No Enmity, Only Solution – Part 19
- The Symbol of Faith
- Sep 1
- 11 min read
Updated: Sep 2
All glories to Śrī Śrī Guru and Gaurāṅga
All done by me for preaching purposes—that was the demand of Śrīla A.C. Bhakti Vedānta Svāmī Mahārāja. Yes, you are right, according to your own estimation, but what was the exact advice of The Prabhupāda—the absolute follower of Śrīman Mahāprabhu?
1. The first point is—what do you mean by preaching?
Gauḍīya Goṣṭhipati Śrī Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda Paramahaṃsa Jagat-Guru said that— “First of all, sufficient (or enough) preaching should be done in front of me – myself, then I can go for preaching, otherwise not.”
We know the following scriptural advice from śāstras—
upadeśaṁ karoti eva
na parīkṣāṁ karoti yaḥ
aparīkṣya upadiṣṭaṁ yat
jagat-nāśāya tad bhavet (Pañcatantra, Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa)
“By propagating religious principles without practicing personally, then various disturbances are created in the world."
In the following verses written by Srila Prabhupada in his poem ‘Vaiṣṇava Ke?’ (Who Is Vaiṣṇava?), Srila Prabhupada has written that—
vraja-basi-gana pracharaka dhana
pratiṣṭhā-bhiksuka tara nahe saba
prana achhe tara se hetu prachara
pratiṣṭhāsa-hina-Kṛṣṇa-gatha saba (Vaishnava Ke 18)
The most valuable treasures amongst the Lord’s preachers are the eternal personalities residing in Vraja-dhām. They never occupy themselves with begging for worthless material reputation, which is cherished only by a living dead body. The vraja-vāsis are truly infused with life, and therefore they preach in order to give life to the walking corpses of the mundane world. All the songs that the vraja-vāsis sing about the glories of Lord Kṛṣṇa are devoid of any tinge of desire for fame.
2. The second point is—what were the teachings of Śrīman Mahāprabhu?
From the previous verse quoted from ‘Vaiṣṇava Ke?’ (Who is a Vaiṣṇava?), Śrīla Prabhupāda wanted to teach us that lifeless preaching is never useful, I mean, always useless.
Śrīla Prabhupāda very often used to say that— “Preaching can be done both way—one is the negative way, and the other is the positive way of preaching. Aghāsura, Bakāsura, Pūtanā, Kaṃsa, Jarāsandha, Śiśupāla, etc. they all have done havoc preaching for Kṛṣṇa, but surely negative way, and not positive way. Because their challenging mood or envious mood or attacking mood against Kṛṣṇa itself had a great impact on the whole social system of the world, because all their respective negative mood brought about a great evolution in the way of negative preaching (very very fast preaching) for Kṛṣṇa. In fact, negative preaching procedure is very very fast, but the outcome can never give any effective or positive result like Kṛṣṇa bhakti. But positive way of preaching is very very slow, but the outcome can give very effective or positive result like Kṛṣṇa bhakti in true sense.” What Śrīla Prabhupāda wanted to say is very very clear.
3. The third point is—what is the net outcome of your massive preaching—that is the main question in front of the whole world
Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda Paramahaṃsa Jagat-Guru wanted to say that without śaraṇāgatī (in true sense), one cannot fulfill even the most basic criterion of a real pracāraka.
Śrīla Saccidānanda Bhakti Vinoda Ṭhākura has written in his kīrtana that— ‘śikhāye śaraṇāgatī bhakatera prāṇa’… which means that śaraṇāgatī is the most basic or fundamental criterion to fulfill the quality of a preacher which is the life for a devotee (or the backbone of the devotional life), whereas Śrīla Svāmī Mahārāja was found completely deviated from the track of The Prabhupāda (or Gauḍīya Maṭha).
Śrīla Prabhupāda used to say that— “Slightest deviation from the track of Śrī Guru Caraṇa can ultimately throw you away from Hari-bhajana.” Drug addicted, tobacco addicted, or wine addicted conditions can prove you completely failure in the way of devotional line, because this has been pointed out as the most sinful activities as per scriptural evidences. So, what is the net outcome of such massive preaching by a tobacco addicted personality (Śrīla Svāmī Mahārāja). How he wanted to save all those drug addicted or gañjā addicted hippies, whereas he himself was completely tobacco addicted personally, and not only that but also he himself always was found completely against Śrīla Prabhupāda, or Śrīla Saccidānanda Bhakti Vinoda Ṭhākura, or Śrī Gauḍīya Maṭha as a whole together with all those great devotees of Gauḍīya Maṭha.
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SWAMI MAHARAJ'S TOBACCO ADDICTION:
"N.B. Regarding taking snuff, I myself take it sometimes at night because I am working at night [handwritten] on my books, and sometimes I become dizzy. But it is not for you to take. You should not imitate this, neither you work like me at night. [handwritten]"
740109 - Letter to Revatinandana written from Los Angeles
"P.S. Please send my snuff pot when Hayagriva comes here. I could not get the __ snuff here."
690830 - Letter to Brahmananda written from Hamburg
Please also see the following text written by Henry Doktorski who is well known as the Hare Krishna historian. He published twelve books about the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Swami Bhaktipada and the New Vrindaban Krishna Community.
“Yes, Prabhupada snorted snuff daily. Some say that daily imbibing indicates addiction, but others disagree. As noted in "Gold, Guns and God," Vol. 9:
"Regarding intoxicants, Gaudiya Vaishnavas vow to refrain from using products that contain intoxicating substances, such as alcohol, caffeine and nicotine, yet Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada daily snorted snuff. Snuff is a smokeless tobacco made from finely ground tobacco leaves. It is inhaled or “sniffed” through the nose, delivering a swift hit of nicotine. Prabhupada wrote to Revatinandan in 1974, “Regarding taking snuff, I myself take it sometimes at night because I am working at night on my books, and sometimes I become dizzy. But it is not for you to take. You should not imitate this, neither you work like me at night.”
Hari Sauri (Dennis Harrison), who served as Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada’s personal servant for a year, noted, “We carried a couple of small tins [of snuff] with us at all times.” Prabhupada told several disciples he used snuff to “gain relief from high blood pressure.”
However, this explanation appears to have been simply a poor excuse to justify taking snuff, as nicotine is a stimulant which raises blood pressure, not lowers it. Nicotine is also highly addictive. Considering that references to the word “snuff” appear in the Vedabase at least twelve times from 1968 until 1977, it appears that Prabhupada enjoyed the nicotine “high” and often used snuff as a stimulant to help keep him awake at night while writing his “Bhaktivedanta purports.”
For a man who liked to criticize the Indian swamis who chewed betel nuts (the seed of the areca palm which provides a burst of energy), and who was terribly disappointed that his wife liked to drink tea, the fact that Prabhupada daily snorted an addictive nicotine product may come as a surprise to many.”
SIDDHANTA AGAINST SRILA PRABHUPADA WHEN SWAMI MAHARAJ CLAIMS THAT SRILA PRABHUPADA WAS IN FAVOUR OF KILLING SNAKES:
“It remained a doubt, "How Guru Mahārāja ordered a snake to be killed?" But when I read this verse I was very much pleased, that these creatures, or creatures like the snake, they should not be shown any mercy. No. And Cāṇakya Paṇḍita said there are two kinds of cruel creatures. One kind is a sarpaḥ krūraḥ. The snake is very cruel. Sarpaḥ krūraḥ, khalaḥ krūraḥ. And khala, a person who has awakened the quality like snake . . . then there is no fault.
Similarly, in our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, if we become envious, "Oh, my Godbrother, oh, he has become so popular. He is making so much progress. So put some impediments towards his progressive path," this is also material.
The Vaikuṇṭha consciousness is that if your neighbor, if your brother is prosperous or progressive, then one should think, "Oh, he's so nice that he has served God so nicely. God is so pleased upon him that he is making so nice progress." That is Vaikuṇṭha consciousness. And material consciousness is that, "Oh, he has advanced so much. Oh, let me check him." This is material. That is going on. The whole world, enviousness.”
720707 - Lecture SB 01.01.02 – London
“So do you think that sādhu, those who are sādhu, they are pleased when a person is killed? Not ordinary person. He is giving very nice example. Modeta sādhur api vṛścika sarpa-hatyā (SB 7.9.14). Vṛścika means scorpion, and sarpa means snake. Naturally, whenever a scorpion is found or a snake is out, every man is prepared to kill it. Every man. "Oh, here is a snake. Kill it."
[…]
So once I saw in our Māyāpur, Lord Caitanya's birthplace, so a snake was going, a black snake, with . . . in Bengal there are many snakes. So my Guru Mahārāja was on the upstair, and everyone asked the permission whether this should be killed. He said immediately, "Yes. He should be killed." So at that time I thought that "How Guru Mahārāja ordered for killing the snake?" Then, after so many years, when I began to read Bhāgavatam and came to this passage, Prahlāda Mahārāja assertion, modeta sādhur api vṛścika sarpa-hatyā (SB 7.9.14), then I thought that "My Guru Mahārāja did right thing." ”680829SB-MONTREAL - August 29, 1968 - 43:50 Minutes
Please, go to the following link for the response to this claim of Swami Maharaj:
AGAINST BHAKTIVINODA THAKUR AND HIS DASA MULA TATTVA:
"Whereas our acaryas, such as Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, have provided some such statements, but for ISKCON it would be more appropriate to base such statements on Srila Prabhupada's books as his teachings are our primary source of evidence and philosophical understanding."
"[...] Keeping all the above in mind, we in ISKCON could certainly use Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’ Daśa-mūla-tattva as our concise statement of siddhānta. However, since Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books are the primary source of evidence and philosophical understanding for the members of ISKCON, it is more appropriate to base the short formulation of siddhānta on his own words. At the same time, it is also important to show clearly that Śrīla Prabhupāda’s teachings are in complete harmony with the teachings of the previous ācāryas.
Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Summary of Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Siddhānta from the catuḥ-ślokī Bhāgavatam
Following the previous ācāryas, in this paper, we describe in gist ten cardinal points of Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava siddhānta, as taught by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and presented by Śrīla Prabhupāda. They are similar to the ten roots of siddhānta identified by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, and yet somewhat distinct. [...]"
(From "RESOLUTIONS OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2025", section "A Concise Statement of Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Siddhānta for the International Society for Kṛṣṇa Consciousness position paper – 2025")
AGAINST GAUDIYA MATH AS A WHOLE
751109 - Letter to Visvakarma written from Bombay
"I am in due receipt of your letter dated September 3, 1975 with the enclosed statement about Van Maharaja. So I have now issued orders that all my disciples should avoid all of my godbrothers. They should not have any dealings with them nor even correspondence, nor should they give them any of my books or should they purchase any of their books, neither should you visit any of their temples. Please avoid them."
731114 - Letter to Sukadeva written from Delhi
"Regarding the Goudiya Math books being circulated there, who is distributing? Who is sending these books? The Goudiya Math does not sell our books, why we should sell their books. Who has introduced these books? Let me know. These books should not at all be circulated in our Society. Bhakti Vilas Tirtha is very much antagonistic to our Society and he has no clear conception of devotional service. He is contaminated. Anyway, who has introduced these books? You say that you would read only one book if that was all that I had written, so you teach others to do like that. You have very good determination."
Some excerpts From "Gaudiya Math resolutions":
"In obedience to the instruction of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the GBC directs that the members of ISKCON should respect all senior Gaudiya Vaishnavas outside ISKCON, but should not intimately associate with them, personally or through printed or recorded media, for guidance, teaching, instruction, or initiation as their presentation of Krishna consciousness often differs from that of Srila Prabhupada in emphasis, balance and other aspects of both teaching and practice."
"Srila Prabhupada is the foundational siksa guru for all ISKCON devotees because he has realized and presented the teachings of the previous acharyas of the Brahma Madhva Gaudiya sampradaya appropriately for the modern age."
"A person guilty of having recommended or encouraged a member or associate of ISKCON to accept any form of initiation outside of ISKCON or any further initiation or duplicate initiation from someone other than his bona fide ISKCON initiating spiritual master shall be corrected with a censure. If the person guilty is a spiritual authority, he shall incur automatic suspension; and if rectification is not forthcoming, then additional remedial measures may be adopted, including dismissal. If a spiritual authority has failed to discourage a member in his care from accepting re-initiation or renouncing his spiritual master, he shall be corrected with a suitable remedy."
Other evidences
ABOUT CHANGING THE GAUDIYA VAISHNAVA SIDDHANTA ON CHANTING 64 ROUNDS
"In former days, sixty-four rounds used to be the standard quota from Gaudiya Vaisnavas. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura ordered his disciples to chant sixty-four rounds daily. Prabhupada saw that his Western devotees could not handle such a high quota. He asked them if they could do thirty-two rounds, and they said that was too much also. So he fixed the minimum quota at sixteen rounds, to be chanted without fail. Nowadays, many ISKCON devotees chant sixty-four rounds on Ekadasi and minimize their other activities. One reason the devotees don’t chant such a high quota is that Prabhupada has given us so many other services to do in prosecuting the Krsna Consciousness Movement. We can’t sit around all day and chant japa. A devotee asked Tamala Krsna Gosvami how he could improve his japa. TKG said that he should observe Ekadasi strictly. He should chant sixty-four rounds and stay up all night singing bhajanas. This would rejuvenate one’s spiritual life. Even that recommendation is hard to do for most of us. The sixteen rounds, chanted attentively and without offense, is sufficient."
Nevertheless, it was his sheer spiritual genius that he made various transcendental technical adjustments to suit the current times and circumstances in order to propel the movement of Lord Caitanya forward. We should never confuse such unconventional measures with deviation from disciplic conclusion. One such adjustment was the stipulation of chanting 16 rounds a day, when originally it was 64. Another is the ṛtvik system of conducting initiations.
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What can be the actual meaning of Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, whereas his personal consciousness level gone down to such a subzero level of consciousness, so that countless criticism or siddhanta virod etc. can be found with him or in his writings and speeches. Some of those following fearful criticism can surely prove that he himself was a psycho patient:
THE FALSE ALLEGATION WAS GIVEN BY HIM AGAINST SRILA SACCIDANANDA BHAKTI VINODA THAKUR THAT HE WAS TOO MUCH ATTACHED TO WOMAN AND THAT HE ALSO CLAIMED THAT WAS SPOKEN BY THE PRABHUPADA WHO USED TO RESPECT HIM JUST LIKE SRIMATI RADHARANI. HOW FANTASTIC THIS ALLEGATION IS!
"Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura also was...
Prabhupāda [Swami Maharaj]: He was also not very serious, but Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura was very serious, and we learned from him. No, it is śāstrīya. No intoxication is good.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: How is it that Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura was not so strict in that regard, yet his son, who learned from him, became very strict, like a rod?
Prabhupāda [Swami Maharaj]: (chuckles) Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura was so strict (laughs) that because he married twice, he used to say, "strī-saṅgī, attached to woman," even his father. (laughter) He was very strict. Sometimes when he would be angry, he'd, "You strī-saṅgī." And don't discuss this thing. (laughs) He was very strict. No excuse, no compromise."
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We already have given countless answers through our countless speeches and writings (in different languages) to those very very funny unusual comments by him like— ‘Śrīla Prabhupāda given order to kill a snake’ or ‘Śrīla Prabhupāda said that Śrīla Bhakti Vinoda Ṭhākura had too much affinity towards his wife, that’s why he married for the second time’, etc. etc. (all documents are attached herewith)—all documents are given below for your kind consideration.
If his Kṛṣṇa consciousness level already gone below subzero level, then what is the ultimate utility of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement started by him on the international level—which ultimately has taken the form of a big business organization on the platform of international level? So, ultimately, your Kṛṣṇa Consciousness movement has come down to the flop end—together with those countless offenses done by you (Svami Maharaj), like Vaiṣṇava aparādha, Nāma aparādha, Dhāma aparādha, Sampradāya aparādha etc. etc.
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