Interpretation is at the heart of the ritvik controversy.

[Guest guest]

> > > > > "In our vaisnava society, Vedic authority has been seriously

> > > > > compromised by an unshastric apotheosis of Srila Prabhupada. Most

> > > > > people in our society are willing to accept a conclusion based

> > > > > solely on Srila Prabhuapda's words without bothering to insist

> > > > > that the conclusion be supported by sastra or the words of

> > > > > previous acaryas.

>

> >

> > We often encounter some idea, and the author will say, "I am not saying

> > it, Srila Prabhupada is saying it!" But as soon as we say, "Srila

> > Prabhupada said, Vyasa said, etc.", we are offering an INTERPRETATION of

> > what is said. In fact, you can't really read or hear something without

> > interpreting it. Understanding something necessarily means interpreting

> > the words, sounds, pictures, ink on the page, etc. from which we draw

> > our understanding. That is why we have to check ideas not only against

> > guru, but sadhu and shastra as well to see that as far as possible our

> > INTERPRETATION of guru's instructions is correct.

> >

> > ys KKdas

>

> But if Krsna says: dehino smin..., and Srila Prabhupada says (just

> repeating) you are not this body but soul, and i preach you are not this

> body but soul - then where is interpretation? I say :Prabhupada SAID you

> are not this body because Krsna HAS SAID you are soul, amsa. So if i just

> repeat then where is any INTERPRETATION as you proposed above?

 

That is why we need a LIVING guru, LIVING saintly people, etc., to help us

understand. Srila Prabhupada himself stressed so much on attending classes

on Gita and Bhagavatam, even though he himself was not giving the lecture.

Why don't we just do away with the Bhagavatam class and put a tape of Srila

Prabhupada's on? That is how important the association of saintly people

are, even if they are our godbrothers.

 

Even the ritviks are not simply understanding Srila Prabhupada's

instructions as they are--they have taken shelter of the interpretations of

some office clerk from Birmingham, who himself never accepted a spiritual

master, never gets up before 6 or 7 a.m., and has the audacity to pretend

that he knows something about spritual life. The sad thing is that so many

devotees have been duped by him, but again, this has been possible because

of a widely pervasive misunderstanding of what constitutes proper and

improper evidence.

 

Sure, a few devotees will stray from the path, but 1 in 3 devotees? (Based

on polls conducted both on VNN and CHAKRA) Are so many devotees insincere?

 

"We have met the enemy, and he is us!"

 

Conclusion: if we really want to stop ritvik once and for all, we have to

remove its root causes. This misunderstanding about Srila Prabhupada's

position and the status of his words are one of the roots of ritvik. Please

note that in 1989/1990, the GBC did move to quash ritvik. Obviously, they

did not remove its root; just like a weed--if you don't remove its root, it

will surely grow back. And that, it did.

 

ys KKdas