By GBC Executive Committee
Dear Devotees of ISKCON,
Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
We are writing as a follow-up to our letter dated January 13, 2012.
After several in-depth conversations with Prabhavisnu Prabhu and others, we would like to report further on Prabhavisnu Prabhu’s situation. We apologize for the delay in sending this letter out. It took time to answer the many questions being asked and to gather and digest the information.
Although it appears Prabhavisnu Prabhu strictly maintained both his brahmacari and sannyasa asramas from the time he joined in 1971 until 2001, he has admitted to a number of sexual falldowns, particularly in 2001.
Rumors that Prabhavisnu Prabhu had been in contact with a prostitute began to circulate around 2002. He was questioned about them by a godbrother (and later by a disciple), but he denied the allegations and the godbrother did not investigate the matter further. Rumors about his sexual improprieties again circulated in 2008. This time the source was identified as a life member who had told a senior devotee that he saw Prabhavisnu Prabhu with a woman in Bangkok. The Sannyasa Minister investigated, but again Prabhavisnu Prabhu denied there was any truth to the rumor. During the investigation, when the life member was contacted, he refused to verify his allegations or discuss the matter further. While concerned, the Sannyasa Minister felt it was not possible to confirm the allegations.
Prabhavisnu Prabhu says he thought that he could overcome his weaknesses by sticking to his duties and service. Because he wasn’t successful, he says he stopped accepting new disciples from 2002 until the present (with the exception in 2004 of the spouse of one disciple).
Allegations surfaced again around the time Prabhavisnu Prabhu resigned a few weeks ago.
In conversations with GBC representatives, Prabhavisnu Prabhu has informed us that in addition to the problems mentioned above, in 2011 he met a woman in Bangkok and began a relationship with her. She runs a clothing business and is not a devotee. He informed us he is undecided about his long-term plans, but he is considering marriage. He also told us he is exhausted by his responsibilities and the amount of travel his service has required of him, and acknowledges that he overstepped himself in accepting the sannyasa-asrama at such a young age. (The GBC has since instituted much longer waiting periods and much stricter monitoring for sannyasa candidates.)
His actions have betrayed the trust of others and caused pain and distress to his disciples and other devotees, and for that he expresses great regret. When a leading devotee falls from his vows and betrays others’ trust, it calls on the devotee community to respond with compassion and support both for those whose trust has been broken and the person suffering the weakness. The GBC is in communication with Prabhavisnu Prabhu’s diksa and siksa disciples, offering them support, and with Prabhavisnu Prabhu himself, trying to help him in his spiritual life.
The GBC is also aware that Prabhavisnu Prabhu had a duty to ISKCON not to misuse money collected in the Society’s name during his time as a guru and sannyasi. After our initial review, we are yet to find any misuse of funds. Prabhavisnu Prabhu appears to have channeled donations he has received in his position as an ISKCON leader to ISKCON projects either locally where he was visiting or especially to Bangladesh and Nepal for the development of ISKCON there. He also provided funds to a trust in Vrindavan for a house there. That house is used primarily for brahmacaris, though he has stayed there during his visits to Vrindavan and is one of four trustees of the property. He informed us that any money he spent for other purposes was drawn from an inheritance he received from his father.
Gurus and sannyasis are required by ISKCON law to provide financial statements for ISKCON monies received and disbursed each year, and after reviewing these records and interviewing devotees in positions of leadership under Prabhavisnu Prabhu, this seems to be the case.
There may be questions still needing to be answered. The GBC will continue to look into the matter, but we hope this information will help the devotees understand the situation more clearly.
Prabhavisnu’s actions severely violated his vows. Sadly, he betrayed the trust of others, and caused pain to devotees around the world who have been inspired by him and followed him in devotional service. Spiritual leadership requires honesty with oneself and others. His inability to live up to the standards he vowed has been disappointing and disturbing. Spiritual life is difficult, and as Srila Prabhupada warned, even stalwarts can fall prey to the allurements of illusory pleasures. The GBC has learned the wisdom of responding to such difficult situations carefully and with humble hearts, and we try to respond according to a person’s willingness to admit his deviations and feel remorse.
In that regard, Prabhavishnu prabhu has apologized to the ISKCON society, the GBC, and to his followers and disciples. He has expressed his regret and acknowledges that his actions have caused pain. He has also stated his desire to continue to serve Srila Prabhupada in a humbler way. And rightly, given the circumstances, he gave up his positions as guru, sannyasi, and GBC member.
While acknowledging his serious deviations, we pray he will rectify himself under the guidance of senior Vaisnavas and again choose a noble, if humbler, path of service. The GBC wishes to acknowledge the pain this causes those who been serving with and under Prabhavisnu Prabhu while at the same time acknowledging, as we feel Srila Prabhupada would, the extensive service Prabhavisnu Prabhu has rendered in some of the most challenging parts of the world.
Hare Krsna,
Your servants,
Hrdaya Caitanya Das
Bhakti Caitanya Swami
Tamohara Das,
GBC Executive Committee
Hare Krishna
Please, accept my humble obeissances.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada. All glories to Sri Guru & Sri Gauranga.
Thank you for clarifying the situation and displaying compassion both on Prabhavisnu das Prabhu and on his disciples or earlier followers…
This is of course a sign of maturity, which is appreciated in this age of quarrel and hypocrisy!
Srila Bhaktisiddantha Sarasvati Thakur Maharaja Prabhupada enlightens us further, by providing useful answers to these relevant subject matters:
Question 1: How can one attain perfection within a single lifetime?
Answer: If one gives up one’s free will and fully surrenders to Sri Gurudeva, and then performs bhajana without duplicity under his guidance, one will attain perfection within a single lifetime.
Question 2: By what means can one know Sri Bhagavan?
Answer: One will have to hear with faith the katha of Bhagavan coming from the lotus lips of Sri Gurudeva. There is no way to know Sri Bhagavan other than by whole-heartedly surrendering unto the lotus feet of Sri Gurudeva. Only a person who does so can know Sri Bhagavan.
Question 3: What is the most severe nama-aparadha, or offence to the holy name?
Answer: To consider Srila Gurudeva to be an ordinary human being is the most deadly offence, the most severe nama-aparadha. By maintaining a conception of him as a mere mortal, one cannot attain auspiciousness even in billions of births. A person with such a mundane conception of the guru will encounter various types of obstacles in bhakti and will be in danger of drowning in the ocean of material desires. Besides the lotus feet of Sri Guru, nothing can save us from the clutches of harmful association. The jiva is unable to surrender himself at the lotus feet of Sri Gurudeva only because he considers Sri Gurudeva to be an ordinary human being.
Question 4: What is the function of the acarya?
Answer: The acarya carries the message of Sri Bhagavan. He comes to us to deliver the message of Vaikuntha. One must accept that message of Vaikuntha emanating from the lotus lips of Sri Guru through ears imbued with a service mood. If there is full surrender, then by the mercy of the acarya one can attain everything. No one besides the residents of Vaikuntha can accurately deliver the message of Vaikuntha. To learn about Calcutta, you must hear from one who has seen Calcutta. Only then can you receive true information about Calcutta.
Question 5: What is the real meaning of sannyasa?
Answer: Performing uninterrupted bhajana of Hari is indeed real sannyasa. The sannyasa, or renunciation, of the devotees of Sri Bhagavan is their rejection of sense enjoyment (bhukti) and liberation (mukti). The devotees renounce the desire for sense enjoyment and liberation, and take shelter of the lotus feet of Bhakti-devi.
Question 6: What is the function of the sadhu?
Answer: The function of the sadhu is to remain in touch with the Absolute Truth twenty-four hours a day. By association with such a living source, or living sadhu, and by hearing hari-katha from him, one will inevitably develop faith in Bhagavan and one’s service attitude will also awaken. Indeed, one has to associate with a sadhu to become a sadhu. If we associate with a sadhu by surrendering to him, then, without a doubt, anything that is an hindrance will be eradicated. Indeed, the function of the sadhu is to remove the fear and anxiety of those who take shelter of him or associate with him, and to bring them happiness.
The association of a sadhu is likened to the action of a battery.* The function of the sadhu is to make the people of the world, who are averse to Bhagavan, inclined towards Him. This alone is real compassion upon the living entity (jive-daya). One’s eternal auspiciousness is inevitable if one takes sadhu-sanga thoroughly. The sole indication that a person has accepted thorough sadhu-sanga is that he will hear the katha of the sadhu with submission and surrender to him, and pass his life accordingly, immersed in devotional service. The activity of the sadhu is to deliver conditioned souls like us from the clutches of maya.
* Note: A battery animates electric devices according to their inherent function. In the same way, the sadhu activates the inherent service nature of the jivas who have turned away from Sri Krsna from a time without beginning.
Question 7: What kind of perspective should we accept to assure our auspiciousness?
Answer: If we can see the whole universe as engaged in the service of Sri Bhagavan, then we will never experience any distress.
We must hear katha about how to serve Bhagavan from one who can show us Bhagavan and who is engaged in service to Him twenty-four hours a day. This is the only way to attain our eternal, spiritual well-being. With their eyes of devotion, the sadhus who are bhaktas, or devotees of Bhagavan, always see Syamasundara Krsna within their hearts. Through the association and mercy of such sadhus, we also can see Bhagavan in our hearts.
We will constantly busy ourselves in service to Bhagavan without wasting even a single moment. We have to serve, remaining exclusively in the association of sadhus. By constantly remaining in such sadhu-sanga, our aptitude for service will continuously be enhanced.
Bhagavan fulfils every desire of His surrendered bhaktas without fail, and He never rejects them – krsna sei satya kare, yei mage bhrtya [Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila, 15.166]. Only Sri Bhagavan has the ability to protect us by giving us shelter. Other than He, no one else has such power. With such resolute faith, we can become free from fear and anxiety, and become happy and successful. Krsna is the embodiment of auspiciousness; and therefore if we have complete faith in His nature to bestow auspiciousness, we will certainly attain such auspiciousness. Words cannot express the kind of great auspiciousness that is obtained by surrendering fully at the lotus feet of Bhagavan.
Question 8: Is the deity (sri-vigraha) Bhagavan Himself?
Answer: Of course. The deity of Krsna is Krsna Himself: “pratima naha tumi, saksat vrajendra-nandana – You are not a statue; You are directly the son of Nanda Maharaja” [Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila, 5.96]. The deity is the worshipable incarnation of Bhagavan. The lord (ista-deva) of the sadhu’s heart manifests externally as the deity.
Question 9: Where does a person find his guru?
Answer: Whoever Sri Krsna, the embodiment of compassion, chooses to send to you as your guru, that person alone will manifest before you externally as the mahanta-guru, the guru in the form of the foremost living sadhu. By the mercy of Bhagavan we will obtain a guru, and by the mercy of the guru we can attain Bhagavan.
A person will get a guru according to his particular destiny. People of different types vary in their disposition, and therefore Bhagavan, who is omniscient, sends them each a particular type of guru. There are those who want niskapata-krpa, the real mercy of Bhagavan, and who depend entirely on Bhagavan for their eternal welfare. Being pleased with such simple-hearted, sincere persons, Bhagavan Himself manifests before them as the guru, to bestow mercy upon them. But for those who want kapata-krpa, the deceptive mercy of Bhagavan, Bhagavan’s maya, or external potency, will send them a ‘guru’ according to the particular disposition of their heart.
There is no impediment for one who is sincere. He will very quickly meet a bona fide guru.
Given that P had been fallen since before 2002, more than a decade, it seems appropriate that he be expelled from ISKCON for at least that length of time. Expulsion means just that: formally being disallowed to attend ISKCON temples, communities, and events, and informally it meanss people who know him will shun him end their relationship with him.
Why this would be a “compassionate and supportive move” for all is because there exists in our society a “golden-parachute” culture that lends social prestige, material remuneration, and in some cases even temporal authority to former spiritual leaders who fall down or bloop. If you are a high spiritual leader and fall from sannyasa or are permanently barred from accepting further disciples, you can usually look forward to living somewhere in an ISKCON center or community with some maintenance, becoming a temple president of an established temple or some other ISKCON officer, or even becoming an important devotee whose advice is sought by senior leadership on all manner of issues. In the case of another former spiritual leader, it was reported by official channels that if the former spiritual leader continued “to work under ISKCON authority, then his basic needs would be looked after by the Scottish yatra.” And as P himself in his two public letters has intimated his desire to live in an ISKCON community in a warm, Asian region, it is clear he is antiticipating some sort of consolation prize for his years as a guru. The problem with extending such consolations to former spiritual leaders is it creates an incentive for bad behavior. You get more of what you reward and less of what you punish.
Some will say that Srila Prabhupada never did this to his own disciples who fell from sannyasa, but these devotees now have disciples themselves, often numbering in the thousands. No one can say how Srila Prabhupada would have reacted to former sannyasis who are also former spiritual masters. There is much more at stake than just the hurt feelings of former disciples and the embarrasment of the former spiritual master. This kind of thing carrying can actually undermine the society itself, if not ruin it.
I am certain that former disciples of P will not be satisfied with spiritual grief counseling, as they have seen the same thing elsewhere for decades. There has to be significant social change, and it begins with abandoning golden-parachute culture.