by Krishnakant

You had mentioned the issues of �etiquette� and �context� when discussing the applicability of Srila Prabhupada�s instructions. An argument has been advanced that instructions Srila Prabhupada gave for how ISKCON should function no longer become applicable once Srila Prabhupada departs. It is argued that the instructions were given when Srila Prabhupada was present, and thus after his departure a different etiquette applies. However such fallacious thinking is not supported by Srila Prabhupada.

1. Firstly ALL instructions that Srila Prabhupada ever gave for how ISKCON should function were given when he was present. Thus the fact that because an instruction was given when Srila Prabhupada was present somehow creates a �context� is fallacious. Otherwise we would have to conclude that EVERY instruction that Srila Prabhupada gave, such as chanting Hare Krishna etc,, becomes redundant once Srila Prabhupada departs, which of course would be ridiculous. Rather the converse is true. Instructions regarding the functioning of permanent entities such the GBC, Temples and ISKCON itself, are by definition also going to be PERMANENT in nature, UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED, or subsequently changed by Srila Prabhupada HIMSELF. Thus the issue of �context� can not be used to terminate the instructions issued by Srila Prabhupada, simply on the basis that they were issued whilst Srila Prabhupada was present, and therefore are only applicable for whilst he was present.

2. Also the REAL etiquette that must be followed in Krishna consciousness is to execute the order of the spiritual master. This is THE etiquette which overrides all other considerations and other etiquette. We have no OTHER business:

�Guru-mukha-padma-vakya, cittete koriya aikya, ara na koriho mane asa. Don't think of any nonsense. Simply execute what your guru has said. That is success.�
(28^th January, 1977, Room Conversation)

�Koriho mane asa. Do not try to research anything. That is final. Ar na koriho mane asa. If the guru is perfect, your knowledge is perfect.� (28^th February, 1975)

So this is the REAL etiquette � to simply execute what the Spiritual Master has ordered. Not to try and �research� ways we can CHANGE the order of the Guru. And please note that the GBC have similarly been ordered that they also have no OTHER business:  

"The GBC has no other function or purpose other than to execute the instructions so kindly given by His Divine Grace and preserve and spread his Teachings to the world in their pure form." (Definition of GBC, Resolution 1, 1975)

So Srila Prabhupada clearly stated that we should not CHANGE anything he has given and that we can ONLY EXECUTE what he has given. THIS is the REAL CONTEXT and ETIQUETTE in which we are functioning. So the July 9^th directive is a very clear order issued just before his passing, which must be instituted, and there is no question of any �etiquette� or �context� giving us any authority by which we can disobey the implementation of this order.

Having understood the above, our duty to Srila Prabhupada is very clear � we have been ordered to FOLLOW � not RESEARCH to try and AVOID following. Unfortunately the following letter is sometimes used to try and show that there is an �etiquette� which allows us to CHANGE the order to execute the July 9^th directive:  

"But as a matter of etiquette it is the custom that during the lifetime of your spiritual master you bring the prospective disciples to him, and in his absence or disappearance you can accept disciples without any limitation. This is the law of disciplic succession. " (SP Letter to Tusta Krsna, 2/12/75)

The points to note here are:  

1. Though the GBC put forward this quote as evidence for an �etiquette� and �law� which gives them carte blanche to CHANGE Srila Prabhupada�s July 9^th directive, even they themselves do not believe that Srila Prabhupada is speaking here of a �law� or an �etiquette�. In the official GBC paper, �Gurus and Initiation in ISKCON� (1995), they write:

Thus according to the GBC, this �Law�:  

a) Is not actually a �Law� at all;

b) Has not been �taught by the previous acaryas�;

c) Has not been practised as the historical tradition in vaisnavism;  

In the other words the GBC are here confirming that the REAL etiquette is to simply do what the Guru orders. If the Guru orders, one can also initiate even when he is present. And similarly UNLESS the Guru orders, one is NOT AUTHORISED to initiate even when the Guru is not present. The real point is that we must execute the order of the Guru � WHATEVER it is.  

2. The statement made by Srila Prabhupada only states that the disappearance of the Guru is the only time after which it is even theoretically possible to initiate:

Just like after one is an adult one CAN drive a Vehicle. But one still needs to be authorised by the Government with the issue of a license. However Srila Prabhupada did NOT ever give any such licence to any individual or group of individuals to be authorised to act as a Diksa Guru. Nor is the above quote which simply STATES the �law�, ITSELF the license to act as the successor Diksa Guru to Srila Prabhupada, anymore than simply the existence of the statute which states that persons are allowed to drive once they are an adult is the automatic license for everyone in the country to go out drive. The only �license� and authority which was given by Srila Prabhupada to his disciples was to:  

1. Act as �instructing Guru� while he is the initiating Guru; (Letter to GBC Madhudvisa)

2. To only EXECUTE what he has given and not change anything  (GBC Definition)

3. To act as Ritvik priests to keep Srila Prabhupada in the centre as ISKCON�s Diksa Guru. (July 9^th directive)

Thus the statement of this �law� which the GBC state is not even a law, does not give an �etiquette� by which the HIGHEST etiquette of executing the order of the Guru can be disobeyed.  

3. Also in any case this letter has no bearing on how ISKCON should function, since it was a private letter sent to a deviant ambitious disciple who was anxious to initiate even when Srila Prabhupada was present. The letter was not even published until 1986, and even then only because it was done illegally AGAINST the wishes of the GBC. Clearly if Srila Prabhupada had wanted to reveal an all applicable �law� that would allow the GBC to override the July 9^th directive which was issued to the whole movement just before his passing, he would have AT LEAST told the GBC about this �law�. He would not have kept it hidden in one private letter to a deviant and ambitious disciple. Please note that in the private letters I quoted in yesterday�s paper, one WAS issued to the GBC Madhudvisa, and they were not being relied on as PROOF � but simply SUPPORTING that Srila Prabhupada�s July 9^th directive which WAS issued to the whole movement, was simply CONSISTENT with what he had said all along. There is no such context for this private letter to a deviant, which was the ONLY time the �law� was ever mentioned, and who was not even co-operating with ISKCON. In 1977 there was even a GBC resolution passed, approved by Srila Prabhupada, which confirms that Tusta Krishna was a deviant:

Thus we can see that from every angle of vision there is NO context or etiquette which allows us to override the REAL etiquette of  - ara na koriho mane asa � to simply execute the order of the Guru without CHANGE and without question. Srila Prabhupada�s departure, and his statement that Diksa Guruship can be a POSSIBILITY for his disciples after he departs, certainly do not provide the etiquette by which the HIGHER etiquette of executing the actual ORDERS which WERE issued, can be disobeyed. For the GBC are authorised only to EXECUTE the actual ORDERS � the July 9^th directive � not CHANGE these orders by them LEGISLATING on the basis of simply a POSSIBILITY � the �law� that one CAN accept disciples.

Nothing changes in ISKCON without a specific order from Srila Prabhupada. His departure is irrelevant. We no more abandon his July 9^th directive just because he has departed, anymore than we abandon waking up for Mangal Arati. When the GBC put forward a reason by which the July 9^th directive must be disobeyed, please ask them to STATE:  

WHAT ORDER Srila Prabhupada gave to do this

WHERE he gave this ORDER

WHO did he give this ORDER to.  

I guarantee you that there will be a deafening silence. Try it at the meeting and you will see.  

So please be bold, frank and fearless in speaking the truth. Do not worry that you are not a GBC. As a disciple of Srila Prabhupada you have only ONE DUTY � ara na koriho mane asa � and to state this in the following manner.  

�Satyam, truthfulness, means that facts should be presented as they are for the benefit of others. Facts should not be misrepresented. According to social conventions, it is said that one can speak the truth only when it is palatable to others. But that is not truthfulness. The truth should be spoken in a straightforward way, so that others will understand actually what the facts are. If a man is a thief and if people are warned that he is a thief, that is truth. Although sometimes the truth is unpalatable, one should not refrain from speaking it. Truthfulness demands that the facts be presented as they are for the benefit of others. That is the definition of truth.� (Bhagavad Gita, 10:4-5)

In this way by not deviating even a micron from the necessity to immediately executing Srila Prabhupada�s July 9^th directive throughout ISKCON, I am sure that Srila Prabhupada will be very pleased with how you have defended his honour.