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Why are we Ganging Up on Dhanurdhara Swami?
By Gurukuli
Dasa | Published 10/16/2006
 I
am a former Vrindavana Gurukula student. I am very much aware of the abuse
and violence that many innocent children suffered at the hands of Dhanurdhara
Swami; children that were entrusted to him by Srila Prabhupada and Krishna
for protection and guidance.
Why is it that Dhanurdhara was allowed to remain in a position where
he was able to abuse, beat and exploit Srila Prabhupada’s children for
over 20 years?
In my eyes Dhanurdhara Maharaj is simply a small part of a big
machine that has been and continues to abuse and exploit on many levels
the sincere souls that come to take shelter of Srila Prabhupada’s
movement. There is something fundamentally wrong at the very root of
the values and morals of our society.
My intention in writing this paper is to raise the awareness of our
society regarding the magnitude of the problem we have at hand.
Although our leaders have made many mistakes, we cannot simply blame
them; for we are also implicated, because we allowed them to make these
very mistakes. If we are dissatisfied with what we have today we must
endeavor to create what we want for the future. We must work to uplift
the collective consciousness of our society. To ensure that in the
future the same mistakes will not be repeated. I believe the first step
is to define the problem. Once knowledge is made available, we can
begin to take responsibility.
It is not the scope of this letter to assassinate the character of
all the devotees mentioned here, I respect the dedication and service
of some of the devotees I will be mentioning. My intent is to isolate
and expose behaviors and incidents that I deem as unacceptable. I hope
that the Vaisnava community has the wisdom, the maturity and the
goodwill to use this information in constructive ways. I also hope that
the benefits of posting this paper will outweigh the negative aspects.
These devotees who in my eyes have committed mistakes must be made
accountable.
Despite the overwhelming evidence against Dhanurdhara Swami very
little has ever been done. Even after the recent uproar that Ananda’s
death has created; Romapada Swami at the New Vrindavana Kuli Mela
gathering had the audacity to propose two possible punishments
suggested by the GBC; N.1, that Dhanurdharas’ ability to give classes
be cut by 50%; or N.2 that he spend 50% of his time helping former
Gurukula students. Where is the justice? Here is a man who is guilty
beyond any possible doubt, yet the GBC is reluctant to punish him in a
way that is fit, to the detriment of the credibility and respectability
of the GBC body as a whole.
Lord Ramacandra made the inconceivable sacrifice of exiling His
beloved wife Sita Devi, not because She was guilty, but because as a
leader it was His duty to set the example for humanity, regardless of
his personal interest. Some will argue that this is an unrealistic
level of integrity to expect of humans; I feel that if our gurus are
willing to accept a standard of worship worthy of the Supreme Lord they
must also be able to exercise a similar level of integrity.
This reinforces in me what is already self evident: The welfare of
the society at large is not sufficiently prioritized. The GBC has not
taken a serious stance to punish Dhanurdhara Swami for his crimes. We
have had to wait for the community of Vaisnavas to be outraged before
anything was done. And even then the proposed punishments are insulting
and demeaning to those who suffered at his hands. Until the Gurukuli
law suit was filed, ISKCON did not accept responsibility nor offer help
to its victims.
I believe that Dhanurdhara stayed because most of the people
involved the in management of the Vridavana Gurukula, to some extent,
share the blame, for which they have to this day failed to take
responsibility. Below is a brief list of some of the people that have
been involved.
List of some of the teachers who condoned Dhanurdharas’ behavior
Rupa Vilasa: Asram teacher, violently beat the boys on a regular basis.
Raghunatha (Swami): Asram teacher, used to beat the
children more than Dhanurdhara himself, he is notorious for having been
the most brutal and violent teacher in the history of the Vrindavana
Gurukula.
Bhurijan: Gurukula teacher, minister of education,
GBC and more recently Guru, long standing friend of Dhanurdhara, did
not make a significant effort to protect the children from
Dhanurdharas’ abuse. He used to regularly cane the children when he was
a teacher in Gita Nagari.
Kurma Rupa: Was an Asram teacher for a few years,
he used to beat the boys in random bursts of rage. One of his major
mistakes was perhaps to allow Prahlad to be a monitor in his Asram.
Prahlad had carte blanche under Kurma Rupa,; he was a boy from Nepal
who had himself attended the Vrindavana Gurukula. Prahlad was extremely
cruel and violent; he used to sexually, physically and emotionally
victimize the boys. He also controlled the children with threats that
he would put tantric curses on them if they didn’t do as he said.
Braj Bihari formerly Arjuna: “Stalwart protector of
the children,” was one of the first to partake in the child protection
team in ISKCON and still somewhat involved in the management of the
Vrindavana Gurukula. On more than one occasion he failed his duty to
protect the children, because the interest of the school as an
institution was in conflict with the childrens’; to him the reputation
of the school has had priority over the welfare of the boys. Some
children went to report to him that Vaijantimala Mataji, one of the
academic teachers was beating the boys with a stick. He instructed them
to keep it to themselves and to stop complaining. Needless to say he
did nothing to stop her. When he was teaching in Vrindavana I
personally saw Braj Bihari beating the children with a stick in his
classroom.
Gauri das formerly Gudakesa: Asram teacher, used to
beat the kids with violent slaps and sticks. For over a year Gauri das,
at the time a brahmacari, was sleeping in a room behind closed doors
with his personal servant: a little Nepali gurukula boy. Although there
is no evidence that he sexually abused the boy it was, to say the
least, unacceptable practice, especially taking into consideration the
history of abuse in Gurukulas.
Once one of Yasomatinandana’s sons complained to his father about
Gauri’s inappropriate behavior, after being confronted by
Yasomatinandana, Gauri somehow decided that it was a good idea to teach
the boy a lesson by locking him up in a room for a week.
On a trip to Bombay a ten year old boy was throwing stones from the
temple roof onto some huts workers lived in, Gauri had him put his
hands on a window sill, while two boys were holding each of his hands
down Gauri beat him repeatedly on his back with a wooden plank.
On one particular incident Madan Mohan das (gurukuli) brought an
incident to the attention of the GBC. Gauri das had left bruises on the
leg of one boy, whom he had repeatedly beaten with a stick. Photos of
the injury were supplied to the GBC. The boy’s crime was that he had
stolen some sweets from Vaijanti Mala Mataji. Funny (or sadly) enough
the GBC commissioned a very biased person to investigate the incident:
Braj Bihari. At the time he was very much involved with the management
of the Gurukula, unfortunately as mentioned earlier, he was more
interested in protecting Gauri than the children. Braj Bihari made no
attempt to remove Gauri.
When Gauri was questioned, he justified his actions by saying that
the boy had stolen from a brahmana; King Nrga had taken birth as a
lizard for a similar crime. Gauri’s view was that he had done the boy a
very selfless favor: he saved him a birth as a lizard……
After the enquiry, instead of deciding that such a man was
unsuitable to care for the children, the GBC issued a mandate that he
could no longer hit the children on his own, the temple president and
the vice president now had to be present (note that the GBC did not
forbid the beating of the children). In Gauri’s words he claimed the
GBC made him swallow the sour pie, it seems he was disappointed that he
could no longer whimsically beat the kids.
In a recent letter to a former student Gauri says: “Please name
those from my asram who were maltreated? It may rather be a case of
those who were not in my ashram who were largely misbehaved that didn’t
like me. Indeed if there were cases of maltreatment I will with all
sincerity accept full rectification and make heartfelt apologies”. I
wish to remind to Gauri that the above incidents were far from isolated
and all the children involved were, at the time of the incidents in his
asram; they simply happened to be the most outrageous ones. It must be
noted that while Gauri was a teacher he beat the boys regularly for all
sorts of reasons. Some were beaten for talking back at him, some for
playing at the wrong time, others for disobeying him and yet others
because they had been recommended for punishment by his monitors. (a
monitor was a boy put in charge of other boys) If you happened to be
disliked by the monitor, you were in trouble.
Gauri das is now the temple president at the Bhaktivedanta Manor,
one of the most prominent temples in ISKCON, he receives a wage of
about US$ 60000 a year complete with and enviable pension scheme from
Prabhupada’s money for his “service”. He is honored as a senior and
respectable member of the community. He has a contract that when he
leaves, for two years he will receive the full salary.
Let’s not forget the pedophiles: And then there was
of course a host of pedophiles who were both teachers and monitors over
the years in the Vrindavana Gurukula: Manihara, Shastra from Vancouver,
Niragdeva, Anantarupa, Atmabhavana, Premnidhi and many more. Surely
they were not going to fight a war for the children against
Dhanurdhara’s ongoing abuse.
Over the years there have been some who attempted to expose and
challenge the inappropriate behavior of Dhanurdhara and his supporters.
Invariably they were expelled from service, often after having their
character blemished. Any man with an ounce of integrity, who spoke up
against the inappropriate behavior of the Gurukula authorities, found
himself antagonized and quickly ostracized.
In the later years while Dhanurdhara was principle of the Vrindavana
Gurukula the GBCs were; Jagadisha (Maharaj), Gopal Krisna Maharaj and
Bhurijan, they were all too aware of the continuous abuse to the
children, yet they seemed to have bigger and better things to dedicate
their energies to for they did nothing to correct Dhanurdhara’s
behavior.
Dhanurdhara’s
apology
Dhanurdhara
Swami child abuser beater |
I must confess that I am not impressed with Dhanurdhara’s letter of apology.
I do not find his claims, that he will lead a life of repentance, very convincing.
I find it hard to give him the benefit of the doubt that his motives are genuine
seen as he did not apologize until he was forced to do so. He also states that
he wishes to leave Prabhupada’s movement, but yet he makes no mention of
giving up the adoration, worship and financial security that comes with being
a Guru. That is too convenient; I don’t think he deserves the option to
leave so as to avoid the consequences to his actions. He never gave his victims
the possibility to leave when it was his turn to beat them. It would seem he thinks
it is fare and just for him to choose his own punishment or perhaps that his karma
will not find him outside ISKCON. Besides, he has not been actively involved in
ISKCON in the recent years; he has been preaching away from the mainstream ISKCON
projects, I don’t really see that it would be a sacrifice or much of a punishment
for him to “leave” ISKCON, maintaining his position as a Guru, associating
with his god brothers and with his disciples still in the movement. In my judgment
it is not a punishment fit for his crimes.
I challenge Dhanurdhara to remain and offer his service in
Prabhupada’s movement, begging for the forgiveness of the very devotees
that he has hurt and abused; they are the only ones who can forgive
him. He must be willing to accept whatever punishment they see
appropriate, whether that be to give up Sannyas, Guru or something
else. I Dare him to take responsibility for his past mistakes. If he
can do this I will be the first to pay my respects to him. In my eyes
that will prove his qualifications to be a leader in our society. If he
can’t; he should question his motives for having been in this movement
and doing what he does. I believe that if he is sincerely repentant, no
price is too high to pay to attain the forgiveness of the vaisnavas.
Chandhigar Gurukula
The GBC at the time was Gopal Krisna Maharaja. The Chandigar
Gurukula was a very useful preaching tool as were all the other
Gurukulas in India. It was something Maharaj could show to Life Members
and thus reassure them that their money was well spent in “training
vaisnavas.”
The Chandigar Gurukula there was short lived in comparison to the
ones in Vrindavana or Mayapur. The teachers were very young Indian
brahmacharis, disciples of Gopal Krisna. The abuse that took place in
the Chandigar Gurukula has not been as well publicized because most of
the kids there were Indian or Russian. I cannot find it in me to give
Gopal Krishna Maharaj the benefit of the doubt that he was unaware. It
seems to me he was far too preoccupied with preaching and management,
for if he was concerned then something would have been done. If a
student in the Vrindavana Gurukula knows that abuse is taking place in
Chandigar is it not fair to question how the GBC of that Gurukula could
be ignorant. I am more inclined to think that the children’s welfare
was less of a priority to him.
There was one boy, an orphan, ten or twelve years old. His mentors
decided to send him there possibly because the fees were lower than in
the Vrindavana Gurukula. This boy stayed in Vrindavana for a while
before moving to Chandigar. I had the chance to get to know him a
little, despite being an orphan he was a lively, happy and playful boy.
Then he left for the Chandigar Gurukula. When I saw him a few months
later; my heart cringed, there was no joy left in his eyes, once very
talkative and active, he now did not have anything to say, he could not
look at me in the eyes. In a short time he seemed to have aged far
beyond his years. He was not a carefree, innocent child any longer. His
spirit was broken. I was convinced something very ugly and violent had
happened to him. Looking at him then, I felt angry and helpless.
Bhaktividyapurna Swami
Here is a question I would like to ask: is Bhaktividyapurna Swami,
formerly Anirdhesh Vapu head of the Mayapur Gurukula, less guilty than
Dhanurdhara? Although there is no conclusive evidence that he has
sexually abused any of the children under his care. There is however,
plenty of evidence that he was violently beating the boys, in addition
he made no significant attempts to expel and punish the many pedophile
teachers and monitors that raped the children while he was the
principal of the school.
He is notorious for his expertise in lacerating the skin off the
back of the children with one single hit of his special bendy bamboo
cane. He would get the boys to kneel forward and hold their ankles with
their hands, so as to form an arch of some sort with their body. He
would then hit the boys on the back, causing the tip of the stick to
whip around striking their chest. Many boys recall that he preceded his
beatings with a sadistic ritual intended to increase the fear of his
victims. He would smile and wiggle his eyebrows gleefully while bending
the cane full circle and making whipping sounds with his mouth. Several
boys suffered shock after those canings.
The father of a prospective student questioned Bhaktividyapurna
Swami about the sexual abuse that was said to be taking place in the
Mayapur Gurukula at the time. Bhaktividyapurna Swami gave him what I
call the “Kirtanananda stance on sex”. He said something to the effect
of, “sex, whether it is between you and your wife, not intended for
procreating, or between a teacher and a boy is illicit: It is all sex”.
As if morally and karmically they are on the same level. This is from a
man whose job is to protect and guide the children.
Why has he not acknowledged his mistakes and offered an apology? If
he does not feel he has done anything wrong, I am compelled to question
his motives and qualifications. Today Bhaktividyapurna Maharaj is an
authorized initiating Guru, Sannyas and still runs his own Gurukula in
Mayapur specialized in “training brahmanas.” The GBC decided a fit
punishment for his crimes was to temporarily suspend him from directly
interacting with the children at his school. Personally I would like to
know in what court of law such a punishment will be considered
appropriate and just.
In the non-devotee world “karmis” cringe on hearing about child
abuse. Yet in our vaisnava community, Gurus and Sannyasis have
perpetrated child abuse and condoned it for years and very few ever
stood up to say “this is unacceptable.” Why are we so apathetic as a
society? What credibility does that give us as a spiritual community?
That we have calmly allowed these atrocities to take place?
As aspiring Vaisnavas we must strive to be exemplary gentlemen
before we can call ourselves Vaisnavas. We should first reach the level
of sattva guna and then work our way up to shudda sattva, there is not
enough emphasis in our society to behave like respectable citizens. In
fact we have condoned and allowed so many despicable acts to go
unpunished that this movement has been a heaven for criminals of every
description. As a result some of our “pure devotees” have behaved in
ways that no decent and moral “karmi” would ever consider acceptable.
Accountability of our Leaders
Jaya Pataka Swami has been the GBC for Mayapur since the beginning.
If I am to believe that he is less responsible than Dhanurdhara I want
to know what he has done over the years to protect the children.
Although he did not personally perpetrate abuse, he was negligent in
his duty of care toward the children at least as much as Dhanurdhara.
Once he randomly asked my father if he wanted to be a teacher in the
Gurukula, he didn’t even know my father. Given the carelessness with
which he enrolled teachers, it is no wonder that so many atrocities
took place. Anybody willing to do the job was readily welcomed with
little or no screening. Sadly more often than not the volunteers for
this job had their own agendas.
Gurukulis have been beaten and tortured by Doyaram, former temple
president of Mayapur and Jaya Pataka Maharajs’ disciple. Similarly to
Gopal Krishna Maharaj, Jaya Pataka Maharaj did not make an effective
attempt to protect the children who over the years were being sexually,
physically and psychologically abused right under his nose. Again it
seems that he was so busy traveling, preaching and initiating
disciples, that he was unable to properly carry out his responsibility
as a guide and protector.
I know of one worker who was beaten to death for stealing money from
the restaurant’s cash register in Mayapur, his rib cage was crushed in
by Jaya Pataka Swami’s Bengali disciples. If you have been unfortunate
enough to witness the beating of a thief in India you can easily
picture how things get out of hand. I was present in Mayapur when a
pickpocket was caught stealing. It was near the Samadhi during a
festival, I saw this man tied on the floor bleeding profusely while
three of our ISKCON guards where repeatedly beating this man with two
inch thick bamboo sticks. This man had visibly broken bones, bruises,
lacerated skin and giant blood blisters all over his body. As it is
customary in India a crowd had gathered to watch the spectacle. They
beat that pickpocket within an inch of his life. That is when
Jnanagamya, a senior Prabhupada disciple walked in on the scene. His
reaction was to disperse the crowd and tell the guards “At least don’t
beat him here go someplace secluded”. I do not know what happened to
the man, but I can easily guess that if he wasn’t killed he will be a
crippled beggar for the rest of his life.
In this phrase by Jnanagamya I see ISKCON’s problem in a nut shell,
nobody cares if a person gets killed or if he is even guilty. For too
long we have only been concerned with saving face. Appearances are more
valued than substance. It did not cross the mind of Jnanagamya to say
stop, you are killing this man: he was more concerned with what people
might think.
Somehow it would seem we have had in place a system to sternly
punish pickpockets, but we worship and respect child abusing Swamis.
Gurus and GBC
Bhavananda (maharaj) as a Guru was a pedophile who habitually had
sexual intercourse with men and gurukula children. A boy burned down
Bhavanada’s house in Australia. When the boy was questioned by the
police he said that the owner of the house had raped him. The local
temple president testified in court that it was impossible and the boy
was sent to a juvenile prison. By the time the boy was due to be
released Bhavananda was no longer a Guru. Instead of attempting to make
amends the temple president involved became concerned over a possible
retaliation the boy might make against him. He was not at all repentant
or empathetic for the child. In Vrindavana he once threw a boy from the
first floor balcony of the Gurukula building into the garden because
the boy was irritating him.
When Bhavananda (Maharaj) was the GBC, he was very close with
Satadhanya (Maharaj), who was at one time the main manager in Mayapur.
At this time there were Gurukula boys who were designated to be the
“Swamis’ service boys” These boys are known to have had to perform
sexual services.
To this day Bhavananda gives classes and is offered respect and
honor as a “senior” Prabhupada disciple. When he comes to Mayapur he is
allowed to give class and still receives royal treatment. Why is it
that nobody stands up to say that Bhavananda is not fit to take a sit
of honor on the Vyasasan and be given the authority to present the
philosophy?
Nitai Chand Swami was a good friend of Bhavanada and Satadhanya when
they were in power. A while back on Chakra, devotees were asking to
make Nitai Chand a Guru! Granted there is not sufficient evidence to
prove that he is also a pedophile, however in my eyes the simple fact
that he did not speak up against the perpetrators makes him guilty. It
tells me a lot about his character.
The priorities of our society have thus far been all wrong;
therefore ISKCONs’ future can only be very bleak. As a society we have
failed to protect, guide and inspire our children. The GBC is getting
old, who will take over? It is unlikely that many of ISKCONs’ children
are going to feel much of a sense of loyalty, belonging or inclination
to step up.
The most likely people to take over are the devotees who joined
between the late seventies and the early eighties, unfortunately they
are people such as Braj Bihari and Gauri who have been trained in the
old regime: they may simply perpetuate the mistakes of the past. They
are not in my opinion people who will, when push comes to shove, make
the “right” decision, especially if it is not convenient, against their
personal interests or if it would make them unpopular.
Very recently one of our Gurus, Puri Maharaja formerly Balabhadra
has been found implementing a bizarre and perverted test to decide if
the matajis at his temple in Scotland were fit to become brahmacarinis
or if they had to get married. He was spending a lot of time alone with
the some of the girls. They had to come to his room and show him (a
sannyasi) their breasts. If they were too big the girls had to get
married and if they were small they could remain brahmacarinis.
Aside his inappropriate interactions with women Puri Maharaj has an
interest in money and luxuries; he bought himself a £200.000 motor
home; he has a passion for expensive electric guitars; he has bought
over 50 instruments with some of them costing up to £15000 each . All
of this with laxmi that his disciples have collected on the streets
with their sweat and blood working 365 days a year: surrendering it all
supposedly to Krishna.
Sivarama Swami and Govinda Maharaj formerly Ayodyapati have known of
this for a long time yet they have not stopped or exposed him. I will
agree that a largely publicized scandal is not always the best way to
deal with these situations, but cover up is certainly not a better
alternative. Why do they allow him to remain as a Sannyasi?
I want to know if it is because of their friendship or because of
all the money that Puri Maharaj has given them to support their
projects. Do they think Puri Maharaj has behaved in an acceptable way
for a Sannyas? Do they think that he is fit to be a Sannyasi? Where
does their loyalty lie? Don’t they feel a duty of care toward
Prabhupada and the devotees that take shelter in ISKCON? These people
who in my eyes lack in basic material integrity are supposed to be the
infallible pure devotees who will guide us back to Godhead; I am at a
loss. Because they did not expose him they have chosen to protect Puri
Maharajs’ reputation over protecting the devotee community from being
exploited by him and men like him in the future.
Even though the GBC is now aware of the incidents nobody has asked
Puri Maharaj to step down from sannyas. Apparently because there is no
evidence that he had sexual intercourse with these women he has not
really fallen.
The only action taken has been to remove Puri Maharaj as the
GBC/Temple president in Scotland and relocate him to South Africa. We
are allowing him to start afresh, as if nothing happened, with no
apparent consequences to his actions.
Recently, Jayadvaita Swami mentioned that some of our initiating
Gurus are not even chanting their rounds. How can these people, in good
conscience, ask their disciples to vow to follow rules and regulations
when they themselves are not following. If these Gurus are allowed to
continue, all the parties involved will be sharing the blame; I feel
that by neglecting his duty to protect the movement Jayadvaita Swami is
doing a disservice to Srila Prabhupada.
As Vaisnavas we must strive to be more humble than a straw on the
street, yet some of our Gurus display an arrogance and pride that could
easily match a rock stars’. Why is it considered acceptable behavior
for a model Vaisnava?
Somehow being what karmis call “a decent human being” is not a
requirement to be an infallible pure devotee in ISKCON, and yet we
claim to be better!
If we are going to make a difference it will take courage. It will
be difficult because for too long the unacceptable has been the
exemplary norm, but if there is to be any hope, we must gather the
courage in ourselves to find and implement a solution.
The following is a nice quote I have found on courage.
“The highest courage is to dare to be yourself in the face of
adversity, choosing right over wrong, ethics over convenience and truth
over popularity. These are the choices that measure your life. Travel
the path of integrity without looking back for there is never a wrong
time to do the right thing.”
This was written by somebody who probably never heard about Krishna,
probably a meat eater, if only we had been a little more like this
man……
Most devotees know that Harikesa (Swami) left with a handsome
payout. What perhaps is not so know is how he came to be in possession
of the money. At least part of the money came from a BBT trust: the
leftovers of money Harikesa lost on the Russian stock market after the
mid ‘90s crash. A disciple of his was one of the trustees. In order to
release the funds Harikesa needed his signature. Harikesa requested
this devotee to give him the money, when this devotee refused to sign
it over, Hariskesa had his loyal Russian disciples threaten to kill
this devotee and his family. This accounts for a portion of the
5million plus US$ that Harikesa is said to have taken with him.
I think a good question to ask is, what is our responsibility in
this, what could we have done to prevent it from happening, and more
importantly what do we have to do to insure that it will never happen
again? Is it appropriate that Sannyasis manage millions of dollars?
The GBC body is structured as a self electing entity (Its members
decide who can join the club) unfortunately this leaves ample room for
corruption. The GBC body must be accountable and when need be its
members must be judged by an external and independent panel of senior
devotees. The current closed circle system has contributed to drain
Prabhupada’s movement of its former purity, justice, objectivity and
strength.
By the lack of transparency and integrity, shown by some of the GBC
members the whole body is loosing credibility, day after day.
I believe money and political power would be much better placed in
the hands of Grihastas without vested interests: devotees who are
spiritually, financially and morally accomplished, with a proven and
spotless track record.
Power must be given to those who do not seek it, and money to those
that do not need it. If a person is in financial need he is not likely
to be a reliable treasurer. It is so simple that we seem to have missed
the point. Sannyasis must not interact with women, Srila Prabhupada did
not spend time alone with his aged sister, not because he was at risk
of a fall down, but to set the example for us. Child abusers must not
be teachers. Sannyasis should not be managers.
I believe that the position of GBC comes with a duty to care,
protect, serve and safeguard the people and assets of Prabhupada’s
movement. I feel that in many instances the GBC has taken too lightly
these duties. Harikesa was able to steal so much money because we do
not have appropriate measures to protect our assets.
When somebody wants to become Guru or Sannyasi I become immediately
suspicious. The very desire to be a Guru or Sannyasi, can in itself be
a disqualification. Bhakti Visvambara Madhava Maharaja formerly
Mahamantra das pushed the GBC for years and years to be awarded
Sannysa. Surely Sannyas is not necessary to preach, I ask myself what
is the motivation? Perhaps we have changed the duties and qualities we
associate with the position of Sannyas.
Today, a successful sannyasi in ISKCON can have more power, fame,
adoration, prestige and less accountability than some of the presidents
and prime ministers in the karmi world. It is no surprise that everyone
wants to join the club. A successful swami can have a fabulous career
full of attractive material benefits.
I do not see anybody pushing to be an austere madhukari (begging for
one’s food daily) as has been the traditional role of a Sannyasi. To
uplift the consciousness of society, a Sannyasi must renounce worldly
possessions and travel, his duty being to serve society not to be
served. No Sannyasi has ever been known to have a personal bank account
before our Swamis set the trend.
Tamal Krishna Maharaj left a hefty inheritance to Giriraj Swami. Why
did Tamal Krishna Maharaj not put ISKCON in his will instead? Perhaps
he did not trust that ISKCON would utilize his money for a worthy
cause. ISKCON ought to have a level of financial transparency that its
members can be confident and reassured when donating their material
wealth before departing this world. Imagine how many resources could be
gathered. The lack of integrity that we have had over the years has
created a lot of distrust, much to the detriment of the society at
large.
It is not my intent to discount the priceless service that these
devotees have done for Prabhupada, I am concerned because most of the
people I have mentioned are, or have been leaders of our society, and
their behavior will be seen as exemplary and perhaps appropriate
conduct from their subordinates. I believe it is of the outmost
importance that when a mistake is committed it is publicly acknowledged
and the people involved be held accountable. I see this as the only way
to prevent history from repeating itself.
Here is another inspirational quote I have found on leadership, “A
true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make
tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others.
He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the quality of
his actions and the integrity of his intent.” I would like this
standard to be expected and required of our leaders.
I propose that the definition of Sannyas be redefined and explained.
Candidates should donate their personal money to the society, and walk
into the sannyas asrama completely dependant on Krishna and the
Vaisnavas. I believe this would cause less of a rush to get on board,
and the relationship between the Sannyasis and the rest of the Vaisnava
community would be much more friendly and respectful.
Our duty as devotees is to serve, and our spiritual accomplishments
should be measured by how pleasing our service is to the family of
Vaisnavas. If they are unhappy we are doing something wrong.
Many times I have been told that I had to keep the scandals in
ISKCON to myself, if things would be known devotees would loose faith
in Prabhupada’s movement. Today I have come to the conclusion that with
my silence I am an accomplice to the problem. Because scandals in
ISKCON have been covered up people have lost faith in the movement. I
believe that failure to report a crime is itself a crime. As a society
we are in part responsible of our leaders’ mistakes, if we do not make
an effort to prevent the same mistakes from taking place again. It is
everyone’s duty to protect ISKCON from abuse exploitation, deviant
philosophies and practices.
Protecting abusers and thus allowing them to continue abusing makes
us silent accomplices. I urge all the devotees that with their silence
have allowed and are allowing abuse to take place to come forward and
speak.
Our leaders must become accountable to the society not simply
between themselves; spiritually, morally and financially, there is no
transparency at this stage. This lack of transparency ultimately
affects the GBC body and the society as a whole; it leaves too much
room for exploitation and corruption, resulting in a lack of purity and
trust in the system.
I believe in ISKCON we have a desperate need; to drastically raise
the benchmark of what is considered acceptable, and of what is the
ideal behavior for a Vaisnava.
An eloquent speaker or a good singer does not equal a good devotee.
Likewise a good devotee does not make a good singer, speaker, teacher
or manager. Deception is harmful both to the leaders’ spiritual life
and to the followers that are being misguided. You can’t cheat your way
into the spiritual world, Krishna is the biggest cheater.
The most worrisome aspect of the situation is that what is mentioned
in this letter is but a glimpse of the actual picture of abuse and
misuse of power that has and is taking place within our society. I
suspect the true magnitude of the problem is something a lot more
frightening.
All the people I have mentioned have one thing in common, to the
best of my knowledge none of them have to this day shown the decency to
come forward to acknowledge and apologize for their mistakes. I have
never known of an ISKCON leader to come forward while in power and say
“Dear Vaisnavas I have failed in my service to you, I have abused your
trust and I have made many mistakes, please forgive me, I submit myself
to your judgment and I am prepared to accept your advice and whatever
atonement you see fit.”
My question is still on the table, "Why are we ganging up on
Dhanurdhara? "I am inclined to think that most devotees who have been
in the movement long enough, at least subconsciously are aware that
there is something fundamentally wrong with the way our society is run.
Dhanurdhara happens to be the person who represents the problem. He is
today’s scapegoat. It is easy to hate and despise a child abuser write
a few lines and perhaps have him exiled from the society that would
make some of us feel better; the problem has been externalized and
fixed. Our conscience can rest at least for a while, we can decline our
share of responsibility. We are good people and he is bad.
I believe fixing the “Dhanurdhara” problem is more work than it may
seem at first and I hope that this letter will encourage devotees to
seek and create solutions with the same enthusiasm shown thus far.
I want to hope that by reading this, devotees will be inspired to
help reform, redefine and protect Srila Prabhupadas’ movement. It will
be a long journey which begins with acknowledging and working on our
own anarthas first and taking responsibility for our mistakes.
If we as individuals do not change for the better the society as a
whole will change for the worse, we will soon be another big religious
institution living lies and hypocrisy.
I offer my apologies to all Vaisnava who feel offended by this imperfect attempt to better our movement.
Hare Krishna
Thank you for reading
Your servant
If anyone wishes to contact me you may do so at gurukulidas@gmail.com
more about Dhanurdhara's abuse
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