This newsletter has been named the Vedic Advocate, but the foremost of all Vedic advocates

  This newsletter has been named the Vedic Advocate, but the foremost of
all Vedic advocates was His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada--
the personification of all Vedic knowledge.
  The International Society for Krishna Consciousness had just celebrated
the tenth year anniversary of Prabhupada's disappearance day.  He left
this world in November 1977, yet there is no question of Prabhupada's
being absent or unavailable.  He lives with his faithful disciples through
his instructions.
  Since Prabhupada left, there has been a great controversy within his
ISKCON about the succession of spiritual authority.  It has been the position
of the Vedic Advocate Newsletter that His Divine Grace had never selected
anyone to personally succeed him as bona fide acharya.  However, it has been a
controversy that has remained to this day about how to fill the vacuum of
spiritual authority left by Prabhupada's absence.
  Conflicting accounts of how Prabhupada wanted his society to continue after
his death still abound.  Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami--author of Prabhupada
Lilamrita, editor for Back to Godhead Magazine and ISKCON spiritual
master--has supported and propagated the most commonly held view that
Prabhupada had personally selected eleven men to succeed him as bona fide
gurus and accept disciples after his death.  Evidence from other sources
allow all researchers into the matter the basis to set aside confidently
Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami's conclusion which are:

1)  In only one known conversation, Prabhupada named Tamala Krishna,
Kirtanananda, Satsvarupa, Jayatirtha, Bhagavan, Harikesha, Jayapataka,
Hridayananda and Rameshvara to act as officiating (ritvik) gurus for those
who wanted to accept spiritual initiation.  In that same conversation,
Prabhupada made it clear that such newly initiated disciples were to
become his disciples only. Otherwise, there is no other known context
where Prabhupada even hints that these above-mentioned devotees would go
on to act as successor gurus. Even the tape where this conversation
appears has been reported as unavailable from the Bhaktivedanta Tape
Ministry.

2)  Prabhupada personally denied any plan for succession.  The same month
Prabhupada left this world, he said, "It's not that I'll give an order:
'Here is the next leader.'  Anyone who follows the previous leadership is a
leader (BTG Vol. 13--#1-2)."

3)  According to the philosphy of Krishna consciousness, the spritual master
can only provide the bona fide method whereby the disciple can attain
perfection.  However, it is impossible for even the Supreme Personality of
Godhead to empower anyone to act as a guru unless he is completely pure in
heart.  Supporters of the successor-guru theory have posited that the divine
order of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (yare dekha, tare kaha 'krishna'-
upadesha...) empowers the neophyte devotee to act as a guru.  The order of
Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is a mandate for everyone to become first completely
pure, and then go and teach others and not visa versa.

  Even Prabhupada's personal secretary Tamal Krishna Goswami and former GBC
chariman has flatly denied that Prabhupada had selected anyone as successor
gurus in 1980:  "Actually, Prabhupada never appointed any gurus.  He didn't
appoint eleven gurus.  He appointed eleven ritviks.  He never appointed them
as gurus.  Myself and the other GBC have done the greatest disservice to this
movement the last three years because we interpreted the appointment of
ritviks as the appointment of gurus.  If it had been any more than that, you
can bet your bottom dollar that Prabhupada would have spoken for days and
hours and weeks on end about how to set up this thing with the gurus, but he
did not, because he already said it a million times.  He said, 'My Guru
Maharaja did not appoint anyone.  It is by qualification.'  We made a great
mistake...."
  The spiritual master must assume responsibility for the activities of his
disciples.  That is because the spiritual master has strictly guided the
activities of the disciple.  But the guru cannot be held responsible for the
independent actions of his disciples.  The GBC, therefore, must be held
accountable for the appointment of the eleven successor spiritual masters and
not credit Prabhupada for this action.
  The fact that Prabhupada must suffer for the actions of his disciples
becomes apparent in light of the sometimes controversial or even nasty
reputation his disciples acquire through unauthorized behavior.  Such ill-
repute naturally reflects back to damage the good name of Prabhupada and undo
the mission of Krishna consciousness.
  In order to honor properly the memory of Shrila Prabhupada as well as to
set the ISKCON back into proper order, first it must be admitted that
Prabhupada did not have anything to do with the selection of successor gurus
that had been done after his departure.  The proper method of becoming
guru in line with the eternal disciplic succession is a science and should
not be wrongly "authorized" through a GBC filibuster by the mention that
Prabhupada had anything to do with such an appointment.  Unauthorized
activity in the name of any bona fide acharya cannot be ultimately successful
although it may even yield some temporary material profit.  But no sincere
disciple can accept any material arrangement in the name of spiritual life.
In Tamal Krishna Goswami's words:  "The point I want to state on that is this
realization, and I feel that the GBC body, if they do not adopt this point
very quickly, if they do not realize this truth; you cannot show me anything
on tape or in writing where Prabhupada says, 'I appoint these eleven as
gurus.'  This is a myth."