Reply to "Struggle for Truth"
BY: ISKCON BANGALORE DEVOTEE ASSOCIATION
Jun 10, 2011 — BANGALORE, INDIA (SUN) —
Red herring: to draw a red herring across the track [to confuse a tracking dog's sense of smell] : to attempt to divert attention from the real question; hence red herring, a subject intended to have this effect. Oxford English Dictionary
After reading "Struggle for Truth we must admit that we had to struggle to find any truth in it. Rather than go through it point by point let us just focus on four glaring untruths, which gives one a sense of just how much disinformation it contains -- just as testing one grain of rice will tell you if the pot of rice is cooked.
Services need to be protected!
On page 10 of Struggle for Truth we find the following paragraph:
"The devotees of ISKCON-Bangalore have been taking shelter of the judicial system of the country in order to protect their services to Srila Prabhupada's movement and the society. Only the orders from the various courts have helped them in this matter. The self-proclaimed 'gurus' and their disciples have been restrained, by the court orders, from interfering with the affairs of ISKCON-Bangalore."
Services need to be protected! Protected from what or who? Is someone going to stop someone else's service? I think not. The inference is in regard to those who profess to be Rtviks and that they will not be allowed to serve. Here of course is where the stinky "red herring" makes its appearance. Madhu Pandit dasa makes a lot of noise and does a lot of flag waving regarding Rtvikism in order to get people excited to follow him and thus use them to fulfill his real motives. But what is the actual truth that Madhu Pandit dasa doesn't want you to know?
First of all there are several prominent Rtviks in ISKCON (reg. Mumbai 1971) who hold positions of authority as mentioned elsewhere. Very responsible devotees such as Jasomatinandana Prabhu and Mahaman Prabhu who are both Temple Presidents of the Ahmedabad and Indore branches of ISKCON (reg. Mumbai 1971) respectively. No one is harassing them. Why don't they need the courts to protect their service but Madhu Pandit dasa does? What is the difference between them and Madhu Pandit dasa? The difference is that they have not tried to steal the property and assets of Srila Prabhupada's ISKCON (reg. Mumbai 1971) by fraud as Madhu Pandit dasa and cronies are attempting to do in the name of Rtvikism.
Second of all, if you directly inspect the "Prayers" that Madhu Pandit dasa wants the courts to grant him in suit #7934 you will see that nowhere is the word Rtvik or service mentioned. What is actually seen are Madhu Pandit dasa'sreal motives -- he is very interested in keeping and controlling all the property, money and other assets belonging to the Bangalore branch of ISKCON (reg. Mumbai 1971) for himself by asking the courts to give it to the bogus ISKCON (reg. Bangalore 1978), of which he is the president.
The Rtvik "red herring" is simply meant to conceal Madhu Pandit dasa's anartha of lust for proprietorship, power and control. He uses it to get innocent people to help him in his crimes.
Double Talk: Verbal expression intended to be, or which may be, construed in more than one sense; deliberately ambiguous or imprecise language; used esp. of political language that is subject to arbitrary national or party interpretation. (Oxford English Dictionary)
Harassing Life Patron Members
On page 11 of Struggle for Truth we find the next red herring.
Harassment to Life Patron Members of ISKCON-Bangalore
It was Srila Prabhupada's mandate that the Life Patrons enrolled by all the ISKCON centers be honored as guests in every other center all over the world, and be provided with accommodation. This is the basis of the International Life Patron Membership program. Lakhs of Life Patron members have been enrolled all over the world under this scheme. Thousands of Life Patron members from all over India and abroad have availed of the Guest House facility at ISKCON-Bangalore in the last ten years. Similarly thousands of Life Patron members enrolled by ISKCON-Bangalore have availed of the guest house facilities in ISKCON centers around the world, wherever available, over the last two decades.
Since the past few months, ISKCON-Mumbai and ISKCON-Tirupati have started denying guest house accommodation to the Life Patron members of ISKCON-Bangalore. This is yet another device to harass the Life Patrons enrolled by ISKCON-Bangalore.
In order to confuse people, especially potential Life Members who could give him large donations, Madhu Pandit dasa deliberately obscures the facts with double talk. He mentions various "ISKCON" centers such as "ISKCON" Mumbai, "ISKCON" Tirupati, and "ISKCON" Bangalore all in one breath, as if they are all branches of the same institution by virtue of having the prefix "ISKCON" attached at the beginning.
If they are branches of the same institution then Life Members of one branch should have the rights to stay in the guest houses of the other branches. But this is another place where things fall apart in Madhu Pandit dasa's fraud. As the cliche goes: He wants to have his cake and eat it too. He wants the benefits of ISKCON (reg. Mumbai 1971) so that he can defraud people, but he wants to remain independent and avoid the responsibilities that go with being part of ISKCON (reg. Mumbai 1971), such as abiding by the directives of the head office.
The Life Membership Program was started by Srila Prabhupada for ISKCON (reg. Mumbai 1971), not for some other organization, and any person who becomes a Life Member at one of the branches of ISKCON (reg. Mumbai 1971) has the right to stay in the guest houses of other branches of ISKCON (reg. Mumbai 1971). But this privilege is only for Life Members of branches of ISKCON (reg. Mumbai 1971) and not for members of any other society.
The temple in Bangalore, Madhu Pandit dasa (falsely) claims in his fraud is not part of ISKCON (reg. Mumbai 1971), but rather he claims it is an independent and autonomous society having exactly the same name but registered in Bangalore, that is, ISKCON (reg. Bangalore 1978). Sound confusing? Yes it is, and that is the way Madhu Pandit dasa wants to it to be so that he can fraudulently collect money by deception from confused people who think they are supporting ISKCON (reg. Mumbai 1971), when in fact they are giving it to the counterfeit ISKCON (reg. Bangalore 1978) started by a swindler.
Getting back to the point: Why should branches of the real ISKCON (reg. Mumbai 1971) started by Srila Prabhupada entertain people from a counterfeit organization? Life members in Bangalore should ask Madhu Pandit dasa lots of questions starting with: after giving you our hard earned cash, are we now Life Members of ISKCON (reg. Mumbai 1971), or some bogus society with the same name? So the question is: who is actually harassing the Life Members in Bangalore? We say it is Madhu Pandit dasa because he has cheated them in a grand style.
Madhu Pandit dasa is angry because his fraud has been exposed. Part of Madhu Pandit dasa's fraud for collecting money from innocent people is to solicit them to be Life Members of "ISKCON." Madhu Pandit dasa misrepresents himself as ISKCON (reg. Mumbai 1971) an authentic spiritual society started by Srila Prabhupada, and he lets the victims think that, but then actually enrolls them into the bogus ISKCON (reg. Bangalore 1978). Of course his victims get upset when they find out he has cheated them, just as he has cheated ISKCON (reg. Mumbai 1971).
Is ISKCON (reg. Bangalore 1978) a family controlled enterprise?
On page 12 of "Struggle for Truth", Madhu Pandit dasa writes:
ISKCON-Bangalore is being managed and governed by dedicated, sincere followers of Srila Prabhupada, whose only desire is to follow his instructions and take the movement forward as per his desire. It is absolutely false to say that it is a "family controlled enterprise" as the agents of self-proclaimed ‘gurus' have been propagating.
First we want to clarify that when Madhu Pandit dasa writes ISKCON - Bangalore he is referring to the counterfeit ISKCON (reg. Bangalore 1978) started by a swindler, not ISKCON (reg. Mumbai 1971) started by Srila Prabhupada.
Regarding the topic of the bogus ISKCON (reg. Bangalore 1978) being a family controlled business. Take one look at the original documents filed by Madhu Pandit dasa and decide for yourself. To see a PDF (7 MB) with more relevant documents click on the following link to open the PDF or right click and save document to download to your computer (recommended).
Disinformation: The dissemination of deliberately false information, esp. when supplied by a government or its agent to a foreign power or to the media, with the intention of influencing the policies or opinions of those who receive it; false information so supplied. (Oxford English Dictionary)
Madhu Pandit dasa doesn't touch money
On page 13 of "Struggle for Truth" (the image is not so sharp because the original was not very clear), Madhu Pandit dasa and family provide a voluntary disclosure of their personal assets and basically say that they never "touch money" , as it were. This reminds me of the story about the Sadhu and the old Marwari:
Once a sadhu and his disciple visited a rich Marwari man in Delhi and stayed in his house for a few weeks. The old father of the rich Marwari man was observing the sadhu very closely. Once during a conversation the sadhu boasted about his detachment from money. The sadhu proclaimed that he "never touched money," etc.
The old Marwari who was listening to these boastful utterances of the sadhu suddenly interrupted and told the sadhu:
"Swamiji both of us are the same. Both of us are detached. You don't touch money and I also don't touch money."
"How is that?" the sadhu asked.
The old Marwari said: "When you need fruits, etc., you tell your disciple and he brings it. And, I tell my servant and he brings it. When you need clothes you tell your disciple and I tell my servant. When you want to travel you tell your disciple and he arranges a ticket and I tell my servant and he arranges a ticket. If money is required for fulfilling your desires your disciple takes it out of your Trust bank account and my servant from my company's bank account. So what is the difference?"
Of course Sadhu had to shut up.
Does anybody really believe that Madhu Pandit dasa is not in complete control over there? For Madhu Pandit dasa having a separate personal bank account would be redundant because he doesn't need one since he has complete control over all the finances of the temple. The temple bank accounts are his accounts, if he wants something who will object? He is not accountable to anyone. [That is why he doesn't want the supervisory committee sent by the Bureau to poke its nose in his business.] And if someone does ask too many questions then they too will join the list of exiles.
Questions to ask Madhu Pandit dasa
Since we are struggling to get the truth from Madhu Pandit dasa I will pose some questions that brave readers should demand Madhu Pandit dasa to answer. Before we get to the pointed questions I would like to tell a Russian joke indicating the prevailing mood under Madhu Pandit's regime:
Once Stalin was giving a speech in which he stated that in the past year in the USSR there had been a 30% increase in steel production, 15% increase in milk, 20% increase in grain harvest, etc. At the end of the speech he asked if there were any questions. One person, Ivan Ivanovich, raised his hand. Stalin asked: "what is your question?"
Ivan Ivanovich then said: "Excuse me Comrade Stalin, but I think there must be some mistake, I work in the agricultural sector and there was no increase in milk or grain output as you said rather there was a shortfall. How could this be?"
Stalin then looked at his watch and said: "sorry but time is up and I have to be at another meeting."
The next year Stalin is at the same place and giving a speech in which he is again extolling the various advances that the Soviet Union is making on many fronts. After his speech he again asks if there are any questions. One person raises his hand and Stalin asks: "what is your question?"
To which the person replied: "where is Ivan Ivanovich?"
Now let the fun begin, here are few questions to ask Madhu Pandit dasa:
1) Did you, Madhu Pandit dasa, in Original Suit (OS) #4467 filed on June 30, 2000 in Bangalore City Civil Court make sworn affidavits verified by you to be true stating that:
- You Madhu Pandit Das are the president of the Bangalore Branch of ISKCON (reg. Mumbai 1971) pg 1, pg 2, pg 4,
pg 14
- The Bangalore Branch of ISKCON (reg. Mumbai 1971) is the owner of the temple and cultural complex on Hare Krsna Hill. pg 1
- The Bangalore branch of ISKCON (reg. Mumbai 1971) on Hare Krsna Hill is administratively under the control (and ownership) of the head office (Bureau) of ISKCON (reg. Mumbai 1971) in Mumbai. pg 2
- No entity can use the name ISKCON without permission of the Bureau (head office) of ISKCON (reg. Mumbai 1971). pg 8, pg 13
- It is fraud for anyone to misrepresent themselves as affiliated with ISKCON (reg. Mumbai 1971) to collect funds. pg 13
- Verify that all of the above statements are true? pg 14
They come from this page 2) Did you, Madhu Pandit dasa, authorize your secretary, Stoka Krishna dasa to file Original Suit #7934 in October 2001 in the Bangalore City Civil Court, stating that ISKCON (reg. Mumbai 1971) has nothing to do with Hare Krsna Hill temple complex and that for all intents and purposes, the Bangalore branch of ISKCON (reg. Mumbai 1971) never existed? pg 1, pg 3.
3) Did the donors who gave money to build this temple complex at Hare Krsna Hill receive tax exemption under section 80g of Income Tax code granted to ISKCON (reg. Mumbai 1971) [and not the counterfeit ISKCON (reg. Bangalore 1978)]?
If the answer to all the above questions is "Yes", then Madhu Pandit dasa has contradicted himself and has also authorized and directed his secretary, Stoka Krsna dasa, to lie on his behalf. This is perjury. (For more of Madhu Pandit dasa's contradictions see fraud details.)
These are not a harmless lies, but about ownership of a huge temple complex spread over almost seven acres of land and worth many crores of rupees. These lies are designed to benefit and perpetuate Madhu Pandit dasa's control over the temple complex by theft of ISKCON's (reg. Mumbai 1971) branch office in Bangalore.
Cheat boys with dice, and men with oaths
The ease with which Madhu Pandit dasa makes and breaks oaths in order to gain some temporary advantage over his adversaries reminds us of the ancient Spartan general Lysander, who feared men more than he feared God:
"There is a saying also, recorded by Androclides, which makes him (Lysander) guilty of great indifference to the obligations of an oath. His recommendation, according to this account, was to "cheat boys with dice, and men with oaths," an imitation of Polycrates of Samos, not very honourable to a lawful commander, to take example, namely, from a tyrant; nor in character with Laconian usages, to treat gods as ill as enemies, or, indeed, even more injuriously since he who overreaches by an oath admits that he fears his enemy, while he despises his God." (Plutarch's Lives)
A Challenge for Madhu Pandit dasa
We challenge Madhu Pandit dasa to publicly come before the Deities of Sri-Sri Radha-Krsnacandra with a copy of Bhagavad-gita, Srimad Bhagavatam, and Caitanya-caritamrta in his hands and state out load before Their Lordships that:
- I was never the President of the Bangalore branch of ISKCON (reg. Mumbai 1971);
- there was never a Bangalore branch of ISKCON (reg. Mumbai 1971);
- that the temple complex on Hare Krsna Hill doesn't belong to ISKCON (reg. Mumbai 1971);
- and that if I have stated a lie, that I should take birth as a worm in a pig's intestine for one crore Brahmandas, that is, 10,000,000 lifetimes of Lord Brahma.
Karmic reaction for breaking sworn oaths
To give false testimony in court is considered most heinous in Manu Smriti:
A witness who speaks the truth in his evidence, gains (after death) the most excellent regions (of bliss) and here (below) unsurpassable fame; such testimony is revered by Brahman (himself). He who gives false evidence is firmly bound by Varuna's fetters, helpless during one hundred existences; let (men therefore) give true evidence. (Manu 8.81-82) Whatever places (of torment) are assigned (by the sages) to the slayer of a Brahmana, to the murderer of women and children, to him who betrays a friend, and to an ungrateful man, those shall be thy (portion), if thou speakest falsely. (The reward) of all meritorious deeds which thou, good man, hast done since thy birth, shall become the share of the dogs, if in thy speech thou departest from the truth. If thou thinkest, O friend of virtue, with respect to thyself, "I am alone," (know that) that Sage who witnesses all virtuous acts and all crimes, ever resides in thy heart. If thou art not at variance with that divine Yama, the son of Vivasvata, who dwells in thy heart, thou needest neither visit the Ganges nor the (land of the) Kurus. Naked and shorn, tormented with hunger and thirst, and deprived of sight, shall the man who gives false evidence, go with a potsherd to beg food at the door of his enemy. Headlong, in utter darkness shall the sinful man tumble into hell, who being interrogated in a judicial inquiry answers one question falsely. That man who in a court (of justice) gives an untrue account of a transaction (or asserts a fact) of which he was not an eye-witness, resembles a blind man who swallows fish with the bones. The gods are acquainted with no better man in this world than him, of whom his conscious Soul has no distrust, when he gives evidence. (Manu 8.89-96)
Learn now, O friend, from an enumeration in due order, how many relatives he destroys who gives false evidence in several particular cases. He kills five by false Testimony regarding (small) cattle, he kills ten by false testimony regarding kine, he kills a hundred by false evidence concerning horses, and a thousand by false evidence concerning men. By speaking falsely in a cause regarding gold, he kills the born and the unborn; by false evidence concerning land, he kills everything; beware, therefore, of false evidence concerning land. They declare (false evidence) concerning water, concerning the carnal enjoyment of women, and concerning all gems, produced in water, or consisting of stones (to be) equally (wicked) as a lie concerning land. (Manu 8.97-100)
Those whom the gods would destroy they first make crazy.
From the adharmic activities of Madhu Pandit dasa we can only conclude that because of his anartha of lust for power and control at any cost he has lost his reason and that his downfall is just a matter of time. As Sanjay said to Dhrtarastra in reference to Duryodhona:
"The gods first deprive that man of his reason unto whom they send defeat and disgrace. It is for this that such a person seeth things in a strange light. When destruction is at hand, evil appeareth as good unto the understanding polluted by sin, and the man adhereth to it firmly. That which is improper appeareth as proper, and that which is proper appeareth as improper unto the man about to be overwhelmed by destruction, and evil and impropriety are what he liketh. The time that bringeth on destruction doth not come with upraised club and smash one's head. On the other hand the peculiarity of such a time is that it maketh a man behold evil in good and good in evil." (The Mahabharata, Book 2: Sabha Parva: Sisupala-badha Parva: Section LXXX)
To get some insight as to what the karma vipaka Madhu Pandita dasa will experience for grossly abusing his position of trust as the President of the Bangalore branch of ISKCON (reg. Mumbai 1971), one should read the incident of Lord Rama and the dog from the Uttara Khandha of Valmiki's Ramayana.
