ISKCON Revival Movement - Srila Prabhupada: The Founder-Acarya of ISKCON

rla Prabhupda

The FOUNDER- crya of ISKCON

Presenting the Conclusions of the GBC Foundational Document

Krishnakant

nama o viu-pdya ka-prehya bh-tale

rmate bhaktivednta-svmin iti nmine

I offer my respectful obeisances unto His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupda, who is very dear to Lord Ka on this earth, having taken shelter at His lotus feet.

namas te srasvae deve gaura-v -pracrie

nirviea-nyavdi-pctya-dea-trie

Our respectful obeisances are unto you, O spiritual master, servant of Sarasvat Gosvm. You are kindly preaching the message of Lord Caitanyadeva and delivering the Western countries, which are filled with impersonalism and voidism.

rla Prabhupda

The Founder-crya of ISKCON

Published April 2014

ISKCON Revival Movement (IRM)

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Introduction

The GBC has issued a major document entitled rla Prabhupda: The Founder- crya of ISKCON (henceforward SPFAI). It took over 6 years to prepare, and, recognising its importance, the GBC has labelled it on the cover as being A GBC Foundational Document. It was printed as a booklet by ISKCON GBC Press, mass distributed to participants at the 2014 Mypur festival and also advertised extensively online. Indeed, a specific GBC Resolution was passed to promote the booklet, calling for every ISKCON project website in the world to have a link to this booklet, because:

making the booklet widely available is important for the future of ISKCON, because establishing rla Prabhupdas position of Founder- crya will benefit devotees generation after generation.

(GBC Resolution 310, 2014)

And GBC Resolution 323, 2014 states that it is an historic text for ISKCON.

The document offers a definitive and official statement of rla Prabhupdas position in ISKCON:

This work, rla Prabhupda: The Founder- crya of ISKCON, authored by Ravndra Svarpa Dsa, is officially endorsed by ISKCONs Governing Body Commission (GBC). [] Understanding how rla Prabhupda is in the center of our lives and our society, and knowing how to keep him in that essential role, is the purpose of this text.

(GBC Executive Committee, SPFAI, p. 9)

In the following chapters, we demonstrate that the conclusions offered by SPFAI endorse the position of the ISKCON Revival Movement (IRM) that, following his physical departure, rla Prabhupdas position in ISKCON should have remained unchanged. These conclusions come directly from the instructions of rla Prabhupda quoted by SPFAI, as well as from SPFAIs explanation for what these instructions from rla Prabhupda mean; and therefore are indeed definitive. Thus, we have the landmark situation that the GBC has issued a definitive historic, foundational document for ISKCON which concludes that rla Prabhupda shall continue to occupy a permanent position in ISKCON as its only dk (initiating) guru. In the quotations we present from SPFAI, all emphases, unless otherwise stated, have been added.

FOUNDER- crya:

NO CHANGE PROOF

Very soon after ISKCON was founded in 1966, rla Prabhupda established his position in ISKCON as its Founder- crya :

In the second and fourth issue of Back to Godhead (dated September 12, 1966 and December 15, 1966 respectively, according to SPFAI) the inside front cover displays a nearly full-page photograph of rla Prabhupda. [] In the space above each photograph stand the words:

his divine grace

And below:

swami a.c. bhaktivedanta

founder acharya

international society for krishna consciousness, inc.

[] Then, with Back to Godhead No. 36 (late in 1970) we find the start of a regular standard presentation of rla Prabhupda as we are accustomed to seeing it todayand which had its prototype in two of the very first issues of Back to Godhead a large photograph above his name and position given in full:

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupda

Founder-crya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.

(SPFAI, p. 72-73)

This title of Founder- crya served to denote the actual position that rla Prabhupda held in ISKCON at that time:

It is the title Founder-crya that conveys the exceptional intimate connection sustained between rla Prabhupda and ISKCON.

(SPFAI, p. 30)

Founder-cryathis hyphenated English-Sanskrit hybrid compoundis the specific term enjoined by rla Prabhupda to denote his position in relation to ISKCON.

(SPFAI, p. 32)

rla Prabhupda further established that there would be no change to his position in ISKCON, as denoted by the Founder- crya title, with him continuing in this same exact position as the Founder- crya of ISKCON for the lifetime of ISKCON:

rla Prabhupda showed great concern that his position as ISKCON Founder-crya always be prominently recognized. He mandated that in each of his books the title page and cover display his name in full, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupda, with Founder-crya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness placed immediately below. Similarly, he ordered that Founder-crya: His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivednta Swami Prabhupda appear directly beneath International Society for Krishna Consciousness on all ISKCON official documents, letterhead stationery, publications, and signage. In these and other ways rla Prabhupdas special, intimate connection with ISKCON is to be always honored .

(SPFAI, p. 27)

We can see, then, how rla Prabhupda quite particularly wanted his position in ISKCON denoted always by the exact title Founder-crya.

(SPFAI, p. 30)

To establish this conclusion that there will be no change to rla Prabhupdas position as ISKCONs Founder- crya for ISKCONs lifetime, SPFAI quotes the following letter from rla Prabhupda on page 29:

our system is to keep the name of the Founder-Acarya His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on all registration documents, as well as all stationery, books, and publications.

(rla Prabhupda Letter to Deoji Punja, 13/11/1974)

And the following document, which was Approved: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Founder- crya , and counter-signed by two GBC members, makes the same point in an inviolable and emphatic fashion:

It is declared that His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada is the Founder-Acharya of ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness). He is the supreme authority in all matters of the society. His position cannot be occupied by anyone else, and his name and title must appear on all documents, letterheads, publications, and buildings of the Society.

(Topmost Urgency, Amendments to registration documents, 22/7/1974)

Thus, all permanent aspects of ISKCON such as its registration documents, buildings and publications were ordered to always denote that rla Prabhupdas position in ISKCON will be as its Founder- crya .

Hence, there can be no dispute, nor as we just saw, does the GBC dispute, that rla Prabhupda should always occupy exactly the same position in ISKCON as its Founder- crya , with no change in this position for as long as ISKCON exists.