Race, Monarchy, and Gender

Bhaktivedanta Swami’s Social Experiment

Ekkehard Lorenz

A chapter from:

The Hare Krishna Movement—The Postcharismatic Fate of a Religious Transplant

Edited by Edwin F. Bryant and Maria L. Ekstrand

Columbia University Press (2004)

An Internet search for the string “varnashram dharma” produces more than 450 matches. Today, 50 years after Bhaktivedanta Swami mentioned varnashram for the first time in a public speech, members of the Hare Krishna movement continue to cherish his vision of a perfect society. The majority of matches refer to the sites of organizations that profess allegiance to the teachings of Bhaktivedanta Swami. One such organization, the Bhaktivedanta Archives, introduces their latest book, Speaking About Varnashram, and states:

Another Web site dedicated to the propagation of Bhaktivedanta Swami’s teachings mentions how varnashram dharma can bring about peace and happiness:

Apart from mainstream ISKCON, organizations such as the General Headquarters, the Florida Vedic College, and the Bhaktivedanta College all offer extensive varnashram study materials compiled from the teachings of Bhaktivedanta Swami. The Florida Vedic College offers a degree “Master of Arts in Vedic Philosophy,” which includes graduate-level studies of varnashram dharma,3 while the Bhaktivedanta College offers credits for its courses in varnashram dharma and “Applied Varnashram Studies.”4

While there is no consensus within present-day ISKCON regarding what exactly varnashram dharma is, many trust that introducing varnashram principles would improve the health of the movement. The General Headquarters,5 for example, argues that Bhaktivedanta Swami’s mission can only be accomplished by means of vigorous propagation of his varnashram teachings. They especially call for strict implementation of Bhaktivedanta Swami’s teachings regarding women, family, and sexuality in a future Vedic society.6 Many faculty members of the above-mentioned Bhaktivedanta College are also leading members of the General Headquarters. Others, less radical, believe that most of the problems plaguing today’s ISKCON can be traced to its members’ failure to apply varnashram dharma principles in their own lives. While they do not promote the reintroduction of varnashram dharma for the entire world, they call to attention Bhaktivedanta Swami’s instructions to organize ISKCON itself as a varnashram dharma society, so that it might serve as an attractive model. In a recent paper discussing difficulties in the implementation of varnashram dharma in ISKCON, William H. Deadwyler, a leading member of ISKCON’s Governing Body Commission (GBC), states that the foremost problem he and his colleagues are facing is that ISKCON “Has no brain.”7 Like the General Headquarters and the Bhaktivedanta College, he too perceives the solution as an increased and systematic study of the books and teachings of Bhaktivedanta Swami.8

Before exploring in detail what Bhaktivedanta Swami had to say about varnashram dharma, it might be in order to quote a general definition. A. K. Majumdar defines varnashram dharma as: “rules of conduct enjoined on a man because he belongs to a particular caste and also to a particular stage of life, such as, ‘a Brahmin brahmacharin should carry a staff of palasha tree.’”9 What exactly did Bhaktivedanta Swami teach about varnasrama dharma, that up to this day many of his followers believe that its principles can turn the world—or at least ISKCON communities—into a better place?

THE LOWEST OF MANKIND

The earliest available reference to varnashram dharma occurs in a speech, “Solution of Present Crisis by Bhagwat Geeta,” delivered by Bhaktivedanta Swami in Madras in 1950, fifteen years before he founded his ISKCON movement in the West.10 Listing the causes of what he refers to as a crisis, he mentions among other things, “No training of human civilization. Varnashram Dharma.”11 Bhaktivedanta Swami’s idea of such training was first concretely outlined in a series of articles, “The Lowest of Mankind,” “Purity of Conduct,” and “Standard Morality.” Published in Delhi between 1956 and 1958, they appeared in Back to Godhead, his bimonthly magazine that he called “an instrument for training the mind and educating humanity to rise up to Divinity in the plane of the spirit soul.”12

In “The Lowest of Mankind” he declares that 99.9 percent of all humans are morally despicable (Sanskrit: naradhama), because they do not follow the regulations of varnashram dharma:

Referring to the garbhadhan samskara, which he considers to be the most essential of the aforementioned ten ceremonies, he argues in “Purity of Conduct” that Hinduism lost its special significance since varnashram dharma is no longer followed:

And in “Standard Morality” he states that the varnashram system “is schemed for fulfilling the mission of human life by suitable division of departmental activities”15—a reference to varnas.

ISKCON SHALL SAVE THE WORLD

After 1965, when the International Society for Krishna Consciousness was founded, the need to reintroduce varnashram dharma worldwide became a central and recurring theme in Bhaktivedanta Swami’s books and talks:

Bhaktivedanta Swami apparently believed that all problems would be solved, the world situation would be rectified, and humanity would be saved from hellish life if only people could be made to accept guidance from his ISKCON Brahmins. Declaring that “without varnashram-dharma, materialist activities constitute animal life,”19 he repeatedly identifies varna sankara, mixed-caste people—or “unwanted population,” as he would also call them—as a key factor contributing to contemporary world problems.

But though he often declared that his movement was meant to reestablish varnashram dharma, Bhaktivedanta Swami occasionally admitted that it was no longer possible to do so: “Nobody can revive now the lost system of varnashram dharma to its original position for so many reasons.”22 “Nor is it now possible to reestablish the institutional function in the present context of social, political and economic revolution.”23

THE PROGRESSIVE MARCH OF THE CIVILIZATION OF THE ARYANS

The Sanskrit word aryah is not uncommon in the stanzas of the Bhagavata Purana. It is mainly used in the sense of “noble” or “respectable,” but never as a racial designation. Bhaktipada Swami, however, speaks extensively about “the Aryans”—at least twenty-five of his purports and over a hundred lectures and conversations contain lengthy elaborations on the topic. He places all those whom he calls “non-Aryan” in a category similar to his “unwanted population,” thus dividing humans into two groups: a large group of varna sankara and non-Aryans on one side, and a small group of Aryans, i.e., those who follow varnashram, on the other: “Those who traditionally follow these principles are called Aryans, or progressive human beings.”24 “The Vedic way of life,” he writes, “is the progressive march of the civilization of the Aryans.”25 “In the history of the human race, the Aryan family is considered to be the most elevated community in the world.”26

Most of Bhaktivedanta Swami’s statements define “Aryan” in social, religious, and cultural terms. However, in more than one fifth of his statements he clearly describes or defines them in racial terms:

On other occasions Bhaktivedanta Swami presents a mixture of both racial and sociocultural views regarding Aryans, such as when he appealed to his young western audiences:

SCIENTIFIC ARYANS

Bhaktivedanta Swami used the expressions “Vedic civilization,” “Aryan civilization,” and “varnashram-dharma” as practically synonymous,33 and said that the purpose of his movement was “to make the people Aryan.”34 On numerous occasions he stated that his message was aimed at the intelligentsia:

That varnashram dharma was something ancient and scientific turns out to be also the opinion of Kedarnath Datta Bhaktivinoda (father of Bhaktivedanta Swami’s guru), who, almost one hundred years earlier, had introduced the term vaijnanika varnashram. In Hindu Encounter with Modernity, Shukavak N. Dasa writes: “The system of varnas and ashrams that Bhaktivinoda refers to is not the traditional caste system of his time. In his opinion the existing caste system was only a remnant of the ancient and scientific vaijnanika-varnashram system.”39 Bhaktivinoda’s son Bimal Prasad, who later founded a Vaishnava organization in India and became known as Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati, or Siddhanta Saraswati, explained his movement, the Gaudiya Math, in the following manner:

Countless statements in the books, lectures, and conversations of Bhaktivedanta Swami—himself a disciple of Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati—suggest that he shared the views of his direct predecessors. He too believed that in bygone ages a divine and scientific social system had existed in India, and like Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati, he too founded a movement whose express mission it was to reestablish what he often referred to as the “perfectional form of human civilization,” varnashram dharma.

VARNASHRAM IN THE BHAKTIVEDANTA PURPORTS

Unlike the earlier Bhagavata commentators, who hardly ever, and if at all, then only briefly, mention varnashram in their glosses, Bhaktivedanta Swami gives this topic great attention. Of the 113 purports in which he discusses it in his Srimad Bhagavatam, only 13 coincide with occasions where earlier commentators interpret certain words and referring to varnashram.41 Most of Bhaktivedanta Swami’s purports that discuss varnashram appear in a context where the topic had not been mentioned either in the text of the Bhagavata Purana itself or in any of the commentaries that he is known to have used.42

There are also cases in which Bhaktivedanta Swami backs his varnashram elaborations with references to earlier commentators that factually find no support in their original glosses. Here is just one example: “According to Viraraghava Acharya, such protection means organizing the citizens into the specific divisions of the four varnas and four ashrams. It is very difficult to rule citizens in a kingdom without organizing this varnashram-dharma.”43 Viraraghava, however, does not mention varnashram dharma in his commentary to this particular verse or in his commentaries to the directly preceding or following verses.44

In Bhaktivedanta Swami’s written commentaries, the Bhaktivedanta purports, to the Bhagavad Gita, the Bhagavata Purana, and the Chaitanya Charitamrita, there are all together three hundred explicit statements about varnashram dharma. These can be divided into five groups, namely statements about the status, purpose, restrictions, structure, and history of varnashram dharma.

The largest group, comprising 35 percent of all statements, concerns the status of varnashram dharma. Typical expressions in this category state that varnashram dharma is:

Bhaktivedanta Swami’s statements about the purpose of varnashram dharma form the second-largest group with 32 percent. Statements typical for this category express that its purpose is:

The third category, with 16 percent of all statements, deals with rules and restrictions imposed by varnashram dharma:

The fourth category (14 percent) deals with the structure of, and people in, varnashram dharma:

The fifth category, with only 3 percent of all statements, treats varnashram dharma from a historical perspective:

“WE ARE TRYING TO TRAIN SOME BRAHMINS TO GUIDE HUMAN SOCIETY”

In all of his books as well as throughout his lectures and conversations, Bhaktivedanta Swami shared his vision of establishing varnashram dharma worldwide. He was convinced that it was a practical sociopolitical structure that modern governments could implement, and that his movement would facilitate this by creating qualified Brahmins through some sort of suitable training or education:

While Bhaktivedanta Swami repeatedly spoke or wrote about training that would produce Brahmins, he delivered only very few concrete instructions about what exactly such training should consist of. When asked by a disciple how a Brahmin should be trained, he replied:

On another occasion he wrote to a disciple in India about his vision of a varnashram college. He thought that in such a college he could produce certified Brahmins who would then receive degrees from a local university. But in this letter too, there are no details about the training itself, only a list of desired end results:

“KSHATRIYAS, THEY HAVE TO LEARN HOW TO KILL”

The above letter shows that Bhaktivedanta Swami not only wanted a Brahmin training but also had plans for kshatriya and vaishya training. Training Brahmins appears to have occupied the highest rank on his priority scale, but training kshatriyas was definitely important to him. However, the type of kshatriyas that he most often talked about were kings and rulers rather than common soldiers or administrators:

When asked by a disciple how the kshatriya training in the planned varnashram college was to be organized, he replied:

Kshatriya students in the ISKCON varnashram college were to practice killing:

There is no single instance where Bhaktivedanta Swami speaks about kshatriya training without mentioning killing. While he might not have considered it to be the most important aspect of that education, he does stress this aspect:

“MONARCHY I HAVE SAID, BECAUSE THE POPULATION ARE ASSES”

Bhaktivedanta Swami often spoke about the ideal monarch: “So the kings were very severe to punish unwanted social elements,” and from his many outspoken statements against democracy it appears that he envisioned a return to monarchy:

On some occasions Bhaktivedanta Swami would denounce democracy as “demoncracy” or “demon-crazy.” Referring to Indira and Rajiv Gandhi, he asks “She and her son are the destiny of India? A woman and a debauch? They can do whatever they like. It’s a farce condition. That so-called democracy is nonsense demoncracy.”85 Two months later he asserts that democracy had not yet arrived in India:

In a lecture in London in 1973, Bhaktivedanta Swami told his audience that his movement could help turn the British monarchy into some sort of Krishna conscious rule:

In numerous purports in his Shrimad Bhagavatam he describes the advantages a varnashram-based monarchy would have over democratic governments:

Statements like the last one, in which Bhaktivedanta Swami declares that he favors even dictatorship above democracy, are by no means rare:

Bhaktivedanta Swami's appreciation for dictatorship is further underlined by his generally approving remarks about Hitler. While he often mentions Hitler to give an example of materialistic scheming, he nevertheless calls him a hero and a gentleman:

VAISHYAS

Bhaktivedanta Swami did not have much to say about vaishyas, or the mercantile class, as he would often call them. “Vaishyas should be trained how to give protection to the cows, how to till the field and grow food,” was his standard comment regarding their place in a varnashram society.100 When asked how vaishyas should be trained in his varnashram college and whether they should learn how to do business, he replied:

Two years later, in a conversation with Indian politicians, he restates his opinion that vaishyas do not require education:

When talking about vaishyas, Bhaktivedanta Swami often brought up the following rule, apparently designed by him: “Kshatriyas and Vaishyas are therefore especially advised to give in charity at least fifty percent of their accumulated wealth.”103 This 50-percent charity tax might have been an early attempt to inspire followers not living in the temple to financially support his movement:104

The system did not become the norm in ISKCON during Bhaktivedanta Swami’s time, probably because most members preferred to remain in the temples, even after getting married, rather than practice “householder life outside.” And after his death, when many moved out of the American temples, the 50-percent rule was practically never followed.

SHUDRAS

Regarding the question whether shudras should be counted among the Aryans, Bhaktivedanta Swami made conflicting statements: “Shudras means non-Aryan. And Aryans, they are divided into three higher castes.”107 “Aryans are divided into four castes.”108 His remarks regarding training for shudras are also contradictory. When asked what kind of training they should receive in his varnashram college, he replied:

On a different occasion, however, he asserts that shudras do not require any training at all:

On the whole, Bhaktivedanta Swami’s attitude toward shudras appears to be rather negative. While he depicts the other three varnas in positive or at least neutral terms, his description of shudras sounds harsh, spiteful, and condescending. Most of his remarks begin with the “Shudra(s) means,” typically followed by:

It is hard not to perceive racist undertones in many of Bhaktivedanta Swami’s statements about shudras. According to his understanding, people of black or dark skin color, as well as native Americans, are shudras, third-class, degraded, and less intelligent:

In the last statement Bhaktivedanta Swami is commenting on the passage “nrpa-linga-dharam shudram,” from Bhagavata Purana 1.16.4. The verse mentions the evil spirit Kali, describing him as “a shudra having royal insignia.” Neither the verse nor any of the earlier commentators mention that this personality should have been black. It looks like Bhaktivedanta Swami considered having black skin color and being evil to be closely related features. He certainly considered black people to be ugly: “Such action of the cupid is going on even on the negroes and beastly societies who are all ugly looking in the estimation of the civilized nations.”115

In February 1977, less than a year before his death, Bhaktivedanta Swami expressed regret about the fact that America had abolished slavery. In a room conversation, which later received the title “Varnashram System Must Be Introduced,” he referred to African Americans as follows:

It was probably not at all unusual for Bhaktivedanta Swami to reason in these ways, for, as he had once told his disciples: “So the Kiratas, they were always slaves of the Aryans. The Aryan people used to keep slaves, but they were treating slaves very nicely.”117 And that the Kiratas were Africans he had explained many times: “Kirata means the black, the Africans.”118

One wonders how Bhaktivedanta Swami, who repeatedly identified “the intelligent class of men” as the main target of his preaching, could present to them his program of turning back the clock by several centuries of human social thought and still expect it to be favorably received. Although he had often stressed that his message was meant for “the intelligent class of men,” he had just as often declared that the entire world population were shudras: “At the present moment, they are Shudras or less than Shudras. They are not human beings. The whole population of the world.”119

Bhaktivedanta also thought that he and his movement could take over some government and rule some part of the word: “However, in Kali-yuga, democratic government can be captured by Krishna conscious people. If this can be done, the general populace can be made very happy.”120 One other occasions he urged his followers not to take his message lightly. He promised doom and gloom to those who failed to accept and follow his instructions: “Don’t think that Krishna consciousness is a joke, is a jugglery. It is the only remedy if you want to save yourself. Otherwise, you are doomed. Don’t take it, I mean to say, as a joke. It is a fact.”121 He thought that his varnashram college could save the word, and that even the shudras would come to like it:

ASHRAM

In the classical varnashram system there are four ashrams, stages of life: brahmacharin, grihastha, vanaprastha, and sannyasa (celibate student, married householder, celibate recluse, and celibate mendicant). In Bhaktivedanta Swami’s vision of establishing varnashram dharma worldwide, there was also a plan for what might be called “ashram training.” However, throughout his books and lectures he focuses only on training for the first ashram: celibate student. While he does speak about grihasthas, he does not mention anywhere that they would require some sort of training, and the vanaprastha topic is virtually absent. The sannyasa ashram could in a way be seen as an extension of the celibate student status, but if one considers how freely Bhaktivedanta Swami turned his young male disciples without much preparation into fully ordained sannyasins, it seems that even sannyasa training was not much of a priority for him.

In contrast, there is an abundance of references to training young boys to become exemplary—lifelong, if possible—celibates. One thing that most of Bhaktivedanta Swami’s statements regarding brahmachari training have in common is the emphasis on the need to start it as early as possible. He typically mentions five years of age as being the “Vedic standard,” and consequently urges his disciples to send their children to his ISKCON gurukula schools at this age at the latest:

Encouraging one of his disciples to send her son to the school in Dallas, he wrote:

The above statement by Bhaktivedanta Swami, however, should not be misunderstood to mean that he too was sent away from home to a distant gurukula at the age of five. He attended a regular, secular day school in Calcutta. Still, he was convinced that it was beneficial for the children of his disciples to be separated early from their parents.

Bhaktivedanta Swami never missed an opportunity to canvass for the Dallas gurukula. He taught that “real affection” for one’s child means to send the child away from the parents to his Bhaktivedanta gurukula, if possible already at the age of four:

In this letter Bhaktivedanta Swami writes that he is personally teaching “the way how to instruct the children.” He was apparently concerned to win the trust of the parents, and to assure them that things were conducted in responsible ways and under his supervision. Typical instructions regarding child education that he often gave to parents, teachers, and leaders are:

But in spite of all these detailed instructions, it appears that something went wrong in the Dallas gurukula and sometime in 1976 it was threatened with closure. Bhaktivedanta Swami’s effort to save the project by appealing to the parents not to withdraw their children from the school shows how important ashram training was to him. In a circular dated 4 March 1976, he wrote to the parents:

Bhaktivedanta Swami was in fact quite adamant when it came to the question of child education. When one of his disciples, herself a gurukula teacher, reminded him that he had once said that “some parents can keep their children with them and teach themselves,”136 he rebuked her:

When he says: “You follow that, brahmachari gurukula,” Bhaktivedanta Swami refers to a passage from Bhagavat Purana 7.32.1 (“brahmachari gurukule”), wherein it is stated that a celibate student should live at the guru’s ashram. He insisted that his instructions, based on his understanding of certain scriptural passages, had to be followed with absolute obedience. He thus disliked the idea that children should stay with or be taught by their parents. In fact, he regarded separation from the parents to be a vital aspect of the child’s spiritual education. That boys should be separated from their parents at the age of five was rule based on Bhaktivedanta Swami’s interpretation of Bhagavata Purana 7.6.1: “kaumara acharet prajno,” “the wise should begin worship in childhood,” a passage he quoted over a hundred times in his books and lectures. The personality who speaks this passage is the child saint Prahlada, who, along with the child saint Dhruva, became the emblem of childhood bhakti success in Bhaktivedanta Swami’s preaching.

Bhaktivedanta Swami was so convinced of the superiority of his gurukula schooling system that he instructed one of his leading disciples to organize the schools in such a way that even non-ISKCON members would want to send there children there:

In the above-quoted passages Bhaktivedanta Swami refers to his instructions regarding child education as “revolutionary medicine.” He speaks about “the Gurukula experiment,” and orders his disciples test his “medicine” on their children. Many years later ISKCON leaders were forced to acknowledge that the outcome of his “experiment” was radically different than expected.

Most of Bhaktivedanta Swami’s statements about child education leave no doubt that he was mainly thinking about how to train boys. As far as girls were concerned, he appears rather reserved:

When asked whether his varnashram college would be open for women also, he replied:

WOMEN’S ROLE IN THE ISKCON VARNASHRAM MODEL

While Bhaktivedanta Swami was known to have been kind and accommodating in dealings with his women disciples, most of what he wrote about women in his books, lectures, and conversations appears rather negative. (For a detailed analysis of Bhaktivedanta Swami’s statements about women, see E. Lorenz, “The Guru, Mayavadins, and Women: Tracing the Origins of Selected Polemical Statements in the Work of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami,” in this volume.) Just like with shudras, he does not have much good to say about women:

One gets the impression he saw women primarily as wombs, used by the Aryans for the purpose of perpetuating a race of saintly heroes. “The whole purpose of this system is to create good population,”146 writes Bhaktivedanta Swami about varnashram dharma. “According to Vedic rites, the breeding of child is very nicely enunciated. That is called garbhadhan-samskara.”147 When Bhaktivedanta Swami speaks about women in the context of varnashram, he inevitably brings up the topics of bad population, adulteration, prostitution, varna sankara, women’s lesser intelligence, and the lifelong control of women by men.

What Bhaktivedanta Swami might have had in mind when he used the word “prostitute” can perhaps be guessed from his statements about the former Indian prime minster, Indira Gandhi:

His greatest concern seems to be how to avoid varna sankara. Again and again this topic comes up when women are mentioned in the varnashram context:

The last statement speaks for itself; a widowed woman is “by default” a prostitute. The less intelligent women are so prone to degradation that unless they are kept under the tight control of men, they are sure to become pregnant, and the result will be the dreaded varna sankara. Bhaktivedanta Swami therefore advises his disciples: “And being the weaker sex, women require to have a husband who is strong in Krishna consciousness so that they may take advantage and make progress by sticking tightly to his feet.”154

IMPLEMENTATION OF VARNASHRAM IN ISKCON

Bhaktivedanta Swami’s declaration that his writings were “meant for bringing about a revolution in the impious life of a misdirected civilization” appears in the preface to each published volume of his commentaries to the Bhagavata Purana.155 What sort of impression did his teachings about varnashram dharma leave in the minds of his disciples? Did they try to implement his varnashram instructions?

One ISKCON project in which some—perhaps the most far-reaching—of Bhaktivedanta Swami’s varnashram instructions came to be implemented was the Bhaktivedanta gurukula in Dallas. Jeff Hickey, former Jagadish Das, who had been appointed by Bhaktivedanta Swami as his “education minister” and was in charge of the entire ISKCON gurukula education, recently appeared on a TV show and commented on his involvement:

Another, rather brief project was the attempt to run a varnashram college in New Vrindavan, West Virginia. Many of Bhaktivedanta Swami’s statements quoted in the present paper are taken from a morning walk conversation recorded in Vrindavan, India, in March 1974. It was after this morning walk that the idea of a varnashram college began to circulate, and sometime in April the first varnashram college was started. Hiranyagarbha Das, who had been appointed “headmaster” of the varnashram college, remembers his involvement in the project:

When asked whether ISKCON members in those days showed any awareness of how violent some of Bhaktivedanta Swami’s instructions regarding Kshatriya training actually were, Das replies:

Regarding how a person’s varna was to be determined in varnashram college, Bhaktivedanta Swami had once said that this “will be tested by the teachers, what for he is fit. He will be test [sic] by the guru.”159 When asked whether any such testing was actually practiced in the varnashram college, Das explained:

In 1981, four years after Bhaktivedanta Swami’s death, two of his leading disciples, Robert Campagnola and Jay A. Matsya,161 coauthored Varnashram Manifesto for Social Sanity,162 a volume dedicated to Bhaktivedanta Swami, “the real father of the modern varnashram system.”163 The book was controversial. Some felt that it was overly fanatical and could lead to public relations problems for ISKCON—which it actually later did: the anticult movement and the Orthodox Church in Russia used passages from the book to prove that ISKCON was driving a dangerous political agenda and could be potentially harmful to society. A detailed study of the 215-page text, however, reveals that Matsya and Campagnola faithfully repeat Bhaktivedanta Swami’s teachings on varnashram dharma:164

While William H. Deadwyler finds the Varnashram Manifesto to be “spectacularly unpersuasive,”166 it cannot be denied that Matsya and Campagnola’s views on child education completely agree with Bhaktivedanta Swami’s teachings:

CONCLUDING REMARKS

Bhaktivedanta Swami left no doubt in his writings that he wanted his movement to save the world by establishing varnashram dharma:

Given the hurts that ISKCON members have inflicted on one another in their endeavor to please their guru, it can hardly be seen as unfortunate that they ultimately failed to fulfill his dream of taking over the world. While Bhaktivedanta Swami did not leave concrete instructions on how to go from modern democracy to a varnashram-based monarchy, he hoped to convince the intellectual elite of the world with the help of a perfect educational model: his Bhaktivedanta gurukula. There he wanted to create perfect Vaishnava Brahmins, children of exemplary character, who, by dint of their spiritual purity, would be able “to ignite the sacrificial fire without matches, solely by chanting mantras.”169 Other papers in this volume have discussed the results of this gurukula educational experiment.

ISKCON is presently trying to come to grips with its past. There have been official statements acknowledging that abuse of children in the Bhaktivedanta gurukula was a fact, and that it is regretted. There have also been official GBC resolutions regarding the treatment of women. Here too, regret for past abuses has been expressed. Efforts are under way to create an ISKCON that is not friendly and accommodating toward sannyasins and celibate males only, but also to families, women, and children. However, in the society’s attempts to examine its past and to understand what went wrong and why, very little progress has been made in identifying the underlying causes. The consensus seems to be that the movement was too liberal in its enrollment procedures, and that for this reason “bad elements” managed to enter, even into the leading echelons. Another popular explanation is that the members failed to correctly understand and execute Bhaktivedanta Swami’s perfect instructions.

It is a theological dogma in the movement that Bhaktivedanta Swami is a pure representative of God, incapable of error, all-knowing, and absolutely good. Since Bhaktivedanta Swami taught that criticism of a pure devotee was the most serious and devastating impediment to spiritual progress,170 a question that ISKCON leaders presently do not dare to consider is to what degree his teachings contribute to past abuses. It is no secret that many ISKCON leaders knew about the abuse, for example, of women and children, but often did not perceive this as in any way contrary to Bhaktivedanta Swami’s teachings. It used to be standard to first of all examine whether a current practice was justifiable in the light of Bhaktivedanta Swami’s teachings; it was—and still is—always secondary to ask whether any such practice agrees with commonly accepted ethical or social norms.

END NOTES

1. http://www.prabhupada.com/publishing.html

2. http://krishna.org/ctfote/varnash.html

3. http://www.floridavediccollege.edu/masters.htm

4. SS: Vedic Social Science, SS201: Varnashram Dharma—Vaisnava Social Responsibility. 3 Credits. Prescribed social duties in light of Vaisnavism; SS202: Applied Varnashram Dharma Studies—6 Credits. Prerequisite SS201. A study of Varnashrama by studying the lives of famous Vedic personalities and how they integrated Varnashrama Dharma into the fabric of their lives. http://bhaktivednta-college.org/index.htm

5. The General Headquarters homepage: http://www.ghq.org/index.html

6. “It is ISKCON’s responsibility to revive Vedic culture. Feminism—the ideology of female occupational equal rights is diametrically opposed to the principles of prescribed duties. There a feminist Vaisnava is an oxymoron.” “Vaisnavism and Social Responsibility,” http://ghq.org/download/.

7. Ravindra Svarupa Dasa (William H. Deadwyler), “ISKCON and Varnashrama-Dharma: A Mission Unfulfilled,” ISKCON Communications Journal 7 (1) (June 1999): 41.

8. “You will recall that Prabhupada originally thought that ISKCON would perform the brahminical function for the rest of society—‘I have come to give you a brain.’ Prabhupada based this effort on books. By books he could transmit the Vedic heritage, and through books he could instruct and train large numbers of followers, who, by studying his writings systematically and practicing their teachings, could advance to the mode of goodness and beyond.” Ibid.

9. A. K. Majumdar, Concise History of Ancient India: Vol. 3, Hinduism: Society, Religion & Philosophy (Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1983), 1.

10. Lecture at Sri Goudiya Math, Royapettah, Madras, 10 September 1950, The Bhaktivedanta VedaBase CD-ROM: Pre-1965 Writings (Sandy Ridge, NC: Bhaktivedanta Archives, 1995), record 13681-13749.

11. Ibid., record 13722.

12. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Back to Godhead 1944-1960 The Pioneer Years: A Collection of Back to Godhead Magazines Published between 1944 and 1960 (Los Angeles: Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, 1994), 75, BTG vol. 3 part 1, 1 March 1956.

13. Ibid., record 13722.

14. Ibid., 114, BTG vol. 3 part 7, 5 June 1956.

15. Ibid., 155, BTG vol. 3 part 14, 20 November 1958.

16. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Srimad Bhagavatam: Fifth Canto (Los Angeles: Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, 1987), 5.19.19 purport, p. 713.

17. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Srimad Bhagavatam: Fourth Canto (Los Angeles: Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, 1987), 4.14.20 purport, p. 671.

18. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Srimad Bhagavatam: Tenth Canto (Los Angeles: Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, 1987), 10.8.6 purport, p. 336

19. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Srimad Bhagavatam: Seventh Canto (Los Angeles: Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, 1987), 7.15.36 purport, p. 859.

20. Room conversation with Sanskrit professor, other guests, and disciples, 12 February 1975, Mexico, The Bhaktivedanta VedaBase CD-ROM (Sandy Ridge, NC: Bhaktivedanta Archives 1995) record 444187.

21. Ibid., Lecture at World Health Organization, Geneva, 6 June 1974, record 379897.

22. Essays: Perfection at Home—A Novel Contribution to the Fallen Humanity, The Bhaktivedanta VedaBase CD-ROM: Pre-1965 Writings, record 14311.

23. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Srimad Bhagavatam: Second Canto (Los Angeles: Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, 1987) 2.4.18 purport, p. 216.

24. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Srimad Bhagavatam: Third Canto (Los Angeles: Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, 1987), 3.12.35 purport, 1:524.

25. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Srimad Bhagavatam: First Canto (Los Angeles: Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, 1987), 1.18.45 purport, p. 1049.

26. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Srimad Bhagavatam: Fourth Canto (Los Angeles: Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, 1987), 4.20.26 purport, 2:39.

27. Ibid.

28. Lecture: Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.6 Bombay, 6 November 1970, The Bhaktivedanta VedaBase CD-ROM, 1995, record 356922.

29. Ibid., Room Conversation, 2 August 1976, Paris, record 514967.

30. Ibid., Lecture: Bhagavad-gita 10.4-5, New York, 4 January 1967, record 33580.

31. Ibid., Lecture: Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.1.5, Paris, 13 June 1974, record 349711.

32. Ibid., Lecture: Bhagavad-gita 9.3, Melbourne, 21 April 1976, record 334397.

33. Ibid., Lecture at World Health Organization, Geneva, 6 June 1974, record 379907: “So really, Indian Civilization or Aryan civilization, Vedic civilization, means varnashrama-dharma.”

34. Ibid., Press Conference, Mauritius, 2 October 1975, record 469812.

35. Ibid., Letter to: Kirtanananda, Montreal, 30 June 1968, record 582228.

36. Ibid., Letter to: Bali-mardana, Nairobi, 9 October 1971, record 594201.

37. Ibid., Lecture: Sri Chaitanya-Charitamrita, Madhya-lila 20.100-108, Bombay, 9 November 1975, record 368302.

38. Ibid., Lecture: Bhagavad-gita 2.18, Hyderabad, 23 November 1972, record 323377.

39. Shukavak N. Dasa, Hindu Encounter with Modernity: Kedarnath Datta Bhaktivinoda Vaishnava Theologian (Los Angeles: Sri, 1999), 212.

40. Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati, Shri Chaitanya’s Teachings, part 1 (Madras: Sree Gaudiya Math, 1975), 312.

41. Viraraghava Acharya, for example, commenting on the word lokanam, explains that it refers to the followers of Varnashrama dharma: “lokanam varnashrama-vatam.” Shridhara Svami, commenting on the word setavah, explains that it refers to the boundaries of varnashram dharma: “setavo varnashrama-dharma-maryadah.” Srimad Bhagavata Sridhari Tika (1988: reprint, Bombay: Nirnaya Sagar Press, 1950), 7.8.48, p. 689: “setavo varnashram-dharma-maryadah.”

42. In only 29 out of 113 purports that mention varnashram, Bhaktivedanta Swami comments on Bhagavat Purana passages that contain obvious keywords like varna, ashram, or dharma.

43. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Srimad Bhagavatam: Fourth Canto, 4.29.81 purport, 2:791.

44. Krsnasankara Sastri, ed., Srimad-bhagavata-mahapuranam caturtha skandhah (Sola: Sri Bhagavata-Vidyapitah, 1966), 4.29.81 srimad viraraghavavyakhya, p. 762. What Viraraghava actually wrote is, “tatah prachinabarhih praja-shristau tad-rakshane cha sva-putran anujnapya svayam taps chartum kapilashramam agat.” “Having instructed his sons about increasing and protecting the subjects, Prachinabarhi went to Kapilashram to perform austerities.”

45. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Srimad Bhagavatam: Seventh Canto, 7.3.24 purport, p. 152.

46. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Bhagavad-Gita As It Is (Los Angeles: Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, 1989) 2.31 purport, p. 117.

47. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Srimad Bhagavatam: First Canto, 1.2.13 purport, p. 108.

48. Ibid., 1.5.24 purport, p. 272.

49. Ibid., 1.16.31 purport, p. 935.

50. Ibid., 1.8.5 purport, p. 403.

51. Ibid., 1.13.24 purport, p. 739.

52. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Bhagavad-Gita As It Is, 1.40 purport, p. 67.

53. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Srimad Bhagavatam: Second Canto, 2.6.20 purport, p. 313.

54. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Srimad Bhagavatam: Fourth Canto, 4.16.10 purport, 1:725.

55. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Srimad Bhagavatam: First Canto, 1.2.2 purport, p. 89.

56. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Srimad Bhagavatam: Tenth Canto, 10.8.6 purport, p. 436.

57. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Bhagavad-Gita As It Is, 1.40 purport, p. 66.

58. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Srimad Bhagavatam: Third Canto, 3.22.4 purport, 2:206.

59. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Srimad Bhagavatam: Fourth Canto, 4.20.28 purport, 2:44.

60. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Srimad Bhagavatam: Fifth Canto, 5.13.8 purport, p. 438.

61. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Srimad Bhagavatam: First Canto, 1.5.24 purport, p. 272.

62. Ibid., 1.11.36 purport, p. 641.

63. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Srimad Bhagavatam: Sixth Canto, 6.3.13 purport, p. 154.

64. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Srimad Bhagavatam: First Canto, 1.15.39 purport, p. 880.

65. Ibid., 1.5.24 purport, p. 272.

66. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Srimad Bhagavatam: Third Canto, 3.21.52 purport, vol. 2, p. 198.

67. The Journey of Self-Discovery 7.1, The Bhaktivedanta VedaBase CD-ROM, record 316824.

68. Ibid., Lecture: Srimad Bhagavatam 2.3.1, Los Angeles, 19 May 1972, record 349873.

69. Ibid, Initiation Lecture Excerpt, London, 7 September 1971, record 374193.

70. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Srimad Bhagavatam: Sixth Canto, 6.5.39 purport, p. 310.

71. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Srimad Bhagavatam: Ninth Canto, 9.2.23-24 purport, p. 48.

72. Morning Walk, “Varnashrama College,” Vrindavan, 14 March 1974, The Bhaktivedanta VedaBase CD-ROM, record 426878.

73. Ibid., Letter to: Prabhakar, Honolulu, 31 May 1975, record 604402.

74. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Srimad Bhagavatam: Fourth Canto, 4.12.10 purport, 1:555.

75. Morning Walk, “Varnashrama College,” Vrindavan, 14 March 1974, The Bhaktivedanta VedaBase CD-ROM, record 426806.

76. Ibid., record 426856.

77. Ibid., record 426912.

78. Ibid., record 426916.

79. Ibid., Lecture: Bhagavad-gita 1.28-29, London, 22 July 1973, record 321203.

80. Ibid., Lecture: Bhagavad-gita 2.36-37, London, 4 September 1973, record 324206.

81. Ibid., Lecture: Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.7.28-29, Vrindavan, 25 September 1976, record 344572.

82. Ibid., Lecture: Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.17, Los Angeles, 12 July 1969, record 350225.

83. Ibid., Lecture: Bhagavad-gita 1.28.29, London, 22 July 1973, record 321203.

84. Ibid., Room Conversation, Indore, 13 December 1970, record 396710.

85. Ibid., Morning Conversation, Bombay, 11 April 1977, record 552458.

86. Ibid., Morning Conversation, Vrindavan, 23 June 1977, recording 561228.

87. Ibid., Lecture: Bhagavad-gita 1.31, London, 24 July 1973, record 321250.

88. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Srimad Bhagavatam: Fourth Canto, 4.13.19-20 purport, p. 626.

89. Ibid., 4.21.6 purport, 2:63.

90. Ibid., 4.22.45 purport, 2:212.

91. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Srimad Bhagavatam: Sixth Canto, 6.4.11 purport, p. 200.

92. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Srimad Bhagavatam: Ninth Canto, 9.13.12 purport, p. 425.

93. Lecture: Bhagavad-gita 1.4, London, 10 July 1973, The Bhaktivedanta VedaBase CD-ROM, Sandy Ridge 1995, record 320926.

94. Ibid., Room Conversation, Bombay, 21 August 1975, record 467143.

95. Ibid., Letter to: Dr. Wolf, Honolulu, 20 May 1976, record 607891.

96. Ibid., Room Conversation, Toronto, 17 June 1976, record 499762.

97. Ibid., Morning Walk, Bombay, 20 November 1975, records 476348-476350.

98. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Srimad Bhagavatam: Fourth Canto, 4.25.10 purport, p. 435.

99. Conversation During Massage, Bhubaneswar, 23 January 1977, The Bhaktivedanta VedaBase CD-ROM, records 540250-540252.

100. Ibid., Morning Walk, “Varnashrama College,” Vrindavan, 14 March 1974, record 426808.

101. Ibid., record 521531.

102. Ibid., Conversation with Seven Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad, 22 August 1976, record 521531.

103. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Srimad Bhagavatam: Fourth Canto, 4.12.10 purport, 1:555.

104. Bhaktivedanta Swami never referred to his followers and supporters as a “congregation”: “we are not a church. It is true that our congregation is not increasing, simply the inmates are becoming more numerous. We should be classified as a residential temple. . . . We simply have a bigger family therefore our temple is bigger.” Letter to: Karandhara, Auckland, 21 February 1973, The Bhaktivedanta VedaBase CD-ROM, record 598178.

105. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Srimad Bhagavatam: Third Canto, 3.21.31 purport, 2:178.

106. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, The Science of Self-Realization (Los Angeles: Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, 1978), ch. 6, 205.

107. Lecture Excerpt, Montreal, 27 July 1968, The Bhaktivedanta VedaBase CD-ROM, record 375748.

108. Ibid., Lecture, Seattle, 7 October 1968, record 376098.

109. Ibid., Morning Walk, “Varnashrama College,” Vrindavan, 14 March 1974, records 426818-426828.

110. Ibid., Lecture: Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.1.10, Dallas, 21 May 1973, record 351445.

111. All statements compiled from public lectures given by Bhaktivedanta Swami between 1966 and 1976: The Bhaktivedanta VedaBase CD-ROM, records 325375, 321872, 324287, 373118, 373748, 376098, 348074, 321762, 346644, 364869, 373118, 341145, 321762, 349874, 342416, 352085, 327836, 343560, 343561, 345037, 440043, 359218, 451445, 359947.

112. Ibid., Discussions with Shyamasundara Das: John Dewey, record 383864.

113. Ibid., Room Conversation, Mauritius, 5 October 1975, record 470657.

114. Ibid., Lecture: Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.16.4, Los Angeles, 1 January 1974, record 348074.

115. Ibid., Srimad-Bhagavatam: Second Part (From Seventh Chapter and half to Twelfth Chapter of the First Canto, Delhi 1964), Pre-1965 Writings of Srila Prabhupada, 1.11.36 purport, record 5739. Bhaktivedanta Swami’s editorial team later edited the reference to “negroes” out of this passage. In the 1987 Bhaktivedanta Book Trust edition it reads: “Cupid’s provocations are going on, even among beastly societies who are all ugly-looking in the estimation of the civilized nations” (p. 642).

116. Ibid., Room Conversation, “Varnashrama System Must Be Introduced,” Mayapura, 14 February 1977, The Bhaktivedanta VedaBase CD-ROM, record 543832.

117. Ibid., Morning Walk at Villa Borghese, Rome, 26 May 1974, record 435756.

118. Ibid., Lecture: Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.16.8, Los Angeles, 5 January 1974, record 435176.

119. Ibid., Morning Walk, “Varnashrama College,” Vrindavan, 14 March 1974, record 426904.

120. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Srimad Bhagavatam: Fourth Canto, 4.16.4 purport, 1:718

121. Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.7.25, Vrindavan, 22 September 1976, The Bhaktivedanta VedaBase CD-ROM, record 344514.

122. Ibid., Morning Walk, Vrindavan, 12 March 1974, record 426651.

123. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Bhagavad-Gita As It Is, 6.13-14 purport, p. 322.

124. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Srimad Bhagavatam: First Canto, 1.5.24 purport, p. 272.

125. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, The Nectar of Instruction (Los Angeles: Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, 1975), purport, p. 7.

126. Letter to: Tulsi, Mayapur, 12 October 1974, The Bhaktivedanta VedaBase CD-ROM, record 602204.

127. Ibid., Letter to: Satsvarupa, Delhi, 25 November 1971, record 594508.

128. Ibid., Letter to: Satyabhama, Hyderabad, 23 March 1973, records 598314-598315.

129. Ibid., Letter to: Krishna Das, Dallas, 9 September 1972, record 597098.

130. Ibid., Letter to: Jayatirtha, 76-01-20, record 606815.

131. Ibid., Lecture: Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.6.1, San Francisco, 6 March 1967, record 361415.

132. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Srimad Bhagavatam: Fourth Canto, 4.12.23 purport, 1:573.

133. Ibid., 4.12.34 purport, p. 587.

134. Lecture: London, 12 July 1972, The Bhaktivedanta VedaBase CD-ROM, record 379028.

135. Ibid., Letter to: Parent, Mayapur, 4 March 1976, records 607395-607396.

136. Ibid., Room Conversation, Paris, 31 July 1976, record 514761.

137. Ibid., record 514762.

138. Ibid., Letter to: Satsvarupa, Mayapur, 28 February 1972, record 595543.

139. Ibid., Letter to: Satsvarupa, New York, 11 April 1973, record 598384.

140. Ibid., Morning Conversation, Bombay, 29 April 1977, records 556479-556491.

141. Ibid., Morning Walk, “Varnashrama College,” Vrindavan, 14 March 1974, record 426865.

142. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Bhagavad-Gita As It Is, 1.50 purport, p. 67.

143. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Srimad Bhagavatam: Eighth Canto, 8.9.9 purport, p. 330.

144. Ibid., Fourth Canto, 4.26.26 purport, p. 542.

145. Ibid., Sixth Canto, 6.17.34-35 purport, p. 786.

146. Ibid., Seventh Canto, 7.11.13 purport, pl. 657.

147. Lecture: Bhagavad-gita 3.21-25, New York, 30 May 1966, The Bhaktivedanta VedaBase CD-ROM, record 325569.

148. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Teachings of Lord Kapila (Los Angeles: Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, 1988), 43.

149. Lecture: Bhagavad-gita 9.29-32, New York, 20 December 1966, The Bhaktivedanta VedaBase CD-ROM, record 335067.

150. Ibid., Lecture: Bhagavat-gita 2.13, Hyderabad, 19 November 1972, record 322847.

151. Ibid., Room Conversation, April 5, 1977, Bombay, record 551678-551680.

152. Ibid., Lecture: Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.8.34, Bombay, 14 October 1974, record 345749.

153. Ibid., Lecture: Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.16.12, Los Angeles, 9 January 1974, record 348242.

154. Ibid., Letter to: Madhukara, Bombay, 4 January 1973, record 597847.

155. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Srimad Bhagavatam: First Canto, Preface, p. xxiii.

156. Childhood of Shame, ABCNEWS, Monday, 27 November 2000, http://abcnews.go.com/onair/abcnews/transcripts/2020downtown_001127-harekrishna_trans.html.

157. Personal communication, 7 March 2001.

158. Ibid. Das probably refers to events described in: John Hubner and Lindsey Gruson, Monkey on a Stick: Murder, Madness and the Hare Krishnas (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1988).

159. Morning Walk, Hyderabad, 20 April 1974, The Bhaktivedanta VedaBase CD-ROM, record 433800.

160. Personal communication, 7 March 2001.

161. Former Harikesha Swami and Devamrita Swami; Harikesha Swami left ISKCON in 1998, Devamrita Swami remains in a leading position in the movement.

162. Harikesa Swami Visnupada, Varnashrama Manifesto for Social Sanity (Los Angeles: Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, 1981).

163. Ibid., title page.

164. Even the title of their book echoes words he wrote in India in 1956: “The atheist is requested herewith for his own benefit and for the benefit of all concerned—not to indulge in any more attempt of insanity. The whole world is already infected with an epidemic of insanity. The whole world is now full with men of unclean habits. And to save the world from further deterioration for human habitation, the atheist should give up the mode of irresponsible life under the influence of blind materialism and take to the path of ‘Buddhiyoga’ as mentioned in the Bhagwat Geeta.” Back to Godhead 1944-1960 (Los Angeles: Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, 1994), 95, BTG vol. 3 part 4, 20 April 1956.

165. Harikesa Swami Visnupada, Varnashrama Manifesto, 132.

166. William H. Deadwyler, “ISKCON and Varnashrama-Dharma,” 40.

167. Ibid., 123-124.

168. Letter to Tamal Krishna, Gurudasa, London, 23 August 1971, The Bhaktivedanta VedaBase CD-ROM, record 593851.

169. I cannot find the source of this popular quote, which is commonly attributed to Bhaktivedanta Swami, but it is well known in ISKCON circles.

170. “Even though one is very much advanced in devotional service, if he commits offenses at the feet of a Vaishnava, his advancement is all spoiled. . . . The most grievous type of vaishnava-aparadha is called gurv-aparadha, which refers to offenses at the lotus feet of the spiritual master.” A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Srimad Bhagavatam: Fourth Canto, 4.21.37 purport, pp. 111-112.

“It is said, therefore, by Vaishnava authorities that even the most intelligent person cannot understand the plans and activities of a pure devotee. . . . He is above all materialist criticism, just as Krishna is above all criticism.” A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Bhagavad-Gita As It Is, 9.28 purport, pp. 491-92.

“A devotee should be fixed in the conclusion that the spiritual master cannot be subject to criticism and should never be considered equal to a common man.” A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Sri-Chaitanya-Charitamrita: Antya-Lila (Los Angeles: Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, 1996), 3.11 purport, p. 217.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

EKKEHARD LORENZ is a student of Indology with focus on medieval and ancient Sanskrit at the Institute for Oriental Languages at the University of Stockholm, Sweden. He was an editorial advisor at ISKCON’s North European Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT), specializing in assisting BBT translators in understanding Bhaktivedanta Swami’s English translations of original Sanskrit texts.

To read Ekkehard Lorenz’s other chapter in The Hare Krishna Movement—The Postcharismatic Fate of a Religious Transplant, see The Guru, Mayavadins, and Women: Tracing the Origins of Selected Polemical Statements in the Work of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami.