“The Aindra Revolution”

“We hear many devotees preaching now that we should all take advantage of Aindra’s departure, using it as a catalyst to take back Srila Prabhupada’s movement from the bogus GBC’s who run ISKCON today.”

BY: SRIRAM

Jul 19, 2010 — INDIA (SUN) — On all the devotee forums, everyone is talking about little else but the sad and shocking passing of Aindra das Prabhu in Vrindaban-dhama. All devotees around the world have been affected by this event, even if they never met him. Aindra’s legacy of Harinama Samkirtana will be listened to for generations to come, and we will never forget the inspiration of his transcendental bhajan and kirtan.

We hear many devotees preaching now that we should all take advantage of Aindra’s departure, using it as a catalyst to take back Srila Prabhupada’s movement from the bogus GBC’s who run ISKCON today. Much is being said about Aindra’s personal preaching in this regard, and the Sun, like many other websites, has published his bold Vyasa-puja offering where he criticized the GBC’s rubber-stamped guru program, calling it a deviation from Srila Prabhupada’s program.

Aindra had also written a book and was preparing to publish it, focusing on this same issue. Some are speculating that this caused his demise – that he was actually killed because he was preaching against the GBC and big guru. That seems like wild speculation, but you never know. Vrindavan is well known for the goonda-law that rules there.

Now, many of the gurukulis and kirtaniyas are saying, let us follow Aindra’s example and use the power of Nama sankirtan to create a grassroots fire that will change ISKCON forever. Personally, I am all for such a revolution, and I believe that Aindra would love nothing better than for it to take off in his memory. It is high time that the second generation devotees – led by the dedicated kirtaniyas of Vrindavan, and elsewhere – exert their own devotional potency and set ISKCON back on the right course.

But there is one big problem we have to face – and it’s not just “the GBC”.

The second generation of ISKCON devotees are becoming known worldwide for their love of Harinam Sankirtan, at Vrindavan and Mayapur, throughout the west, at Kulimelas and at Rathayatras around the world. We are united in our love for chanting the Holy Name, and for taking brhat-mrdanga to the streets. But still, there is a great divide amongst us. On one side are the many who agree and stand with Aindra prabhu, and his preaching against the bogus nonsense the ISKCON leaders have been doing.

On the other side are the many second gen devotees who follow Radhanath Swami. He is also well known for supporting, encouraging and inspiring the kirtanyas.

But it is now time for us to face the fact that there is a great division between these two groups, whether we’ve noticed it or not.

Radhanath Swami is perhaps the most responsible of all ISKCON gurus today for perpetuating the bogus nonsense the GBC are up to. He is responsible not because he necessarily created all these problems, but because he wields huge power, thanks to his army of young and enthusiastic followers – and he is NOT standing up against these things. Instead, he himself is a rubber-stamped guru of the very sort that Aindra Prabhu preached so fervently against.

Radhanath Swami is an institutional guru, a big Zonal guru, and he stands for, supports, and encourages all the worst of things that Aindra preached against.

So if we are to start this grassroots revolution in the name of Aindra Prabhu’s love of kirtan and the Holy Name, and against GBC-inspired deviation, then we must stand against what Radhanath Swami represents and engages in. How can we call ourselves kirtaniyas, in the tradition of one like Aindra, and at the same time take the dust of Radhanath Swami’s feet, while he is one of the most prominent members – if not the single most important of all the GBC’s and ISKCON gurus today, who are perpetrating these deviations?

So let us all deal with this fact. If Aindra’s legacy is to be preserved, we should take heed of the Truth that he preached, and refuse to engage ourselves in the service of something that is wrong philosophically and goes against Srila Prabhupada’s own ISKCON — no matter how sweet the kirtan seems to be, we should walk away from that. It is not enough to simply dance and chant in ecstasy. We must also defend and preach, without deviation, the philosophy Srila Prabhupada gave us. Just as Aindra Prabhu did.