After two years of research, writing, and debate, the GBC recently ratified and voted into ISKCON law a Code of Ethical Behavior. We spoke with the Code’s author, Yogesvara dasa, about the background to the Code and what changes he hopes to see in Srila Prabhupada’s movement thanks to its passage. The full official Code can be found below.
I went through the whole document. Unless I missed it, I could not find a single reference to sastra as a guide to what our standard for ethical behavior should be. Why is that? Did followers of Vedic culture have no concept ethics? What to do if this document contradicts sastra in some way?