Unrepentant Prodigals
BY: ROCANA DASA
Oct 15, 2011 — CANADA (SUN) — Of late, we have published various articles in the Sun by Pusta Krishna das. If time had permitted, I would have made a direct commentary on each of his articles, because they contain an overall theme and mood that he personifies, which I’d like to address.
My comments are not only applicable to Pusta Krishna, but also speak to a phenomenon that has been taking place within the devotee community for quite some time now.
Over the years, we have watched the return of a long line of unrepentant prodigals who are resurfacing in ISKCON. They sometimes reappear after many decades, as in the case of Pusta Krishna das. They return to the devotee scene, apparently trying to recapture some of the original excitement and ecstasy they once experienced as a youth, when they were associating with Srila Prabhupada during his ISKCON lila period.
Pusta Krishna is joined by Shyamasundara (Malati dd’s ex-husband), Gurudasa (Yamuna dd’s ex-husband), and some of the Zonal Acaryas like Bhagavan. Even Rameswar appears once in a while, although we don’t see him trying to regain notoriety, as some are.
Some of these devotees go to the ridiculous extent of publishing their memoirs of Srila Prabhupada, after which many other foolish devotees invite them to take a prominent seat at festivals and temple programs, where they narrate reminiscences of their pastimes with Srila Prabhupada.
Of course, they don’t share with the audience why it was that even during Srila Prabhupada’s manifest lila, having been given a rare opportunity in this human form of life to directly associate with such a rarified spiritual personality, they chose to instead leave Srila Prabhupada’s service even before his lila ended.
In many cases, they left behind them a wake of offenses, committed during their tenure in prominent positions such as GBC, guru and sannyasi and other responsibilities Srila Prabhupada had given them, which they made a big mess of.
These devotees tend to have selective amnesia not only when it comes to the detailed circumstances surrounding why they left the movement, but also while they were in maya prior to leaving, while they were causing a lot of chaos and disturbance in the lives of many devotees. Pusta Krishna das, for example, hasn’t told us why he left.
In Pusta Krishna’s case, he played a significant role in a crucial circumstance that transpired here in British Columbia. If he even remembers it, I doubt that he has given much thought to how his actions, or lack of action, impacted so many Vaisnavas.
The story involves a rural project that Jayatirtha, the GBC, had instructed Bahudak das to establish in the interior of British Columbia, in a place called Bridesville. Due to some local circumstances, I had to take responsibility for this project about a year after it had been established.
I stepped into a crisis situation and a set of circumstances that I felt the GBC should be aware of, so they could make a decision on how to proceed. It just so happened that Srila Prabhupada was in New York at the time, and I decided it would be best for me to go to New York and present the situation, either directly to Srila Prabhupada or to the dignitaries and notorieties there.
While Srila Prabhupada was at Gita Nagari, a rural project similar to the one I was dealing with, I presented the problems that we were having in Bridesville. Srila Prabhupada very wisely deputed Pusta Krishna Swami, a GBC, to come out to Bridesville and assess the situation. In due course, within a few weeks, Pusta Krishna das showed up at Bridesville.
Unbeknownst to us, prior to his arrival he had fallen completely into maya. He already had an exit strategy in place, and was preparing to leave Srila Prabhupada – without telling Srila Prabhupada, without telling us. When he arrived at Bridesville, he did virtually nothing. He went into his cabin, closed the door and stayed there for a few days. When he came out, he announced that the whole place would be shut down, then he disappeared.
A few decades later, after he’d reconnected with his karmic destiny, becoming a doctor with a practice and a family, Pusta Krishna das has re-surfaced and is now back on the scene. And that’s fine. It goes to show us all that leaving Krishna Consciousness and trying to enjoy the material world, succumbing to maya and destiny never gives you the happiness that you could experience by remaining in Krishna Consciousness and enjoying the mercy of Krsna and the pure devotee.
The problem I have, not just with Pusta Krishna das, but with most of the other “leaders” who come back, is that they’re not at all humble. They’re not repentant, or apologetic for the mistakes they’ve made. Instead, they seem most interested in letting everyone know that they had all sorts of association with Srila Prabhupada.
They go about telling all their anecdotal stories, which of course feature themselves, but have no real philosophical value… because philosophically, they didn’t understand back then who Srila Prabhupada is, nor do they understand it now. Instead, they do what Pusta Krishna is doing.
He is writing articles, stating in very absolute terms that he personally knows that Srila Prabhupada would do a certain thing in a given situation. He supposedly knows this on the basis of his past immature, juvenile observations – unenlightened, unphilosophical observations of Srila Prabhupada that he had after a few years of direct service, including the period when he was in complete maya and preparing to leave the pure devotee’s service. And this I find frustrating, if not infuriating.
The reason that Srila Prabhupada’s mission has been nearly ruined is primarily because the senior people in his lila did not recognize Srila Prabhupada’s rarified status. They did not understand what it means to serve the Sampradaya Acarya after his departure, taking a humble position and trying to capture Srila Prabhupada’s mood and realize what his desires and expectations of his followers were.
Instead, they wanted to imitate Srila Prabhupada and carry their own immature conceptions forward as being absolute, without introspection or analysis, and without humility. They don’t accept that their perceptions are sadly lacking in true understanding of Srila Prabhupada, Krishna Consciousness, and Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s Sankirtan movement.
Whether it’s Satsvarupa writing the Lilamrta or other sentimentally saturated memoir books and personal journals, all such unphilosophical literatures and self-glorifying reminiscences by notorieties from days past are now shaping the minds and consciousness of those who read them, giving a false perception of Srila Prabhupada and what it means to actually serve and follow the Sampradaya Acarya. So this is very maddening.
We would prefer to hear the untold stories of the sincere devotees who were actually following Srila Prabhupada, who did not leave his service even during his manifest lila. Some of them stuck it out through the Zonal Acarya period.
In reality, they were the ones whose service kept the Sankirtana movement going. The remnants of those with a sincere and profound understanding of who Srila Prabhupada actually is continue to fuel the Sankirtana movement today, but nobody writes memoirs of these people. They depart, at an ever-quickening pace, often in obscurity and poverty.
Meanwhile, their service is being supplanted by the so-called devotees who are pretending to be great acaryas, riding high on the ‘good old days’ when they had some institutional power and prestige. Always subtly putting the focus on themselves, they’re creating an illusion that’s distracting devotees from understanding and focusing on Srila Prabhupada.
As a result, some newcomers are losing their initial enthusiasm and the opportunity to make true advancement by worshipping, following and attempting to understand the true nature of an absolutely pure, unalloyed devotee, a nitya-siddha Sampradaya Acarya, HDG A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada.
Note that Rocana dasa coins terms that put Srila Prabhupada in the past. An inactive, historical figure. Dead and gone. Impotent.
Terms like:
(1) “Sampradaya Acarya” (instead of Founder-Acarya, Srila Prabhupada’s authorized title)
(2) “during his manifest lila” (Prabhupada is unmanifest? So much for living in his books.)
(3) “during his ISKCON lila period” (whose ISKCON lila period is it now, and for the next thousands of years?)
(4) “they chose to instead leave Srila Prabhupada’s service even before his lila ended” (Adios Prabhupada, lila ended)
(5) “during Srila Prabhupada’s manifest lila” (all-right, we heard you the first time, already)
all strip Srila Prabhupada of power, nudging him off the vyasasana.
Especially sneaky is the popular term “Sampradaya Acarya” as applied to Srila Prabhupada. It sounds big and important, like “Super Acarya” but it is a sly minimization, placing Srila Prabhupada on the list of has-beens.
Rocana dasa is in a fever to kick Srila Prabhupada off the ISKCON vyasasana, so much so that he hates anyone that says Srila Prabhupada should stay on the vyasasana. If you don’t believe me, just say that Prabhupada is still the guru and watch him boil.
Don’t buy Rocana’s lingo. It is deceitful.
What do you expect, Mahasana Prabhu?
Rocana Dasa:
1. …is guilty of the worst possible wife abuse by divorcing multiple wives.
2. …has demonstrated over the years that he is completely incapable of displaying even a modicum of Vaisnava humility.
3. …wants to be a guru, but is not qualified even by the ISKCON GBC’s low standards.
4. …is yet again re-married, but even though he sleeps with his “wife” in a big double bed, he has not given his “wife” any children!
5. …tried to get disciples outside of ISKCON, but found that the only way that he could do that was to legally marry a prospective female disciple!
6. …has given his “wife” a spiritual name.
7. …has not allowed his “wife” to take initiation from a guru other than himself.
8. …does not have enough spiritual potency to get his “wife” to chant 16 rounds a day.
9. …does not follow the 4 regulative principles, and, obviously, neither does his “wife.”
Why do I put “wife” in quotes? Because he does not have a genuine husband-wife relationship. Husband-wife relationship means children, and none are being produced with his current “wife.” IMHO, he is having an extremely abominable guru-disciple relationship which involves illicit sex. This is almost like a teacher having sex with his student or a father having sex with his daughter. Extremely disgusting and abominable! Completely against even the lowest standards of Vedic principles.
How do they avoid having children? Abortion as a backup for failed birth control?
Therefore, IMHO, he has moral standards that are lower than the average karmi!
Your servant, Pratyatosa Dasa, http://rtvik.com/
Thank you, Pratyatosa Dasa Prabhu for the enlightenment. I had no idea. Items 2 and 3 above gave me a chuckle, even though such things are not funny.
It all makes sense. My gut has told me for a long time the Rocana dasa is ambitious. He has hollered at me via email like I am a nothing, and although this is true, still, it feels crappy.
Again, I appreciate your careful and thorough response, making the effort to explain all this to me.
Your Godbrother,
Mahasana dasa
Although it’s true that many devotees have fallen down in this way, and although it’s also true that we should normally be tolerant of such a fall-down, how CAN we be if he is arrogant, pretends to be very spiritually advanced, and is constantly trying to puff himself up by putting down both the ISKCONites and the ritviks?
“Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones.”
Your servant, Pratyatosa Dasa, http://rtvik.com/
Well said. Srila Prabhupada wanted us to challenge the false philosophers and pretenders, the atheists and the material scientists and expose them all, not let them slide with a “Ho Ho Haribol”. Challenging means gloves off. This is not the first fratricidal war.
Yes!
You said it better than I.
Hare Krishna
Two monks were strolling by a stream on their way home to the monastery. They were startled by the sound of a young woman in a bridal gown, sitting by the stream, crying softly. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she gazed across the water. She needed to cross to get to her wedding, but she was fearful that doing so might ruin her beautiful handmade gown.
In this particular sect, monks were prohibited from touching women. But one monk was filled with compassion for the bride. Ignoring the sanction, he hoisted the woman on his shoulders and carried her across the stream–assisting her journey and saving her gown. She smiled and bowed with gratitude as he noisily splashed his way back across the stream to rejoin his companion.
The second monk was livid. “How could you do that?” he scolded. “You know we are forbidden even to touch a woman, much less pick one up and carry her around!”
The offending monk listened in silence to a stern lecture that lasted all the way back to the monastery. His mind wandered as he felt the warm sunshine and listened to the singing birds. After returning to the monastery, he fell asleep for a few hours. He was jostled and awakened in the middle of the night by his fellow monk. “How could you carry that woman?” his agitated friend cried out. “Someone else could have helped her across the stream. You were a bad monk!”
“What woman?” the tired monk inquired groggily.
“Don’t you even remember? That woman you carried across the stream,” his colleague snapped.
“Oh, her,” laughed the sleepy monk. “I only carried her across the stream. You carried her all the way back to the monastery.”
ys
Sri Mukunda dasa
I am curious Sri Mukunda Dasa. Between Prayatosa Dasa and Rocana Dasa, who is the
monk who carried the young lady across the river
and who is he monk who carried her all the way
back to the monastery.
Sri Mukunda Dasa, no reply from you, never the less a good story about the monks. As far as these guys are concern its just two old men in their sixties who seem to have nothing better to do but to quarrel about their private lives to the global public ( no self respecting gentleman will do this ) when they should be preparing themselves to go back home back to Godhead.
Sri Mukunda dasa: Comparing the differences between Rocana dasa and Pratyatosa dasa to the differences in the brahmanas in the lady-carrying story is a weak analogy. An analogy is only as strong as the points in common. Certainly there are two sides and criticisms in both cases, but that is where the similarities end. Rocana and Pratyatosa are ritvik dueling, while the lady-carrying brahmana story is essentially a purport to the Bhagavad-gita verse, 3.6 (One who restrains the senses and organs of action, but whose mind dwells on sense objects, certainly deludes himself and is called a pretender), concerning sex desire.
SG: You are name calling, attacking the speakers (quarrelsome old men) and not the argument. That is the ad hominem fallacy.
You can’t win an argument unless you dispute the points in the argument.
You must be in the sixties too , Mahasana Dasa. In less than 10 to 15 years members of the sixties age will cease to exist. As for Pratyatosa and Rocana they have long passed their ‘ ritvik dueling ‘ as you put it. Now it just personal feud and they are doing it over the net.
What has Rocana relationship with his wife or how they sleep on what bed got to do with ritvik dueling. These are all very childish. Since they display their nonsense over the net, people who are reading will form opinions just like what i have done.
Two old men quarreling about their wives and themselves. If Pratyatosa wants he can take the humble approach first and close this chapter about Rocana here and now and move on.
Dear SD Prabhu, Srila Prabhupada said over and over again, “vanaprastha at age 50” (paraphrased). This means that we “old men in our sixties” should be following Srila Prabhupada’s example by having, several years ago, turned over the running of temples, preaching centers, houses and motor vehicles to the younger generation. We should follow his example and live in a small, simple apartment. We shouldn’t waste our valuable time maintaining cars, houses, lawns, gardens, wells, or septic systems. These activities are for householders who are busy raising children in Krishna consciousness, not for us “old men in our sixties” who’s children have long since left the nest.
But how many of Srila Prabhupada’s disciples are doing this? Rocana certainly isn’t. Instead of becoming more renounced like Srila Prabhupada instructed, he has renounced following 4 regulative principles, and saves time by renouncing the chanting of his 16 rounds a day! At the same time, he pretends to be very spiritually advanced.
He is completely ignoring Srila Prabhupada’s example/orders by clinging to a grhastha (grhamedhi) lifestyle well past the mandatory retirement age that Srila Prabhupada repeatedly set for ALL of his disciples/followers.
Don’t you think that following Srila Prabhupada’s instructions/example is important?
Ys, Ptd
Hare Krishna
I can’t believe I have to spell this out for you. Pratyatosa is meditating way too much on Rocana and his wife and what they do or not do, which is none of his business.
ys
Sri Mukunda dasa
Hare Krishna
Jaya Prabhupada
Dear Mahasana Dasa,
I especially like your comment about how Rocana uses the term Sampradaya Acarya like Super Acarya, yet he says this Super acarya is gone and not able to give diksha, so what is the point of calling him Sampradaya Acarya or Super acarya?
ys
Sri Mukunda dasa
I see it that way too, Prabhu. False flattery. As Shakespeare might say to Rocana dasa, “Methinks thou doest ‘Sampradaya’ too much.” Unfortunately, the term has caught hold among many of our Godsiblings, because it sounds so big and impressive, but it is a backhanded compliment. The big and impressive (and authorized) title for Srila Prabhupada is “Founder-Acarya” which is all over every one of Srila Prabhupada’s books and magazines.
But that title favors the ritvik argument, which Rocana dasa is against.
Like a disease, sampradaya-itis, has spread, thanks to Rocana dasa not covering his mouth.
Hare Krishna
Jaya Prabhupada
I would much rather hear about Krishna and the Cowherd boys than hear about Rocana and what he does with his wife.
ys
Sri Mukunda dasa
Divide and conquer; the strategy ot the globalists. “Out of chaos, a New Order.” We are caving in to the manipulations of the globalist agenda when we fight amongst ourselves too much. That is the plot of the enemy; to have us become useless and kill each other off, while their sick Luciferian order takes over the planet. In this case, ritvik versus non ritivk.
Forget the bogus Iskcon cult! Who cares what they do anymore? Lets just build the greater Iskcon, one of Srila Prabhupada’s designs. By paying too much attention to Rocana and other disassemblers, our time is wasted. I have found that there are countless numbers interested in Krsna consciousness; don’t spoil the opportunity to save them.
Of course Bangalaore is stuck with all this, as they have associated too much with Jayapotatoasura.
None of us is perfect, we all have our less than perfect pasts, at least I do. Let us offer some Prayers for peace and enlightenment, for both Rocana and Pratyatosha Prabhus, indeed for us all, and dont’ worry, Sri Krishna sees all and knows all and will see that just the right amount of truth and justice will occurr, in His sweet time.
Pratyatosa Dasa my last line was if you want, you can choose to close this chapter of your life now, not open another page. You seem obsessed with this fellow Rocana dasa. That is not good for you. If he is not following the instruction of his spiritual master what can be done. He will have to accept the consquences of his action whatever that may be. If your reason for becoming a devotee is to go back to Godhead then you may want to follow this instruction from Krishna and your guru Srila Prabhupada.
“And whoever, at the time of death, quits his body, remembering Me alone, at once attains My nature. Of this there is no doubt.
PURPORT
In this verse the importance of Krishna consciousness is stressed. Anyone who quits his body in Krishna consciousness is at once transferred to the transcendental abode of the Supreme Lord. The word smaran (remembering) is important. Remembrance of Krishna is not possible for the impure soul who has not practiced Krishna consciousness in devotional service. To remember Krishna one should chant the mahämantra, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Räma, Hare Räma, Räma Räma, Hare Hare, incessantly, following in the footsteps of Lord Caitanya, being more tolerant than the tree, humbler than the grass and offering all respect to others without requiring respect in return. In such a way one will be able to depart from the body successfully remembering Krishna and so attain the supreme goal.”
There are a few more verses like this in the Bhagavat Gita. Go read it up. Your remaining 10 years or so is not much. Before you know it you are already at death’s door. So, your mind should be with the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna and His wonderful activites not Rocana Dasa. The choice is yours.