Dear Srila Prabhupada,

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

On the auspicious occasion of Vyasa Puja 2025, I express my profuse gratitude to Your Divine Grace for protecting our devotional services, especially to the Deities of Hare Krishna Hill, by blessing us all with a victory in the Supreme Court.

From the beginning, the conflict was never with the other camp of ISKCON, considering that we are one of the ISKCONs. It has been only with the self-made gurus in the other ISKCON camp, who are now majority leaders in their highest managing body, GBC. After 25 years of the intense conflict with these leaders, our victory in the Supreme Court is nothing other than a direct blessing of Srila Prabhupada, who has vindicated our stand that only the ritvik system should be followed in ISKCON, most certainly blessing ISKCON Bangalore group of temples to continue the ritvik system.

Today there are thousands of devotees who come across ISKCON and get attracted to Srila Prabhupada's teachings, Deity worship and all other devotional practices that Srila Prabhupada established in ISKCON. Innumerable sincere followers of Srila Prabhupada have been kept in the dark about His Divine Grace’s order by many kinds of false propaganda devices of the self-made gurus of ISKCON, against those who profess faith in the ritvik system of initiation.

Before I begin my humble offering to glorify His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada, I seek forgiveness in advance from all Vaishnavas within ISKCON, as my presentation will primarily focus on exposing serious institutional deviations by ISKCON leadership following Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance lila. Forgiveness, because although some leaders have disobeyed Srila Prabhupada’s clear institutional directives and chosen to become self-appointed gurus, their sincere and vigorous services in building this movement prior to 1977 cannot be forgotten and deserve appreciation. However, truth must be spoken to protect ISKCON from this serious deviation, as our foremost duty is to Srila Prabhupada, the founder-acharya and the greatest of all Vaishnavas in this institution and his mission. When his divine vision and mission are compromised through institutional disobedience, we must speak up - not out of spite, but out of love and loyalty to Srila Prabhupada.

It would be a grave negligence of duty to remain silent about these blunders, many of which the GBC themselves have acknowledged. I must choose to remain silent and neglect my service to Srila Prabhupada and the youth of ISKCON who dedicate their lives to this movement - or voice these truths, even if it causes discomfort to some.

While I remain deeply respectful and beg forgiveness from all sincere Vaishnavas, I am also aware of Srila Prabhupada’s prediction that when the Acharya disappears, there is always the danger of unauthorised principles being introduced in the movement.

“Whenever the ācārya comes, following the superior orders of the Supreme Personality of Godhead or His representative, he establishes the principles of religion. Unfortunately, when the ācārya disappears, rogues and non-devotees take advantage and immediately begin to introduce unauthorised principles. The ācārya, the authorised representative of the Supreme Lord, establishes the principles of religion, but when he disappears, things once again become disordered. The perfect disciples of the ācārya try to relieve the situation by sincerely following the instructions of the spiritual master.” Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam purport 4.28.48

Srila Prabhupada, the recent victory bestowed upon us by you is not only an enormous relief against attacks by the ISKCON self-made guru leaders and their misled followers who attempted to expel the devotees of ISKCON Bangalore from the movement. An even greater impact of this victory is that it marks the completion of the foundation work of the last 25 years, of building an ISKCON where you alone shall be the diksha guru forever.

Issuance of July 9th Directive and its disobedience

The July 9th 1977 Directive was issued by Srila Prabhupada just 4 months before his disappearance pastime. This Directive leaves no ambiguity in the matter of stating how the 11 people named therein would act as the representative of the Acharya called ritviks, and making all new entrants in ISKCON as disciples of Srila Prabhupada. Further, in the recorded conversation in which Srila Prabhupada named these ritviks, he says more can be appointed by the GBC. Thus, he not only named 11 ritviks, but also established the procedure for new ritviks to be appointed in future, to perpetuate this system forever in ISKCON.

However, being very young in spiritual life, these 11 ritviks began disobeying Srila Prabhupāda’s orders in 1978, by keeping the July 9th directive under wraps. They declared themselves the next acharyas, blatantly lying to the ISKCON community that Srila Prabhupada had appointed them as acharyas. On enquiring from many of the old Temple Presidents, we have come to know that they had never received a copy of the July 9th Directive, although it is addressed to all GBCs and Temple Presidents. These 11 ambitious devotees conspired to divide the world into eleven zones exactly like cutting a cake into 11 pieces and became the supremos in each zone. Their followers in these zones owed absolute allegiance to the self-declared Zonal Acharya of that zone, similar to the absolute allegiance that was offered to Srila Prabhupada. Thus, the schism caused by acharya zones in ISKCON began in the GBC meeting of 1978. They even professed that they were Maha bhagavat uttama adhikaris, until one by one, they started morally falling from grace to extreme disgrace and leaving the movement in less than 10 years after Srila Prabhupada’s departure.

A statement from a senior GBC member admitted that they were only appointed as ritviks:

“ It is a fact that Srila Prabhupada never said, “ Alright here is the next acharya, or here is the next eleven acharyas and they are authorised gurus for the movement for the world. He did not do that”.

Ravindra Svarupa Das, San Diego debate, 1990

Although the Zonal Acharya system was officially discontinued by the GBC in 1986, it was soon replaced by a new model wherein more gurus were appointed by the GBC, and authorised to initiate disciples anywhere in the world - without any zonal boundaries. Unfortunately, this has given rise to a new kind of fragmentation within ISKCON. Today, most ISKCON temples are dominated by disciples of a single guru, creating exclusive Temple-Acharya camps in the place of the Zonal Acharya camps. This is an undeniable reality in ISKCON today.

As a result, ISKCON temples across the globe have become associated with particular gurus, and the pattern remains consistent. It is evident that a movement cannot remain unified under such a multiple-guru structure within a single institution. According to Vaishnava philosophy, loyalty to one's diksha-guru is unwavering and cannot be secondary to loyalty towards the institution itself. This conflict has visibly weakened ISKCON as an institution over the decades, especially with several guru-based factions causing various internal crises.

Any division within the parts of any system inevitably drains the energy of the whole. Even from the standpoint of institutional unity, the ritvik system of initiation - where all disciples are initiated on behalf of Srila Prabhupada - offers a cohesive alternative that preserves his legacy and the foundational vision of ISKCON. It is a brilliant transcendental innovative system that helps maintain unity and integrity. In this regard, it was interesting to discover the phrase acharya-sampradaya in the following quote of Srila Prabhupada:

“The ācārya gives the suitable method for crossing the ocean of nescience by accepting the boat of the Lord's lotus feet, and if this method is strictly followed, the followers will ultimately reach the destination, by the grace of the Lord. This method is called ācārya-sampradāya. It is therefore said, sampradāya-vihīnā ye mantrās te niṣphalā matāḥ (Padma Purāṇa). The ācārya-sampradāya is strictly bona fide. Therefore, one must accept the ācārya-sampradāya; otherwise one's endeavour will be futile. SB Purport to 10.2.32

In the acharya - sampradaya, every detail that we follow in ISKCON, whether it is 16 rounds, four regulative principles, organizational structure or diksha system, always has to be as designed by Srila Prabhupada, a pure confidential devotee of Krishna coming in disciplic succession. The following resolution of GBC recorded in 1975 in a GBC meeting in the physical presence of Srila Prabhupada states:

“Resolved: The GBC (Governing Body Commission) has been established by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada to represent him in carrying out the responsibility of managing the International Society for Krishna Consciousness of which he is the Founder-Acharya and supreme authority. The GBC accepts as its life and soul His divine instructions and recognizes that it is completely dependent on His mercy in all respects. The GBC has no other function or purpose other than to execute the instructions so kindly given by His Divine Grace and preserve and spread his teachings to the world in their pure form.”

It is to be noted that Srila Prabhupada remains the supreme authority of ISKCON and GBC can have no other purpose than to execute his instructions.

And in his final Declaration of Will dated 4th June 1977, Srila Prabhupada records:

“The system of management will continue as it is now and there is no need of any change.”

The ritvik system is simply a management system of initiation in ISKCON. Srila Prabhupada says in his Will that there is no need to change anything that is going on as on the date of his Will. But unfortunately, the GBC has, without authorization, changed it to a multiple-guru system of initiation. Srila Prabhupada had apprehensions of GBC spoiling everything:

“What will happen when I am not here, have everything be spoiled by the GBC?” Letter to Rupanuga 4/4/72

Ritvik system is a perfect system to keep the institution intact, that is clearly meant to last for thousands of years, without schisms, as a united force to fight Maya. Only Srila Prabhupada can unite us. Srila Prabhupada’s ritvik system automatically fosters the ultimate primary loyalty of heart to Srila Prabhupada as the diksha guru by all generations to come. Everyone else can be a shiksha guru of anyone and everyone based on the merit of their contribution in assisting diksha disciples of Srila Prabhupada. In fact, Srila Prabhupada expressed such a vision in a letter as early as 1974:

“The GBC should all be the instructor gurus. I am the initiator guru and you should be instructor guru by teaching what I am teaching and doing what I am doing.” Letter to Madhudvisa, 4/7/74

Who can become a diksha guru?

In reference to Gaudiya Matha Srila Prabhupada wrote:

“If everyone just initiates there will be contradictory result. As long as it goes on, there will be only failure.” Srila Prabhupada, Phalgun Krishna Panchami, verse 23, 1961

“The result is now everyone is claiming to be acharya even though they may be kanistha adhikari with no ability to preach. In some of the camps the acharya is being changed three times a year. Therefore we may not commit the same mistake in our ISKCON camp.” Letter to Rupanuga 28/04/74

Though Srila Prabhupada warned us that this should not happen in ISKCON, it is unfortunately a fact that it has happened and continues to happen in ISKCON. Therefore, unfortunately and obviously, the GBC has committed a big mistake in spite of Srila Prabhupada’s warning.

Srila Prabhupada’s books and conversations contain instructions only to be instructor gurus or shiksha gurus. As per his teachings, the qualification of a shiksha guru can range from kanishta adhikari to madhyama adhikari or highly advanced self-realized uttama adhikari. There is a standing order from Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu for everyone to become a shiksha guru:

“He asked everyone, "Just become guru." Follow His instruction, you become guru. Āmāra ājnāya. Don't manufacture ideas. Āmāra ājnāya. "What I say, you do. You become a guru." Where is the difficulty? "And what is Your ājnā?" Yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṇa-upadeśa. Bās. Everything is there in the Bhagavad-gītā. You simply repeat. That's all. You become guru. To become a guru is not difficult job. Follow Chaitanya Mahāprabhu and speak what Kṛṣṇa has said. Bās. You become guru.

April 15, 1977, Bombay, Conversations

The teachings of Srila Prabhupada are unequivocal about the qualifications of an initiator guru or diksha guru. He has to be on the level of an Uttama Adhikari, a Vaishnava of highest advancement and nothing less. This is the reason the scriptures prescribe the inviolable direction that one has to be specifically ordered or authorized by the predecessor acharya as per diksha vidhana, to act as a diksha guru who endorses his qualifications:

“One should take initiation from a bona fide spiritual master coming in the disciplic succession, who is authorized by his predecessor spiritual master. This is called dīkṣā-vidhāna.” SB Purport 4.8.54

“Try to understand. Don't go very speedily. A guru can become guru when he's ordered by his guru. That's all. Otherwise nobody can become guru.” BG Lecture, 28/10/1975

Srila Prabhupada teaches who can be a guru as seen from these quotes.

“A spiritual master is always liberated.” Letter to Tamal Krishna 21/6/1970

“The pure devotee is always free from the clutches of Maya and influence.” SB Purport 5.3.14

“There is no possibility that a first class devotee will fall down.” Cc Madhya 22.71

“The guru must be situated on the topmost platform of devotional service. There are three classes of devotees, and the guru must be accepted from the topmost class.” Cc. Madhya 24.330 Purport

“When one has attained the topmost position of mahā-bhāgavata, he is to be accepted as a guru and worshiped exactly like Hari, the Personality of Godhead. Only such a person is eligible to occupy the post of a guru. However, if one is highly qualified but is not a Vaiṣṇava, he cannot be accepted as a guru.” Cc Madhya 24.3.30

“On the whole, you may know that he is not a liberated person, and therefore, he cannot initiate any person to Krishna Consciousness. It requires special spiritual benediction from higher authorities.” Letter to Jadurani 26/4/68

And the reason for fall down of gurus can be understood from this statement of Srila Prabhupada:

“Sometimes a spiritual master is not properly authorized and only on his own initiative becomes a spiritual master, he may be carried away by an accumulation of wealth and a large number of disciples.” Nectar of Devotion , page 116.

Difference between Principle, Desire and Order

There is another strong propaganda devised by the GBC of the other camp of ISKCON, by which innocent new devotees who come to ISKCON are being diverted from the truth of Srila Prabhupada’s ritvik system. It is by pointing out quotes of Srila Prabhupada, wherein he wanted/wished/ desired that his disciples become diksha gurus as per the law of disciplic sucession, which states that the present disciples becomes the next spiritual masters. In order not to fall into the mind-trap of such false propaganda, one has to be careful to understand difference between the following three kinds of statements of Srila Prabhupada:

1. Srila Prabhupada’s statement explaining the law of disciplic succession and

2. Srila Prabhupada’s statements expressing his desire that his present disciples qualify and become next diksha gurus and

3. Srila Prabhupada’s statements about the need for a specific order for a disciple to become next diksha guru from his guru, after having qualified.

Quotes of first two types are not sufficient by themselves to become diksha guru. Srila Prabhupada has made it clear that unless one is specifically ordered by his guru to become guru he cannot become guru. For instance the quote below is his wish or intent which is different from his order.

“I shall produce some gurus. I shall say who is guru. ‘Now you become acharya.’ You can cheat, but it will not be effective. Just see our Gaudiya Matha. Everyone wanted to be guru. A small temple and ‘guru’. What kind of guru?” Morning walk conversation. 22/4/77

Again he warns:

“Don’t become premature acharya. First of all follow the orders of the acharya, and you become mature.” Lecture 6/4/1975, Mayapur.

Desires of Srila Prabhupada is obviously expressed in different times that all his disciples become gurus, but that by itself is not sufficient for one to become a guru. A specific order of Srila Prabhupada is a must. It only means that they become eligible to be ordered to become guru provided they were qualified. Just like when one is 18 years of age he is eligible to get a driving licence. That is the law. But that is not sufficient condition to start driving. One has to qualify by being trained in driving and then be authorized with a licence to start driving. One has to separate these three kinds of statements of Srila Prabhupada. A principle of disciplic succession stated by Srila Prabhupada or his wish that someone becomes a diksha is not equal to his order for everyone to become diksha gurus. Such an order was never given by Srila Prabhupada.

GBC changes diksha guru philosophy

The GBC started approving/authorizing new gurus beyond the first 11, from 1986. By 1986, six of the eleven had already fallen from grace. Then the new gurus started falling from grace. The GBC became a laughing stock in the ISKCON community. To explain this to the followers, they changed the original philosophy of Srila Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada taught that a guru has to be an uttama adhikari and hence cannot fall down. GBC changed it saying that kanishta or madhyama also can all be diksha gurus in ISKCON and hence can fall into Maya.

To escape the embarrassment of the GBC authorized gurus falling down, the GBC made further changes, saying that it will no longer authorize new gurus in ISKCON, and will only bless anyone who wishes to be guru, provided there were no objections from anyone anywhere in the world. Thus, they have now formally established a system of self-made gurus. There is no Vaishnava tradition wherein an institution appoints diksha gurus or gives No Objection Certificates to someone to become a diksha guru. Srila Prabhupada says about self-made gurus:

“Therefore he's not guru. Self-made guru cannot be guru. He must be authorized by the bona fide guru. Then he's guru. This is the fact………………… Similarly, bona fide guru means he must be authorized by the superior guru. He must receive the order from the superior. And the superior must be bona fide. Then he's bona fide, not self-made.” Lecture, October 30, 1972, Vrindavan

In spite of experimenting and failing at the Zonal Acharya system, then again failing in the institution-made guru system, then again continuing to fail in the self-made guru system, it is unfortunate that the GBC of the other ISKCON camp still does not want to follow the system of initiation of the July 9th, 1977, Directive given by Srila Prabhupada himself that we have been following for the last 25 years in ISKCON Bangalore.

The reason that the GBC cannot give up the self-made guru system is because they stumbled at the very first step in 1977, when they assumed the role of diksha gurus without any direct order from Srila Prabhupada. Having since initiated thousands of disciples, they now find themselves unable to reverse course. There seems to be no hope at all for the other ISKCON camp to ever fall in line again. Today ISKCON is largely composed of these gurus' followers, with only a few of Srila Prabhupada’s original disciples remaining - and most of them have become self-made gurus themselves.

Srila Prabhupada explains in a conversation why Gaudiya Matha failed:

Why this Gaudiya Matha fell? Because they tried to become more than guru. Before passing away, he gave all direction and never said that this man should be next acharya. But these people, just after passing away, they began to fight, 'Who shall be Acharya? That is the failure. They never thought, 'Why Guru Maharaja gave us instruction so many things, why he did not say that this man should be Acharya? They wanted to create artificially somebody Acharya and everything failed. They did not consider even with common sense that if Guru Maharaja wanted to appoint somebody as acharya, why did he not say? He said so many things - and this point he missed - the real point? Let them declare some unfit person to become Acharya, then another man comes, and another and another. So better remain a foolish person perpetually to be directed by Guru Maharaja. That is perfection. And as soon as they learned that Guru Maharaja is dead—'Now I am so advanced that I can kill my guru and then become . . .' "

Keeping Srila Prabhupada in the centre of devotees’ life

As a result, the original spirit and identity of ISKCON has visibly changed. The accusation that self-appointed gurus have hijacked the movement becomes evident from this perspective. Despite various guru reform attempts in the other ISKCON camp, efforts to keep Srila Prabhupada at the centre are superficial, because according to his teachings and practices from 1966 to 1977, the diksha guru must be the central figure in a disciple’s spiritual life. Srila Prabhupada as the diksha guru of everyone automatically becomes the centre of the hearts of all ISKCON devotees. The sidelining of Srila Prabhupada post - 1977 is a self-inflicted and structural issue, not merely circumstantial. As in management, structural flaws cannot be fixed with cosmetic changes. The real solution lies in transforming the initiation system to align with Srila Prabhupada’s July 9th Directive.

The court cases, expansion of ISKCON Bangalore and our peace offer

Following the failure of the guru system within ISKCON, in 1998 ISKCON Bangalore adopted the ritvik system of initiation based on the July 9th directive, where new initiates accepted Srila Prabhupada as their diksha guru. This decision angered senior ISKCON leaders in the GBC. In 1999, several devotees from Bangalore and Kolkata were expelled for adhering to the ritvik model—making it clear that the initial aggression came from the GBC of the other ISKCON camp.

To protect our right to remain within ISKCON, we approached the courts purely in self-defence. The litigation was not to resolve the diksha guru issue or for any material gain, but to establish that the Bangalore temple property belonged to an independently registered society - ISKCON Bangalore - founded in 1978 by the then GBC representative Hamsadutta Swami. It was a case between two legally registered societies - ISKCON Mumbai Society and ISKCON Bangalore Society. The courts granted interim relief in 2001, restraining the GBC represented by ISKCON Mumbai from interfering in the affairs of ISKCON Bangalore, while the permanent relief took 25 years, going from lowest to the highest court in India.

During this interim period of 25 years our ISKCON Bangalore movement grew globally, forming a network of over 52 temples as of today, that accept Srila Prabhupada as the sole diksha guru under the ritvik system. Today, there are two distinct branches within ISKCON: one comprising temples led by self-gurus , and our ISKCON led by Srila Prabhupada as the sole diksha guru.

Why did ISKCON Bangalore wake up as late as 1998, when the deviation actually began in 1978? It is only with the changes in world communication technology in the late 1990's that all the recorded tapes, lectures, orders and books of Srila Prabhupada become easily available digitally to everyone. That is how the devotees of ISKCON Bangalore came to know of the July 9th, 1977 directive of Srila Prabhupada in 1998, as well as the disturbing details of the post -1977 history of gurus falling down in ISKCON . With this development, everyone could to see what Srila Prabhupada had actually left behind as his order on spiritual succession of diksha. A lie survives only until the truth is revealed.

Prayers to Lord Narasimha from both sides

When the final verdict from the Supreme Court of India was awaited this year, followers were requested to pray by leaders of both sides, for the best outcome of the court cases.

After prayers from both sides, as devotees of Lord Narasimha, all must accept the verdict as His divine will. It reaffirms Srila Prabhupada’s instruction and upholds the ritvik system of initiation practised in ISKCON Bangalore for the past 25 years.

This verdict is Lord Krishna’s will—not a mundane court decision. The judges were simply instruments in Narasimhadev's hands, who has personally resolved this dispute among two groups of His devotees.

We hope those opposing will begin to see that the ritvik system is not a deviant or heretical practice, as misrepresented in the GBC’s 1999 resolution.

Today, our commitment to the ritvik system stands affirmed by Srila Prabhupada and Lord Narasimha. Srila Prabhupada’s ISKCON is here to stay.

After this spiritual victory, ISKCON Bangalore made a sincere offer to the GBC of the other ISKCON camp to unite with them, by offering all 52 temple properties in writing, asking only that the GBC revoke the ban and allow our group to continue practicing ritvik initiations, and become an inclusive ISKCON. Sadly, the GBC wrote back and rejected our offer and reiterated their stance against the ritvik system, deepening the divide within ISKCON.

Why the other ISKCON camp refuses to follow the July 9th Directive

The core argument for rejecting the ritvik system is that Srila Prabhupada’s July 9th Directive was temporary - meant to last only until his departure in November 1977. After that, they claim, guru succession was to continue as per tradition.

However, this claim lacks any backing. The directive uses the word “henceforward,” directly implying a system intended to continue even after Srila Prabhupada’s physical departure.

On May 28th, Srila Prabhupada was specifically asked: “How will first and second initiations happen in ISKCON, particularly when you are no longer with us?” His immediate response: “I will soon appoint some of you to act as officiating acharyas.” When asked if that meant ritvik acharyas, he confirmed: “Yes, ritvik.”

The July 9th Directive begins by referring to this very conversation: “Recently when all the GBC members were with His Divine Grace, in Vrindavan, Srila Prabhupada indicated that soon he would appoint some of the senior disciples to act a ritvik-representative of the acharya , for purposes of performing initiations, both first and second initiations. ………..” clearly establishing context and intent of this Directive.

Reclaiming Srila Prabhupada’s Position as Diksha Guru

Today, self-made gurus in ISKCON have sidelined Srila Prabhupada to the role of a general shiksha guru for all, while elevating themselves as the diksha gurus in the hearts of devotees. This inversion of role is not only misleading - it’s a serious offence. The real reform in ISKCON is to restore Srila Prabhupada as the sole pre-eminent diksha and shiksha guru, as it was originally pre-1977.

These self-appointed gurus claim to transmit divya jnana personally into the hearts of their disciples - a role Srila Prabhupada already performs universally within ISKCON. Whether one calls him shiksha or diksha guru, the foremost place in every devotee’s heart must be reserved for Srila Prabhupada alone. This is his institution - how could it be any other way?

Despite being meticulous about ISKCON’s rituals, worship etc., Srila Prabhupada gave no instruction on worshiping future gurus, holding Vyasa Puja for them, placing their photos on temple altars to be worshipped or having special pranama mantras for them. These are GBC's post-1977 innovations. The YouTube channel “Struggle for Truth” explores all these deviations in depth, using Srila Prabhupada’s own teachings.

Debunking the “flesh and blood” argument

A common objection to the ritvik system is that a guru must be physically present on the planet to initiate. But this reflects gross bodily consciousness. Yes, it is true that sadhu-sanga of Vaishnavas who are in flesh and blood is vital for spiritual life, especially for beginners in spiritual life who are in the bodily concept of life. But it is wrongly applied to the role of a diksha guru and superficially the reasoning appeals to beginners in Krishna consciousness.

Take the hypothetical case of a disciple who has received diksha from a guru who departs the world the next day. Does the disciple then need another living diksha guru? Clearly not. The diksha guru and the Lord in the heart acts transcendentally by shining divya jnana in the disciple’s heart, regardless of guru’s physical absence. Srila Prabhupada explained that the relationship with guru exists in two forms: vani relationship (with instructional sound) and vapu relationship (physical presence). Thousands of disciples of Srila Prabhupada never had even a single opportunity to physically meet Srila Prabhupada, yet he is acting as their diksha guru. The foundation of spiritual life is to transcend bodily identity. Such an argument as to why Srila Prabhupada cannot initiate disciples now is totally a materialist argument.

Physical form is just one of many temporary manifestations of Guru. It is offensive to claim that such an exalted Acharya - confidential associate of Krishna - cannot continue to act directly as diksha guru if he wished so. Who are we to question his wishes? As for other purva acharyas in our parampara, none of them set up an institutional system to preach. It was only Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati and Srila Prabhupada among recent acharyas, who established institutions to preach. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati did not express any desire to be diksha guru in his institution for new entrants after his departure. He clearly said that one among his disciples would become a self-effulgent Acharya. And we all know that that self-effulgent disciple Acharya was His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada. However, Srila Prabhupada is the only one among all of our purva acharyas in our parampara who has set up a system where he continues to initiate devotees as his diksha disciples in his institution, even after physical departure, as the sampradaya-acharya.

He made his position clear even as early as 1968:

“I am the spiritual master of this institution, and all the members of the Society, they're supposed to be my disciples. They follow the rules and regulation which I ask them to follow, and they are initiated by me spiritually.” — Interview, March 12, 1968, San Francisco

One has to understand that the ritvik system is a system within an institution. As long as ISKCON institution exists, this institutional system remains, and Srila Prabhupada continues as the current link of the parampara at all times in his institution.

Srila Prabhupada meticulously delegated, over many years from 1968, the physical aspects of diksha - such as giving spiritual names, malas, mantras, and oaths - to his disciples, declaring that their actions on his behalf were as good as done by him personally. His physical involvement is not at all required for him to perform the divya jnana function of the diksha guru.

Since no later instruction exists that revokes this directive, ISKCON leaders are duty-bound to uphold it - initiating new devotees as disciples of Srila Prabhupada, as he originally intended.

Vedic Precedent: Diksha Beyond the Physical Body

The initiation of Dhruva Maharaja by Narada Rishi is a direct example of diksha given by a spiritual master who was not in flesh and blood - yet fully potent. All acharyas in our parampara are equal in their potency as they all represent Krishna. Srila Prabhupada’s spiritual position and capability to give diksha post his mahasamadhi is no less than Narada Rishi’s. Just as Krishna empowered Narada to initiate Dhruva through transcendental means, He similarly has sent Srila Prabhupada to establish ISKCON and deliver Harinama to millions as its Acharya and diksha guru—as long as the institution lives. The example of Dhruva Maharaja reaffirms the spiritual validity vis-à-vis guru, sadhu and shastra of diksha by Srila Prabhupada post his disappearance. This is the divine intent that is clearly expressed in the July 9th, 1977 Directive.

Srila Prabhupada declared: “I will never die. I will live forever in my books. And you will utilize.” His books are the permanent vessel of divya jnana in ISKCON. He further confirmed: “I have given you everything in my books.”

This transcendental principle continues to operate as long as ISKCON stands. Srila Prabhupada lives in our midst—guiding souls to Krishna through vani by initiating everyone in this institution through the ritvik system.

Reassessing ISKCON’s Post-1977 Growth

The other ISKCON camp points out that in 50 years of preaching after Srila Prabhupada’s physical departure, they have expanded from 100 temples to 600 - 700 temples worldwide. They say “The proof of the pudding is in the eating - phalena pariciyate.” But we will show below how these very numbers reveal stagnation, not growth.

By the time Srila Prabhupada attained mahasamadhi, he left behind 100 ISKCON temples. Yet his vision for ISKCON was far more expansive as he wrote:

“Therefore, always pray to Krishna to give you strength for accomplishing this mission by doing what I am doing. My first business is to give the devotees the proper knowledge and engage them in devotional service, so that is not very difficult task for you, I have given you everything, so read and speak from the books and so many new lights will come out. We have got so many books, so if we go on preaching from them for the next 1,000 years………….From a practical point of view, as I have not yet finished Srimad-Bhagavatam and we have got now 100 branches, so by the time I am finished with Bhagavatam there must be at least 1000 branches. I have worked alone, now you are so many. Our scope is unlimited, resources unlimited, so we must be exceptionally enthusiastic and sober-minded and responsible for working in that spirit.” Balavanta Das dated June 17, 1972

Srila Prabhupada envisioned 1,000 branches even when he was on the planet. He has said that his books would be preached for 1,000 years. So, after five decades, expanding to only 700 temples is nothing to speak about, for this powerful movement. Is it truly a success when compared to Srila Prabhupada’s scale and expectation?

The real culprit behind this stunted progress is the self-made guru system. Zonal Acharyas had made thousands of disciples, many of whom were passionate super book distributors. But when the Zonal gurus fell for grace, so did the faith of their followers. ISKCON lost entire waves of devotees, as seen in the case of Harikesha Prabhu - whose fall led to a major decline in European book distribution.

The impact is like running 100 miles forward and then running 90 miles backwards. The net progress is only 10 miles. If not for these repeated setbacks of guru fall - downs, ISKCON could easily have reached 7,000 centres by now, and not just 700.

The narrative of “growth” is misleading - it’s time to acknowledge the true cost of sidelining Srila Prabhupada as the diksha guru of ISKCON.

Prayer to Srila Prabhupada

We pray that the devotees of the other ISKCON camp, who came to Krishna consciousness through your teachings which touched their souls, may surrender to Your Divine Grace as their diksha guru, on the real path of bhakti that you taught us. May they no more surrender their intelligence to the self - made ISKCON gurus, and instead surrender to you with their intelligence, as you have taught. You have taught us that a bona fide guru is one who is authorized by his guru.

By believing in the false propaganda against ritvik initiation they risk offending their true spiritual connection with you as the diksha guru of ISKCON, who shines divya-jnana in their hearts, in reciprocation to following the spiritual discipline that you have designed for everyone in ISKCON. Thousands of souls have lost your shelter after the betrayal of their spiritual faith. Absolute loyalty as per your teachings should be only to a bona fide guru - not to one who is self-appointed.

Srila Prabhupada, kindly save them from losing this rarest and sacred opportunity to follow all the spiritual discipline meticulously given by you, to become direct disciples of Your Divine Grace, who alone can take back to Godhead.

Srila Prabhupada, you came into my life in 1977, when I read a few pages of your books. In 1981, after I stepped into ISKCON, I was misled to select and accept a diksha guru from the present self-made gurus. But by your mercy, I discovered the truth and realigned my relationship with him as only the ritvik who gave me Srila Prabhupada’s diksha. I begged forgiveness from you, Srila Prabhupada, for not sufficiently honouring my exact spiritual relationship with you as my diksha guru, having been misled by self-made gurus. Though I am being labelled as ‘guru-drohi’ in the other ISKCON camp, I stand firmly by your words that an unqualified guru can be rejected and replaced with a genuine one.

“So gurūn ahatvā. A devotee of Kṛṣṇa, if need be, if he's unqualified guru… Unqualified guru means who does not know how to guide the disciple. Guru's duty is to guide. So such kind of guru can be at least rejected. That is Jiva Gosvami’s.. Kārya-kāryam ajānataḥ. A guru who does not know what to do and what not to do, but by mistake, by mistakenly I have accepted somebody as guru, he can be rejected. By rejecting him, you can accept a actual bona fide guru. So guru is not killed, but he can be rejected. That is the injunction of the sāstra.” — Lecture, Aug 5, 1973, London

Srila Prabhupada, I fall at your lotus feet with eternal gratitude for bringing me under your direct divine shelter and protection. Though I am totally unqualified, I beg you to engage me as your puppet, to play a little part in your glorious transcendental ambitions, to spread the movement of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. With the recent legal victory, you have triggered a second Hare Krishna explosion, like the first one in 1966. Please bless us, the devotees of ISKCON Bangalore group, with humble opportunity to serve in expanding your transcendental mission, by giving us the required faith and strength to follow your plans and directions to increase book distribution, inspire souls to dedicate their lives to your mission, and establish many more grand temples, as you desire.

We are simply your monkey soldiers. Please bless us with the necessary spiritual realizations, qualities and strength, to be ever ready to receive and execute your desires and orders day after day, until our last breath.

Vishwa-guru Srila Prabhupada ki jai.

Your servant,

Madhu Pandit Dasa

Chairman and Mentor, Global Hare Krishna Movement, GBC Chairman & President, ISKCON – Bangalore.