Being enlivened by so many thought-provoking observations and concepts on the subject
of guru-tattva and the ISKCON institution I feel inspired to express some ideas and
understandings on this issue.
Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, while reviving Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s Sankirtana
movement, realized that the massive task of spreading Krsna Consciousness all over the
world, in every town and village, would not be possible without the collective endeavors
of committed devotees for generations to come. Therefore he saw the need for an
institution, and gave the blueprint of that institution in the form of his “Namahatta” (the
market place of the holy name) and “Visva Vaisnava Raja-Sabha.” (the Royal Assembly
of the Vaisnavas from All Over the World). Srila Bhaktisidhanta Sarasvati Thakura gave
a shape to that concept in the form of his “Gaudiya Matha” and when that institution fell
apart, Srila Prabhupada revived the spirit of his Guru Maharaja through ISKCON.It is important to note that Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur, Srila Bhaktisidhanta Sarasvati
Thakura and Srila Prabhupada, all three of them, gave more importance to the institution
than to their own authority - in spite of being the founders and organizers of their
institutions they placed themselves as ordinary members of their respective institutions.
For example, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura indentified himself as the sweeper of the
Namahatta. Srila Bhaktisidhanta Sarasvati Thakura called himself the servant of the
Gaudiya Matha, and Srila Prabhupada identified himself as a mere member of the
Governing body of ISKCON.
Although Srila Prabhupada spread Krsna Consciousness all over the world within the
amazingly short span of ten years time, he knew that he would not be able to spread it in
every town and village during his lifetime; rather, it would take generations to achieve
that. That is why he was so emphatic about the effective continuity of his mission through
his ISKCON. Personalities such as Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Srila Bhaktisidhanta
Sarasvati Thakura and Srila Prabhupada come to grace this world only once in a blue
moon. It is Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s causeless mercy that those three personalities
came in such a succession. Their appearances on this planet was actually Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu’s divine arrangement for reviving His Sankirtana movement and fulfill His
prediction that Krsna Consciousness movement would spread in every town and village
on this planet. Although, being empowered by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, they could
achieve anything and perform incredible miracles, yet, for the sake of fulfilling the
ultimate purpose of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s mission they emphasized the collective
continuity of the movement through an institution. Srila Bhaktisidhanta Sarasvati
Thakura was an extremely brilliant personality who attracted countless luminaries of his
time within the fold of his Gaudiya Matha. However, soon after his disappearance when
the Gaudiya Matha disintegrated, in spite of all those luminaries the propagation of Krsna
Consciousness practically stopped.
Srila Prabhupada explained that, that happened because most his prominent followers
could not understand the importance of continuing his mission through the institution he
established. They held on to the traditional concept and concluded that a spiritual heritage
could not effectively continue through an institution managed by a bunch of mundane
managers, they defied the instruction of their spiritual master and appointed an acarya
[who eventually fell down] the institution that he so meticulously structured collapsed.
Srila Prabhupada, in order to protect his ISKCON from such an unfortunate possibility,
emphatically told us not to make the same mistake that his god-brothers made after his
Guru Maharaja’s disappearance. He advised us to continue the mission under the
authority of a collective management structure. Nevertheless, after Srila Prabhupada’s
disappearance, we in ISKCON also made a similar mistake. Thinking that Srila
Prabhupada had appointed 11 successors we also plunged in to the same syndrome of
appointing spiritual heads of the institution presuming that after Srila Prabhupada’s
disappearance they inherited ISKCON.
In 1987, about 10 years after Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance, this mistake was
addressed by concerned leading devotees of ISKCON, but was not fully corrected. Just by adding more gurus and allowing them to initiate wherever they could attract disciples,
that mistake was only diluted to some extent but was not really corrected.
Recently, the GBC body became painfully aware that through that mistake a parallel line
of authority has been created in ISKCON which is causing a considerable amount of
damage to the institution and is stifling the growth of the movement. It is very laudable of
the GBC body that they have taken this issue very seriously and are working hard to
rectify it.
In order to effectively establish an institution we need two essential elements - the head
of the institution, and its management structure. In ISKCON we have to be absolutely
clear that Srila Prabhupada is the head of the institution and he will continue to be that as
long as the institution lasts, and the management structure Srila Prabhupada established -
the GBC, temple presidents, departmental heads, etc, must be fully functional without
any deviation.
If we compare the institution of ISKCON to a corporate structure, then we must
recognize that Srila Prabhupada is the proprietor of ISKCON, and the other leaders of
this institution are the managers. The managers manage, and although they get their
remunerations and incentives for that, the profit belongs to the proprietor. In ISKCON, it
is important that we clearly recognize the fact that everything in ISKCON, including even
all the devotees, belongs to Srila Prabhupada, then only this mistake that is stifling the
growth of our institution will be rectified and Krsna Consciousness movement will start
to spread once again, all over the world, in leaps and bounds.
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