Turning Rittvik On Its Head

by bhakta Eric Johanson

“Srila Prabhupada never told his disciples to initiate their own disciples in his mission” Hare Krishna Society, Srila Prabhupada Siddhanta

“However, Srila Prabhupada never did say that any one individual or group of individuals should become diksha guru.” Prabhupada Truth Commission, Srila Prabhupada’s Hidden Glories, Vol.2, p693

One of the pillars of rittvik doctrine is that Srila Prabhupada never ordered any specific individual(s) to be a diksa (initiating) guru. Therefore its advocates say he wanted what they preach, that he would continue to accept new disciples, even after his departure. The physically manifest person presiding over the initiation ceremony of these new people would then be a mere rittvik or priest and not a guru.

The more honest of these advocates do admit, however, that Srila Prabhupada very much wanted and talked about ordering some of his disciples to be guru. But they say that because he didn’t name anyone specific, he decided in his last months that no one was worthy. So they say. For all these advocates this means case closed.

This limiting of how an order to be guru is given is hardly transcendental however. Rittvik advocates also make a point of preaching that a pure devotee like Srila Prabhupada is not limited to time and space, that he is still 100% spiritually present. So surely he is still capable of giving an order to a qualified somebody to begin initiating disciples of their own. Why do rittvik advocates suddenly decide that he is somehow spiritually incapable of only this?

“I went to your country for spreading this information of Krishna Consciousness & you are helping me in my mission although I am not physically present there but spiritually I am always with you.” Letter, October 3, 1967

Further contradiction arises when we try to apply this artificial limiting standard to Srila Prabhupada himself. After all, there is no record of his guru, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada, naming A.C. Bhaktivedanta as a guru prior to his departure in 1936. Therefore, according to the standard of current rittvik doctrine our own Srila Prabhupada is not a bona fide guru. How absurd!

Obviously there are other ways that an order to be guru can be given by a pure devotee like Srila Prabhupada. He himself said that he was ordered to take sannyasa in dreams by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhupada. In regard to how Srila Prabhupada himself got the order to initiate, as far as I know there is no record of him giving any details. He did say that he got it however.

These inconsistencies in regard to their own rittvik doctrine and the standard Gaudiya Vaishnava siddhanta (philosophy) are examples of mistakes, one of the defects of fallen conditioned souls. A liberated paramahamsa like Srila Prabhupada does not fall victim to such things, and this is only more reason to doubt that he really wanted the rittvik arrangement to continue after his departure.

Indeed, for the whole of his twelve years preaching his worldwide mission Srila Prabhupada regularly talked about seeing his disciples becoming gurus to take over after his departure.

“Anyone following the order of Lord Caitanya under the guidance of His bona fide representative, can become a spiritual master, and I wish that in my absence all my disciples become the bona fide spiritual master to spread Krishna Consciousness throughout the whole world.” Letter to Madhusudana, November 2, 1967

“Yes. All of them will take over. These students, who are initiated from me, all of them will act as I am doing. Just like I have got many Godbrothers, they are all acting. Similarly, all these disciples which I am making, initiating, they are being trained to become future spiritual masters.” Conversation Detroit, 71-07-18

This was the same consistent example of his predecessor spiritual masters, as also found in the standard Gaudiya Vaishnava sastras (scriptures), such as Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, that he translated for the world. Here he described the example of his guru that he himself followed in the days just prior to his own departure:

“If Guru Maharaja could have seen someone who was qualified at that time to be acarya he would have mentioned. Because on the night before he passed away he talked of so many things, but never mentioned an acarya. His idea was acarya was not to be nominated amongst the governing body. He said openly you make a GBC and conduct the mission. So his idea was amongst the members of GBC who would come out successful and self effulgent acarya would be automatically selected.” Letter to Rupanuga, 28 April, 1974

Taking Over

Srila Prabhupada’s twelve years of consistent preaching on this topic is the reason why rittvik wasn’t even the first attempt to take over his mission. That dubious distinction goes to the eleven so-called zonal acaryas, who within 6 months of his departure in November of 1977 deceived the whole Hare Krishna movement by saying he had appointed them as his successors. Four of these charlatans are still recognized as so-called spiritual masters by the Governing Body Commission (GBC) of the corporate institution founded by Srila Prabhupada, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). This GBC still maintains control of most of the assets once accumulated and managed by His Divine Grace. Recognizing the remaining four liars as divinely empowered is just one of the conditions for anyone else who aspires to be an ecclesiastical “guru” appointed by the GBC in the ISKCON institution.

“Srila Jiva Gosvami advises that one not accept a spiritual master in terms of hereditary or customary social, and ecclesiastical conventions.” Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta Adi 1.35, Purport

For more on this topic please see our earlier article, An Honest ISKCON.

It wasn’t until 1989 that rittvik finally began to take shape as a movement. It quickly became the primary threat to the ISKCON GBC and its ecclesiastical “gurus” simply because of the failures and scandals of the eleven. There were hundreds of their disciples who had been left high and dry after their so-called guru became an embarrassment and was defrocked by the GBC. Many had even accepted another zonal, as ordered by the GBC, only to have the ordeal repeated. Many of these high and dry ex-disciples were more than ready to jump when they were told by the rittvik organizers that they could now become Srila Prabhupada’s disciple instead. That way they could actually improve their status in devotee society as opposed to starting over at the bottom of some other “guru’s” totem pole. It was a huge draw for rittvik as a movement and continues to be so.

The zonal’s lie was so easily believed simply because the idea of successors followed so readily from what Srila Prabhupada had consistently preached. The philosophical justification for rittvik, on the other hand, is a bit more of a reach. In addition to the inconsistencies noted previously, it means rejecting the order of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the incarnation of Lord Krishna who inaugurated the Hare Krishna movement in India some 500 years ago. He said:

yāre dekha, tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa
āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra’ ei deśa
“Instruct everyone to follow the orders of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa as they are given in the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In this way become a spiritual master and try to liberate everyone in this land.” Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya 7.128

Rittvik advocates inherently reject this order to themselves by saying that Srila Prabhupada is to be the only diksa guru for the foreseeable future. They consider becoming a guru as an attempt to replace Srila Prabhupada, something the group calls the Dreaded Acarya Disease Syndrome (DADS) and an offence. This is how the group respects Mahaprabhu’s order. Is this Vaishnavism?

These advocates do their reach by saying that this is only an order to be a siksa, or instructing, guru, as opposed to a diksa guru. This sort of wrangling is unfortunately all too typical of rittvik advocates. One will notice that the word “siksa,” or some synonym, does not qualify the noun “guru” in the Bengali verse above, meaning that the order thus includes both types of gurus. In addition, the act of trying “to liberate everyone” would necessarily include initiating them.

Rittvik advocates often cite the initiation procedures of the Madhavacarya and Ramanujacarya sampradayas (other Vaishnava disciplic lines) as being rittvik arrangements. However, many in these groups do not accept Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu as an incarnation of Krishna, so they don’t necessarily give as much weight to His order as a Gaudiya Vaishnava must do.

Rejecting the direct order of the supreme Lord is the offence of mental speculation, something that leads one to conclude that rittvik doctrine is only the product of the creative thinking of its adherents. Our earlier analysis above about artificially limiting Srila Prabhupada’s ability to give an order to be guru is further evidence of this. A God-realized pure devotee like Srila Prabhupada could never order the implementation of something so flawed.

Final What?

In this same vein, rittvik doctrine has, as one of its cornerstones, the concept of a “final order.” The idea, as stated previously, is that in his last months on earth Srila Prabhupada suddenly changed his mind about his disciples becoming gurus after his departure and decided that he should remain the only initiating guru in his movement for all time. Unfortunately he never said this directly. This has only been assumed by the rittvik advocates based on his answer to this first question:

Prabhupāda: Yes. I shall recommend some of you. After this is settled up, I shall recommend some of you to act as officiating ācāryas.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Is that called ṛtvik-ācārya?

Prabhupāda: Ṛtvik, yes.

Conversation with GBC members, Vrindavana, May 28,1977

Just from this one answer about officiating acaryas, rittvik advocates are ready to throw out Srila Prabhupada’s many previous instructions for his disciples to become gurus after his departure, consistent instructions given over twelve years. We should also not forget that these twelve years of instruction were in accordance with his predecessor gurus and all Gaudiya Vaishnava scriptures, including Mahaprabhu’s order above. So rittvik advocates are also prepared to throw out all those in their zeal. All because of this one answer. It would be laughable if they weren’t so zealous. Again, is this how serious devotees submit to guru, sadhu and sastra?

The understanding of the answer that doesn’t conflict with these Gaudiya Vaishnava standards and Srila Prabhupada’s previous preaching is that the officiating acaryas would only serve until Srila Prabhupada’s departure. These limited rittvik initiations would also be “initiations in the future,” just not, “particularly at that time when you’re no longer with us.” This is also a perfectly legitimate way for Srila Prabhupada to answer Satsvarupa’s question. Srila Prabhupada just decided to answer the first part only. The pure devotee is never bound to fully answer a disciple’s question.

Besides, the very concept of a “final order” is anathema to the eternal Gaudiya Vaishnava siddhanta (philosophical conclusions). Initiation and the succession of gurus are fundamental elements of that eternal siddhanta. They are not mere customs subject to adjustment. The adjective “final” also situates the order in the realm of time, giving it an inherently temporary, material context.

The absurd question then logically arises, “Which order do you choose to be the final one?” Just minutes after giving the answer that rittviks consider the final order in the May 28, 1977 conversation, Srila Prabhupada gave another real order that contradicted any idea that he didn’t want his disciples to become initiating gurus – “When I order, ‘You become guru,’ he becomes regular guru. That’s all. He becomes disciple of my disciple. That’s it.” Why can’t other devotees make this the “real” final order? It even comes after the rittvik’s final order. The point here is that the very idea of a final order is illogical and contradicts any concept of an eternal siddhanta. A pure devotee like Srila Prabhupada would never deviate from the standards of his predecessor gurus in these ways. Here is the full record of this exchange in the overall conversation:

Satsvarūpa: By the votes of the present GBC. Then our next question concerns initiations in the future, particularly at that time when you’re no longer with us. We want to know how first and second initiation would be conducted.
Prabhupāda: Yes. I shall recommend some of you. After this is settled up, I shall recommend some of you to act as officiating ācāryas.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Is that called ṛtvik-ācārya?
Prabhupāda: Ṛtvik, yes.
Satsvarūpa: Then what is the relationship of that person who gives the initiation and the…..
Prabhupāda: He’s guru. He’s guru.
Satsvarūpa: But he does it on your behalf.
Prabhupāda: Yes. That is formality. Because in my presence one should not become guru, so on my behalf, on my order . . . āmāra ājñāya guru hañā (CC Madhya 7.128). Be actually guru, but by my order.
Satsvarūpa: So they may also be considered your disciples.
Prabhupāda: Yes, they are disciples. Why consider? Who?
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: No, he’s asking that these ṛtvik-ācāryas, they’re officiating, giving dīkṣā. Their . . . the people who they give dīkṣā to, whose disciple are they?
Prabhupāda: They’re his disciple.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: They’re his disciple.
Prabhupāda: Who is initiating. He is granddisciple.
Satsvarūpa: Yes.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: That’s clear.
Satsvarūpa: Then we have a question concer . . .
Prabhupāda: When I order, “You become guru,” he becomes regular guru. That’s all. He becomes disciple of my disciple. That’s it. – Conversation with GBC, May 28, 1977

For a more detailed analysis of these points please see our previous article Rittviks Follow Guru Whimsically (and Blindly).

Allowing ones creative thinking to pick and choose from the sastras and the guru’s instructions indicates a desire to achieve a certain result. It is also not difficult to observe that virtually all the originators and leaders of the rittvik movement suffered at the hands of the zonal acaryas and GBC in the years following Srila Prabhupada’s departure. What rittvik doctrine gave them was another method of ecclesiastical so-called initiation, without which they would be unable to fully compete with their previous tormentors. And yes, if Srila Prabhupada is mandated as the only diksa guru, this is very much guru by “ecclesiastical convention.”

These rittvik leaders and advocates like to accuse the so-called gurus of the ISKCON institution of being ambitious to take that absolute position. However, rittvik literature regularly exhorts its followers to rise up and overthrow the current GBC and its “guru franchises.” How is this urge for control of a, by now, mundane institution all that different? It is the nature of conditioned life to desire domination. Of course, the rittvik advocates are convinced they are trying to restore the correct siddhanta. However, with that so-called siddhanta containing the many contradictions described herein, such struggle becomes little more than a fight for mundane sectarian mastery – politics. Can all this be pleasing to Srila Prabhupada?

Conclusion

Srila Prabhupada’s movement is continuing to exist on the spiritual plane with the siddhanta he preached. Here in this world, however, it is the nature of Kali yuga to have conflict, and there is no shortage of that among his followers. The abuses and overlording of the zonal acaryas created justification for much opposition. Rittvik is just the biggest manifestation of that. It was inevitable that an alternative would arise to the bogus initiations of the ISKCON institution’s “gurus.” Initiation, real or so-called, is like the ring of power because it firmly binds new recruits to a group’s leaders. Thus the conflict between the ISKCON institution and rittvik becomes like two false gods fighting it out in the sky, the smoke and mirrors only obscuring the pure light behind both.

Eventually a genuinely advanced soul will manifest to truly implement the desires of Srila Prabhupada and Mahaprabhu. Until then there is Srila Prabhupada’s books, recordings, instructions and mercy, his 100% spiritual presence. All glories to him.