Podcast transcription:
On and For the Record
(A Review of Doktorski’s Eleven Naked Emperors)
First of a Multi-part Series
by Kailäsa Candra däsa
HARIÙ OÀ NAMAÙ
Concerning the history of the Western Hare Kåñëa movement, in order to put the puzzle together, some basic components and building blocks must be secured and assimilated from the outset. There is only one accurate narrative in connection to Çréla Prabhupäda’s Hare Kåñëa movement of Kåñëa consciousness. As opposed to this, there are numerous false narratives, and you need to confront and overcome all of them.
They are all illusory, and one of the qualities of such mäyikä narratives is kñaro-bhävaù: Endlessly mutable.1 If there was the right narrative and only one wrong one, that would make the task much easier, but such is not the case. There are at least a dozen false narratives floating in the ether and on the astral plane as to what went down and why in relation to the Western branch of Kåñëa consciousness, which Prabhupäda attempted to establish in the Sixties and the Seventies.
The duty of The Vaishnava Foundation is to give you the facts and the truth. This organization takes that duty seriously. That duty entails presenting to you the accurate narrative of Prabhupäda’s Hare Kåñëa movement. This will butt up against all of those false narratives—and false historical interpretations—which misdirect you into their own variety mäyikä explanations and mindsets. You need to transcend all of that. With the help of The Vaishnava Foundation, you will be able to do so . . . as long as you are very determined to do it.
These statements should not be misinterpreted to mean that we claim a monopoly on anything. Only the pure devotee—either completely self-realized or, higher than that, fully God-realized—can legitimately claim a monopoly on pure bhakti. The historical narrative of what went down in the Hare Kåñëa movement must have bhakti as one of its components, and acintyä is connected to that divine component . . . at least, to some extent. We make no attempt to overcome that which falls into the category of acintyä. However please note, not everything connected to the historical record is acintyä. Actually, most of it is not inconceivable.
If we want actual facts and truth, and we should insist upon securing them. To a significant extent, the V.F. has done so, and now you can share in that attainment. We have accepted help from many sources in doing so, and one of those sources is what this series is all about. With facts, we can put together the pieces of the puzzle in a way which is not even slightly contradictory and/or shot through with lacunae. The myriad false narratives are loaded with misinterpretation, half truths, contradiction, bias, and endlessly mutable rationalizations that do not hold up. Shine a light on them. The Vaishnava Foundation gives you that light.
Let us proceed to the marma of this seva. Your host speaker has paid the price over the many years (read, decades) in which he has fought “ISKCON,” Neo-Mutt, and Rittvik. Making enemies in that endeavor is baked into the cake and unavoidable. The Vaishnava Foundation has utilized facts, historical references, and knowledge (of various application from numerous sources) in order to expose mäyikä influences which today cover the overwhelming majority of devotees. We do not demand that those sources be perfect nor do we demand that those sources even be overtly favorable to His Divine Grace Çréla Prabhupäda.
That is controversial, obviously, but that does not make our approach wrong. Most people are not serious or sincere enough to meet the requisite minimum in making the necessary concerted effort to put the pieces of the puzzle together in the right way. However, we are not like that. We are very serious and sincere in doing this.
We took on this seva and confronted a strong inimical current by doing so. We swam against it with knowledge on our side. We were also often lucky over the years, and part of that luck was provided to us in the form of a book produced by Henry Doktorski.
Its title is Eleven Naked Emperors (hereinafter, referred to by its acronym of E.N.E.). Although it has mäyä in it, the work is nevertheless valuable and should be appreciated as such. This multi-part series recognizes and records its value, along with its (the series) exposing some of the mäyikä influences which the book was unable to overcome.
This multi-part series is called a review; it is not called a critique. If the mäyikä elements in E.N.E. were anywhere near a quarter of its content, we would either not have undertaken this series or, if we had, it would have been labeled a critique. He has given us valuable information and historical facts. As such, this presentation, this multi-part series, does not represent a critique; it is mostly a favorable review.
Is Doktorski a great writer? Possibly. However, even if you disagree with that, he is certainly a very good writer. He is extremely well-organized in his chapter selection in E.N.E. It is loaded with references to establish his points, and such meticulous, painstaking effort puts him in a special category in and of itself. The book has 931 Endnotes! That kind of meticulous attention to detail is outstanding.
Yet, that is not the crown jewel of his effort here. That accolade belongs to the tremendous research he put into the creating the work. Frankly, he is the best researcher of any person or devotee connected—either favorably or unfavorably—to Prabhupäda’s Hare Kåñëa movement. That is my opinion. I can only think of one other man who compares to him.2 He is fantastic as a researcher. Still, he is second best when compared to Doktorski relative to painstaking, organizationalgum shoe detective work.
Real research produces real results, which dovetail well in the matter of putting the pieces of a complex puzzle together in a cohesive, consistent, and, most importantly, right way . . . right way as in THE right way . . . although Doktorski falls short of that. The Vaishnava Foundation does not fall short in this connection and is grateful to E.N.E.’s research in assisting us. It is possible that someone up the road may surpass him, but at this point, nobody has done so. The information he has dug up from multifarious sources—including remote sources—deserves heaps of praise. My review will praise him in every chapter reviewed.
There are sixteen chapters to E.N.E.. We shall only review the first fifteen. The last chapter is anything but outstanding, and we intentionally choose to avoid it. Some may opine that it scars the work. Doktorski was never in an environment which favored devotion to Çréla Prabhupäda. The so-called “Prabhupäda Palace of Gold,” although ostensibly a work of devotion to His Divine Grace, was actually just the opposite. There are reasons why that was so, but we have no need to go down the rabbit hole.
We urge all readers of E.N.E. to overlook the flaws of the sixteenth chapter and not to take any of those expressed viewpoints too seriously. If the book ended with Chapter Fifteen, that would have been better. We are not going to allow one chapter to taint all that the other fourteen or fifteen chapters give to us in terms of value, knowledge, facts, historical references, and delineation of the movement’s polarities. These binaries deeply and irreversibly afflict whatever is left of the Hare Kåñëa movement as an international organization, which is very little indeed.
Each chapter (reviewed in chronological order) will have some of its entries deconstructed and analyzed according to your host speaker’s discretion. I shall bring out the references in them that I find most valuable. I shall then make a commentary on what I choose to cull out. Sometimes, my explanation will tie into others ones in that chapter. Sometimes, it will tie into what I cull out in other chapters. Often, my specific commentary (and the reference it analyzes) will stand alone.
I shall certainly not analyze and deconstruct anything and everything, and such should not be expected of me. At the end of each chapter, I shall give it a grade. The topmost grade any chapter will receive will be an A-plus. The lowest grade any of the fifteen chapters will receive will be a C-minus. At the end of the presentation (and that will not be anywhere near today’s first part of this series, obviously), I shall tally up all of the grades and divide by fifteen. Thus, I shall come up with my cumulative grade for the entire work (sans the sixteenth chapter).
The first edition of E.N.E. was published on the last day of January, 2020. The version of E.N.E. that I am consulting is the fifteenth edition of the book, which was revised in the summer of 2023. I am consulting the Kindle version, which relates to reference page numbers. The book is self-published as far as that goes, although in due course, some major publisher may pick it up, promote it, and distribute it. Let us see. The book contains a long and favorable Foreword from Professor Edwin Bryant, an expert on Hinduism at Rutgers University.
Each chapter begins with what the author considers to be an important quote. When I agree that it is, I shall mention it. When I do, I comment on his use of that aphorism, slogan, trope, or bromide. I disagree with one of these however, and that will be described in due course.
Chapter One: Gauòéya Vaishnavism Comes to the West
The zonal äcärya era (1978-1987) was a kind of Wild West in what then became of the movement, which lost its legitimacy once that massive concoction was imposed everywhere. The zonals controlled the G.B.C. both in power (and almost in numbers, as well) and via the Äcärya Board. The zonals were all princes in their own principalities, known technically as zones. The book brings this out early near the beginning of Chapter One, emphasizing that Kåñëa consciousness in each of those zones was nothing more than what the zonal äcärya said that it was:
“ . . . each guru was, for the most part, independent of the others; there was no all-encompassing corporate or ecclesiastical organization to oversee the movement and there were no charters or bylaws. Each guru followed the instructions of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu according to his own interpretation and the interpretation of his spiritual master.”3
To its credit, E.N.E. notes that Swämi B. R. Çrédhar was instrumental in the break-up of the Gauòéya Mutt just weeks after its Founder-Äcärya left physical manifestation. It is praiseworthy that the first entry relative to Swämi B. R. Çrédhar from Navadvipa was, in effect, both factual (very importantly so) and critical. That he was referenced in the first chapter of the book is important.
The encapsulated history of Gauòéya Vaiñëavism and the Gauòéya Mutt was well done, and it certainly belonged in Chapter One. That the vote to install Änanta Väsudeva as the replacement or Successor Äcärya for Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasväté was 8-5 is not mentioned, but, except for that, the concise historical analysis of the demise of Gauòéya Mutt to asära (useless) was first-class writing and historical fact.
“It is important to note that Bhakti Raksak Çrédhar Maharaja (1895-1988), who was quoted above, served as a Governing Body member in 1937 and voted for the promotion of Ananta Vasudeva, which led to the initial schism in the Gauòéya Math and, in effect, destroyed it. We mention this because B. R. Çrédhar Maharaja, as we shall see in Chapters 6 and 14, had an important part in the creation of the ISKCON zonal-acharya system.”4
“Although he had requested his Gauòéya Math godbrothers for assistance, none helped him.”5
That this is summarized early is both appropriate and important. All the letters sent by Prabhupäda to Gauòéya Mutt leaders must be read and understood in this context. By this, your host speaker means to say that Prabhupäda, as tri-käla-jïa,6 knew very well that he would receive no help whatsoever from his appeal. Nevertheless, he went through the motions as if he actually hoped to receive it. By doing that, he could not be criticized as a wild-card that had broken away to do his own thing, i.e., no longer concerned about his spiritual master’s organization.
If the objection is made that Prabhupäda received a damaged package from Swämi Näräyan of Mathura with some karatals, some incense, and a certificate stating his (Prabhupäda’s) bona fides, that cannot be considered really very consequential. As such, the author’s summary cannot be criticized on that basis. Aside from that, the above entry in E.N.E. clearly states that it was Prabhupäda’s godbrothers who provided him no assistance whatsoever. Swämi Näräyan was not one of Prabhupäda’s godbrothers, so the comment remains legitimate for that reason.
The chapter closes with a fitting discussion about the disciplic succession. By this, it is evident that who will succeed Prabhupäda as the next Äcärya in the disciplic succession is discussed, with quotes. It is encapsulated quite effectively. Interestingly enough, a key factor concerning guru is touched upon (although not emphasized) in the first excerpt brought forth:
I am training you to be guru. I am training you to be perfect, so that in my absence things will go on. . . Maybe by 1975, all of my disciples will be allowed to initiate and increase the numbers of the generations. That is my program.”7
Prabhupäda’s program was to make at least one of his disciples a perfectly realized person. The guru must be a very perfect man, and this Prabhupäda directly stated in the mid-Sixties even before his movement took off in terms of numbers and centers. The highest perfection is known as siddha, although it also has even higher stages. Generally, the real guru, the paramahaàsa Vaiñëava, is a siddha. However, guru can begin—at least, in Vaiñëavism–before this stage.
Does that mean, when it does begin before siddha, that the guru is not a perfect man. Most definitely not! The guru is fixed as a brähmin at that initial stage, which is known as madhyam-adhikäré. The madhyam is a very perfect man, but he is not a completely perfected being. The siddha is that. He is automatically the Successor when the previous perfected siddha spiritual master—in this case, Prabhupäda—departs physical manifestation. Prabhupäda did not name a Successor. He could not do so, because none of his initiated disciples were anywhere near that platform of complete realization of transcendence.
As the training excerpt directly states, they were all in the stage of being trained by him while Prabhupäda was with us. Indirectly, this indicates that none of them were even madhyam-adhikärés when Prabhupäda’s movement entered the Seventies.
You would surmise that it would not or should not stay that way, but you would be very wrong if you bought into into such a pre-suppostion. As time went on, things got worse, not better. Prabhupäda’s hope for the men he considered to be his advanced students was not realized. On the contrary, it was a section of these very men who steered his branch of the Hare Kåñëa movement of Kåñëa consciousness off course.
A train traveling at high speeds, when it derails, causes more damage than if it had been traveling slowly. The race to be guru and so-called Successor was engaged full bore amongst a handful of so-called advanced students, although many (if not most) of the real workers did not realize it at the time. They would all come to realize it soon enough.
Your would think that Prabhupäda’s leading secretaries would be selected by him as members of his governing body commission. On the whole, that was so. Such was also the case (although it played out a bit differently) when it came to the issue of who would succeed Prabhupäda’s spiritual master, Siddhänta Sarasväté in the mid-Thirties.
The author covered this topic well and deserves praise for doing so in this chapter. Near the chapter’s close—and Prabhupäda’s close–does he mention the G.B.C.? He does.
Interviewer: Is there anyone who is designated to succeed you as the primary teacher of the movement?
Prabhupäda: I am training some, I mean to say, advanced students so that they may very easily take up the charge. I have made them G.B.C. They are under my direct training, and I think they will be able to conduct this movement.
Interviewer: Do you expect to name one person as your Successor or have you already?
Prabhupäda: That I am not contemplating now, but there is no need of one person.8
TATTVAMASI
In terms of the time frame of his presence, this was late. Prabhupäda indicates that he was not going to select a Successor, who, by the very definition, would have to be a siddha. The madhyam is a guru in the line, certainly. However, because he can fall down (and for other reasons), he is never considered nor called a Successor in the disciplic succession.
He can link you to the sampradäya. However, although he is a perfect man fixed in the mode of goodness as a brähmin, the Successor requires qualifications far beyond that status. Prabhupäda is not inclined to naming one person to succeed him as per the interview. In April of 1977 (as we shall soon hear and read), no one was qualified to be guru at any stage. In terms of how things played out, it is easy now to see why.
According to the Direction of Management charter which was supposed to have governed the G.B.C., the governing body commissioners were to be known as Executors. You would think that they were automatically the first in line for reaching the stage of a regular guru, which means a madhyam guru. This is eminently reasonable, although all of his students were eligible for the post if they met its qualifications.
As such, Prabhupäda informs the interviewer (who used the term Successor) that he was directly training them as direct representatives to take the charge. Notice, Prabhupäda did not use the term “Successor,” but instead used the lesser status of “taking up the charge.” No accident there, as he was not thinking that a Successor was going to emerge. As tri-käla-jïa, who already knew that one would not.
The author then closes the first chapter in an excellent way. He has covered a lot, and, although he has moved through the time stamp very expeditiously, he has also been quite thorough. In the close, he lets the reader know that Prabhupäda was changing his mind about how the movement might turn out. Free will is what it is, and it was being grievously misused by his leading secretaries in the last year that he was with us. Here’s how the author sums that up:
“Why did Bhaktivedänta Swämi Prabhupäda change his mind about who would become his successors? Did he lose confidence in the spiritual progress of his most ‘advanced students?’ He gave an important clue when he said, “All my disciples are leaders, as much as they follow purely.” Apparently he thought his senior-most disciples were not following purely.”9
Excellent reasoning. Certainly, he lost confidence in them. There is strong evidence that a coterie of them were poisoning him, what to speak of the general incompetence being shown by the whole group. At the very end, Prabhupäda is depending upon his other disciples to step up, take command, and become fixed as brähmin-Vaiñëavas.
Thus, they would qualify themselves to be ordered by him to become an initiating spiritual master. As a limited dékñä-guru, they could carry on the line until the emergence of the next uttama-adhikäré, who would automatically emerge as the Successor. He was saying that the post of guru—either at its beginning (in which case, they are gurus from nature’s study) or at its pinnacle (when one of them became a perfected siddha), genuine guru-disciple relationships could emerge.
Prabhupäda was still hoping that his movement would go on. Nevertheless, E.N.E. hits the nail on the head in Chapter One’s final sentence when it opines that Prabhupäda thought that his senior-most disciples were not following purely. Profit, adoration, distinction, and power ambitions had entered his big guns in a big way, endowing them with demoniac tendencies.
So much for the “advanced disciples.”
Chapter One has no flaws and is constructed in a superb way. It is well organized. It gives a significant amount of knowledge and information. It features important quotes. It deserves an A-plus grade.
Prabhupäda Was Not Sent the Best of Men
Chapter Two of E.N.E. is one of its shorter ones. The chief theme is well-placed by having it inserted early in the book. The title of the chapter is: “Krishna Only Gave Me Second- and Third-Class Men.” Quotations marks were not used in the title, however, although it is obviously a quote from Prabhupäda; this is a very minor discrepancy.
The praiseworthy element most prominent in analyzing this chapter is the extensive use of outstanding and hard-hitting Prabhupäda quotes which are, for all practical purposes, self-evident. They are so as to the facts and truths (all powerful) that the author wishes to establish.
Yet, we shall only reproduce one of those. What the author attempts to establish in this chapter is that Prabhupäda’s chances of establishing a successful and lasting branch of the Caitanya tree in the West was anything but guaranteed. This was particularly the case, because his “most advanced” disciples (and E.N.E. does use quotations marks repeatedly in this regard to this term throughout—and rightly so) were probably going to muck everything up.
Allow me to also mention a side note: I myself am quoted extensively throughout E.N.E. By my rough calculation (and I am not going to put in extensive time to verify this calculation, obviously) only Prabhupäda is quoted more than myself in E.N.E. This factored into my decision to produce this multi-part series.
You can consider that an egotistical factor, but it is not so: The author has helped your host speaker’s mission by quoting and referencing me (in this particular work) as extensively as he has. As such, you could say, in part, that this multi-part series is an effort to show my appreciation to him for that seva. There is no doubt that my message has reached more devotees because of his first two books and my being quoted in them as extensively as I have been. As a reminder: E.N.E. is Doktorski’s second book.
For the record, he excerpts twenty-two e-mails that he received from me between 2014-2019. I shall be reproducing some of those as we proceed, although the first of them is not published in the book until Chapter Three. He also culled out eight excerpts from my book Beyond Institutional Gurus, Initiations, and Party Men.
In E.N.E., he included a biographical note early in the text. An excerpt from one of my prominent articles on a Vaishnava Foundation website is also brought forth. Aside from these, there is a description of who I am and what I do, along with a photo, at the end of the book; it is included along with other players in the saga in alphabetical order.
On to that most important quote from Prabhupäda that E.N.E. appropriately highlights, especially according to what the headline indicates in Chapter Two. I am on the record as to being the first devotee to point out and explain the mega-ramifications and import of this room conversation in Prabhupäda’s quarters at Bombay.
By April 22nd of Prabhupäda’s last year with us, T.K.G. was already his gatekeeper and would remain Prabhupäda’s so-called personal servant for the duration of the year. This exchange was between Prabhupäda and him, and T.K.G. showed some honesty in how he accepted what Prabhupäda stated. This transcript is available both in the Folio and E.N.E. Although E.N.E. did not present the whole of everything that is reproduced by me here, it presented most and enough of it to make the point:
Prabhupäda: You become guru, but you must be qualified first of all. Then you become.
T.K.G.: Oh, that kind of complaint was there.
Prabhupäda: Did you know that?
T.K.G.: Yeah, I heard that.
Prabhupäda: What is the use of producing some rascal guru?
T.K.G.: Well, I have studied myself and all of your disciples, and it’s clear fact that we are all conditioned souls, so we cannot be guru. Maybe one day it may be possible but not now.
Prabhupäda: Yes. I shall choose some guru. I shall say, ‘Now you become äcärya. You become authorized.’ I am waiting for that. You become all äcärya. I retire completely, but the training must be complete.
T.K.G.: The process of purification must be there.
Prabhupäda: Oh, yes, must be there. Caitanya Mahäprabhu wants that. Ämära äjïäya guru haïä: You become guru but be qualified. Little thing, strictly follower.
T.K.G.: Not rubber stamp.
Prabhupäda: Then you’ll not be effective. You can cheat, but it will not be effective.
Less than one year later, T.K.G. and ten of his comrades wound up being glorified as uttama-adhikärés throughout the world. They were then being proclaimed and glorified as Successors to Prabhupäda, along with opulent worship on high seats in front of open Deities.
They were glorified with pranam mantras, feet bathing, kértans, and all kinds of labels which were concocted imitations of Viñëupäda and Prabhupäda. One actually was called Viñëupäda. In a mere year, eleven men (who were not gurus even at the preliminary status of madhyam-adhikärés or regular gurus at the end of April, 1977), had allegedly advanced to the highest level of spiritual power and purity.
Madhyams are advanced devotees. They are preliminarily perfect. Prabhupäda would certainly have been prepared to recognize any of his leading secretaries if he had reached the level of madhyam. If he had done so, he would be known as a regular guru. Prabhupäda called that stage: “Little thing. Simply following.” However, in April of 1977, he made it clear that no one had become even a regular guru.
His leading secretaries had all been in the movement for many years. Yet this room exchange in Bombay indicates clearly that none of them had advanced past the stage of kaniñöhä-adhikäré or the neophyte status. Neophytes cannot be genuine gurus, because they lack the training and the realization that is required for the post.
Prabhupäda was not going to recognize a neophyte as guru simply so that he could have disciples follow him as so-called gurus, even though they were not sufficiently trained and qualified. As he put it at the end of the conversation, “You can cheat, but it will not be effective.” Cheating is exactly what they did after he departed physical manifestation.
Appropriately and timely reproduced in E.N.E. at the beginning of the book, Prabhupäda said that he would choose some guru. He also said that the training first had to be complete and he was waiting for that. Did he choose some guru? Did he choose some gurus? He did not.
Instead, in the second week of July of his final year here, he appointed eleven rittviks. Rittviks are not dékñä-gurus, and, contrary to the flawed propaganda of the “ISKCON” narrative, he never said that the appointment of those rittviks would then convert them into regular gurus after their rittvik service ended. For the record, it ended when he left physical manifestation.
Remember also that Prabhupäda said he would appoint some gurus in late May after first saying the same thing earlier in Bombay during this room conversation with T.K.G. As such, he said that he would do something that he never wound up doing—at least, not officially—for the reason stated clearly here: The training was not complete. Another way of saying the same thing is that none of his leading secretaries actually took the training to heart and completed the course.
Instead they cheated in a big way, which he warned about in this room conversation. They cheated via the colossal hoax of self-appointing themselves to uttama-adhikäré. That status of attainment was never specifically indicated by Prabhupäda, which also means he did not foresee any of them reaching it during that immediate time frame.
In this excerpt from the April, 1977 Bombay room conversation, he calls for the guru to be strictly following and also directly calls that a “little thing.” One month later in Raman Reti, he reiterated this by directly stating: “Regular guru, that’s all.”
The madhyam-adhikäré, at the initial stages, is still under vidhi-bhakti regulations (regular). The uttama-adhikäré is far above and beyond being under any regulations whatsoever. When those eleven great pretenders imitated uttama-adhikäré, they went beyond the jurisdiction of their realization. In other words, they were all full-blown sahajiyäs when they accepted zones of autocratic control and their undeserved and outrageous worship which accompanied all of that. It was all approved under the imprimatur of the governing body, which they controlled.
E.N.E. brought forth many quotes in the second chapter proving that Kåñëa did not send Prabhupäda very qualified candidates to be trained by him and to carry out his branch of the line into perpetuity. We have only reproduced and commented upon one of those excerpts, but the book makes the point elsewhere in the chapter conclusively. There is no glaring flaw in Chapter Two.
However, it does lack the in-depth analysis of an apparent contradiction it brings forward. I consider this to have been necessary. The apparent contradiction comes into play via a few quotes (reproduced at the beginning of the chapter) wherein Prabhupäda enjoins a devotee to only accept an uttama-adhikäré as guru.
It would be tangential for your host speaker to explain the proper interpretation of this apparent contradiction here in the review. Please note, however, that I have done so in other articles, videos, and podcasts. Seek and ye shall find. I have no obligation to explain what I consider to be either major or minor discrepancies contained in E.N.E., and, on the whole, I do not do so, although I sometimes will mention them.
This discrepancy is a minor one of omission. Doktorski is not a devotee of Prabhupäda, so, on especially sticky topics, you cannot expect him to overcome such apparent contradictions. Due to his lack of devotion to His Divine Grace, he either misunderstands the explanation of the issue or does not accept it. As such, I cannot give Chapter Two the highest grade possible. Yet, that minor omission is seen by me as nothing more than a small blot. In other words, I give Chapter Two a straight A.
The colossal hoax known as the fabricated, so-called “ISKCON” confederation is a pseudo-spiritual scam. To reiterate: We do not demand that the SOURCES of facts and truths about the ACTUAL NARRATIVE of what went down in Prabhupäda’s branch of the Hare Kåñëa movement be themselves perfect. The facts must be factual, and the truths must be true. That standard is upheld here, and the first two chapters of E.N.E. are excellent in that respect. Another way of saying the same thing is that, in these two chapters, you can gain a foothold on the real narrative and start to put the pieces of the puzzle together quite nicely.
You can slag this review if you so choose, but that will not make any such slime justified. E.N.E. is much more helpful than it is harmful. We can eliminate the lesser chaff and take advantage of all of the wheat that it offers. This first installment of our multi-part review does just that.
SAD EVA SAUMYA
(to be continued)
ENDNOTES
1 Bhagavad-gita, 8.4, verse itself;
2 Nityananda prabhu;
3 Doktorski, Henry. Eleven Naked Emperors: The Crisis of Charismatic Succession in the Hare Krishna Movement (1977-1987) (pp. 40-41). Kindle Edition;
4 Doktorski, Henry. Eleven Naked Emperors: The Crisis of Charismatic Succession in the Hare Krishna Movement (1977-1987) (pp. 46-47). Kindle Edition;
5 Doktorski, Henry. Eleven Naked Emperors: The Crisis of Charismatic Succession in the Hare Krishna Movement (1977-1987) (p. 48/p. 55). Kindle Edition;
6 Tri-kala-jna is one of the lesser twenty-three mystic powers that can be developed as a result of tapasya engaged via a genuine yoga system. Mostly, in terms of general applicability, it is the ability to know the future, and that is how it is applied here. Prabhupada possessed all twenty-three mystic powers, and tri-kala-jna is considered one of the five (of those twenty-three) that is of lesser importance compared to the others;
7 Doktorski, Henry. Eleven Naked Emperors: The Crisis of Charismatic Succession in the Hare Krishna Movement (1977-1987) (p. 57). Kindle Edition. Direct excerpt from a letter to a leading secretary, 1-2-69;
8 Doktorski, Henry. Eleven Naked Emperors: The Crisis of Charismatic Succession in the Hare Krishna Movement (1977-1987) (p. 57). Kindle Edition. Direct quote from room conversation with reporter, 6-4-76;
9 Doktorski, Henry. Eleven Naked Emperors: The Crisis of Charismatic Succession in the Hare Krishna Movement (1977-1987) (p. 58). Kindle Edition.