INTERNATIONAL SRI KRISHNA MANDIR AUSTRALIA

You do not require to worry as I shall never leave you, you are my disciple and I am your spiritual master, so there is no question, as long as you follow my instructions, then I shall never leave you.~

Srila Prabhupada

Srila Prabhupada

Ritvik Established

Appointment Tape - ROOM CONVERSATION — Vṛndāvana, May 28th, 1977

Although this conversation is slightly ambiguous it clearly establishes Srila Prabhupada introducing the ṛtvik concept.

Satsvarūpa: "Then our next question concerns initiations in the future, particularly at that time when you are no longer with us. We want to know how first and second initiations will be conducted."

Śrīla Prabhupāda: "Yes. I shall recommend some of you. After this is settled up. I shall recommend some of you to act as officiating ācārya."

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: "Is that called ṛtvik-ācārya?"

Śrīla Prabhupāda: “Ṛtvik. Yes.

When ISCKON swelled to a massive following,  Śrīla Prabhupāda set up a system of initiation wherein his representatives, called ṛtviks (priests) would officiate the initiation on his behalf,  he also instructed for this to continue after his physical departure. The naming of this system as 'Ritvik' was the very word used by our most revered Śrīla Prabhupāda when asked about initiation in the future, particularly when he is no longer with us.

However there are many that deny Śrīla Prabhupāda set up such a system, so what follows is the documentary and sastric evidence to support the Ritvik system established by Śrīla Prabhupāda before leaving his body.

WHAT IS RITVIK?

DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE

JULT 9TH LETTER

July 9th, 1977 (REPRODUCED)

To All G.B.C., and Temple Presidents Dear Mahārājas and Prabhus,

Please accept my humble obeisances at your feet. Recently when all of the GBC members were with His Divine Grace in Vṛndāvana, Śrīla Prabhupāda indicated that soon He would appoint some of His senior disciples to act as "rittik"—representative of the ācārya, for the purpose of performing initiations, both first initiation and second initiation. His Divine Grace has so far given a list of eleven disciples who will act in that capacity:

His Holiness Kirtanananda Swami

His Holiness Satsvarupa das Gosvami

His Holiness Jayapataka Swami

His Holiness Tamala Kṛṣṇa Gosvami

His Holiness Hrdayananda Gosvami

His Holiness Bhavananda Gosvami

His Holiness Hamsadutta Swami

His Holiness Ramesvara Swami

His Holiness Harikesa Swami

His Grace Bhagavan das Adhikari

His Grace Jayatirtha das Adhikari In the past Temple Presidents have written to Śrīla Prabhupāda recommending a particular devotee's initiation. Now that Śrīla Prabhupāda has named these representatives, Temple Presidents may henceforward send recommendation for first and second initiation to whichever of these eleven representatives are nearest their temple.

The July 9th 1977 letter is the official follow up document from Srila Prabhupada in regards to the room conversation in May 1977. This letter clarifies and establishes his Ṛtvik system.

The original letter follows and a clear reproduction of the letter so the contents can be easily read and understood. For a full analysis of the letter please refer to the full version of the IA77.

After considering the recommendation, these representatives may accept the devotee as an initiated disciple of Śrīla Prabhupāda by giving a spiritual name, or in the case of second initiation, by chanting on the Gayatri thread, just as Śrīla Prabhupāda has done. The newly initiated devotees are disciples of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, the above eleven senior devotees acting as His representative. After the Temple President receives a letter from these representatives giving the spiritual name or the thread, he can perform the fire yajna in the temple as was being done before. The name of a newly initiated disciple should be sent by the representative who has accepted him or her to Śrīla Prabhupāda, to be included in His Divine Grace's "Initiated Disciples" book.

Hoping this finds you all well. Your servant, (signature appears on the original document) Tamala Kṛṣṇa Gosvami Secretary to Śrīla Prabhupāda

Approved [Śrīla Prabhupāda's signature appears on original document]  

TAMAL KRSNA CONFESSION

On December 3rd, 1980, Tamāla Kṛṣṇa Gosvāmī confessed as follows:

“Actually, Prabhupāda never appointed any gurus. [...] He appointed eleven ṛtviks. He never appointed them gurus. Myself and the other GBC have done the greatest disservice to this movement the last three years because we interpreted the appointment of ṛtviks as the appointment of gurus.”

It is actually worth reading this entire confession which can be found in the full version of the IA77. Where he stresses the point that Śrīla Prabhupāda never appointed any gurus.  

“There is no external force in this world that can stop our movement. It can only be destroyed from within.”

– Srila Prabhupada

This  is but a snap shot of the tip of the ice berg. For an in-depth insight into the Ritvik system and ISCKON the full length IA77 video documentary is below and hard copies of the IA77  available. (Please see links below)

DOES ONES DIKSA GURU NEED TO PHYSICALY ALIVE?

There has also been a lot of controversy surrounding the question: 'Does ones guru need to be physically alive?'. Herewith follows the direct words and instructions of Srila Prabhupada on this matter:

Devotee: "Śrīla Prabhupāda, when you are not present with us, how is it possible to receive instructions, for example, on questions that may arise?"

Śrīla Prabhupāda: "Well, the questions... Answers are there in my books."

— Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Morning Walk, May 13th 1973, Los Angeles, USA

“When we feel separation from Kṛṣṇa or the spiritual master, we should just try to remember their words of instructions, and we will no longer feel that separation. Such association with Kṛṣṇa and the spiritual master should be association by vibration, not physical presence. That is real association. We put so much stress on seeing, but when Kṛṣṇa was present on this earth, so many people saw Him and did not realize that He is God; so what is the advantage of seeing? By seeing Kṛṣṇa, we will not understand Him, but by listening carefully to His teachings, we can come to the platform of understanding. We can touch Kṛṣṇa immediately by sound vibration; therefore we should give more stress to the sound vibration of Kṛṣṇa and of the spiritual master then we’ll feel happy and won’t feel separation.”

— excerpt from the book Elevation to Kṛṣṇa Consciousness, Pages 57-58

FURTHER INFORMATION AND SUPPORTING EVIDENCE

Fifty years after the momentous occasion of the incorporation of ISKCON Inc. in New York, the glorious Hare Krishna movement established by its Founder-Acarya Srila Prabhupada, is in shambles. By the numbers, it definitely looks much bigger. Hundreds of temples, tens of farm communities, thousands of devotees and millions of books distributed. But if we dig a little deeper, we can understand that the expansion has happened on the momentum that was set by Srila Prabhupada. There has been a tremendous decline in the quality of the movement, though. It is not a rock solid expansion. It is more like the expansion of a balloon. At any time it can burst. It is actually crumbling on the inside.

All that degeneration can be attributed to a single major offence that has practically uprooted the very foundation of our movement — the wilful disobedience of a simple and straightforward instruction/order of Srila Prabhupada regarding his position as the sole diksa guru (initiator guru) of ISKCON by some select individuals. We at ISKM, are here to make a humble attempt to rectify this gloomy circumstance by sincerely following the instructions of Srila Prabhupada to the letter without any personal motive.

As a humble gift to Srila Prabhupada, we at Sri Krishna Mandir Singapore, released on the 13th of July 2016, on the 50th anniversary of the incorporation of ISKCON Inc., a position paper called Initiations After 1977 (IA77), version 1.0 which is a simple and authoritative presentation of the truth about this entire issue, replete with documentary and sastric (scriptural) evidence, yet simple enough for anyone to understand. Every devotee has a considerable stake in this matter and we therefore implore you to read it and share this article/document around to all those who you think should be helped.

Srila Prabhupada's Instructions

IA77 Video Documentary