Fw: Sripad BV Damodara Maharaja replies to the GBC paper about Srila Prabhupada's relationship with Srila BV Narayan Maharaja.

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keep_in_touch <keep_in_touchSripad BV Damodara Maharaja replies to the GBC paper about Srila Prabhupada's relationship with Srila BV Narayan Maharaja.Starman108Date: Thursday, April 8, 2010, 12:19 PM

 

Dandavat pranams,

All glories to Sri Sri Guru and Gauranga .

 

Dear Vaisnava devotees of the Lord,

Recently I was sent the latest GBC article attempting to minimize

the relationship between Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja, and His siksa

guru Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja. Unfortunately, one afflicted with

jaundice sees everything as yellow, in the same one afflicted with

misconception sees contradictions everywhere.

Actually, I have read the document several times and see no contradictions

whatsoever between what was said, and what is claimed to be said by Srila

Narayana Maharaja.

I don't want to make this article so long, so I will just stick to the main points;

 

The essence of the claims by the GBC is the following, "The most

prominent of these fabulations is the depiction of death-bed professions by

Prabhupada that (1) he had failed to teach his own disciples adequately;

that (2) the reason for his failure was the debased and degraded nature of

his disciples; that (3) Prabhupada consequently appointed Narayana

Maharaja himself to complete the job; and that (4), given the unfitness of

his own disciples, Prabhupada wanted Narayana Maharaja instead to put

him in samadhi."

 

(1) The first point raised by them is "he had failed to teach his own

disciples adequately" This is an obvious fact given the sad past of the leaders

of the ISKCON society. Considering at the time of Srila Prabhupada departure,

the leaders included such perfectly trained disciples such as;

 

Bhavananda, Jaya-Tirtha, Brahmananda, Garga-muni, Bhagavän,

Harikesh, Surabhi Swami, Hari-sauri (Prabhupada Kripa Goswami),

Rameswara, Drstadhumana, Adi-kesava, Sudama, Kirtananda,

Hamsadutta.....need I go on. Had any of Prabhupada's disciples been trained

up to the level of pure devotion? Even upon the attainment of bhäva one

should remain under the guidance and protection of sädhu-sanga, or one will

experience difficulties in spiritual life, as is shown by the past-time of the fall

down of Bharat Maharaja in the fifth canto of the Srimad Bhägavatam.

Unfortunately, the GBC have given an incorrect slant to their translation of

Prabhupada's words of 'yatata pari shiksa diyechi, karche ora' which should

actually be translated as 'I have trained them as much as I could'. Actually as a

pure devotee, Srila Prabhupada has unlimited potency to give perfect training,

but unfortunately the disciple can only catch the mercy of the guru according

to their surrender, and as we see from the histories of the ex-leaders of the

GBC, this surrender was not very substantial. Why this is so is explained by

Srila Prabhupada himself "because they are from mleccha and yavana

backgrounds, I tried my best to train them." Thus the point that Prabhupada is

trying to make is that he could not train them up to the proper standard of

pure devotion. I think that there are very few disciples of Srila Prabhupada who

can raise their hands and claim to have been perfectly trained in pure devotion.

 

 

(2) As for the second point that "reason for this failure was the

debased and degraded nature of his disciples", the GBC are simply repeating

Prabhupada's own words verbatim. "They do not have any hereditary

background. All are from mleccha and yavana family background. I have

trained them according to my ability. They are also doing their best."

The GBC have made great efforts to show that Srila Narayana

Maharaja is misrepresenting Prabhupada because Srila Narayana Maharaja

claimed that Prabhupada said, "You should help my disciples. They are like

monkeys, I could not train them so much." Actually Srila Narayana Maharaja

is being kind by describing them as monkeys, because their Guru Maharaja has

described them as being worse. It is better to be called a monkey rather than a

mleccha and yavana. In Prabhupada's BBT the glossary gives the translations for

mleccha as (uncivilized humans, outside the Vedic system of society, who are

generally meat-eaters.), and a yavana is (a class of humans fallen from the Vedic

culture; a low-class person, generally a meat-eater; a barbarian.) A monkey is a

sub-human, and mlecchas and yavanas are considered as sub-human beings, as

quoted by Srila Prabhupada in his Srimad Bhägavatam commentary, "In the

Krishna consciousness movement these monkey disciples, being unable to follow

the strict regulative principles, sometimes fall down and try to form societies

based on sex. This is proof that such people are descendants of monkeys, as

confirmed by Darwin. In this verse it is therefore clearly stated: yathä vänara

jäteù."

 

And....."However, being unable to stick to these principles, these

rascals again fall down and take shelter among Sudras who are very expert in

making arrangements for sex indulgence. Sex is very prominent among animals

like monkeys, and such people who are enlivened by sex may be called

descendants of monkeys."

 

The reason Srila Narayana Maharaja is being so kind was also

explained by him 15 years ago, and this has been also given by the GBC as an

explanation, he says, "At that time he (Srila Prabhupada) spoke in Bengali so

that others would not understand. If he were to say that all his disciples

were ignorant, that they did not know very much, and that they were

imperfect, they may have become upset. For this reason he spoke so many

things in Bengali. He told me, "I brought them, but I could not teach them

in full." Thus the words of Srila Narayana Maharaja have prophetically become

true, because when the GBC understood that their Gururdeva called them

mlecchas and yavanas 30 years ago, they have become upset and wrote a 40

page reply.

 

* Syamarani didi's note

I personally heard this Bengali cassette tape recording of the recorded conversation

that the gbc is referring to, and I was one of the editors. That's how

I know that the iskcon translation missed one important Bengali word - banara - which means monkey.

Moreover, even if the word banara wasn't there, are

mlechas and yavanas much better than banaras?

 

(3) ) The GBC has stated that "Prabhupada consequently appointed

Narayana Maharaja himself to complete the job (of giving them full

training). This was also stated in the conversation, where Prabhupada says in

the beginning of the conversation, "Prabhupada and Bhaktivinoda Thakura

wanted that we

should preach in Europe and America. Another desire was that everyone

should preach collectively." Is this not a statement that Iskcon should work

together with the Gaudiya Math? Is this not the desire of Srila Bhakti Siddhänta

Sarasvaté Thakura and Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura, (thus also a desire of Srila

Prabhupada)? Is not Srila Narayana Maharaja being told that this is the desire of

the Guru Paramaparä? Srila Prabhupada continues, "And after I have gone,

everyone should all come together . . ." Thus Prabhupada is not just

instructing Srila Narayana Maharaja, and the Gaudiya Math to work co-

operatively with Iskcon, but for Iskcon to work together with the Gaudiya

Math. Prabhupada explains that we have all the facilities in terms of "If all

work united-there are big, big temples; there is sufficient place to

stay; there is no lack of manpower. If everything happens when I am

here, that will be very nice."

 

Srila Narayana Maharaja then tells Prabhupada that Iskcon devotees are

sufficiently trained, so as to put Prabhupada out of anxiety, thus he says, "It is

very nice. This is how it should be. You have created something; if

they all work together and maintain it. You have trained them. Yet

in the future if they become even more united and help, then a

wonderful thing will happen in this world." Then Srila Prabhupada

explains that actually he hasn't been able to train them properly because they

are all mlecchas and yavanas, but he tried his best, and they are also trying their

best with their insufficient training, Thus he says, "They do not have any

hereditary background. All are from mleccha and yavana family

background. I have trained them according to my ability. They are

also doing their best."

 

So the entire flow of the conversation should be looked upon as a

whole. One cannot simply pull random statements out of context, and

present them to a reader. Srila Prabhupada states that the desires of Srila

Bhaktivinode Thakura and Srila Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Thakura are to

preach in Europe and America, and if we are all united then wonderful

things can be done. He states how he tried to train his disciples as much as

he was able, but due to their being mlecchas and yavanas, it was insufficient.

Why is he saying this to Srila Narayana Maharaja in this meeting? Of

course Srila Narayana Maharaja could understand the mano 'bhista (internal

desire) of Srila Prabhupada, which anyone, (unless they are blind) could also

see. That is please train My disciples and co-operatively preach around the

world, fulfilling My desires, and also the desire of the previous acharyas.

 

Srila Prabhupada always gave the analogy of the blind man and the

lame man. The lame man represented India, and the blind man represented

the West. India was materially lame, and the West was blind to spiritual

knowledge, if they both co-operate then wonderful things can be done. Here

the Gaudiya Math may be likened to the lame man, and Iskcon is the blind

man, our previous äcäryas wanted for them to work co-operatively, and that

was the final desire of Srila Prabhupada being expressed here. Perhaps the

blind man cannot see this though, but Srila Narayana Maharaja knew what

Prabhupada meant, therefore he replied, "Whenever they will call me,

consult with me, wherever they will ask me to go, I will do according to my

ability. However, my qualification is very little. Whatever I can do

selflessly, I will do." And "I consider you to be like my spiritual

master."

 

(4) The last disagreement the Iskcon paper had with the direct

statements of Srila Prabhupada was stated by them, "given the unfitness of

his own disciples, Prabhupada wanted Narayana Maharaja instead to put

him in samadhi." Again, this was also collaborated by the entire conversation.

If the disciples like PP Bhakticaru Maharaja and Bhavananda already knew

everything, then why would they have to consult Srila Narayana Maharaja

about the details of the Samadhi ceremony? I quote,

Prabhupada: You have consulted with Narayana Maharaja?

Tamal Krishna: Yes. This morning Bhakti-caru Swami, Bhakti-prema Swami

and Sridhara Swami went to see him, and Narayana Maharaja described the

ceremony for the departure of a Vaisnava, great Vaisnava soul.

 

So full training was not given so they had to take advice from a senior

Vaisnava.

 

Actually the most offensive statement in the entire article was the

following jewel of Vaisnava-aparädha, where it states on page 28, "Thus, it

appears that the idea of Narayana Maharaja's participation in the ceremony

originates from Narayana Maharaja himself, not from Srila Prabhupada."

Thus directly suggesting that Srila Narayana Maharaja went to the Samadhi

ceremony for the free feast or something like that. Considering that Srila

Prabhupada in the same conversation asks Srila Narayana Maharaja if he will be

there for everything, and that he was the only person who could direct the

entire viraha mahotsava, and to say that Srila Maharaja went there for some self-

interest is just disgusting. Also considering that Srila Prabhupada did not give

His disciples the gopi-bhäva mantra at the time of sannyäsa, then who will write

that mantra on the divine body of the pure devotee at the time of the Samadhi

giving ceremony. You can see Srila Narayana Maharaja writing the mantra on

the divine chest of Srila Prabhupada on the video clip, "The final lesson."

 

Of course the real reason Srila Prabhupada didn't want those leaders to

touch his body was because they had poisoned him, that is why Srila

Prabhupada asked Srila Narayana Maharaja to give him Samadhi. I heard this

from Srila Narayana Maharaja Himself.

 

* More poison info can be found at www.srilaprabhupada.us

* Hear Tamal say "serve Prabhupada poison"

http://srilaprabhupada.us/3servesppoimp3.mp3

 

I don't want to spend too much time on this. I am glad that the GBC have

so much time up their sleeves that they can compose 40 page letters on the

subject. It is better that they look towards their own deviations, such as the

voting in of äcäryas, voting on the fall of the jiva, the zonal äcärya system, the

gurukul fiasco etc ad finitum, than trying to cast assertions on the character of

an exalted Vaisnava.

 

Of course, for those great and fortunate souls who took shelter under

Srila Prabhupada, and are fulfilling his desires for them to attain pure devotion

by remaining under the guidance of the pure Gaudiya Vaisnavas, then for them

we apply the verse from the Srimad Bhagavad Gita (9.30);

 

 

"Even if one commits the most abominable action, if he is engaged in

devotional service he is to be considered saintly because he is properly situated

in his determination."

 

While those who divulge in fault finding and criticism of the Vaisnavas,

they are abominable.

 

This is the principle,

Wishing them all the best, and praying for their rectification;

 

A fallen servant of the servant

 

BV Dämodara Maharaja

 

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