Prabhavishnu's King Edward Syndrome
BY: YOUR FRIENDS, THE DEVOTEES
'King Edward gave up his throne and now he is crying.' (Shrila Prabhupada)
Jan 10, 2012 — WORLDWIDE (SUN) — Dear Prabhavishnu das, we are writing this open letter to ask you to give up this temporary infatuation before you dig yourself in too deeply to extricate yourself. You are behaving like King Edward, who "ruled" England for less than a year in 1936. He was forced to abdicate his title as "Emperor of the United Kingdom" in exchange for becoming the "Duke of Windsor" when he fell for the American socialite, Wallis Simpson. Like him you have lost everything due to a foolish, immature and misplaced affection.
This weakness for a woman is described by Shrila Prabhupada: "[King Edward VIII] was to be the king, but he rejected for that one common girl. So the ministry asked him, ‘You have to give up this girl or you have to give up your throne.' So he preferred to give up his throne. And the present queen's father, his second brother, he was made king, King George VI." His Divine Grace noted in another conversation, "And then he was crying."
In your letter of resignation you have complained about the burden of having to resolve disputes with devotees because you are "non-conflictive" (whatever that means). But it appears from your activities as well as from the wording in your letter that you are naïve about the ways of the world. You have led a sheltered life as a GBC Swami and have little practical knowledge about the minds of the public. Furthermore, your blaming the other dedicated members of ISKCON appears as a convenient excuse since for years you refused to even acknowledge, what to speak of answering letters. Do you remember sending only an automatically-generated form letter as an excuse to anyone who wrote to you? You cannot cover up your weakness by blaming others when you are at fault. You have to recognize your own failings before you can rectify yourself. You have a real problem on your hands because your eternal spiritual life is in jeopardy. Since you are not able to assess your own situation properly, if you have any wisdom whatsoever left within you, then you must accept the wise counsel of your Godbrothers.
Evidentially you are exhausted and need a break. Therefore, you should go off to India, find a solitary retreat along the Ganges or some other holy river. You should sit down tight there and serve penance for a long time, taking recourse only to the Holy Names of the Lord. You have no obligations to your present artificial situation. It is only a source of agitation and anxiety, not to speak of gnawing guilt that will eat you from the inside out like a cancer. On the contrary, your obligation is to your Spiritual Master to extricate yourself from this situation. If you go into the retreat mode of a genuine sadhu (and not these fancy resort retreats fashionable in ISKCON nowadays), then you can get the rest and relaxation you feel you deserve. According to what we have learned about your latest direction in life, peace and freedom are the last things you will be able to hope for in your present situation. You have opened up the door to misery.
Do you remember this painting from Bhagavad Gita As It Is?
Bhaktivedanta Book Trust
Because you have lived a chaste life by the grace and guidance of your Spiritual Master, you are practically blind to the crooked ways of the world. You do not know about the door you have passed through, so you should turn around and exit that dark passageway before it is too late. You are being misled by an enemy in the dress of a lover whom you have taken to be a friend. We devotees are your well-wishers and friends. We are not vultures who delight in your temporary insanity. But in your state of mind you may not be able to discern between a friend and an enemy at this point. In fact, it appears as though you are sleeping with the enemy.
Let us turn to Chanakya Pandit, that sage of niti-shastra, or common sense, for a bit of guidance here because common sense is what you require. It is the need of the hour. First of all, a woman involved in the trade of selling sex is interested in the bottom line, her profit from her wares. The intimacy that a chaste woman experiences with her husband is translated into noble ideals such as bonding, affection, service, sacrifice, motherhood, etc. -- all the things we call "love". All those intimate and honest feelings are sold down the river when there is a question of illicit sex. This is one thousand times truer in the case of sex for profit, wherein the possibility of chaste emotions is bartered away for mere dollars. Therefore, a man will be useful to a prostitute only so long as he has money to burn. That is why Ajamila was forced to become a thief to satisfy his prostitute, as told in the Bhagavata. The fact is that the desires of a prostitute can never be fulfilled, just as fire is never satisfied by any amount of wood or the Yamadutas are not satisfied with the number of sinners they escort into naraka. They are trained to deceive with a form of artificial affection in order to drain your pockets.
Of this Shri Chanakya says (2.17):
nirdhanam purusham veshya prajaa bhagnam nripam tyajet
kaga vita-phalam vriksham bhuktvaa chaabhyaagato griham
The prostitute has to forsake a man who has no money, the subject a king that cannot defend him, the birds a tree that bears no fruit, and the guests a house after they have finished their meals."
Is this not the same message you have read a hundred times, the one that the Gopis spoke? It is narrated in Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The gopis said:
"It is very natural and psychological that a prostitute does not care for her paramour as soon as he loses his money."
Shrila Prabhupada likewise comments in A Second Chance:
"Mentioned here is Ajamila's misuse of his inheritance. Customarily everyone is eligible to inherit his father's property, and Ajamila also inherited the money of his father. But what did he do with the money? Instead of engaging the money in the service of Krishna, he engaged it in the service of a prostitute. Therefore he was condemned. How did this happen? He was victimized by the prostitute's dangerous, lustful glance."
And from the same book…
"So, Ajamila was victimized by illicit sex with a prostitute. There are many instances throughout the world in which even a purified person falls victim to attraction by a prostitute and spends all his money on her. Prostitute-hunting is so abominable that sex with a prostitute can ruin one's character, destroy one's exalted position, and plunder all one's money. Therefore illicit sex is strictly prohibited. One should be satisfied with his married wife, for even a slight deviation will create havoc."
Neither should you think that there will be any robust devotional life waiting for you as long as you are bound to this unhealthy liaison. This woman will not be able to enter the society of the chaste ladies of ISKCON. Those who used to worship you will now close the door on your face. The woman who has dragged a "spiritual master" from his "disciples" will not be welcome. That is human nature. If you bring this object of your new-found affections to a congregation of devotees where you wish to live in your fantasy land, at your convenience, Mr. Non-Conflictive will find out the real meaning of "conflict." Of this you can be assured.
Chanakya Pandit says in 5.6:
murkhaanaam panditaa dvesyaa adhaabaam mahaadhanah
paraanganaa kula-strinaam subhagaanaam cha durbhagaah
"The learned are envied by the foolish; rich men by the poor; chaste women by adulteresses; and beautiful ladies by ugly ones."
Look, Prabhavishnu, she was just doing her job, what she has been trained to do for so many Johns and suckers. Have a read of this, Chanakya Shloka 8.18:
asantushtaa dvijaa nashtah samtushtaascha mahibhritah
salajja ganikaa nashtaa nirlajjashcha kullaangana
"Discontented Brahmanas, contented kings, shy prostitutes and immodest housewives are ruined."
Because when push comes to shove, Prabhavishnu Prabhu, you have had the wool pulled over your eyes. Admit it. You have bitten the hook along with the palatable bait.
One final lesson from Chanakya (12.18) for you:
vinayam raaja putrebhyah panditebhyah subhaashitam
anritam dyuta-karebhyah stribhah shiksheta kaitavam
"Courtesy should be learned from princes, the art of conversation from pandits, lying should be learned from gamblers and deceitful ways should be learned from (unchaste) women."
If that advice doesn't sink in, then here are "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover.
Please continue to chant Hare Krishna, read the books and worship Sri Guru and Shri Gauranga. Otherwise you'll spend the rest of your years crying like the once King Edward VIII.
Your friends in ISKCON,
The Devotees
