WELL KNOWN FACTS.

 

I think of all the people who won't [or can't] chant Hare Krishna anymore because of him - how many people did he ruin? Do you care about them?

 

Has he been cured of his propensity to control and molest others?

[Bhakta Don Muntean]

 

Well, here's the thing. . . I understand what you're saying, that Kirtananda Swami was a criminal, and as most criminals, he perhaps wasn't persecuted for everything he did. At the same time, it is not proper Vaisnava sadacara (conduct) to disrespect, or even fail to recognize someone who was one of Srila Prabhupada's first disciples and first sannyasis. Moreover, it is Vaisnava conduct to FORGIVE and to RESPECT all living entities who have even chanted the name "Krsna" just once. Rupa Goswami says, "Krsneti yasya giritam manasadriyeta" iti. Furthermore, despite his bad history, he is still preaching and supporting so many followers. Srila Narayana Maharaja is a sadhu amongst Sadhus, he is not engaged in politics and has no ambition to seek some high position beyond anyone else. As a proper Sadhu he is inclined to only see the good things in others despite their bad, or even horrible pasts. He wants all these sannyasis to keep their disciples and to keep preaching. Even sannyasis that have left their asram in his sanga were allowed to speak. He wants to engage people in the service of Krishna and that's his only desire. I think it was a most beautiful beginning for the future of the Vaisnava religion everywhere and I personally would like to see more of it.

As a proper Sadhu he is inclined to only see the good things in others despite their bad, or even horrible pasts. He wants all these sannyasis to keep their disciples and to keep preaching.

 

Reply:

 

That is total nonsense! Can you find me the shastric quotes to prove this bogus explication?

[Guest guest]

I can't help but reply to your tirade, you two.

 

We all have our past, some darker than the others and admittedly some really have VERY DARK past (in bold letters). But what is important is what we are doing in the present because the present will take care of tomorrow.

 

Kirtananda faced the US courts, he was punished and if that is enough Krishna's law will give him the just punishment, in his life on this planet or in his next life. He is now trying to make amends by distributing the Lord's names. What do you think is the best way to spend his remaining years on this planet out of jail?

 

If you do not give forgiveness and compassion to someone who seems to be getting into devotional life again, I sincerely believe you shouldn't try to call yourself a VAishnava. Fault finding in someone who is trying to distribute Krishna's names is one of the offences against the Holy Names.

 

I have met Kirtananda in the early 80's having sat at his lectures in the Philippines. What he did was condemnable, no doubt. But please Vaishnavas, give him a chance again.

 

Radha-Krishna

Myrla

Australia

[Guest guest]

Om Nama Om Nama Om Vasudevayah

 

 

 

Myrla

Australia

[Guest guest]

Prabhupada Letters

 

"Kirtanananda is now a completely Krsna conscious person as he has accepted sannyasa on the birthday of Lord Krsna with great success. He is the first sannyasa in my spiritual family, and I hope he will return back soon to begin preaching work with great vigor and success." (Woomapati, 9/5/67)

 

Note: This is the letter cited most often at New Vmdavana. This is where they myth that Kirtanananda is a pure devotee came from. For those who have not understood Prabhupada's way of encouragement or who do not know about the incident that follows, it appears convincing evidence to back up the myth.

 

"Kirtanananda has decided to return back for preaching work in the States, as he has accepted the sannyasa order of life. Acyutananda is here, but he is not eating well, so I am put into anxiety. In the beginning Kirtanananda was also sick, and he also at the present moment is feeling some pain in his leg. On the whole, the American boys who come here become first depressed..." (Hamsadutta, 9/10/67)

 

"Kirtanananda is returning to the states very soon. You are all very much anxious to get him back home and your desire will be fulfilled very soon. Perhaps you know that Acyutananda is now with us and since he has come, Kirtanananda has retired from all sorts of activities, and Acyutananda is helping me. Anyway, he is leaving behind a good representative, so I'll not be in trouble." (Janaki, 9/16/67)

 

"I am definitely improving in health but if I work a little hard or I walk a little more, I feel tired. Unfortunately, there is no good typewriter here and this letter I am typing myself. Acyutananda is not fast typewriting and Kirtanananda is going back to London tomorrow. I have advised him to start a center in London positively and after a month Rayarama will join him from Boston. Kirtanananda has experience to start a new center and therefore I have entrusted him with this great task I hope he will be successful there and I have given him one important letter of introduction for London. Please pray to the Lord that he may be successful." (Dayananda, 9/20/67)

 

"Kirtanananda has already gone back this morning. I have given him an introductory letter to London. In this connection much money has been spent from the building fund. If he gets a favorable response, then Rayarama may join him there and when he goes then I shall go." (Brahmananda, 9/2/67)

 

"Kirtanananda Swami prearranged with you to reach on the 24th instant, but he arranged with me that he would stop in London and I gave him one important introduction letter. Although he had in his mind not to stop in London and yet promised before me that he would go, for which I gave him extra $20. I cannot understand why he played with me like this. If he had no desire to go to London he would have plainly told me like hat. It has certainly given me a great shock. He is one of my very faithful disciples and if he does like that how can I prosecute my programs. I have received one postcard from him from London airport in which he writes he is going directly to NY. I understand also from Woomapati's letter that he has already reached N. Y. although I have not heard anything from him from N. Y... It is all my misfortune." (Hayagriva, 9/27/67)

 

"If you have collected the contribution from different centers you can pay Acyutananda's mother $88. This amount was taken from her on account of Kirtanananda's ticket. Kirtanananda should return to you the $20 dollars that he took from me on the plea of stopping in London. I am feeling too much for his disobedience." (Brahmananda, no date)

 

"Where is Rayarama? He may take back from Kirtanananda the letter of introduction to Miss Bowtell and may go to London as it was previously arranged. I entrusted this matter to Kirtanananda but he has disobeyed which has given me a shock. Once he disobeyed my order and we lost $1,200 in connection with Mr. Payne. This time he has again disobeyed me. If he sets such example in the Society it will be a great impediment. Obedience is the first law of discipline. We are thinking of a great world-wide organization which is not possible to be executed if there is disobedience." (Gargamuni, 9/28/67)

 

Note: Kirtanananda never paid back these debts to Srila Prabhupada. In fact he tried to steal men and money from Prabhupada again and again. He even tried to convince Guru Krpa once to "stop wasting your money giving it to Prabhupada." Kirtanananda wanted Guru Krpa to give money to New Vmdavana, arguing that, "these Indian temples you're building are going to be taken over by the communists one day anyway." Guru Krpa told him, "I'd watch Prabhupada flush it down the toilet before I'd give it to you."

 

"...Rayarama may go to London in Nov.... This function was intended for Kirtanananda while returning to NY. He was to stop there and see her (Miss Bowtell) but he was so much frenzied to see & meet his old friends that he forgot the order of Krishna and indulged in a sort of sense gratification. It is certainly a shocking incident which I never expected from a disciple like Kirtanananda." (Satsvarupa, 10/3/67)

 

"Kirtanananda may be eager to address in the Harvard university but recently he has lost his link on account of disobedience. You sing every day morning that by the mercy of the Sridhar Maharaja one can please the Lord and one who has not pleased the Sridhar Maharaja cannot have any access in the realm of Krsna consciousness. Very recently Kirtanananda has developed a different consciousness of Maya which is called misuse of one's minute independence offered by Krishna. By misuse on one's independence one at once becomes a victim of Maya and thus he loses all importance in Krsna consciousness. So it is my definite opinion that his lecture anywhere now will bear no spiritual sequence. He must rectify his mistake before he can play in our society any important role. By lips he says that he is a surrendered soul but by action he is thinking differently." (Satsvarupa, 10/6/67

 

Note: By lips Kirtanananda Swami still says that he is a surrendered soul but by his actions it is clear that he is still thinking differently. His worshipers often say, "But what about the Palace? Doesn't that prove that he is an advanced devotee?" As mentioned in the earlier chapters, making a "show of the Deity" or "amassing some neophyte disciples" are not the real qualifications. It is the sincerity of purpose that makes the pure devotee and not the external show. The arguments that he changed because he put up buildings, and engaged sudras, is totally illogical. Prabhupada accused Bon Maharaja of offending his guru and that had been forty years earlier. From practical experience we can easily perceive that one's nature or deep-rooted conditioning may not change so drastically in nine years. Kirtanananda Swami himself admits this in a lecture he gave in Bombay shortly after Jayatirtha's departure. There he said, "He (Jayatirtha) diverted from the instructions of Prabhupada, and now when we can trace it back, we can see that even some time way back, he had this tendency. For instance, around 1975, Jayatirtha was very much attached to this umbrella corporation... Of course, he did not leave, but that tendency, or that difficulty in accepting Prabhupada's vision, was there." Jayatirtha's "tendency" is child's play compared to Kirtanananda's.

 

"I was very glad to receive your letter dated Oct. 1st. I congratulate you for your successful dealing with your good brother, Sriman Brahmananda, against his falling back a prey to Kirtanananda's recent propaganda. To save a man from impersonal calamity is the greatest service to humanity. I also thank Rupanuga and Rayarama for helping you in your very laudable action. Brahmananda is very pure at heart. He might have been misled by Kirtanananda for the time being but Krishna did not allow him to fall back. According to Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the Lord is full in six opulences and the rascal impersonalist says that the Lord has no form and the most dangerous accusation for the Lord that He assumes a material form when He descends. This accusation of the Lord is the greatest offense of the nonsense impersonalist. I do not believe that Kirtanananda has gone to such an extent of ailing situation but if he does not rectify himself immediately his future is very dark. If he is sincere in his concept of impersonal absolute he should enter into correspondence with me and I shall refute all his arguments. But I understand that he could not answer you even when you hit him with some questions. I shall request that you save this poor creature from impersonal calamity." (Gargamuni, 10/9/67)

 

"In your previous letter in which I saw a little tendency of being turned by foolish Kirtanananda. But I was confident that Kirtanananda was not so strong as he would be able to defeat you. I was completely confident of your sincerity of service and my choice of your being president of the society is right. I may disclose herewith that I never took Kirtanananda into complete confidence but I was trying to improve his position because he has also rendered much personal service to me. I am very much obliged to him for the service as I am to my other disciples and I am very sorry that Maya has taken advantage of his disobedience and he has fallen to Maya's illusion, but he should not continue for a very long time as I will always pray to Krsna for his recovery. For the time being he should simply chant Hare Krishna without any attempt at lecturing. The impersonalists cannot render any service to Krsna because he is a great offender. Under the circumstances, Krsna will not accept food prepared by Kirtanananda in his present diseased condition. If he at all wants to render service to Krishna he may be engaged at washing dishes and this will improve his condition... It is not in his power to mislead a sincere soul such as yourself but I must congratulate Gargamuni, the simple boy who never believed in impersonalism. He is your younger brother as important as Lord Laksmana was younger brother to Lord Rama. I am very glad that this simple and honest boy has saved you from calamity." (Brahmananda, 10/9/67)

 

Note: This sentence, "I never took Kirtanananda into confidence" is very significant. Needless to say, Prabhupada knew Kirtanananda's mentality all along. Nevertheless, Prabhupada sees the spark of good in someone and tries to fan that. Only the very realized mahabhagavata can so perfectly see and act on that platform. We must come to the realization that all of Prabhupada's "leading" disciples were similarly being encouraged by Prabhupada. Prabhupada continued to encourage Kirtanananda all along, but that doesn't mean that "foolish Kirtanananda" was a pure devotee, any more than he was when Prabhupada called him "a completely Krsna conscious person" in the earlier letter.

 

Another significant point in this letter is how he is comparing these two brothers, Brahmananda and Gargamuni, to Lord Rama and Laksmana. This is not the only place where Prabhupada indirectly implies that men like Kirtanananda are Ravanas.

 

"Do not try to follow the unauthorized advice of Kirtanananda. Nobody cares for the dress; every sane man follows the philosophy and practical talks. Let Kirtanananda Swami do something practically. Let him do whatever he likes and let us see that thousands of Americans are following him.

 

"Kirtanananda is the first man in our society who cleanly shaved and kept the sikha on the top of the head, and now he has begun to keep beard again. This is not good. Whatever he is doing nowadays has no sanction from me. And he has deliberately disobeyed me by not going to London." (Brahmananda, 10/11/67)

 

Note: Contrary to popular belief, Kirtanananda is actually the one behind the corruption at New Vrindaban. He cleverly has Kuladri do all of the dirty work for him and therefore Kuladri's name is "Crueladri." Actually he is also just another victim of "Kirtanananda's devices."

[Guest guest]

"I am very sorry to hear that Kirtanananda is advising you to give up the robes and the flags on the head. Please stop this nescience as I never instructed Kirtanananda to act like that. I am not at all satisfied with this action of Kirtanananda. Kirtanananda has no right to instruct you in that way, without consulting me. People are being attracted to the chanting of Hare Krsna and not to Kirtanananda's devices." (Damodara, 10/13/67)

 

Note: What Kirtanananda was actually trying to do is not fully revealed in these letters. But from interviewing the devotees who were around at that time it is evident that he was directly attacking Prabhupada and trying to take over the movement. He stole the original manuscript of Prabhupada's Bhagavad-gita and wouldn't return it. Prabhupada had to return prematurely just to keep Kirtanananda from doing too much damage. During this time, Kirtanananda formed his own society. The name of this society was rather long. He put this name of letterhead stationary. He also included the acronym for the society on his letterhead. The name of the society was: "First Universal Church of Krsna-the Yoga Organization University." Check out this acronym, prabhus.

 

"I am in due receipt of your letter dated Oct. 10th and I've also received Kirtanananda's letter. From different centers of our society the news of the activities of Kirtanananda is giving me too much pain. From Rayarama's letter it is clear that Kirtanananda has not rightly understood Krsna consciousness philosophy and it appears that he does not know the difference between impersonal and personal features of Krishna. The best thing will be to prohibit him to speak in any of our functions or meetings. It is clear that he has become crazy and he should once more be sent to Bellevue. He was in Bellevue before and with great difficulty and with the help of Mr. Ginsburg we got him out." (Brahmananda, 10/16/67)

 

Note: Bellevue is a well-known mental hospital in the Eastern US.

 

This is too much disturbing to me and caused me much pain. Please therefore stop Kirtanananda from making his mental concoctions. Do not be misled by him. I have never advised him to act like that... I have already written you to inform you that somehow or other he has become crazy; otherwise he would not have disobeyed me to go directly to NY. For the time being he has cut all like with me. Therefore any instruction given by him is unauthorized and should at once be rejected. He has no right to dictate as he has without my sanction. Whatever is to be done will be executed on my return. He is too much puffed-up nonsensically therefore you should copy this letter and forward to all centers that Kirtanananda has no right to dictate anything to the society in this way. I am very sorry that he is exploiting his present position as a sannyasi in this way..." (Brahmananda, 10114167)

 

Note: He is still exploiting his position, only now he is doing so as a "pure devotee." So we are following Prabhupada's instructions by copying all these letters and circulating them around to all centers.

 

"I have already requested Brahmananda to stop Kirtanananda's speaking at any of our functions till my arrival. If he wants to preach anything he can do it on his own at a different place... If Kirtanananda believes in one-self, why does he stress the vibration and not the words? Why does he find difference in vibration and words? And why shouldn't one be attached to the chanting? All this means that he has no clear idea and he is talking nonsense. If Kirtanananda does not understand this philosophy then better he should stop speaking nonsense. I can understand his designs but I cannot help because I am far away from the place." (Rayarama, 10/16/67)

 

"My dear Kirtanananda, Please accept my blessings. I've received your note along with Brahmananda's for first time since you left to NY. You had no desire to stop in London. This is clear to me from Hayagriva's letter which indicated that you had already planned to go there even before you left India. Since you have returned to NY you have falsely dictated that I do not want the robes or flags. Why are you disturbing the whole situation in my absence? I never ordered you to speak like that. They must continue to have robes and telok and flags and they must distinguish themselves from the hippies. I never objected to any of my students dressing like nice American gentlemen, clean shaved; but those who are my disciples must have flag, telok and beads on neck without fail. Anyway, I never advised you to dictate on my behalf.

 

"Please therefore do not misrepresent me. You have been given sannyasa to follow my principles and not to disturb me. If you do not agree with my philosophy you can work independent and not within the walls of ISKCON. You have not understood Krishna properly. The best thing will be to stop your talks in any meeting but chant in solitary place, anywhere you like. Hope you are well." (10/16/67)

 

Note: Kirtanananda was attempting to steal the movement in Prabhupada's absence. By a similar strategy, Ravana stole Sitadevi in the absence of Lord Ramachandra. Lord Rama thus said to the ten-headed demon: "You are like a dog who steals food from the master's kitchen when he is away from home." Many men lost their wives to Kirtanananda while they were away from New Vrindaban. (See Appendix 25)

 

"This last attack is very serious and fatal. Kirtanananda has very recently developed the 4th stage malady on account of his negligence and disobedience to his spiritual master. Sometimes a foolish patient when he is out of feverish attack by the grace of the physician, thinks that he is cured and does not take precaution against relapse. Kirtanananda's position is like that. Because he helped the society in starting the Montreal center I thought he is now able to start other branches and when he asked me to give him Sannyasa I agreed taking the opportunity of his presence in Vrindavana. Simply by his Sannyasa dress he thought himself as cured of all material diseases and all mistakes, but under the influence of Maya, he thought himself a liberated patient, just as the foolish patient thinks himself cured of the disease. Under the spell of Maya, he disobeyed me by not going to London and consequently his disease has relapsed. Now in NY he has begun to dictate nonsense in my name such as giving up flags, etc. Instead of opening new centers he has begun to deliver his sermons amongst his God-brothers which are all against our principles. For the present he should simply chant Hare Krishna and cease to deliver lectures since he has not understood the whole philosophy very nicely." (Pradyumna, 10/17/67)

 

"I am very glad to receive your letter and yes I am feeling stronger. I always think of you because you are so nice in Krsna consciousness... You have written to say that I am as hard as a thunderbolt and softer than a rose' is quite right in the line of Krsna consciousness. I am very sorry to inform you that Kirtanananda is playing the part of a foolish man after his return to NY and it is necessary for me to play the part of a thunderbolt for his nonsense activities... Please inform this to all centers." (Jadurani, 10/13/67)

 

Note: Actually all of Prabhupada's letters to Jadurani were very personal and friendly. Her devotion to Prabhupada is undeniable. But on the other hand Prabhupada never wrote very personal letters to Kirtanananda except for ones like the above. This brings us to a very important incident that happened to Jadurani in 1980.

[Guest guest]

THE JADURANI INCIDENT

 

In the summer of 1980, Jadurani became convinced that the eleven gurus had never been appointed by Srila Prabhupada. So she left the LA temple to join devotees in Pittsburgh who were attempting to form an association to rid the movement of the eleven gurus. She began to work on her papers, explaining why the eleven gurus could not possibly be bona fide. Foolishly she allowed Jayadvaita, the editor of Back to Godhead, to convince her to take shelter of Kirtanananda. She agreed to make some paintings for the Palace. However, she could not refrain from telling anyone who would listen that Kirtanananda was not a bona fide guru. Two New Vrindaban women complained to Kirtanananda. These women, Parayani and Isani, wanted to physically attack Jadurani. They were given the go-ahead by Kirtanananda, who said: "Do the needful, but don't tell me about it." They fell upon Jadurani and severely beat her, kicking her in the face and not stopping until she was literally drenched in blood. Then, they attempted to take her bloody sari to hang on a post as a warning to anyone else who would "dare to blaspheme" Kirtanananda. Svarupa dasa managed to save Jadurani and took her to the hospital. She stayed in Pittsburgh until she joined devotees in Buffalo who were also involved in the anti-"guru" campaign.

 

After completing her guru papers, she went to the LA Rathayatra in 1981 to distribute them in hopes of awakening some of the other Prabhupada disciples. At the behest of Ramesvara, several women pickers attacked her, but this time fortunately they were chased away by Radha Mohan dasa. Next morning Trivikrama was lecturing on this incident, warning devotees to stay away from Jadurani. Bahubhavani dasi suggested that Trivikrama debate Jadurani in the temple room that evening. He agreed. Minutes later Ramesvara rushed into the temple room and loudly forbade Trivikrama to allow her anywhere even near the LA temple, what to speak about a debate. No doubt he remembered that he had himself been defeated by Jadurani and was obliged to remove his throne from the temple. The other "gurus" however, headed by Bhagavan, threatened that if he didn't put it back he would lose everything. So, for the second time, he was appointed a "pure devotee." Shortly thereafter many devotees left LA, having seen the truths in Jadurani's papers. This began the exodus of devotees from LA to San Francisco on the promise that Atreya would defend Jadurani's cause. He invited Jadurani and her friends to join him in San Francisco, but she intuitively felt he wasn't sincere. Nothing ever came of Atreya's promises to stop the guru conspiracy.

 

Note: Although it is certainly a great shame that Jadurani again took shelter of "ISKCON," at least she will go down in history as one of the staunch resistance fighters in the continuing battle to stop the conspirators who are bent on destroying Srila Prabhupada's mission.

 

"My grief for Kirtanananda isn't anything personal but I am sorry that he has become like a Mayavadi in spite of my best efforts to help him." (Jadurani, 10/26/67)

 

"Kirtanananda was awarded the position of a sannyasa because he wanted it although I could understand it that he wanted to be a spiritual master himself, Lord Caitanya wanted that everyone should be a spiritual master provided he follows the order of Lord Caitanya. Anyone following the order of Lord Caitanya under the guidance of His bonafide representative, can become a spiritual master to spread Krsna consciousness throughout the whole world. I want it but Kirtanananda was to much puffed-up and artificially he took up a certificate from me that he has been awarded the order to a sannyasi. In the spiritual field nobody can become a bonafide spiritual master by dissatisfying his spiritual master... Kirtanananda wanted to become a spiritual master by dissatisfying his spiritual master and as such he has fallen down... I very much appreciate your version that Rayarama is roaring like a lion-cub. I wish that every one of you should be Lion's descendent. Our Lord Krishna assumed the form of lion and killed the atheist, Hiranyakasipu, and by disciplic succession we shall also kill all impersonalist atheists. Absolutely there is no Krsna consciousness for the impersonalist." (Madhusudhana, 10/27/67)

 

Note: Here Prabhupada confirms that Kirtanananda was never sincere since he only wanted to be guru himself. In this regard, Prabhupada writes: "When a Krsna conscious person is elevated to a responsible position, he never becomes puffed-up. Just like a tree when overladen with fruits becomes humble and lower down, similarly, a great soul in Krsna consciousness becomes humbler than the grass and bowed down like the fruitful trees because a Krsna conscious person acts as the agent of Krishna, therefore he discharges his duty with great responsibility." (Gajendra, 1/27/70)

 

It is also significant here that Prabhupada is referring to Kirtanananda as a demon like Hiranyakasipu, which means gold and soft bed. Prabhupada is also suggesting here that we all become like a lion's descendent to kill all such atheist demons.

 

"Regarding Kirtanananda's article, I do not know what he has written but I can guess that it must be polluted with impersonal poison, so for the time being you can keep this article aside. I was so glad to learn that you are acting exactly like a lion cub and I know that in the future you shall conquer over many jackals. We have got experience in lndia that the jackals roar four times at night without any influence but the one roar of a lion drives away many elephants." (Rayarama, 11/3/67)

 

"The quarrel amongst yourselves, the Godbrothers, is not very much palatable. I am now thinking about our society. We were very smoothly going on but this disruption created by Kirtanananda has plagued and disturbed the situation...

 

Kirtanananda is a crazy man. That is proved. He says that he has become equal to the spiritual master but he is such a fool that he does not understand the principle of disciple even in ordinary worldly affairs." (Rayarama, 11/9/67)

 

"The incident created by Kirtanananda and Hayagriva may not disappoint us in the least. Let us remain sincere to Krishna and His bona fide representative and we are sure to carry out our mission successfully...

 

The Kirtanananda incident is certainly very unhappy and your dealing with the situation is quite appropriate... We should never tolerate any insult or blaspheme to Krishna or His representative. So your action was quite all right. Anyway, forget the chapter, there is nothing to be lamented. If thousands of Kirtananandas or Haygrivas come and go. We have to prosecute our real program of being sincere to Krishna and Krishna Caitanya." (Brahmananda, 11/15/67)

 

"The incident of Kirtanananda and Hayagriva chapter may now be closed. We shall always pray to Krishna for their recovery and we should not seriously take their counter-propaganda. I am sure they will flap for some time without any effect on our Krishna consciousness service." (Rayarama, 11/15/67)

 

Note: In an unrelated but applicable incident Prabhupada writes: "Yes, you are right, he is third class man, so we should not waste time with him further. Stirring stools does not help. Anyway, you have done right. The jackals may howl, but the caravan will pass on."

 

We all must adopt this mood in relation to the conspiracy being propped up by the jackals who simply trailed our spiritual master. Kirtanananda, when he found his effort going nowhere, is supposed to have again surrendered to Srila Prabhupada. That is the belief of many, but actually he has never surrendered. His counter-propaganda continues today. His actions do not indicate that he surrendered his craziness in actuality, but "by lips" he may have done so after his rebellion did not catch on with the devotees. Kirtanananda is every bit the impersonalist today that he was then.

 

"I beg to inform you that Kirtanananda and Hayagriva's recent standing is being directly dealt by me; at least Hayagriva is not as fanatic as Kirtanananda. His latest letter reveals that he is not out of Krsna consciousness as we understand. The whole episode was generated by personal grudge." (Brahmananda, 11/18/67)

 

"Killing proposal is not good. We have to kill them with arguments and reasons not with sticks and weapons. Jadurani, I am very glad that you want to kill the nondevotees. You should, however, leave the matter to your good Godbrothers who will take care of it. I am pleased to learn of your spirit of protest, but sometimes we have to tolerate. Hope you are well." (Pradyumna, Satsvarupa, Jadurani, 11/21/67)

 

Note: This is the way in which Srila Prabhupada recommended the devotees, specifically Jadurani of all people, deal with Kirtanananda, who deserved to be killed what to speak of beaten. When Jadurani was criticizing Kirtanananda in the 1980 incident narrated above, she must have thought Kirtanananda would at least have the decency to debate her instead of have her beaten. Kirtanananda could have told those two women to defeat Jadurani with reason and argument. But neither these women nor Kirtanananda know much philosophy, so Kirtanananda advised them to beat her. Even if Kirtanananda tries to claim now that he did not directly authorize the beating, he never apologized either. In fact he was proud of it. This one act alone proves beyond any shadow of a doubt that Kirtanananda is sub-human. Of course, this is just one incident. There are hundreds of similar incidents to expose about Kirtanananda if necessary.

 

"It is better service to Krsna and the Spiritual Master in a feeling of separation; sometimes there is a risk in the matter of direct service. For example, Kirtanananda was giving me direct service by massaging, by dictation of maya, he became puffed-up, so much so that he though his Spiritual Master a common man, and was existing only on account of his service. This mentality at once pushed him down. Of course, those who are devotees, they take direct service as an opportunity. (Madhusudhana, 12/28/67)

 

Note: In this connection Prabhupada writes; "There are some of my Godbrothers here in India who had constant personal association with Guru Maharaja, but who are neglecting his orders. This is just like the bug who is sitting on the lap of the king. He may be very puffed-up by his position, but all he can succeed in doing is biting the king." (Satadhanya, 2/20/72)

 

"He (Hayagriva) has committed a great blunder, but just so that he may be encouraged to come back you may mention his name also along with Rayarama's. [As coeditor of Gita.] He is not so convinced of his impersonalist philosophy. It is only due to Kirtanananda's influence that he has left us." (Brahmananda, 12/29/67)

 

Note: Some devotees still believe it was Hayagriva who contaminated Kirtanananda. Here the truth comes out.

 

"Kirtanananda's refusal to accept the Parampara system and authority of the scriptures is the cause of his misfortune. His version that the sun and the sunshine are one and the same is right, but when the sunshine is in the room is it not correct to say that the sun is in the room. His knowledge therefore is imperfect and therefore he cannot be a preacher. He is therefore contemplating for starting a nightclub of the psychedelic type. His association is not desirable for the present neither I can think of his future correction. Hayagriva has fallen a victim and l am sorry for this." (Woomapati, 1/14/68)

 

Note: It is significant here that Prabhupada cannot even imagine how such an envious man could ever become purified. Only nine years later that man is sitting on a throne declaring himself better than Prabhupada. Kirtanananda still doesn't accept the Parampara system, and therefore he has started his own institution as Prabhupada suggested. Quite often we hear the argument that Prabhupada went to New Vmdavana so many times, and that he said so many favorable things about Kirtanananda and New Vrindaban, so how can he not have approved of Kirtanananda? The explanation is very simple. Prabhupada was expert at adjusting everything in such a way that the demons were pacified and the movement went on relatively undisturbed. A good example in this connection is that of a dog biting on one's leg. What can you do? You throw the dog a bone and he goes away. So in cases like this, where Kirtanananda was viciously attacking Srila Prabhupada, Prabhupada more or less just threw him a bone in the form of New Vrindaban. This engaged and encouraged him which kept him from actively attacking Prabhupada-at least openly. It is well-known diplomatic behavior that, if you have an enemy in your camp, the best thing is to give him a position of respect. Giving the "big" devotees sannyasa in the 1970 demoniac attack to usurp the movement was a similar tactic.

 

Prabhupada could see the suffering condition of Kirtanananda and had compassion on him, but that does not mean that Prabhupada couldn't see Kirtanananda's envious tendency. Prabhupada's ability to keep everyone pacified to one degree or another was just one of the symptoms of his greatness.

 

"Yes, actually that was the program, but Kirtanananda made everything topsy-turvy. After we reached Vrindavana Kirtanananda became too much eager to return back. He was daily insisting me for his return back and once I told him that I have no money, how you can return? In reply to this, he said that he would go to the American Embassy as Citizen and take money from there and he would return. Then I was obliged to arrange for his return passage money and because he changed his program the society practically lost $1,200 for his going to India and coming back again without any purpose. I thought that some of this money could be recovered if he would return to NY, stopping a few days in London to see the prospect of opening a branch there. He agreed and I gave him the letter of introduction, and required money for immediate expenses, but he had no desire to stop at London and he directly reached you. He was also very eager to take sannyasa and I awarded him the sannyasa order; and I do not know, he wanted a certificate of his sannyasa. We never took any certificate of our Spiritual Master or anyone, but he told me that it was required for facility of preaching, so I gave him the certificate, but unfortunately the whole thing was smashed by different doctrine. Now it is understood from the letter of Woomapati that Kirtanananda does not believe in parampara or in the necessity of scriptural authority. He seems to feel that this is a sort of tyranny. That means, after taking sannyasa and understanding the philosophy for more than a year, he has changed the whole view, and I do not understand how you could like this recent doctrine." (Hayagriva, 1/15/68)

[Guest guest]

Note: This is no ordinary mentality. Someone who has the audacity to claim to be more realized than Prabhupada and scripture is described in the Chanakya Sloka: "No method can turn an evil-minded person into a gentleman, just as by washing the anus one hundred nines, it cannot be turned into a face." Nature and conditioning is developed in the subtle body over millions of lifetimes and is not so easy to change. Even mundane psychologists appear to know that fact much better than the average devotee in ISKCON.

 

Of course, Krsna is not limited. He can do anything he likes, but Kirtanananda does not behave like a person who is getting the special mercy of the Lord. Special mercy is reserved for very sincere and humble persons, not for those as puffed-up and offensive as Kirtanananda here. Practical proof that he still feels guru and sastra are tyranny is the way he constantly concocts and does not care to learn the scripture. He could not answer any of our challenges. There are only two possible explanations for this. Either he is less intelligent, or he feels he is beyond guru and sastra as revealed in the above letter. After interviewing many devotees who know Kirtanananda Swami personally, it became clear that he is not stupid. If he wanted to learn sastra, he could. Therefore he must still think his knowledge is superior to Prabhupada's and scripture, combined.

 

"I acknowledge receipt of Kirtanananda's sannyasa certificate." (Rayarama, 1/18/68)

 

Note: We don't accept him as a sannyasi. He doesn't have a certificate to prove it. Kirtanananda demanded a certificate of sannyasa but Srila Prabhupada did not want to give him one. Therefore Krsna gave it back to Srila Prabhupada.

 

"So far I am personally concerned, Kirtanananda was doubtful about my existence because he thought that I am dependent on his massaging, so he thought that there is no necessity of Spiritual Master, because Spiritual Master is an ordinary man, and to depend on an ordinary man is tyranny." (Brahmananda, 1/21/68)

 

Note: Prabhupada's use of the words "doubtful about my existence," is a polite way of saying that Kirtanananda was jealous and envious of him and thought him to be a tyrant. Kirtanananda, however, is an ordinary man, and the "inmates of New Vrindaban," by depending on him, are depending upon a tyrant and thereby are trying to cross the Pacific Ocean by catching hold of "the tail of a dog."

[Guest guest]

"NOBODY SHOULD GO THERE"

 

THE NEW VRNDAVANA PERSONALITY CULT: LATER LETTERS

 

"Please accept my blessings. I was so glad to receive your letter dated May 13, 1968, and my gladness knew no bounds, exactly like that when one gets back his lost child.

 

"You have written to say that you think of me often and now it is confirmed that you cannot do without thinking of me, because I was always thinking of you. Sometimes I silently cried and prayed to Krsna that how I have lost this child, Kirtanananda... Krsna has provided you with a nice plot of land, and it is due to His causeless unlimited mercy upon you. You were in Vrndavana but you did not like the atmosphere and you became disturbed, so immediately after your arrival in Vmdavana you felt uncomfortable, that I could understand, and therefore you came back to USA although it was settled before starting that you continue to live in Vrndavana...

 

"So I am pleased to learn that you are chanting and meditating on Krsna, and once only you are eating something to keep your body and soul together. But my request is that as you have accepted Sannyasa in this order of our disciplic succession, you must do some more service to Krsna than chanting and meditation, and the opportunity you have got. I understand that the land is very big area..." (Kirtanananda, 5/23/68)

 

Note: This is another one of those letters that everyone at New Vmdavana likes to quote often. They like to say that Prabhupada felt intense separation and cried when Kirtanananda blooped as though Prabhupada needed Kirtanananda. From reading this it certainly appears that Srila Prabhupada forgave and forgot the entire incident. But we will soon see that Srila Prabhupada never trusted Kirtanananda again, and similarly, Kirtanananda Swami never did any real service to Prabhupada.

 

"Kirtanananda is in West Virginia and he invites 100 brahmacaris there. I don't know, would you like this idea and where we have got 100 brahmacaris." (No name, 6/24/68)

 

Note: For those of you who don't know the situation, there were hardly 100 men in the entire movement at that time. So here is a unique example of Prabhupada's sense of humor. He was not a dry philosopher but he was a representative of the Supreme Humorist, Sri Krsna.

 

"I understand from Gargamuni that Hayagriva has sent you a letter inviting some of you to live with him in West Virginia where they are attempting to open a new center, but I am not very much hopeful about this center because there are many impediments. I have already written to Kirtanananda that in such suspicious and unfavorable conditions, no brahmacari will be interested to go there. If there is actually any invitation for going there I send herewith instructions to all of you that for the present, there is no necessity of going there. And in the future also nobody shall go there without getting my permission." (Upendra, 714168)

 

Note: Here is an example of the supreme perfection of diplomacy. Very politely here Prabhupada is saying, "Nobody should go there." Whether Prabhupada ever gave permission for devotees to go there is questionable.

 

"My dear Brahmananda, Please accept my blessings. Krishna will save you, do not worry. Let us forget about our past incidences with Hayagriva and Kirtanananda. Treat Kirtanananda as bonafide and address him as Kirtanananda Maharaja. He should be first offered obeisances and he will return the respect to his Godbrother." (Brahmananda, 7/29/68)

 

Note: Here Prabhupada is telling Brahmananda to respect Kirtanananda Swami even though months earlier Kirtanananda was a demon. Naturally this was hard to swallow. But the devotees followed Prabhupada's instructions and offered their respects to Kirtanananda Swami. Shortly thereafter he again started thinking he was better than all the other devotees.

 

"I understand that you are proposing for delivering children. That is not a Sannyasin's business. You should not bother about it. A sannyasi should not much bother about family affairs. Best thing is that they shall go to a bona fide physician for delivering the children, otherwise there may be complications which only a physician may have experience in handling." (Kirtanananda, 3/24/69)

 

Note: This proposal of Kirtanananda's is so absurd that any ordinary devotee would have laughed heartily. Prabhupada, being so expert, handled it very subtly. Kirtanananda obviously had not even the slightest idea of a sannyasi's business. He may have thought he was on the level of Ramananda Raya since he has no sexual attraction toward women. Unfortunately that does not mean one is free from sexual contamination.

 

"You have suggested that people coming from various centers to New Vrndavana should have their expenses underwritten by the temples at the rate of $25 per person for one month. I think that will be a new introduction in our institution. In our so many centers the members go and come, but there was no such demand from any center, and if New Vrndavana demands like that, it will not sound very nice. But I can understand the financial position of New Vrndavana, so the best thing will be to stop any more influx in New Vrndavana until the place is self-dependent. The whole idea of New Vrndavana is that men who are living there should produce their own food, of which milk is the principal thing. Unless that position is achieved it will not be advisable to ask anybody to go there. Better to ask them to go there if they are willing to work and produce their own food. Otherwise, nobody should be advised to go there. Besides that I have receivedlettersfromthegirlstherethattheyarefeelinginconvenience. Therefore, without having adequate place to live there, nobody should be advised at the present time to go there... For the time being you may not admit many more men and ask them to pay you $25 dollars per month. That will not sound very nice." (Kirtanananda, 7/31/69)

 

Note: It is fascinating how in this one paragraph, Prabhupada advises five times, "Nobody should go there"!

 

"I do not know what you mean by cooperation with Kirtanananda Maharaja. In our society everyone, either a brahmachary or sannyasi or grhastha, who has dedicated his life and soul to this movement, they are all on the same level of sannyasi. For the present moment, nobody can claim an extra honor from his Godbrothers. Everyone should treat his Godbrothers as prabhu. But nobody should try to claim any extra honor on account of an official position. I do not know why Kirtanananda says that his authority overrides yours. At the present moment everyone is working under my authority, Similarly, Kirtanananda also should work under my authority. So the condition imposed by Kirtanananda as stated by you does not look well. A sannyasi has got four stages of elevation: Kutichak, Bahudak, Parbribrajak and Paramahansa. The sannyasa in the Paramahansa stage is the Spiritual Master of everyone. I have asked Kirtanananda to work on the bahudak stage for the present. I discussed this point with him when I was in New Vrndavana. This stage means he should move amongst the people to draw their attention to the New Vrindaban scheme and try to attract their attention for its development. So he should immediately begin this bahudak program and collect money from outsiders, not from insiders. And as he is in charge of New Vrndavana, he may invest all such collection for the development of New Vrndavana, and before this Hayagriva must transfer the property to the society's name. So far as investment of the society's money for New Vrindaban is concerned, certainly it will be done in New Vrindaban and not only the money which Kirtanananda collects, but also, if need be, any center will invest money. But that investment should be in proportion to food and salt. To make it more tasteful, one adds salt to his food, and similarly, every center should be independently developed by supplying the food, and the society, if required, will supply the salt. For the present, all energy should be diverted to start a nice press for our publications work. So there is no extra money for the society to invest in New Vrndavana. Neither you can spare any money to anyone without my permission. Whatever you possess now in funds, that is not our personal money, so how can you execute the request of Kirtanananda's at the moment? I think you will understand me rightly and do the needful." (Brahmananda, 8/30/69)

 

Note: Expecting honor from his Godbrothers was always Kirtanananda's demand. For example, he always wanted the society to support him, yet he felt that he was more competent to spread Krsna consciousness on his own strength. This is proven by the many times he initiated actions and policies opposed to Srila Prabhupada's instructions. He still feels that way and, as such, misguides his collection parties. Although they have no right to go outside their own zones, they do it anyway."No project is as important as New Vrindavana," is their realization. And when he writes to a Godbrother he will address it, "Please accept my blessings," and he signs it, "Your ever well-wisher." Of course, he doesn't care a fig about the combined opinion of the GBC. For instance, take the affair connected to Prabhupada's crown. Everyone knows that the vast majority of Srila Prabhupada's disciples were repulsed by it. The GBC wanted it removed. He was told to remove it. But he bucked that order. After years of pressure, he finally removed it. And what do the "inmates" say about that? "Bhaktipada is so advanced. He has so much more realization than all the others combined. Just to show compassion on them, he took it off so their neophyte minds wouldn't be disturbed." In other words, they are brainwashed into believing that he couldn't possibly be wrong about anything. They think that he's a pure devotee and Prabhupada's oldest and most dear disciple. They actually think like that at New Vrndavana.

 

"Now gradually I am trying to hand over the management to the reliable hands of my disciples, and you should all work by joint consultation, without any friction. Now, by the Grace of Krishna, we are expanding and we must work in such a way that our society may stand a solid institution. In this connection I shall request you not to circulate all my letters that I address to you. Letters are sometimes personal and confidential, and if all letters are circulated, it may react reversely. I have already got some hints like that with letters I sent to you regarding Kirtanananda and Hayagriva. So in the future please do not circulate my letters to you. All my letters to you should be considered as confidential and if you want at all to circulate, you just ask me before doing so." (Brahmananda, 9/28/69)

 

Note: Here we see some more of the way a pure devotee attempts to keep all parties pacified. He had to tell Brahmananda that Kirtanananda was not to be given any special respect and Brahmananda circulated the letter. Then when Kirtanananda heard that he was not the "dearmost," and that Prabhupada and Brahmananda were discussing about him in this way, no doubt Kirtanananda's envy flared up again. So Prabhupada had to warn Brahmananda to keep his letters confidential.

 

Some devotees criticize us for circulating all these letters citing the above instruction. We beg to remind the devotees that the times have drastically changed since then. In fact it is only because of ignorance of the real character of all these "gurus" that they have gotten away with their "guru business" as long as they have.

 

"Another thing is that just at the present moment I do not think the society can invest any money in New Vrindaban, for the reason that we are starting this press, and until this press is all established I do not wish to divert my attention to New Vrindaban. Another difficulty is that nobody is staying in New Vrindaban. Even the boy Hrisikesha has left, and recently I received one letter from Ranadir that Hayagriva and Kirtanananda are also not there. New Vrindaban is not in charge of Ranadir, so on the whole, people are not being attracted. In your next president's meeting you can consider these points." (Brahmananda, 10/3/69)

 

Note: In other words: "Nobody should go there." And don't send any money there either. The attrition rate there remains extremely high to this day-and for good reason.

 

"Regarding New Vrndavana, the society does not require to invest now. Kirtanananda is managing. That is all right. So far as Rayarama is concerned..." (Brahmananda, 10/27/69)

 

Note: Here Prabhupada is saying in more or less words, that New Vrndavana is Kirtanananda's project and so don't even think about it.

 

"The most encouraging news is that the school is being very nicely organized. Another encouraging thing is that Kirtanananda Maharaja has now taken up actually the work of a Sannyasi and is preaching outside our Krsna conscious cult with great enthusiasm." (Ranadir, 1/24/70)

 

Note: In Chapter Nine there is an elaborate description of why Srila Prabhupada gave men like Kirtanananda the sannyasa order of life. In summary, the idea was to get them out preaching and away from the temples where they simply caused problems for the others. This letter, and many more like it, supports this conclusion.

 

"You have made a proposal and plan that each center shall contribute $20 monthly for the improvement of our New Vrndavana community Project. I have no objection to this but it has been already the program that every center shall send me maintenance funds of $15 per month and since leaving Japan I have hardly received any. I do not know if they have sent or not sent, but I have not received. So if they cannot even send my maintenance charges, you cannot depend on their sending monthly $20 for the maintenance of New Vrndavana." (Rupanuga, 11/13/70)

 

Note: Prabhupada was constantly having to check Kirtanananda from draining the Society for men and money. Here he is implying that first the devotees should think of him, not Kirtanananda. It is also interesting to note that Rupanuga was influenced to support Kirtanananda. He must not have heard yet that New Vrindaban was not supported by the society. From the very beginning, Kirtanananda's psychic influence on his Godbrothers has been very powerful. Prabhupada was constantly having to circumvent or control him by letters and diplomacy.

 

"Yes you can send the building fund moneys to New Vrndavana for development of our community project there. This collection may be utilized in this way." (hand-written insert); "After consulting the GBC whether New Vrndavana has been transferred to the Society?" (Karandhar, 4/22/71)

 

Note: Prabhupada was not interested in spending a penny on New Vmdavana until it was transferred into the Society's name. Why? Perhaps he knew that, at any moment, Kirtanananda could turn on him again.

 

Once the project was in the Society's name however, it wouldn't matter as much. To this day, the transfer has not been made and so Kirtanananda can and does blow his nose on the GBC whenever they try to tell him something.

[Guest guest]

"Recently I have received one letter from Hayagriva in which he wanted to know in 24 hours whether I could pay $20,000, but I have already given $20,000 to Back to Godhead. Besides that, New Vrndavana has to be developed very nicely but whether Hayagriva has already transferred the property to the society's name? This is required now. We require seven temples in New Vrindaban and 50% of the membership collection may be invested for this purpose. But Hayagriva should transfer the property to the society's name." (Rupanuga, 4/24/71)

 

Note: Somehow or other, the devotees at the time just couldn't seem to understand that Prabhupada didn't trust Kirtanananda.

 

"So far your ideas that some of our students have not realized what they are writing, that they are merely repeating the philosophy mechanically, and that Rayarama is more appreciated by you, then you can do it, and give the example as he has done it. But the difference is, that in spite of his becoming a philosopher he could not assimilate and practice the philosophy, and he went away, so you may write like him, but please do not go away. I think others like Kirtanananda may be repeating, but they stay. But I am always wondering, why others do not write, so many big, big, preachers we have got, but none of them write, so if you can inspire them to write in more convincing way, that is great service, do it. (Mandali-Bhadra, 2/2/72)

 

Note: This is no ordinary comment for Srila Prabhupada to make. He very seldom made such statements in writing knowing that it could fall into the wrong hands. So to criticize Kirtanananda so casually here is very unusual. Prabhupada is coming right out and saying that Kirtanananda has no realization but is merely mechanically repeating. Thus the devotees could understand that despite Kirtanananda's claim of being the greatest devotee, he is not.

 

"...and I was expecting your check for a long time. I have been dreaming for a long time that you would send something but I didn't get. So now I am coming to Los Angeles by 20th May, and you must come there to meet me. You are the first sannyasin of my institution so I expect greater things from you than the others." (Kirtanananda, 5/2/72)

 

Note: This shows that Srila Prabhupada and Kirtanananda were not in any mystical harmony. Kirtanananda either could not realize Prabhupada's hopes or simply refused to fulfill it.

 

"But now you have agreed to give Hayagriva $4,000 dollars per month, that was a great mistake. Now you have to rectify it. Now Hayagriva writes me that he is coming to Los Angeles, so we can discuss. Abruptly if we stop, that will not be good. So we have to rectify by arrangement and agreement. I am simply surprised how you all GBC men agreed to give him $4,000 per month. So the mistake has been made, now it has to be corrected by other ways." (Karandhar, 5/12/72)

 

Note: Is it possible that the GBC men hadn't realized yet that New Vmdavana was not an ISKCON project? In letter after letter, Prabhupada is stressing the transference of the property into the society's name but they are so dull that they don't comprehend. When Prabhupada says, "I am simply surprised," he often means that the devotees did something stupid beyond comprehension. For those readers who are not aware; Hayagriva and Kirtanananda had been having as "two halves of the same body" for approximately 15 years at the time of this letter and so money given to Hayagriva was the same as money given to Kirtanananda. To this day they are still living together. Hayagriva's son is also very intimate with Kirtanananda as several testimonies have revealed.

 

"So far your road-show is concerned, we are not meant for giving performances, we are simple kirtan men. There must always be kirtan going on wherever we travel, and nothing else.

 

"So far your naming of the new initiates, Shyamasundar tells me that there are several duplications, and this is not very much desirable. So in future, better to telephone or somehow contact my secretaries and get the names from them, and in that way there will be no duplication in the future." (Kirtanananda, 6/25/72)

 

Note: This shows a blasé and careless attitude on the part of Kirtanananda in acting as the representative of the parampara.

 

"Such a talent (Hayagriva) is not so easily replaced, so we must try to bring him back to the standard for his own benefit. In this connection, I have written his wife, Kirtanananda Maharaja, and the GBC to see what they can do for him. (Jagadish, 3/10/73)

 

Note: Prabhupada had many homosexual followers and so he seldom condemned homosexuality outright. Homosexuality is not mentioned in any of the personal letters in the archives. Still, in private, Prabhupada was known to have commented about homosexuals on several occasions. It is well known to many of Ws disciples that Prabhupada was not at all impressed by that particular phenomenon. In the relationship between Kirtanananda and Hayagriva, at least one testimony informed us that Kirtanananda was the female part. This letter may well have been referring to this truth.

 

"Actually I don't want our energy spent in that way, to develop a school at New Vrindaban. Rather, all of our children should go to Dallas when they are four and begin their training program there." (Satyabhama, 3/23/73)

 

Note: In effect, Srila Prabhupada is ordering not to send the children there either.

 

"After the shooting affair what precaution have you taken? Bharadraj is here and he gave report that the devotees were very frightened. I further understand that the attack was for the second time. Here in Mayapur there are reports of dacoitry at least once, twice in a month surrounding our place. So we have now taken two guns under regular license from the government. So when New Vmdavana has been attacked twice, thrice, why are you not keeping guns?" (Kirtanananda, 6/22/73)

 

Note: It remains a frightening place to go for spiritual life to this day.

 

"Yes! Go on acquiring the surrounding lands and in this way we will establish a local self-governing village and show all the world a practical example of spiritual life as Krishna Himself exhibited in Vrindaban. Agriculture and protecting the cow, this is the main business of the residents of Vrindaban, and above all simply loving Krishna. The cows, the trees, the cowherd men and Gopis, their chief engagement was loving Krishna, and in New Vrindaban we want to create this atmosphere and thereby show the whole world how practical and sublime our movement is." (Kirtanananda, 7/27/73)

 

Note: In many letters Prabhupada wrote to Kirtanananda about cow protection. Unfortunately, when Kirtanananda began work on the Palace, he lost interest in the cows. Especially in 1980, due to poor feed, at least 10-15 cows were weakened to the point that they all froze to death at one time while attempting to get out of mud. The feed given them was rotten. Kirtanananda had more important things to spend money on than decent feed. Another incident is the killing of at least two cows who got their heads stuck in the feeder. Kirtanananda couldn't spare a man to fix the thing, since they were all welding on the Palace gates. Finally, a non-vegetarian karmi neighbor named Rocky saw the painful condition the cows were in and invested his own time to weld it. And then many cows were killed by the disease mastitis, which is easily cured with basic effort only. But, if left untreated, they die a painful death. Many cows were allowed to die in this way. Kirtanananda had more important things to spend money on than medicine. Even the local authorities attempted to prosecute Kirtanananda for cruelty to animals but they failed. Still the indication is clear. Kirtanananda is no lover of cows. Finally Kirtanananda is now building a huge cow barn since his drug dealing business is doing very well. If the authorities are unwilling to do an audit on New Vmdavana, maybe the society should go through the books to determine the source of all that money.

 

"So far as the woman distributors who have left New York and Boston Temples and have gone to New Vrndavana, they should return immediately and resume their original service. In Caitanya Mahaprabhu's movement, everyone is preacher, whether man or woman it doesn't matter. I do not know why Kirtanananda Maharaja is encouraging our woman devotees not to go out on Sankirtan for book distribution. Everyone should go out." (Karandhar, 10/6/73)

 

Note: We have a good idea why Kirtanananda was encouraging the women to leave their temples to come to New Vrindaban, for the same reason he attempted to get anyone to New Vrindaban: to exploit them. Today, these same women, if they stay at New Vrindaban, may often be "Dharmattes," (Dharmatma's women)."Come here little muffin..." In other words ladies, real women devotees should not go there. Recently Mother Mahara, New Vrindaban's top collector for years, defected. She was "the" staunch supporter of Dhannatma and Kirtanananda. A very serious collector who went out 7 days a week, 51 weeks a year, she discovered that Dhannatma had impregnated a young girl (under age) and made her get an abortion. Mahara says that Kirtanananda knew and approved it before it happened (See Appendix 12). She reported this to the GBC but then she admits that the GBC snuffed it. And of course everyone knows that Dharmatma has sex with many of the women in the collecting party. In fact he initiated the idea of keeping women pickers satisfied as their gigolo. Jiva was the first to get trained up by Dharmatma in this philosophy (See Appendix 1 1). He passed it on to Udywnanu. We have many testimonies as to Dharmatma's telling women to abandon or neglect their children and husbands and go out picking. And don't fool yourselves-Kirtanananda is the brains behind this philosophy. Kirtanananda often brags that, "not a blade of grass moves at New Vmdavana without my knowing about it." Therefore he most likely knew about the peephole into the ladies toilet of the temple building. Two inmates were caught looking through it but then the incident was covered up fairly well. Kirtanananda's real feelings toward women is further revealed just before women's "darshana" (meeting) night. We have definite testimony as to his joking, "Well boys, get out the incense, it's fish night." Fish referring to what he considers the smell of women. Knowing this and knowing that he is a lifelong homosexual, then makes perfect sense. So does this sound like a healthy, Vedic spiritual environment for raising a family in progressive Krsna conscious household life?

 

"Now this displeasing of Godbrothers has already begun and gives me too much agitation in my mind. Our Gaudiya Math people fought with one another after the demise of Guru Maharaja but my disciples have already begun fighting even in my presence. So I am greatly concerned about it... Trnad api sunicena... Please try to maintain the philosophy of unity in diversity. That will make our movement successful. One section of men have already gone out, therefore we must be very careful to maintain unity in diversity, and remember the story of Aesop's Fables of the father of many children with the bundle of sticks. When the father asked his children to break the bundle of sticks wrapped in a bag, none of them could do it. But, when they removed the sticks from the bag, and tried one by one, the sticks were easily broken. So this is the strength of unity. If we are bunched up, we can never be broken, but when divided, then we can become broken very easily." (Kirtanananda, 10/18/73)

 

Note: Kirtanananda does not give facility to any diversity which is not 100% loyal to his air of divinity.

 

Therefore, there is no real unity at New Vmdavana, just personality cult fascism.

 

"There is one vacancy in the GBC board, so myself in consultation with Brahmananda Maharaja and Jayatirtha Prabhu, we have decided you can fill up the post. This will be confirmed in the next meeting." (Kirtanananda, 5/10/74)

 

Note: This is May of 1974 and for the first time Prabhupada was offering Kirtanananda some official responsibility. But shortly thereafter he wanted to be a wild card again.

 

"If Kirtanananda Maharaja speaks what I speak, then he can be taken as siksa-guru. Guru sastra sadhu. The spiritual master is one, that is a fact. Kirtanananda Swami may be taken as sadhu not spiritual master, or as instructor guru. I don't think he is saying anything against our principles, so what is the wrong?

 

"You have written that the devotees here say that you cannot know me, but only Kirtanananda Maharaja can know me. But, if Kirtanananda is a disciple and he can know me, and you are also a disciple, why you cannot know me?" (Paramananda, 7/20/74)

 

Note: Someone was bold enough to tell Prabhupada that Kirtanananda was imposing his personality as the only medium to Srila Prabhupada. More tangible evidence of the oppressive personality cult being unauthorizedly instituted at that place.

 

This is the heart of his problem. Kirtanananda wants to be the guru, but he's not so stupid as to claim authority over Prabhupada again, like before. Here he is claiming to be the only one who can know Prabhupada. It's the next best thing to being there.

 

"I am in due receipt of your letter dated August 21, with enclosed photographs. So Kirtanananda Maharaja has installed Deities. But without twenty devotees how you can have Deities? Your men are coming and going so why you are having Deity installation? You must have twenty devotees. Kirtanananda Maharaja, he should supply those devotees since he has authorized the installation. You can name the Deities, Radha-Murlidhara." (Batugopal, 9/7/74)

 

Note: In effect, these Deities only have Kirtanananda's blessings. The tone of this letter certainly doesn't sound like a blessing from Prabhupada. As such the Cleveland temple never really got off the ground. These Deities are still in Cleveland but there are still not 20 devotees there. Kirtanananda sends his bad devotees there as a type of punishment. Kalpa Vrksa, one of Kirtanananda's most loyal followers, was exiled there recently for stealing morphine from the New Vrindaban resident doc Nick who needed it at the time for a patient. Kirtanananda's intimates refer to Cleveland as the "Bahuka temple"-"Bahuka" being an African race of Negro but used in the derogatory sense by Kirtanananda and his inmates.

 

"In India ghee is needed in our temples. I want to know if you can supply ghee by exporting it from USA. The quantity is 100 lbs.for Mayapura and 100 lbs. for Vrindaban. I am prepared to pay you for it in dollars at the fair market price." (Kirtanananda, 10/25/74)

 

Note: Does this sound like the relationship between the Jagat-guru and his obedient, over-loyal, and dedicated disciple?

 

"Please send the next shipment of ghee immediately, as it takes quite a while for it to reach India. Shipments should be sent regularly every six months. The amount that you sent last shipment was good, send that much twice a year.

 

You are so humble and so sincere, this is a sign of your success. May Krishna bless you more and more. Krishna has placed you in that position. Now, you should always be fully conscious of your great responsibility." (Madhuvisa, 1/21/75)

 

Note: This is the relationship between a Guru and his obedient disciple.

 

"...and I have read the Cintamini poetry book. It is indirect, impersonal and useless. Who will read these things? Krishna's name is only mentioned in two poems in the whole book. What is this? There are so many poems written by great acaryas. Who do you try to concoct something like this? It is not in our line. How is that our Kirtanananda Swami is there and he has approved printing this? It is a waste of time, paper, money, ink, and labor... Who will become attracted by such things as this? You should all spend more time reading my books very carefully and stop all this unnecessary manufacturing." (Vahna, 5/26/75)

 

Note: Srila Prabhupada had warned previously that Kirtanananda was "polluted with impersonal poison." Well, it hadn't gone away by 1975. Money went out for the printing of Mayavada literature from the press of Kirtanananda Swami. That press is still printing all kinds of rubbish today, also. There is positive testimony by an inmate of New Vrndavana that $100 bills are also being printed there along with Brijbasi Spirits calling Kirtanananda the founder-acarya of New Vrindaban.

 

"...and have noted the contents. Your report is very nice. It is wonderful to hear that you are distributing 1,000 magazines and collecting $1,000 daily. Now, you have plenty of money, milk, fruits, flowers, grains, everything and you are living in the jungle. What more could you want? I may be coming there immediately after the Philadelphia Rathayatra, and I shall stay until after Janmastami. I hope this meets you in good health." (Kirtanananda, 6/9/75)

 

Note: This is a very unusual and interesting statement."What more could you want?" Prabhupada often refers to Mayavadis as desiring these things exclusively. One would have to read All of Prabhupada's letter to understand that this letter is very unusual and revealing since Prabhupada seldom spoke sarcastically to his disciples.

 

"Regarding your desire to be relieved of managing these other centers, I may request you to continue until the next Mayapur meeting and then you can make some other arrangement conveniently." (Kirtanananda, 11/10/75)

 

Note: So in one and one-half years Kirtanananda wanted relief from GBC duty.

 

THE END

[Guest guest]

Srila Narayana Maharaja says not to criticize any Vaisnavas or anyone for that matter. DON'T CRITICIZE. He's said this SO many times. No matter who they are or what they have done. You don't have to follow them, listen to them, or even be near them. But please don't criticize them. You don't know who you were in your past lives, and who anyone else was. We have no right to criticize anyone, only Guru can see faults in others and only he has the right to correct their faults. Do you think Narayana Maharaja doesn't know of his criminal activity? As a very high-class Vaisnava I don't think anyone would be more perturbed than him regarding Kirtanananda Swami. At the same time, we can see how he acts towards him. This is Vaisnava etiquette, and is this is such a good example. It would have ruined the entire atmosphere at the festival if Narayana Maharaja were to have chastized him in front of everyone. But it created such a sweet and loving atmosphere to see how compassionate Srila Narayana Maharaja was towards Kirtananda Swami.

 

I understand your anger, but it is very unhealthy for Bhakti to criticize other people, whoever they may be, and we should try to be compassionate to all.

[stonehearted]

I don't know what moved Kirtanananda to go to see Narayana Maharaja, but it's natural that an elevated vaishnava such as Narayana Maharaja would receive him kindly, especially considering that he has known him for almost 40 years. While it's the fact that only those who have been offended can forgive an offender, someone in a position superior to his can show him mercy in hoped of helping him. I don't think there's anyone on this forum who's in a position to correct or instruct Narayana Maharaja.

 

Yes, the catalog of K's sins in correct; there's little doubt of that. I was one of the last people to speak with Sulochan. I ran into him in the produce section of Von's supermarket at about 8:30 the night he was murdered, and we spoke for 45-50 minutes. He knew he didn't have long to live. I expressed hope that he was more worried than he needed to be. Unfortunately, I was wrong. I heard the next day that he had been shot to death a couple of hours after we spoke.

 

Even the Lord Himself has averred that He can't excuse offenses against vaishnavas. So it's easy enough, I think, for those of us who find his asserting himself as some sort of guru to avoid his company.

[Jahnava Nitai Das]

I have to agree with Bhakta Don on this one. I don't see anything good in this. Kirtanananda is a criminal who was involved in destroying the lives of thousands of devotees. He doesn't deserve any respect at all, or even acknowledgement.

 

The fact that he still thinks he is a guru and pure representative of Krishna doesn't help either.

 

 

Kirtananda faced the US courts, he was punished

 

Actually, he only pleaded guilty to minor offenses such as tax evasion and racketeering and got an extremely light sentence. He has yet to even acknowledge much more serious offenses he has committed.

[Jahnava Nitai Das]

http://www.tirthainprison.com/