“Please explain to me, and to all of us gurukulis, how it is that Srila Prabhupada knew about the abuses going on in the gurukulas in Dallas and Vrindavan especially -- we won't even go into what transpired after his passing, which I suppose he foresaw -- and allow it to continue. What kind of pastime was that? Was he not merciful?”

— YUDHITHIRA DAS
Son of GBC Chairman, Ravindra Svarupa dasa, Yudhisthira dasa is a former ISKCON Gurukuli.

Read Response by Svarupa dasa

Read original article by Umapati Swami: Who Says Prabhupada Knew

Response to "Awareness Beyond the Restrictions of Matter"
By Yudhisthira dasa

Dear Atul Krishna Prabhu,

You have made a very nice presentation, from scripture, conversations, etc. to make an argument for Srila Prabhupada's perfection and, by extension, omniscience. That is all very well.

I would kindly request that you apply this idea to an unfortunate reality. Please explain to me, and to all of us gurukulis, how it is that Srila Prabhupada knew about the abuses going on in the gurukulas in Dallas and Vrindavan especially -- we won't even go into what transpired after his passing, which I suppose he foresaw -- and allow it to continue. What kind of pastime was that? Was he not merciful? Did he want the children of his disciples to suffer, some to such a degree that they cannot tolerate Krishna or devotees because of the associations they bring up? What higher purpose was being served? Were these young children just so many pawns in some nitya-lila that we are unaware of?

And was it just a pastime, his anger when he found out about the many deviations his disciples would fall into over the years, from the "Prabhupada is God" meetings in New Vrindavan in '72 to the beating of children? (I'm sorry I'm unable to quote the conversations, or letters, but I'm sure they're not too difficult to find.) Had he known about them already, but was simply waiting until some material manifestation allowed him to respond to them, and then pretended to show disgust and anger? Furthermore, why did he want reports from temple presidents and GBCs about various ISKCON business. Was it simply so that they could engage in the pastime of letter writing, and pretend to inform him about what was going on in ISKCON?

Philosophy is very nice, but I would be very curious to hear how to apply it to the actual reality of what has happened in ISKCON's history.

Yours truly, Yudhisthira das

© CHAKRA 03-December-2000

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