More Fire from Mother Kesava
a comment by Umapati Swami

In a recent article on VNN Mother Kesava claims that I have falsified the transcript of the class in CHAKRA'S article "Bhaktitirtha Swami's Class" and that my witness, Mother Sudharma, is dishonest. In so doing, however, Mother Kesava reveals her own penchant for rumor and unfounded accusations.

"I am in utter disbelief after reading Umapati's response," writes Mother Kesava. "He has actually changed the words of Bhaktitirtha Swami. I cannot believe how he is adjusting the actual facts in order to protect Bhaktitirtha Swami from his own words."

Not so. I printed the transcript exactly as it was received from reliable sources in Alachua, except for some corrections in spelling. Neither I nor anyone else at CHAKRA would protect someone who says Srila Prabhupada was a conditioned soul.

If I have made any mistake, it would be in going to the wrong source, not in deliberately falsifying anyone's words. But Mother Kesava does not seem to be such a reliable source either, as seen from some of her other statements and her direct questions to me:

"Is it so important to all of those who are enjoying Srila Prabhupada's assets and buildings," she asks me, "that they will perpetrate fraud after fraud against the body of devotees at the cost of the karma they will suffer very soon or may be suffering already? It makes me wonder if the cheaters even believe in Krishna and this wonderful Vaishnava philosophy."

Interestingly enough, Srila Prabhupada's assets and buildings are exactly what Mother Kesava and her ritvik friends are trying to grab for themselves. Otherwise, what is stopping them from forming their own organization, as has been suggested many times?
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CHAKRA 1-Nov-98

On Bhaktitirtha Swami's Class
from Bhakta William

Dear Umapati Maharaja and Chakra,

Hare Krsna. Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Many thanks for posting the "controversial" excerpt from Bhaktitirtha Maharaja's lecture in Alachua. Perhaps it's because I'm somewhat familiar with Maharaja's style of presentation, but it was very clear to me even prior to reading the actual discussion that Bhaktitirtha Maharaja was in no way insulting Srila Prabhupada. Much to the contrary, he was confronting the rtvik proponents with a very real obstacle in their path of devotional service. It's a shame that rather than internalize and appreciate Maharaja's statements, they chose to ignore them and spread misinformation.

You can see so clearly how these proponents of the rtvik fallacy enjoy going out of their way to instigate arguments and confrontations rather than any type of discussion (it is the Age of Quarrel though, so perhaps it's to be expected). This probably has something to do with the fact that their position lacks any real foundation. (so what is there to discuss?) It's a shame that they are unable to better dovetail their creative tendencies into some beneficial service, instead of the current disservice they are performing to Krsna, Srila Prabhupada, and the world.

Your humble servant,

Bhakta William

CHAKRA 1-Nov-98

Bhaktitirtha Swami's Class
by Umapati Swami

(The relevant excerpt from the class follows this report.)

In a recent VNN article entitled, "Srila Prabhupada a Conditioned Soul?" Mother Kesava dasi asserts that Bhaktitirtha Swami, while giving class, called Srila Prabhupada a conditioned soul and a disembodied being. But according to a report received by CHAKRA, not everyone present had the same impression.

"In the middle of class, Maharaj made a very strange statement," writes Mother Kesava. "He said something to the effect that it is wrong for people to follow 'disembodied beings.'"

"I stood up," she writes in another part of the article, "and asked the following: 'Srila Prabhupada came to deliver us all. Why is it that the new members are being forced to accept a conditioned soul as guru?' To my shock and that of the rest of the hundreds of devotees present, Maharaj replied, 'Srila Prabhupada said he was a conditioned soul.' I yelled, 'But we know he is liberated!' He replied, 'How do you know?'"

"I was extremely taken aback by these remarks," she continues, "and my heart was pounding out of my chest at my anger of hearing him bring down Srila Prabhupada like this."

But not all of the devotees present shared Mother Kesava's view of the class. "I was in the kitchen, and overheard parts of the class on the speaker system," writes Mother Sudharma in a letter to CHAKRA. "It went on for almost an hour and a half. Bhakti Tirtha Swami seemed to have a good rapport with the audience."

"Then there were a few questions posed by some of the participants of the Ritvik Reform conference, the usual stuff," she adds. "Afterwards, I heard one devotee joke about how no matter how you answer them, they feel you are demeaning Srila Prabhupada. It's as if they take pleasure in finding issues to obsess on."
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CHAKRA 28-Oct-98