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Loyalty to Srila Prabhupada and his teachingsThe purpose of this paper is simple. It is to point out that there aredifferences between the instructions, standards, practices, and mood ofSrila Prabhupad and those taught by H.H. Narayan Maharaj. Why do thosedifferences matter? The following quote sheds light on this matter."Devotees worried, speculating on whether they could carry on withoutSwamaji. One devotee suggested that perhaps one of Swamiji's god-brothersshould come to America and fill in for Swamiji and, if the worst happened,take over the leadership of the International Society for KrsnaConsciousness. When the suggestion reached Prabhupad he considered itwithout immediately replying.Mukunda: I was siting alone with Swamiji in his room, and he was very graveand silent.His eyes were closed. Then, suddenly, tears began flowing from his eyes. Andhe said in a choked voice, "My spiritual master was no ordinary spiritualmaster" Then he paused for some time, and wiping the tears from his cheeks,he said in an even more choked voice, "He saved me." At that point I beganto understand the meaning of "spiritual master" and dropped allconsideration of ever replacing Swamiji.After two days Prabhupad said he would not call any of his god-brothers tocome and take care of his disciples. He said, "If this person speaks evenone word different from what I am speaking, there will be great confusionamong you." Actually, he said, the idea was an insult to the spiritualmaster.(Lilamrta Volume 3...."Only he could lead them"...pages162 and 163)The intent of this paper is not to disparage H.H. Narayan Maharaj. Itspurpose again is simply to point out that there is one path marked out bySrila Prabhupad, and a different path chalked out by H.H Narayan Maharaj.He certainly has the right to guide his followers as he sees fit. ISKCON, onthe other hand, has its sacred duty to maintain the precious legacy socarefully crafted by our Founder Acharya, His Divine Grace, A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada...for our sake and for the benefit of themany generations to come.RaganugaThe first and foremost philosophical difference is in the method and meansfor obtaining the ultimate perfection in spiritual life. H.H. NarayanMaharaj, in numerous lectures and writings, has stressed the need to hearintimate Krsna lila from a "rasika bhakta" and to learn from such anindividual of various raganuga practices. He states that by such hearing,even unqualified persons become qualified...in fact it is a necessaryingredient for further advancement.Much has been volleyed back and forth on this, therefore is no real need toadd to the papers already written on the topic.The simple fact is that H.H.Narayan Maharaj does hold this opinion.He was promoting this view to the first ISKCON devotees to visit him, heopenly advocated it in his address to ISKCON devotees at Kesava Math inSept. of `94, and confirmed his conviction again, only a few months ago,during a conversation with Bhakti Caru Maharaj in India.Srila Prabhupada on the other hand states:"The special function of Srila Rupa Gosvami is to establish the feelings ofSri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. These feelings are His desires that His specialmercy be spread throughout the world in this Kali-yuga.prthivite ache yata nagaradi-gramasarvatra pracara haibe mora nama
 
"His desire is that all over the world everyone, in every village and everytown, know of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His sankirtana movement. These arethe inner feelings of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Sri Rupa Gosvami committed towriting all these feelings of the Lord. Now again, by the mercy of SriCaitanya Mahaprabhu, the same feelings are being spread all over the worldby the servants of the Gosvamis, and devotees who are pure and simple willappreciate this attempt.(Cc Antya 1.117p)Prabhupada: We have got everything clearly stated, that we observe theseregulative principles, chant minimum sixteen rounds, and act as far aspossible for the service of the Lord. Where is the difficulty?Prthu-putra: Maybe the realization may not be there.Prabhupada: What is that realization? This is the prescribed duty. Sothere is no question of realization. You must do it.Prthu Putra: Yes, they must and they also do it.Prabhupada: Then where is the doubt? Let me go on with my duty. That'sall.Why shall I be disturbed by so many things? Let me see whether I amdischarging my dutiesproperly. That's all.Prthu Putra: That is what should be told to them.Prabhupada: Yes, he may be very fortunate that he is dreaming (of higherthings). "All right, keep aside. Do your duty. You are very fortunate. Butdon't bother now.First of all be strong and follow." Otherwise, ei chure paka. Stunted jackfruit. Jackfruit becomes so big, but one fruit, it is so small. Taya eka channi sa.And it hasbecome ripened. So it has no taste, neither it can be used forcooking-useless. Asmall fruit ripened, it is use-less either for this person or that. So doyour duty. Gurumukha padma vakhya cittete koriya .. ara na koriya. That is bhajan. Assoon as he deviates-yasyaprasadan na gatih kuto 'pi. He is finished. That has happened....It is theeffect of badassociation"(SP Conversation 28.1.1977)"Whatever my parents say, that's all I shall do. I shall do nothing[else]," then he is safe....And as soon as he manufactures-finished. So don't do this. Yasya deve parabhaktir yatha deve tatha gurau tasyaite kathita... This is the secret ofspiritual success (SP Conversation 28.1.1977)Prabhupada: Now, I'll say from my practical life... it is not pride.Actually everyone knows that my Guru Maharaja had thousands of disciples.Soout of thousands of disciples, practically I am a little successful. Thateveryone knows. Why? Because I firmly believ-ed in the words of my guru.That's all. There may be many other God brothers, maybe very learned andvery advanced, favored, whatever it may be.... So I think sometimes that"Why this wonderful thing has happened to me?" So I search out. I searchout only that I cent percent believe in the words of my spiritual master,that's all, nothing else Guru-mukha-padma-vakya, cittete koriya aikya, arana koriho mane asa. Don't think any non-sense. Simply execute what yourguru has said. That is success." (SP Conversation 28.1.1977)In other papers the case has already been made that by faithfully absorbingone's self in serving Srila Prabhupad by following his directions forsadhana and working with all one's heart and soul to fulfill the goals of
 
His Divine Grace's preaching mission, such a sincere aspirant will"automatically" come to the highest levels of realization. There is no noneed to add or subtract anything to the process Srila Prabhupad put in placewhile he was personally on the planet; rather by absorbing one's selfwholeheartedly in the mission of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, we will exceedall other processes. This unflinching faith in and surrender to the order'sof one's spiritual master is Srila Prabhupad's "secret" teaching and the keyhe gave us to unlocking the highest of realizations and tastes.TulasidasLast Spring (`96) during a public lecture at the Radha Raman temple in S.California, H.H.Narayan Maharaj declared, "I do not know why ISKCON's GBC criticizesTulasidas?".First there is a question about the appropriateness of what was undoubtedlyan inflammatory comment, given that the audience was largely Indian, many ofwhom have their cultural attachment to Tulasidas' writing (there were also anumber of ISKCON life members in attendance). But putting that aside, beloware excerpts from an exchange of letters between H.H. Narayan Maharaj and anISKCON Sannyasi:H.H Narayan Maharaj:"For your information Tulasi dasaji was a Vaisnava belonging to theRamananda sampra-daya, a branch of the Sri sampradaya.""He has not expressed mayavada conclusions in any of his writings.""If Srila Tulasi dasa was indeed a mayavadi then kindly present someconcrete evidence to support your conclusion.""Although we are substantiating the authority of the Tulasi Ramayana, thequestion may be asked why we don't regard it on the same level as theGaudiya Vaisnava literature. The reason for this is that although, accordingto Vaisnava siddhanta, it is accepted as bhakti scripture in a routinesense, it does not present a complete description of raganuga (or ru-panuga)rasamayi bhakti."(Comment: In other words, it is "authoritative" and should beaccepted...simply it does not contain descriptions of raganuga/ rasamayibhakti found in Krsna's Vrndaban lila)Srila Prabhupad's quotes:"Don't divert your attention in that way. The author of Rama charita manasa,Goswami Tulasi das, has a tint of Mayavadi philosophy. He belongs to theRamananda Sampradaya.They are mixed up combination of personalist and impersonalist. Therefore,the author is not considered as pure Vaisnava.""Prabhupad responded that Tulasidasa's Ramayana was popular because there isvery little literature available in Hindi. Otherwise, he did not have a verygood opinion about it.""When Jayapataka Maharaj suggested that it could be translated by a GaudiyaVaisnava and its philosophical errors corrected, Prabhupad dismissedit.`Why? Gaudiya Vaisnava has immense literature. Why should they botherwith Tulasidasa? By reading Tulasidasa Rama-carita-manasa, in my experience,I have not seen a single man come to the spiritual platform. I have not seena single man."Hari Sauri Prabhu's "Transcendental Diary/ Volume 4"....page 205"Regarding the two books you have mentioned, Sri Rama-carita-manasa byGoswami Tulasi dasa is not very authorized, and Ramayana is authorized .The author of Rama-carita-manasa, Goswami Tulasi dasa, has a tint ofMayavadi philosophy. He belongs to the Ramananda sampradaya. They are mixedup combination of personalists and impersonalist. Therefore, the author isnot considered as pure Vaishnava. Pure Vaishnava is free from all mentalcontamination of fruitive activities and mental speculation. The pureVaishnava is simply, purely disposed to transcendental loving service to
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