By Bhakta Alex. Russia
Myth: July 9th directive is explained in the May 28th 1977, conversation where Srila Prabhupada ordered regular guru successors after his departure, and said that future devotees in ISKCON would be their disciples, “disciple of my disciple”, Prabhupada’s “granddisciple”.
Truth: May 28th 1977 conversation confirms that Srila Prabhupada envisioned the ritvik system after his departure, when he is “no longer with us”, he agreed that future disciples would be his disciples, and any “disciple of my disciple” would be possible only “when I order, “You become guru”, but such an order wasn’t given by Srila Prabhupada to anyone. So, the conversation confirms July 9th directive message of the ritvik system to be followed henceforward. By Bhakta Alex. Russia.
Anti-ritviks have repeatedly tried to give various contradictory interpretations of Srila Prabhupada’s conversation with the GBC delegation held on May 28th 1977. It was discussion of issues pertaining to the period after Srila Prabhupada’s physical departure. The key part of the conversation was dedicated to future initiations. Anti-ritviks simply obscure the obvious facts: in this conversation, Srila Prabhupada said that for the future, particularly when he is “no longer with us,” he would appoint ritviks; he confirmed that future disciples should be his disciples; and what about how ritviks/officiators themselves could turn into real diksa gurus with their own disciples- only when (and if) Srila Prabhupada orders them to become gurus (initiators), then new disciples will become disciples of his disciples, his granddisciples.
However, neither in this conversation nor anywhere else did Srila Prabhupada give the actual order to any of his disciples to become the next diksa guru of the sampradaya. Fulfilling his promise made on May 28th 1977, Srila Prabhupada appointed the first official ritviks in July 1977, and instructed to “distribute” the directive in this regard.
This directive dated July 9th, 1977, approved by Srila Prabhupada’s signature, contains instructions only about the introduction of a system of ritvik/representative of the acarya initiations in ISKCON for the future, and does not say a word about any new diksa gurus. However, anti-ritviks turn the situation upside down by various incorrect interpretations:
1) Beginning from 1977-78, they hid the real content of May 28th, 1977, conversation and did not allow its audio recording to be distributed. Instead, they retold its contents in their own words, distorting its meaning: Srila Prabhupada allegedly appointed full-fledged successors on May 28th, 1977 (and now they should be exclusive gurus within their own zones).
2) In the mid-1980s, the leader of the Guru reform movement Ravindra Swarupa das, unfortunately, didn’t fulfill the task given to him by ISKCON temple presidents to research and present what exactly Srila Prabhupada ordered regarding future initiations in ISKCON, and to identify the cause of the zonal acaryas’ deviation. Having read the May 28th, 1977, conversation, Ravindra Swarupa concluded there wasn’t appointment of diksa gurus, but that of ritviks only.
Still, they have to be initiating gurus, as Srila Prabhupada allegedly hinted, nodded in their direction, by ordering them to begin the natural process of becoming gurus. That is, they simultaneously were and weren’t appointed as initiating gurus (not as zonal acaryas with excessive worship, but as “regular gurus”).
3) In the mid-1990s, a new interpretation was presented in maya-GBC publication “Gurus and Initiations in ISKCON”: on May 28th 1977, Srila Prabhupada said that in the future he would appoint diksa gurus who should be ritviks until his departure. Later, when Srila Prabhupada appointed the first ritviks on July 7th 1977, it was allegedly the appointment of diksa gurus as well (although there is nothing like that in the conversation itself).
4) In the late 1990s, in their new paper “Disciple of My Disciple”, maya-GBC put forward a new interpretation: it wasn’t on July 7th, but on May 28th 1977, right during the conversation, Srila Prabhupada unequivocally appointed new diksa gurus, and ritvik initiations are not proxy initiations at all!
These are just a few examples, of which there are many more in the statements of maya-ISKCON GBC/gurus: whether or not the gurus were appointed on May 28, 1977, or at some other date, who exactly was authorized, what should be the new guru system in ISKCON and its details, etc. They have never been able to present one decent truth, but seriously contradicted themselves. See ‘How can there be many different versions of the truth?’ https://iskconirm.com/docs/webpages/gbc13.htm
The factual history
In mid-May 1977, Srila Prabhupada’s health deteriorated severely (as it turned out, due to heavy metal poisoning), and on May 17, he arrived from Hrishikesh to Vrindavan. During the address speech given upon arrival, Srila Prabhupada said that he came to Vrindavan to leave the body (see May 17th 1977 Address Speech recording: https://vedabase.io/en/library/transcripts/770517arvrn/).
In this regard, an extraordinary meeting of the Governing Body Commission (GBC) of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) was requested by Srila Prabhupada. It took place on May 27-29, 1977, in Vrindavan at the premises of Sri Krishna Balarama Mandir. On May 28th, a delegation of several GBC members came to Srila Prabhupada’s room to ask a number of questions pertaining to the period after his physical departure. Of all the published documented evidence, it was in the May 28th, 1977, room conversation that the first mention is made of ritviks who will be officially appointed to conduct initiations on behalf of Srila Prabhupada “in the future, particularly when you [Srila Prabhupada] is no longer with us.”
In response to Satsvarupa das Goswami’s request to answer how initiations would be performed after Srila Prabhupada’s physical departure, His Divine Grace replied that he would appoint ‘officiating acaryas’, and Tamala Krishna Goswami asked, “Is this called ritvik-acarya?” Srila Prabhupada replied: “Ritvik, yes.”
Obviously, there had been discussions on this topic even before, and Srila Prabhupada had spoken about it, otherwise Tamala Krishna Goswami would not have mentioned the ritviks showing his knowledge of this issue and understanding of the role of ritviks/priests as representatives conducting the ceremony on behalf of another person. And GBC members would not have included in the list of the most important issues to be resolved before Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance, the question of how initiations are to be conducted in the future, especially after Srila Prabhupada’s departure, and what is the relationship between the one who gets initiation and the one who gives it.
From the minutes of the GBC meeting dated May 28th 1977, written by Satsvarupa das Goswami, the then secretary of the GBC:
“Resolved: The following questions will be taken to Srila Prabhupada for his answers. They will be presented by a committee of Tamal Krsna Goswami, Satsvarupa Goswami, Jagadisha, Rupanuga, Bhagavan, Kirtanananda Swami, Bali Mardan:
- How long should GBC members remain in office?
- How can GBC members who leave be replaced?
- In the absence of Srila Prabhupada, what is the procedure for first, second and sannyasa initiations?
- What is the relationship of the person who gives this initiation to the person he gives it to?
5) Is there any provision for publication of other translations of Vaishnava scriptures by the BBT after the disappearance of Srila Prabhupada?” (Published in ‘ISKCON Journal’, 1990)
If GBC members really believed that Srila Prabhupada would authorize them to be diksa gurus in ISKCON, then there would simply be no question of what is the relationship between a genuine guru and his disciples. They knew or guessed that Srila Prabhupada could authorize a certain system of representatives (which already functioned in ISKCON), and they wanted to clarify this issue. Tamala Krishna Goswami confirmed this in his speech during Topanga Canyon talks on December 3rd 1980 (recorded on audio tape, then quoted in maya-GBC’s ‘ISKCON Journal’ in 1990):
“What actually happened was that Prabhupada mentioned he might be appointing some ritviks, so the GBC met for various reasons, and they went to Prabhupada, five or six of us [on May 28, 1977].” (Full transcript:
http://iskcon-truth.com/pdf/pyramid_house_talks.pdf)
This is also confirmed by Srila Prabhupada’s personal servant Gauridas Pandit das in a letter to another Prabhupada’s disciple, Pratyatosa das:
From: Gauridas <Gauridas@*******.com>
Date: Thu, 14 May 1998 05:12:15 EDT
To: Pratyatoṣa Dāsa
Subject: Re: Usenet Ritvik Discussion
In a message dated 98-05-14 02:29:27 EDT, Pratyatoṣa Dāsa writes:
> ROOM CONVERSATION. Vrindavana, May 28, 1977:
>
> Satsvarūpa Mahārāja: “Then our next question concerns initiations in the future, particularly at that time when you are no longer with us. We want to know how first and second initiations will be conducted.”
>
> Śrīla Prabhupāda: “Yes. I shall recommend some of you. After this is settled up. I shall recommend some of you to act as officiating ācārya.”
>
> Tamāla Krishna Mahārāja: “Is that called ritvik-acarya?”
>
> Śrīla Prabhupāda: “Ritvik. Yes.”
>
> “Ritvik” is not a word which was part of the devotee lexicon at that time. Therefore, it is obvious that Śrīla Prabhupāda had been talking about “ritviks” on previous occasions which were never recorded, or the recordings were hidden or destroyed, otherwise how would Tamal Krishna Goswami think to ask this question?
>
> Here is a quote on this subject from “The Betrayal” by Purañjana Prabhu:
>
> “MYSTERIOUS GAPS? There are still mysterious and unaccounted for ‘time gaps’ (missing tapes?) in these conversations. There is no small amount of suspicion that some of the ‘new gurus’ are responsible for this. Additionally, GBC’s such as Tamal Krishna
Swami, Jayādvaita Swami and others sometimes refer to the ‘pre-May 28th ritvik guru discussions.’ However, no public record or indeed an existing scrap or trace of these conversations is currently available. Where are they?”
I would like to answer this question to the best of my ability.
When Śrīla Prabhupāda said we should be officiating acharyas, Tamal mentioned it [the word “ritvik”] because he heard Śrīla Prabhupāda talk about it in the garden days before. I stood before Śrīla Prabhupāda, serving him with the chamara [fan] during this time.
Tamal also admitted to me in a letter that the guru issue was “fraught with errors”. (TKG letter to GPD)
If the “Final Order” is too intellectual for some of your readers, then I recommend that they read my historical account of the facts in chronological order. I compiled it recently, and I call it “On My Behalf”.
Your servant, Gaurīdāsa Paṇḍita Dāsa
(Source: https://pratyatosa.com/?P=27)
Gauridas Pandit prabhu wrote in his open letter to another Godbrother:
“June 08th 2009, Dear Vaisesika Prabhu, […] As you may know I was one of Srila Prabhupada’s personal servants back in 1977. I was in Hrishikesh with Srila Prabhupada when he first told us that he wanted to go to Vrindavan to leave his body. This was mid-May. So, we went to Vrindavan the next day [May 17th 1977] where Prabhupada asked to see all of the devotees in his room. After all the devotees that could settled in, Srila Prabhupada started to speak. He said that he had come to Vrindavan to leave his body, but we devotees didn’t need to lament because he would live on in his books. There is a tape of this arrival address. Half of the devotees, including Yasodanandana Swami, began to cry and begged Srila Prabhupada not to leave. It was a sad shock to us all to hear these words from His Divine Grace.
About a week later, I was attending to Srila Prabhupada in his garden when his secretary asked him if he would appoint a guru to succeed him after his departure. Prabhupada said that he would appoint ritvik representatives who would initiate on his behalf.
Later on, May 28th 1977, there was a GBC meeting in Srila Prabhupada’s room in Vrindavan. It’s on tape. Knowing Srila Prabhupada already said he was getting ready to leave the planet the questions concerned the future of the movement after his departure. So Satsvarupa asked how initiations would go on after his departure and Prabhupada said that he would appoint ‘officiating acharyas’. Hearing that the secretary, TKG, asked if that was also called a ‘ritvik’ having heard him mention it earlier and Prabhupada said, “ritvik yes.” He said he would appoint them later.
Later on July 5th I was attending to Prabhupada in his garden in the morning as usual when Tamal read some letters to Prabhupada. They were from temple presidents asking for initiation approval for their local devotees. Srila Prabhupada said that he would appoint some ritvik representatives soon. Then on July 7th he heard more requests for initiations and started to name the first group of ritvik representatives of the acharya. The secretary said that all the devotees the reps. Initiated would still be Srila Prabhupada’s disciples and Srila Prabhupada said, “Yes.” So, it was understood by the secretary, TKG and I thought this is what would happen. Needless to say, I was shocked to see what happened after His Divine Grace left.” (Full text: https://www.prabhupadanugas.eu/news/?p=4289)
So, Srila Prabhupada talked about ritviks after departure on about May 24th or 25th, 1977.
It should be noted that even after the official full release of 1977 audio recordings and their text transcripts by the Bhaktivedanta Archives in 2012, 2/3 days in March-September, 1977 still do not have any tapes of those Srila Prabhupada’s conversations, while the recording should have been kept constantly, and there are numerous testimonies and mentions in letters and other materials from that period that in 1977 Srila Prabhupada gave important instructions about the future of ISKCON. On April 18th, 1977, Tamal wrote in a letter he was “personally taking responsibility for the tape recordings.” But under his supervision a lot of 1977 tapes disappeared, and maya-ISKCON hasn’t conducted any thorough investigation of this issue. See historical details in ‘ISKCON’S HIDDEN HISTORY’, Vol. 5, Personal Ambition Series, Part 1: Gurujacking the Movement.
Nevertheless, the recorded evidence known to date indicates the following: in 1977, GBC members were not at all sure that immediately after Srila Prabhupada’s departure they would become initiating gurus, which Srila Prabhupada allegedly had been teaching all twelve years of his preaching in the West and since this is supposedly the tradition. In fact, it was traditional at that time in ISKCON to initiate via Srila Prabhupada’s representatives. Later, some ex-GBC members/”gurus” admitted that proxy initiation system should have continued to function, since this was Srila Prabhupada’s decision.
One can listen to the full content of the May 28th, 1977 conversation at official Bhaktivedanta Archives web site: https://vedabase.io/en/library/transcripts/770528mevrn/
Below is the part of May 28th, 1977, room conversation regarding future initiations:
1. Satsvarūpa: By the votes of the present GBC. Then our next question concerns initiations in the future, particularly at that time when you’re no longer with us. We want to know how first, and second initiation would be conducted.
2. Prabhupāda: Yes. I shall recommend some of you. After this is settled up, I shall recommend some of you to act as officiating ācāryas.
3. Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Is that called ṛtvik-ācārya?
4. Prabhupāda: Ṛtvik, yes.
5. Satsvarūpa: Then what is the relationship of that person who gives the initiation and the…
6. Prabhupāda: He’s guru. He’s guru.
7. Satsvarūpa: But he does it on your behalf.
8. Prabhupāda: Yes. That is formality. Because in my presence one should not become guru, so on my behalf, on my order… Āmāra ājñāya guru hañā [Cc. Madhya 7.128]. Be actually guru, but by my order.
9. Satsvarūpa: So, they may also be considered your disciples.
10. Prabhupāda: Yes, they are disciples. Why consider? Who?
11. Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: No, he’s asking that these ṛtvik-ācāryas, they’re officiating, giving dīkṣā. Their… The people who they give dīkṣā to, whose disciple are they?
12. Prabhupāda: They’re his disciple.
13. Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: They’re his disciple.
14. Prabhupāda: Who is initiating. His granddisciple.
15. Satsvarūpa: Yes.
16. Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: That’s clear. (?)
17. Satsvarūpa: Then we have a question concer…
18. Prabhupāda: When I order, “You become guru,” he becomes regular guru. That’s all. He becomes dis… disciple of my disciple. That’s it.
Let’s have a closer look at the above text divided in sections and analyze misconceptions associated with each of them:
Section 1:
- Satsvarūpa: By the votes of the present GBC. Then our next question concerns initiations in the future, particularly at that time when you’re no longer with us. We want to know how first, and second initiation would be conducted.
- Prabhupāda: Yes. I shall recommend some of you. After this is settled up, I shall recommend some of you to act as officiating ācāryas.
- Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Is that called ṛtvik-ācārya?
4. Prabhupāda: Ṛtvik, yes.
This part clearly proves the position of Prabhupadanugas:
- The future initiation system in ISKCON should be ritvik;
2) Ritviks were to be appointed especially after Srila Prabhupada’s physical departure.
Also, this exchange refutes two key myths of anti-ritvik theory:
1) Ritviks were appointed until the departure only;
2) Diksa gurus were authorized in ISKCON for the period after Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance.