Trivikrama Swami .com

Question:
Dear HH Trivikrama Swami
Could you comment the following statement of Lord Gauranga?

Divya-simha dasa

Answer:
My dear Divya-simha Prabhu,

Hare Krsna! Thank you for sending us this nice quotation from Lord Caitanya. From which book is this verse? Certainly this verse applies to all who have faith in the words of the Lord. Please take them to your heart and apply them in your life and the result will undoubtedly become manifest.

Looking forward to returning to Poland soon. I hope to have your association then.

Yours sincerely,
Trivikrama Swami

Question:
Respected Maharaj,

Yours sinserely,
Karthikeyan

Answer:
Dear Bh. Karthikeyan,

Hare Krsna!

Undoubtedly the soul, the atma, is active. However we know that the pure soul can not be moved from the lotus feet of Krsna. Guru means heavy, that which can not be moved. Therefore we should all be determined to remain fixed in Krsna consciousness and not be moved by Maya’s tricks.

Yours sincerely,
Trivikrama Swami

Question:
Dear Guru Maharaj, I would like to get some information about Tripurari Swami:

Your humble servant,
Krsnangi devi dasi

Answer:
Dear Krsnangi dd,

Hare Krsna!

Thank you for your questions.

Tripurari Maharaja was initiated by Srila Prabhupada 1st, 2nd, and sannyas. He was well known as a big book distributor in Srila Prabhupada’s time. After Srila Prabhupada’s departure he remained as a conservative Iskcon leader for a number of years. I mention this because we have heard that he has said that he was present when Srila Prabhupada was supposed to have said that, “You my disciples should follow B R Sridhar Swami after I disappear”. Of course Srila Prabhupada never said that, but even if he had why didn’t Tripurari Maharaja go to Sridhar Maharaja right away? In fact Tripurari was highly critical of those first Iskcon devotee who started to go to Sridhar Maharaja in around 1982.

What Srila Prabhupada did say about Sridhar Maharaja was that he could be consulted on philosophical points. He never intended that he be consulted on how to manage his international society, as Sridhar Maharaja had no experience in that regard nor did he really see the necessity for such a far reaching world wide society. He like to speak in small circles and go deeply into the philosophy, and almost never left his compound in Nabadwipa.

I was personally working with Tripurari Maharaja in San Francisco when he decided to leave Iskcon, somewhere around 1986. By this time he had gotten some of Sridhar Maharaja’s books and was impressed with his writings. He had also become an Iskcon guru and had a initiated some disciples. A couple of years prior to this I personally had a very vivid dream wherein Srila Prabhupada came to me and made it clear that I should not involve myself with Sridhara Maharaja’s group, so although Tripurari tried to get me involved in his separating from Iskcon I was not interested. I had been advising him to keep his connection with Sridhara Maharaja confidential but one morning we came into the temple to greet the Dieties and found Sridhara Maharaja’s picture on the altar in between the picture of Srila Prabhupada and the picture of Srila Bhaktisiddanta. Tripurari sat down to give class and explained that, “The GBC has failed and therefore Krsna has sent Sridhara Maharaja on the horizon”. I was shocked by this turn of events! Srila Prabhupada had worked so hard to make a workable system to carry on his most cherished mission and here was Tripurari throwing it away so soon after Srila Prabhupada’s departure.

So to say, that he was thrown out of Iskcon is simply not accurate. He knew full well that when he put Sridhar Maharaja’s picture on the altar in an Iskcon temple, which by the way had a life size murti of Srila Prabhupada, he was clearly and boldly declaring his separation from Iskcon. So nobody threw him out, as a matter of fact the local GBC man, Atreya Rsi, was prepared to let him keep that rented building so he could continue his mission separate from Iskcon, without making any fight. Eventually he did move to another place but he was given a fair amount of money to cover whatever he had invested in that rented building.

Now of course his prediction that the GBC would fail didn’t prove to be true. However over the years, as many people would always ask him why he left the mission of his Guru, Srila Prabhupada, especially as Srila Prabhupada’s last instruction was for us to show our love for him by cooperating together, it became convenient for him to imply he was thrown out. The readers can judge for themselves, but these are the facts as I personally witnessed.

I have never heard anywhere that Iskcon apologized to him personally. Of course they did offer a general apology to all the devotees for any offences that may have been committed by the leaders after Srila Prabhupada left.

Why he is not working with Iskcon now would have to be asked to him.

Regarding changes in the Bhagavada Gita the readers are asked to examine the evidence for themselves at: www.krishna.com/newsite/GitaRevsExplained.html

I have no information regarding his views on homosexuality.

Yours sincerely,
Trivikrama Swami

Question:
Hare Krsna, All Glories to His Divine Grace.

What am I missing here please?

Answer:
Thank you for your questions. What you are missing is Srila Prabhupada’s unique position, and his being empowered to establish for the first time in history a Vaisnava Institution which has an ongoing central authority. That central authority is called the GBC and Srila Prabhupada made it clear that it, not the individual guru, would be the final authority in ISKCON. Srila Bhaktisiddanta tried to establish such an authority but it failed.

As an individual guru in ISKCON I find this a very workable system. After all if I have any claim at all to be a guru it is simply because I am sincerely trying to follow the clear order of my guru. Isn’t that one of the most important qualifications for this job? Srila Prabhupada had a vision to take over the world for Krsna. How will that be possible to do if we do not have a united world wide mission? So for the pleasure of my spiritual master I am happy to adjust my relationship with my disciples. I also find this to be most natural as I don’t feel I am qualified to present myself as “Good as God”.

Srila Prabhupada has requested us to show our love for him by cooperating, so why can’t we do that, even if some may point out that this system has not been seen in Vaisnava History. Our faith is that Srila Prabhupada is such a great Acarya that could adjusted this detail for spreading the preaching mission of Lord Caitanya , under the order of his Guru Maharaja.

Yours sincerely,
Trivikrama Swami

Question:
What do you think of the book “Judge for yourself” regarding the poisoning of Srila Prabhupada? Looks like some strong evidence is presented. How can we ignore such a thing?

Answer:
Dear Chris,

Hare Krsna! I have to confess that I haven’t read the book “Judge for Yourself”. I am aware that Srila Prabhupada said that he thought that he was poisoned. He never said however, that one of his disciples poisoned him. I was personally present in those last days and I can’t even conceive of the thought that one of Srila Prabhupada’s dedicated disciples could have poisoned him.

At one point he did receive medicine from an outside source at so perhaps this incident may have cause him to consider in that way.

Yours sincerely,
Trivikrama Swami

Question:
Respected Maharaj,
Please accept my humble obeisances.

yours faithfully,
Karythikeyan

Answer:
Dear Bhn. Karthikeyan,

Hare Krsna!

Transforming mundane lust to love of Godhead is done by practicing sadhana bhakti or this process of Krishna consciousness. This is explained fully by Lord Krishna in the latter part of the 3rd Chapter of the Bhagavada Gita. Srila Prabhupada’s purports there give us the sum and substance of how to successfully bring about this transformation. Please read them carefully.

Yours sincerely,
Trivikrama Swami

Questions:
1. If Srila Prabhupada is still looking after his organization, correcting his disciples, but we still have to face different mistakes, how can we develop faith that those devotees follow Srila Prabhupada and are sincere?

Answer: We should have faith as much as we are convinced that they are sincere followers of Srila Prabhupada. That we have to ascertain by coming to know Srila Prabhupada more and more.

2. What about cooperation with such people?

Answer: In general we should try to cooperate with all sincere devotees. If however someone is undermining our faith in Srila Prabhupada then we are under no obligation to cooperate with them.

3. In the answer for my first question you mention the standard using which we should judge others. Could you be more precise what this standard is? Currently we can notice great differences in the standards presented by different gurus and other Srila Prabhupada’s disciples regarding their personal spiritual life as well as preaching (sadhana, women issue, education, homosexuals issue, etc.).

Answer: I don’t see any great differences in the standards presented by different gurus. Of course we are all individuals so there is bound to be some difference of opinion on some details…but not on principles. For instance you mention homosexuals, but there can not be any guru who is in favor of men having sex with each other, because our principle is no illicit sex. This is a dharma given by God, so no man can change religious principles, but details may be adjusted according to time a circumstance.

4. My question arises from the fact that a kanistha neofite bhakta doesn’t have full understanding and maturity that allow him to properly judge and be saved from mentality of fault finding or from being a fanatical follower.

Answer: This is a good point. The only solution is for us not to remain as kanisthas. Sincerely read and follow Srila Prabhupada’s instructions, cooperate with his true followers, and then Krishna will help you to avoid this danger of being either a fault finder or a fanatic.

5. I’m also curious where all these differences in opinions and personal behaviour among gurus come from?

Answer: Because we are all unique individuals, not robots, but on principles of religion there should be no differences. It may also be that some are simply wrong.

6. Another point is that judging one’s own guru seems to be contradictory to sastra and the example of Lord Caitanya who always presented Himself as a fool in front of His spiritual master. Shouldn’t a disciple have such a consiousness?

Answer: Lord Caitanya’s spiritual master was Isvara Puri, an uttama-adhikary pure devotee of the Lord. What if there are no such pure devotees on the planet at this time? Don’t we have a right to examine those who are initiating us according to the standard set by the recognized uttama-adhikary Srila Prabhupada?

Your sincerely,
Trivikrama Swami

Question:
If guru’s teachings should be according to guru sadhu sastra, why did Srila Prabhupada introduce another standard of chanting (less rounds)? Harinama-cintamani (it is also sastra, isn’t it?) states that only 64 rounds bring the mind into proper condition. I mean original version not the ISKCON one…

Is this for sure a spiritual process?

Answer:
Dear Bh. Vika,
Hare Krsna!

Thank you for your questions.

It is said that one should not give spiritual advice to a person if that person is not able to follow it, otherwise that person can become hopeless and give up spiritual practice altogether. Seeing the passionate and ignorant qualities of those who came to him in America, Srila Prabhupada adjusted this detail by giving us 16 rounds as minimum and also giving us a lot of practical devotional service. This has proven to be more suitable for us…we have to judge by the result. By the way how many rounds do you chant daily?

I see it seems inconceivable to you that one can ask his disciples to treat him as good as God and still remain humble in his own person. Well Srila Prabhupada did it, and I saw it with my own eyes. Visvanatha Chakravadi Thakur writes in his guruvastaka, which we sing daily, shaksad Hari, the disciple should see his guru as good as God. Why? Because he is the most confidential servant of God, the pure representative of God, whom God has sent to help us.

Once I was in Srila Prabhupada’s room when the mother of one devotee said to Srila Prabhupada in a incredulous way , “Do you know that these young boys and girls actually worship you?” Srila Prabhupada responded in a matter of fact way, “Yes this is our system, I am also worshiping my Guru Maharaja.”

I worship Srila Prabhupada as good as God, even today, because I have full faith that he is my ever well wisher, that he would never cheat me, and that his advice is as good as if God is directly instructing me. I am convinced that by worshiping him I please Lord Krishna more then if I tried to worship Krishna directly, jumping over, or eliminating Srila Prabhupada.

We have seen in Iskcon how misuse of this philosophy has created havoc by those who thought that they were gurus but who in reality did not posses the qualification to be a guru. So how to proceed so as not to let this unhappy history repeat itself? First of all those who are taking this responsibility of bringing people into the sampradaya should always be conscious of the fact that they are not actually qualified to do so. It is only Srila Prabhupada’s mercy in the form of his society, his books, his followers and he himself personally that brings prospective disciples to the Iskcon gurus. Therefore we we should be careful not to insist that our disciples have to see “us” as good as God unless of course we happen to be as good as God. I for one do not tell those who are under my care that they have to see me as good as God. What I suggest to them is they see me according to my adhikary or position of spiritual advancement. Although this may prove somewhat problematic for them, this problem can be resolved if we all agree to keep Srila Prabhupada in the center, and cooperate together for serving his mission. Srila Prabhupada was happy if his disciples saw him as good as God because he was as good as God. I can not honestly say the same.

That does not mean that Srila Prabhupada was God, but he was always purely executing the will of God and by fully surrendering ourselves to him, God is more please with us then if we try to directly serve Him.

In summary we can say that Srila Prabhupada was especially empowered by Krishna to establish this Krishna conscious movement all over the world, and if we assist him in this mission then we will get his mercy. If we can get Srila Prabhupada’s mercy then we will surely get Krishna’s mercy and thus our mission in life will be successful and we will all keep our connection with Srila Prabhupada now, and after we give up this body.

Gurukula is considered important in our tradition so that the boy will get the proper spiritual training in his formative years. Because of bodily attachment one’s father is not considered as the best person to impart this training. A qualified guru who is perfectly able to deal with all in an even handed way is more ideal for this training.

Yours sincerely,
Trivikrama Swami

Question:
Thank you Maharaj for your answers. Let me ask next questions in this topic. In the hisory of ISKCON we’ve had many examples of different mistakes and faults. When Srila Prabhupada was present, he personally corrected behovior of his disciples. The question arises, why didn’t Srila Prabhupada interfere to avoid such situations? The dynamic of the guru-disciple relationship allows and compels guru to correct his disciple.

Answer:
Yes guru must correct his disciples but still spiritual life is voluntary. If disciple does not care to be corrected by his guru then what can the guru do? He can not force. We saw that there were some who had been initiated by Srila Prabhupada but even in his presence they reject his advice and involved themselves in various deviant spiritual practices and philosophies. How could he compel them to remain under his shelter or in his Iskcon society?

Yours sincerely,
Trivikrama Swami

Questions:
1. How is it possible that such awful things, as we can hear from different media, happen in such a spiritually strong organization as ISCKON, where the knowledge is so great and the very process so powerful?

Answer: The individual is always free to act independently and thus reject even the best teachings or organization.

2. What is the position of such rascals that were able to have committed such sinful activities as rape? They chant the Holy Name but at the same time do such terrible things. What is the destination of those souls? What is stronger; the name they have chanted or the offence thay have committed?

Answer: If one commits sinful activities on the strength of chanting the Holy Name then that kind of chanting will never bring them the desired spiritual goal.

3. Srila Prabhupada said that our love to him will manifest in the way we all cooperate together. Should we cooperate with people of such infamy?!?

Answer: The current Iskcon policy for such people is to have zero tolerance. They should be put in jail.

4. Generally ISCKON nowadays is very often viewed as a dangerous sect. How can we rectify the meaning and the name of the organisation? What should be our policy after those 35 years of different experiences?

Answer: The example of the vast majority of ISKCON devotees is there for an sincere persons to see. Our policy on these matters has been elaborately detailed by the GBC, and an office of Child Protection has been actively engaged in finding those who where responsible for these horrible acts for many years now.

Your sincerely,
Trivikrama Swami