28 IF – First of a Four-Part Series

by Kailasa Candra dasa

First of a Four-Part Series

“I say straight that Kirtanananda is wrong and you are right when you say that the movement will come to nothing if I am not satisfied with your actions.”
• 1 of 28 – Letter to Damodara, 10-13-67

“Once before you wanted to do something centralizing with your GBC meeting, and if I did not interfere, the whole thing would have been killed.”
• 2 of 28 – Letter to Karandhar 12-22-72

“I am training some of my experienced disciples how to manage after my departure. So, if instead of taking the training, if in my lifetime you people say, ‘I am the Lord of all I survey,’ that is dangerous conspiracy.”
• 3 of 28 – Letter to Karandhar 10-8-74

All emphases added for your enlightenment and edification

The germination of the GBC idea was supposed to entail a local governing body at each temple as well. 1 This is historic confirmation that Prabhupada wanted to emphasize diversity in the management of his movement, not some kind of centralized structure that gives all the orders to the local management teams.  The commission was always little more than a management or an administrative arrangement.  Nevertheless, the possibility of spreading Krishna Consciousness by ISKCON hinged upon good administration in this Society:

“There is immense possibility of spreading this Krishna Consciousness Movement all over the Western world, if it is administered properly.”
• 4 of 28. – Letter to Satya Pal 8-31-69

In this contingency, Srila Prabhupada confirms that proper administration is essential for spreading Lord Caitanya’s movement to every town and village.  It is not guaranteed that ISKCON will be able to do this, however; it is contingent upon actually managing things in the proper way.

The presidents were supposed to be integrally involved in the creation of the GBC—as well as later–and this was confirmed later in a constitutional document, the Direction of Management. The central point is not any inherent or intrinsic power within the GBC; it is the order of Srila Prabhupada.  This is also confirmed in that founding document of the Governing Body, as well as in a letter to one of the first GBC men. 2

Nevertheless, the connection to spiritual authority of this incipient governing body was indirectly indicated by a letter from Prabhupada sent to one of his leading students during this same time-frame:

“But if the wire is broken or separated from the powerhouse, then there will be no electric current. Similarly, if we hear the unadulterated message of Lord Krishna from the authorized source, we will immediately be in contact with the transcendental atmosphere; but if we listen to someone who is presenting a broken, concocted version of Bhagavad-gita, that will be useless.”
• 5 of 28 – Letter to Yamunacharya 10-21-69

Connection to the pure transcendental powerhouse is contingent upon hearing the bona fide message from the authorized source.  If we hear from a person who has a vested interest in some kind of concoction, however, then we have broken the transcendental connection and all of our hearing is useless.  In such an event, we will be connected to a material powerhouse, such one controlled by the personality of Kali or by Rahu.

“Now my desire is that I completely devote my time in the matter of writing and translating books, and arrangement should now be done that our Society be managed automatically. I think we should have a central governing body for dealing with important matters.” Neutral.
- Letter to Brahmananda 6-19-70

The terms “Neutral,”  “Favorable,”  “Hopeful,” “Displeased,” etc., are your author’s personal judgement as to the message communicated, especially in terms of tone and intention, by His Divine Grace in those specific letters to specific disciples.  We shall add all of these up in Part Four.

In regard to the Society being “managed automatically,” this excerpt may well be wherefrom a later bogus speculation sprouted, one that alleges that there is some kind of automatic, self-corrective mechanism in the governing body.  The real motivation by His Divine Grace here was to make a managerial arrangement, so that he could be free to translate and comment upon those translations.  We shall see this theme repeated over and over again as this four-part series proceeds.

Mars was both in its sign of debilitation and combust on the day that this unincorporated entity was created by Srila Prabhupada.  It consisted of twelve zonal secretaries; all but one was a householder.  These personalities were called “direct representatives” in this document, and a hint of Prabhupada’s soon leaving us (for nitya-lila-pravishta) was also presented in the Direction of Management (hereinafter, referred to as the DOM), in which it said there that they will be known as Executors “after my demise.”

Two things stand out in this document: 1) The DOM was the constitution of the GBC, and it was fully centered around, and permeated by, the personality of Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, and 2) The later fanatical interpretations of the Will by various vested interests (both in “ISKCON” and by the rittviks) could be challenged by a counterpoint.  In other words, a fanatical interpretation could be postulated that only these twelve men (appointed in 1970) could be the final Executors of all of the estates of ISKCON after Prabhupada left us.

That kind of interpretation could be quite problematical for the current leaders of “ISKCON,” so they would be best advised not to render fantastic, myopic interpretations of legal docs.  For example, of those twelve, three are now deceased (as of January, 2010).  Of the remaining nine, one is a rittvik.  Of the remaining eight, at least three appear to have no connection to the current organization whatsoever, as well as no interest in it.  Of the remaining five men, one is a businessman . . .

. . .  and another one is almost insane.

This is but another way of saying that fanatical interpretations of historic legal documents relating to a certain long-past period of time should not be overemphasized.  It is Prabhupada’s books that will become ultra-important as time goes on, not legal documents—and especially not fanatical, myopic interpretations of such records.

His Divine Grace signed this GBC constitution, along with three of the twelve zonal secretaries appointed to the board.  Two of the original twelve appointed in the DOM also became the original trustees of the BBT, which was incorporated the next day.  The DOM states that the function of these two men as BBT trustees, and the whole of the BBT as well, “is not dependent on the GBC.”  The GBC was only to be an unincorporated entity, but the BBT was incorporated on the next day.

In the DOM, we find this statement:

“The purpose of the Governing Body Commission is to act as the instrument for the execution of the Will of His Divine Grace. And further,

1. The GBC oversees all operations and management of ISKCON, as it receives direction from Srila Prabhupada and His Divine Grace has the final approval in all matters.”

During this epoch, there was a great deal of stress in the movement caused by four new sannyasis.  The GBC, at that time, did an admirable job in helping to defang the false propaganda then spread by those four men.  Prabhupada referred to this often in 1970:

“Regarding your questions, the sannyasis are now devoted fully to traveling and preaching work, management is left to the local temple presidents and the members of the Governing Body Commission.” Neutral.
- Letter to Upendra 8-4-70

We see in this letter that the governing body is primarily for management, and this is confirmed in Prabhupada’s final Will and Testament.  Also, we see here that management of the movement is a mutual responsibility between the presidents and the GBC. Nevertheless, the chief purpose of the GBC was to relieve Prabhupada from the botheration of management, including having to answer basic questions of philosophy and take up the personal problems of so many individual students:

“So, now the factual administration will depend on the Governing Body Commission, and the sannyasis are entrusted for making propaganda work. I wish to remain (i)n the background to give you some directions.” Neutral.
- Letter to Bali Mardan 8-16-70

World-wide administration of the movement was supposed to be handed over primarily to the GBC, or, in other words, good administration was dependent upon those students honestly and correctly representing the directions of His Divine Grace.  If they had represented properly, then the dependency of the rank-and-file on the commission would have been worthy; if they did not and do not represent properly, then it is like depending upon quicksand for a building site.

The GBC is not meant to be some kind of ATM machine from which its members constantly make withdrawls in order to enjoy all of the privileges and perks supposedly connected to it.  Instead, membership to the Commission is one of great responsibility.  This was confirmed in many places by His Divine Grace, even in his early letters.  4 5

Abiding by the order of the spiritual master requires an attitude of responsibility for his movement.  His disciple–whether a commissioner, a president, or a student in some other capacity–should consider his spiritual master’s movement to also be his responsibility.  If, and only if, this mentality is maintained, then the process becomes a bit easy.

“Perhaps you know I have already formed a Governing Body Commission, so, in my absence, they will manage the affairs of the Society.” Neutral.
- Letter to Umpati 8-23-70

Yes, the GBC will manage after Prabhupada left us, but that does not mean that they are absolute.  If they mismanage, then they have the power to take the whole movement straight into the crapper.  This 1970 letter does not mean that Prabhupada had guaranteed that the GBC will properly manage the affairs of his organization after he departs.

“This mischievous attempt has done a great harm, but, if you the members of the Governing Body Commission can rectify this mischievous attempt, then still there is hope of making our progress uninterruptedly. . . I hope the GBC, in cooperation with the sannyasis in their touring program, will be able to keep vigilance systematically in order to keep the Society as pure as possible.” Hopeful.
• 7 of 28 – Letter to Bali Mardan 8-25-70

This is another letter connected to the aforementioned four sannyasis.  Actually, by this time their threat had diminished, and those men were well on their way to losing influence.  They were also very soon going to be split up by His Divine Grace, for obvious reasons.  Still, Prabhupada was well aware of the former tendencies of all of his disciples; he understood perfectly how the astral body is full of nescience and evil desires.

Notice the theme of “hope” repeated twice in this letter.  We shall also see this theme in further letters as the series continues.  A hope is never a guarantee; no dictionary describes it as such.  The theme of hope is directly tied to the theme of contingency; the success of Prabhupada’s movement was always stated by him to be provisional.  We are emphasizing that in this article; we are, therefore, pointing out twenty-eight important instances where His Divine Grace highlights the contingency factor.

“I think in the same parampara system that the poison administered to our Society will not act if some of our students are as good as Prahlada Maharaja. I have therefore given the administrative power to the Governing Body Commission. . . If you remain strong on the spiritual platform, then your progress will not be checked or blocked. . .You are also one of the members of the GBC, so you can think over very deeply how to save the situation. It is a fact, however, that the great sinister movement is within our Society.”
• 8 of 28  Neutral. – Letter to Hansadutta 9-2-70

The reader of his letters needs to discern just what is being referred to in the last sentence, and it is not the Illuminati as some have foolishly suggested.  Previous letters, and one of the subsequent letters as well, clearly indicates the Goudiya Mutt is being referred to (above) as “the great sinister movement.”  This especially makes sense in retrospect.

Again, notice the contingency aspect of this letter, which is really one of encouragement and nothing more.  The letter is referring to the four deviant sannyasis, as their rebellious misconception had not yet been totally eradicated.  His Divine Grace would refer to the attack upon his movement just eleven days later (9-13-70) in a letter 6 to one of his “direct representatives,” who was also a BBT trustee.

“Now I have invested the GBC for maintaining the standard of our Krsna Consciousness Society, so keep the GBC very vigilant.” Neutral.
- Letter to Satsvarupa 9-13-70

The GBC men were primarily supposed to be security officers, like watchdogs.  They were never meant to appoint (or indirectly appoint by not vetoing) gurus, because that was not within the power of the GBC.  They were meant to be vigilant, to enthuse the devotees, while simultaneously on the lookout for any actual deviations.  The GBC was supposed to eradicate deviations, not create them. The GBC was not supposed to homogenize the positive diversity that would be present in every temple according to the mood, creative intelligence, and service attitude of any given president there.  GBC men were meant to maintain the standard but not to in any way interfere with how the president ran his temple.

“I am very glad to know that the GBC is actively working to rectify the subversive situation which has been weakening the very foundation of our Society. All you members of the GBC please always remain very vigilant in this connection, so that our society’s growth may go on unimpeded by such poisonous elements. . . Now you GBC consult them and get clear and strong idea, then there will be no disturbance. . . There is every evidence that they are influenced by some of my fourth-class godbrothers.” Favorable.
- Letter to Hayagriva 9-14-70

This is obviously another reference to the four bewildered sannyasis, but it is also confirmation that “the great sinister movement” was related to “some of my fourth-class godbrothers,” i.e., the Goudiya Mutt.

“So, if our GBC members remain strong, strictly following the regulative principles, everything will be all right.” Neutral.
• 9 of 28 – Letter to Bhagavan 9-19-70

“That is very encouraging to me, and if the GBC continues to work in this way there will be no difficulty in the future.” Favorable.
• 10 of 28 – Letter to Shyamasundar 9-22-70

Notice the obvious provisional element in both of these letters to GBC men.  There is some special encouragement in the second one, but everything is communicated in terms of contingency.  Prabhupada was pleased with the GBC in how they handled the rebellion of the four sannyasis; the commission helped to save his movement from their propaganda. 7 This one notable GBC success came in its first year, when it was able to beat back the unauthorized propaganda of those sannyasis. Prabhupada was pleased with the commission at this point, but let us remember that this was forty years ago.  The GBC cannot ride the coattails of this one praiseworthy accomplishment until the end of time.

“But now, good boys like yourself, and all my other spiritual sons and daughters all around the world, have been giving me great hope that I may be able to successfully fulfill my Guru Maharaja’s plan. I have formed this GBC for that purpose, to keep the devotional standards at the highest level and, at the same time, to manage a world-wide organization.” Hopeful.
- Letter to Rupanuga 11-4-70

“I am very hopeful for this GBC, that you will work in such a way that I may be completely relieved from all management of this society. Now, I want to simply begin translating.” Hopeful.
- Letter to Sudama 11-4-70

There are three themes here: Hope, relieving Prabhupada from management, and fulfilling Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati’s order to create a successful world-wide organization.

“. . . so now you may, along with the other men of GBC, take over from me management of ISKCON affairs and work combinedly to open as many centers as possible all over the world. If you simply carry out the instructions which I have given you, Krsna will reward you with all success.” Slightly favorable.
• 11 of 28. – Letter to Satsvarupa 11-4-70

This letter summarizes the other two written on the same date.

“In your letter, you refer to Gurudasa as GBC member. But I think there is some misunderstanding, because he has not yet been appointed by me as GBC member . . . “ Neutral.
- Letter to Hayagriva 11-24-70

In later letters of the epoch, in 1976-77, it becomes clear why His Divine Grace never appointed Gurudasa to the GBC.  Here was a bit of a foreshadowing that GBC men would be inclined to make decisions based upon various rumors or illusions, and we shall see this demonstrated in a very big way in Part Two of our series, forthcoming.

“Now I want that all administration may be done by all of you twelve GBC members all over the world.” Neutral.
- Letter to Karandhar 11-30-70

The question here is this: Why does he have to say it four months after the commission was created?  We shall answer that question also, but it does not require a great deal of intelligence to figure out the answer.

“Yes, as GBC member your task is very responsible. You must always keep yourself pure and, in this way, your preaching work will take effect.” Neutral.
- Letter to Krsna das 12-18-70

Krishna das would be the first GBC man to resign, but, in retrospect, he does not merit any criticism whatsoever for having done so.

To be Continued

footnotes

1 “In my idea, there should be one central body of trustees for directing all the different centers as well as New Vrindaban, but there must be a local governing body for each center; that is my idea.” Neutral.
- Letter to Kirtanananda and Hayagriva,  8-23-68

2 “Gradually, this meeting should develop into a committee of the West Coast presidents, and, similarly, there should be one for the East Coast, so in the future we can form a central governing body for the whole institution. Therefore, the management should be done very cautiously, so that everyone is satisfied in their autonomous managing capacity. Of course, the central point is the order of the spiritual master . . .” Neutral.
- Letter to TKG  10-18-69

3 “Now I have set up the Governing Body Commission to handle management, questions of philosophy, and personal problems. These things are too much botheration for me, I simply want time to write books to satisfy my Guru Maharaja.” Neutral.
- Letter to Upendra 8-6-70

4 “You are now elected as one of the Commissioners of the GBC, so you have got great responsibility.” Neutral.
- Letter to Bali Mardan 8-21-70

5 “You are now elected as one of the Commissioners of the GBC, so you have got great responsibility. So far we are concerned in the disciplic succession of Lord Caitanya, if we simply abide by the order of the Acarya in disciplic succession, then things are made very easy.” Neutral.
• 6 of 28 - Letter to Bali Mardan 8-21-70

6 “It is a great encouragement to me also that the GBC is carefully revising the program of our temples in view of the recent attacks upon our Society.” Favorable.
- Letter to Karandhar 9-13-70

7 “I am very pleased that you all GBC members are remaining vigilant so that the disturbance in our Society may not continue.” Favorable.
- Letter to Rupanuga 9-25-70