Overview

Recently, we received a thoughtful letter from a new devotee seeking guidance on questions related to leaving ISKCON. In response, Gaura Gopāla Dāsa addressed each of the devotee’s concerns. For the benefit of our readers, we are sharing his insightful answers below.

Dear ____,

Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Thank you for your letter. All your questions are important and I’ll try to answer them accordingly.

1) There are explicit instructions by Śrīla Prabhupāda that no matter how many faults, one should not leave this society.

Where does Śrīla Prabhupāda actually say, “Never leave Iskcon”? He repeatedly says one should never leave devotional service or the association of devotees. But you will not find in his books, letters, or lectures, the literal instruction, “One should never leave Iskcon.” Of course, there’s plenty of gurus, GBCs, and managers in Iskcon who constantly say, “Prabhupāda said, ‘Never leave Iskcon!’” – but the same people also say that “Prabhupāda’s books are the lawbooks.” So where in the ‘lawbooks’ does he actually say that?

In fact, when Yamunā Devī was struggling and wanted to live separately with one of her godsisters, Prabhupāda told her, “Association can be two or two hundred. But you must be compatible.” So, the emphasis was always on compatible sādhu-saṅga and not on institutional affiliation.

What is Iskcon? Is it a legal document? A society registration number? A GBC managerial structure? A building made from bricks and marble?

Before the British came to India, there were no ‘registered societies.’ There were sampradāyas, paramparās, maṭhas, pāṭhśālās, and gurukulas. When the British imposed codified law, religious groups were forced to register legally in order to own property and function within that legal system. That is why organisations like the Gauḍīya Maṭha adopted legal structures. It was a practical necessity – not a śāstrika mandate.

When Śrīla Prabhupāda created the ‘International Society for Krishna Consciousness,’ he also had to register it under American law. That was required to function in the modern world. But there is nothing actually transcendental about a registered corporation. Kṛṣṇa really doesn’t care what name you have on your signboard!

So again – what is Iskcon?

Does being in Iskcon mean following the GBC? I could explain what the GBCs original function was supposed to be according to Śrīla Prabhupāda, but it would make this reply even longer. If only following the GBC makes you a member of Iskcon, then many of the GBCs themselves are not even members of Iskcon, since most of them break their own laws! What about all the devotees worldwide who live outside temples and have little to no interaction with the GBC? Truth be told, most people outside who consider themselves affiliated with Iskcon don’t even care what the GBC laws are. Most of their laws are irrelevant to them. So, are they no longer members of Iskcon?

If Iskcon means following Prabhupāda, then one can follow him whether one is inside or outside a legal societal framework.

Did Prabhupāda ‘leave’ his Guru Mahārāja’s institution? He did not remain formally inside the organized structure of the Gauḍīya Maṭha after its fragmentation, but he remained a loyal disciple of Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura and fulfilled his order more powerfully than anyone.

So, we need to distinguish between loyalty to the guru and the siddhānta, and loyalty to an external society and its management structure. They are not automatically identical.

2) Couldn’t reforms be done from within?

Yes – in theory they could, if the GBC was aware of what needs to be reformed and was willing to fix things. But firstly, there’s some important history to understand.

In the mid-1980s, many devotees who questioned the GBC’s deviations were removed or forced out of the movement. Any type of disagreement was treated as rebellion. Devotees left in their thousands. Some were psychologically broken, and some even committed suicide. This was before our time, but imagine a situation where you once lived in a golden age of affection and love, only for that to disappear overnight and be replaced with a harsh, draconian leadership which did not tolerate any criticism, a leadership run by unqualified ācāryas.

Could reform have happened internally? Only if the GBC had been open to it. My Guru Mahārāja, Śrīla Narasiṅgha Mahārāja and others didn’t leave of their own accord. They were ousted. Then, they took shelter of Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja and were slandered even further. Some members of the GBC would have preferred it if they had given up Kṛṣṇa consciousness altogether rather than find inspiration from a senior Vaiṣṇava like Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja. One GBC (who is no longer practicing Kṛṣṇa consciousness) famously declared, “Better to become a meat-eating karmī than to go to Śrīdhara Mahārāja!”

Since that time, the GBC has done very little to apologize for their actions and bring back the godbrothers and godsisters that they threw out. It is a sad fact that many of the devotees who were driven out have already left this world. An even sadder fact is that this does not even weigh on the conscience of the GBC. Even today, devotees are still being kicked out of their guru’s mission.

So, the decisions of my Guru Mahārāja and others like him must be understood in that historical context – not judged from a distance forty years later.

Also consider this – Prabhupāda did not reform the Gauḍīya Maṭha ‘from within.’ He created a new mission that embodied what he understood to be the true spirit of his Guru Mahārāja. That wasn’t a rejection, but a continuation under different circumstances.

3) What is the position of genuine practitioners within Iskcon?

Well, that depends. Each individual must navigate according to his/her own conscience. There are certainly sincere devotees within Iskcon, but as Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja once said, “We just disagree with the present management.”

Just because there are managerial problems doesn’t negate the sincerity of individual practitioners. Some can peacefully function within the society and others can’t, without compromising their integrity – but both may be sincere.

The real question isn’t whether or not someone has left the mission of the guru. The real question is, are they loyal to their guru, the Gauḍīya siddhānta, and the practice of Kṛṣṇa consciousness? If the answer is yes, then the external society they function within is secondary.

Hope this answers your questions.

Gaura Gopāla Dāsa

About the Author: Gaura Gopāla Dāsa

Gaura Gopāla Dāsa Brahmacārī was born in 1987 to Dhīra Lalitā Dāsī and Jagadīśvara Dāsa, both disciples of Śrīla Prabhupāda. He first met his guru, Śrīlā B.G. Narasiṅgha Mahārāja in 1993 and took initiation from him in 1995. He joined his guru’s āśrama full time in 2000, serving in various capacities for over 20 years and recently moved to Vṛndāvana where he is serving at the Rupanuga Bhajan Ashram.