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The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri
Krishna, and His eternal consort, Srimati
Radharani are enjoying transcendental pastimes in
the topmost planet of the spiritual world, Sri
Goloka Vrindavan. They are beckoning us to
rejoin them. | |
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Our Mission: To help everyone awaken
their original Krishna consciousness, which is
eternal, full of knowledge and full of bliss.
Such a global awakening will, in one stroke,
solve all the problems of the world society
bringing in a new era of unprecedented peace and
prosperity for all. May that day, which the
world so desperately needs, come very soon. We
request you to participate in this mission by
reviving your dormant Krishna consciousness and
assisting us in spreading this science all over
the world. |
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Dedicated with love to
ISKCON Founder-Acharya: His
Divine Grace A.C.
Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, our beloved spiritual master, and
to you, our dear readers. | |
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Today's Thought: |
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A Devotee is Kind
Uploaded from Bhaktivedanta Ashram--Austin,
Texas USA | |
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The
first qualification for a being a devotee of Krishna is
to be kind. If a person is actually Krishna conscious,
his heart will bleed with compassion to see the
suffering condition of the human society, and he will
fully dedicate his life to saving them in spite of all
the criticism that he receives for doing so. Jesus
Christ did not let anything stand in the way of the
execution of his mission to save the people from
their suffering. He was undaunted even in the face of
crucifixion.
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
Srila
Prabhupada is Unlimitedly Kind
http://www.backtohome.com/images/Prabhupada/SP-points-out.jpg |
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Answers According to the Vedic Version: | |
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Question: Who Can Become the Next Acharya? |
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Do you
deliver your disciple personally or does Srila
Prabhupada deliver him? Did Srila Prabhupada give you
the order to be the next acharya? I know he said for all
his disciple to be guru. Of course, that does not mean
acharya.
You said "I was blessed with the greatest mercy of being
accepted as a disciple of such an uttama-adhikari, His
Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. And
now on his order I have fully absorbed my life in
pushing forward this Krishna consciousness movement all
over the world for the deliverance of all living beings.
Even though he has departed from this world, it is not
that he is dead and gone. He lives forever in my heart
and in the hearts of all those who follow his
instructions." (dated Aug 1st, 2010)
I recently read the Direction of Management, which was
signed by Srila Prabhupada. He never appointed any
acharya. He told this to many of his top Sannyasis and
disciples, but they assumed their new position after he
left this world without his order.
My question is "Did Srila Prabhupada directly appoint
you as the next acharya as you stated above in your
e-mail?
Pushpendra dasa
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Answer: Whoever Strictly
Follows His Acharya |
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The answer
to your first question is: No bona fide spiritual master
considers himself to be the deliverer of his disciples.
Rather he simply considers himself to be a humble
messenger on behalf the previous acharyas and Lord Sri
Krishna.
The answer to your second question is that Srila
Prabhupada did not appoint me to be the next acharya,
because acharya is not by appointment; it is by
qualification. But he did instruct all of his
disciples that we should become qualified
acaryas and initiate disciples.
You are making an artificial distinction between guru
and acharya. Srila Prabhupada says, "A guru
is called also an acarya, or a person who has personally
assimilated all the essence of sastras and has helped
his disciples to adopt the ways."
It never ceases to amaze when people who never met Srila
Prabhupada or even saw him from a distance, who were
never personally instructed by him think that they
understand his instructions better than those of us who
were personally trained by him. This is the one of
the symptoms of the present age of Kali that people
become easily illusioned.
Srila Prabhupada did not appoint any disciple as the one
next acharya. His said that he wanted all of his
disciples to be acharyas as defined in his purport to
the Caitanya Caritamrita as follows:
"One who knows the conclusion of the sastras, follows in
the footsteps of his predecessors and endeavors to
preach the bhakti cult all over the world is to be
considered an acharya."
---Antya 3.223
I have also read Srila Prabhupada's Direction of
Management, which he wrote in 1970 for the purpose of
establishing ISKCON's Governing Body Commission. This
document has nothing to do with who initiates disciples
after Srila Prabhupada's departure. Regarding this, he
told us in Vrindavan in May of 1977 that the new
devotees would become the disciples of his disciples.
Srila Prabhupada instructed his disciples in Mayapura on
6 April 1975 that when they become mature they should
become acharyas and initiate disciples. We do not have
to guess what is that maturity qualification. Srila
Prabhupada gave us this verse from Srila Rupa Goswami
which clearly states the qualification for being able to
initiate disciples all over the world:
vāco vegaṁ
manasaḥ krodha-vegaṁ
jihvā-vegam udaropastha-vegam
etān vegān yo viṣaheta dhīraḥ
sarvām apīmāṁ
pṛthivīṁ
sa śiṣyāt
"A
sober person who can tolerate the urge to speak, the
mind's demands, the actions of anger and the urges of
the tongue, belly and genitals is qualified to make
disciples all over the world."
---Nectar of Instruction, Verse 1
It's a fact that nobody can become an acharya simply by
being nominated. There is only one way for a disciple of an
acharya to also become an acharya. Srila Prabhupada
describes that way as follows in a lecture in gave in
New York City on 1 December 1966:
"Acharya means one who has become a rigid disciple of
his acharya."
You say that I said that Srila Prabhupada appointed me
as the next acharya. But I have never said that. You are
simply fabricating this out of the air. You quoted me as
follows:
"And now on his order I have fully absorbed my life in
pushing forward this Krishna consciousness movement all
over the world for the deliverance of all living
beings."
Nowhere in the above quote do I state that Srila
Prabhupada appointed me to become the next acharya. I
clearly did not make such a statement.
Srila Prabhupada repeatedly ordered his disciples to push this
Krishna consciousness movement all over the world for
the deliverance of the illusioned souls of this age. For example, he
ordered us on 17 December 1973 in Los Angeles,
California, USA at the conclusion of his lecture on the
Srimad Bhagavatam:
"Become guru and deliver the whole world."
We are sometimes criticized by naysayers for our
sincere endeavor to follow the instructions of our
spiritual master, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta
Swami Prabhupada. But what can we do? According to Lord
Sri Krishna, the Supreme Authority, as Prabhupada's disciples it
is our duty to serve his orders. Srila Prabhupada taught us
that the disciple should take the order received from
his spiritual master as his very life and soul. So we
have to do that. We have no other option.
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
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Transcendental Resources: | |
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Receive the Special Blessings of Krishna
Now you too
can render the greatest service to the
suffering humanity
and attract the all-auspicious
blessings of
Lord Sri
Krishna upon yourself and your family by assisting our
mission.
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