Madhu Pandit dasa & Nimai -- Fighting ISKCON for the Rest of Their Lives?
BY: MADHUDVISA DASA
Jul 07, 2011 — AUSTRALIA (SUN) — Please find a letter below which I sent to Madhu Pandit Prabhu and one of his right-hand men, Amitasana Prabhu, way back in December 2008, when they were on the verge of having a glorious victory, defeating ISKCON in the courts.
Everyone knows that Srila Prabhupada was disgusted with his godbrothers fighting in the courts over the property and other assets of the Gaudiya Matha and he warned us not to do the same thing. So we cannot expect to please Srila Prabhupada in this way. Fighting our godbrothers in the courts "for Prabhupada." It is nonsense.
The reality is that ISKCON Bangalore is an ISKCON temple. And ISKCON is an organization that has gone completely off the track which was laid out for it by Srila Prabhupada, but that does not mean that we have any right to steal the ISKCON temples.
ISKCON is going on in its way and gradually, by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and the mercy of Krishna and the work of the sincere Vaisnavas in ISKCON, things are going on. Prabhupada's books are being printed and distributed, the morning program is going on in temples all over the world and some new devotees are joining and seriously chanting the Hare Krishna mantra and reading Srila Prabhupada's books.
There are so many problems, of course. But we have to expect problems. That is natural. This is the material world and quite honestly, we are all demons here. We would not be here unless we were demons. We have all come here to try to enjoy separately from Krishna. We are all trying to become the controller, we are all trying to become Krishna, "for Prabhupada..."
It is maya.
We have to become humble servants of Srila Prabhupada, Krishna and the Vaisnavas. And we have to become the well-wishers and the benefactors of the general public by giving them Krishna consciousness.
If anyone, like Madhu Pandit Prabhu and the devotees who follow him, wants to follow a path that is different form the path being chalked out by ISKCON, then they can start their own preaching branch of the ISKCON tree.
The history is there in the past of the Krishna consciousness movement and there are always many branches. The future of Prabhupada's movement will not be different. Any sincere follower of Srila Prabhupada can go out and preach and create a branch of the ISKCON tree.
So if the ISKCON Bangalore devotees want to do that, they can. But they cannot steal the ISKCON temples from ISKCON, nor can they claim that everything ISKCON does is bogus and everything they do is wonderful.
It is not like that at all. ISKCON sometimes does wonderful things, and ISKCON Bangalore sometimes does not-so-wonderful things.
Anyhow... Please forgive my offences and I am very sure all this fighting in the courts is giving Srila Prabhupada great pain, and if it continues both parties will be destroyed by this.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Your servant
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Amitasana Prabhu
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
It is hard to imagine that even if the current court case is somehow resolved considering you are also fighting with Nimai in the US claiming rights to the BBT, the name ISKCON, the GBC and claiming that all these organizations run by ISKCON are bogus I think there will be many more court cases to follow and this will be a lifetime occupation for Madhu Pandit Prahu.
My humble opinion is that it would be possible for you to win the Bangalore dispute by making a presentation to the ISKCON GBC at their upcoming meeting in Mayapur on "Unity in Diversity" and peaceful coexistence. I think now that their main general (JPS) is out of action and they are seeing what sort of trouble Madhu Pandit Prabhu can cause them if he puts his mind to the fight, they would be in a mood to listen to a proposal for a peaceful sollution.
My humble opinion is that Nimai's ideas are unrealistic. He is a good talker. But he is also a fighter. Even if there is nothing to fight about he will fight. I know him well from the time he moved from the US and I think you know him also because he is your ISKCON Bangalore devotee.
First he stayed in IRM New York center, there he tried to take this over from Brahmabhuta Prabhu and was asked to leave. Then he went to Kapindra Swami's "Prabhupada Sankirtana Society" and fermented a revolution amoung the brahmacaries there and together they demanded that Kapindra Swami leave his temple and that Nimai should take over. Kapindra Swami asked Nimai to leave and he went to ISKCON Long Island and he proceeded to try and take over the temple from Visvapran Prabhu and his wife. Here he was finally successful. He got control of ISKCON Long Island.
Then for some time he was travelling to various ISKCON temples like Boston, etc, and plotting to take them over. Then he came up with the idea of taking over the name ISKCON, taking over the BBT, taking over the GBC, etc.
For the ISKCON devotees ISKCON is their life. Their lives have no meaning seperate from ISKCON. So if you threten them that you want to take ISKCON away from them they will fight you to the death. There will never be an end to this.
After Madhupandit Prabhu is gone you may well have to take up the battle with ISKCON Amitasana Prabhu. Srila Prabhupada says in India these battles in the courts can go on for generations.
My humble suggestion is that Nimai is not a very good person to be working with. He is a fighter by nature, he will also fight till death, even if there is no reason for fighting.
Madhu Pandit Prabhu is not at all like this. He is a preacher and he doesn't want this fight. But while you are working with Nimai the fighting will go on perpetually.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Your servant
Madhudvisa dasa
