H.H. Narayana Maharaja Meets An L.A. Ritvik
VNN USA May 31, 1999 VNN4001

BY GAURIDASA PANDITA DASA

USA, May 31 (VNN) -- I met with His Holiness Narayana Maharaja today to discuss his position on the Ritvik initiation issue. I attended his class yesterday and today to see and hear for myself. At the end of yesterdays class he mentioned ritviks so I felt inspired to meet with him privately and discuss what I heard from Srila Prabhupada about it.

I had to come to his apartment twice and read his article on ritvik before I finally got to speak with His Holiness. He came out of his room and motioned for me to sit on the floor in front of him. I was introduced by one of the devotees and he asked what services I performed for Srila Prabhupada. I told him about my services in Vrindavan and then he asked if Srila Prabhupada joked with me. I told him that I wasn't that intimate with Srila Prabhupada and he joked with me a few times but mostly with the other devotees. (At this time he was sick and didn't joke so much.)

At this point I said that I heard Srila Prabhupada say that he wanted ritviks to initiate after he left the planet and it is recorded on the May 28th 1977 tape. Narayana Maharaja then said that ritvik gurus were not in our sampradaya and we should follow our sampradaya. He asked why I don't follow this. I said I follow the sampradaya through Srila Prabhupada and I said I don't want to jump over my guru. He said, "You have to."

He asked me if I give ritvik initiations and I said no. He said why and I replyed that I was never ordered by Srila Prabhupada or the GBC to do it. He said that the GBC were fallen and have no potency. I said we need a GBC but it needs to be reformed. I said that Srila Prabhupada is still present in his books and the books are the lawbooks for the next 10,000 years. Maharaja said that Srila Prabhupada never said that.

Narayana Maharaja said there is no such thing as a ritvik guru and I replyed that we don't say the ritivk is the guru, Srila Prabhupada is the guru, and the ritvik is his representative. He said the ritivk only does the sacrifice and I agreed. He said the ritvik is not mentioned in the scriptures and asked me to show him one quote. I said that the ritivk is mentioned in the Srimad Bhagavatam and he said that was only for performing sacrifices and I said I agreed.

He asked me who made Srila Prabhupada a guru and I said Bhaktisidhanta Sarasvati Maharaja did. He said no. I said Srila Prabhupada told a reporter who asked him that Bhaktisidhanta Sarasvati appeared to him in a dream and ordered him to be the guru and he did. Maharaja said, "that is nothing." I said Bhaktisidhanta Sarasvati said that he would do everything in time and he also objected to that. I said that I was not trying to say that He should be a ritvik but that was the system Srila Prabhupada ordered for ISKCON. My intention was not to challenge His Holiness but just to make sure he heard what Srila Prabhupada really said for ISKCON in particular. I am writing a follow up letter and left my On My Behalf report for him to read.

I never thought I would change the Maharaja's mind after reading his position but I thought I should at least state the facts and leave the result to Krsna. I feel that his position will change after he hears all of the historical evidence left by Srila Prabhupada.

At that point Maharaja had to leave for the evening program and I asked for forgiveness if I made any offenses to him. He put his arm around me which was nice. I attended his lecture and found it very nice. He lectured from Srila Prabhupada's Sri Chaitanya Caritamrita. The devotees were many and they seemed more sincere and interested than most ISKCON devotees today. So I do give Narayana Maharaja credit for keeping those devotees fired up in the mission of Sri Guru and Gouranga. He also stated at the beginning of class that Srila Prabhupada was his siksa guru and that was nice to hear. He asked Manjari (Bhagavan's daughter) to sing both days and she was enlivened. The women especially feel special, more than they seem to in ISKCON and that is also nice.

I think we could learn alot from each other and hope the lines of communication and respect for eachother opens up between all parties so we can become a united and dynamic preaching force again.

Your servant,
Gauridasa Pandita Dasa
Gauridas@aol.com
http://members.aol.com/Gauridas