A Devotee is Kind

The first qualification for a being a devotee of Krishna is to be kind. If a person is actually Krishna conscious, his heart will bleed with compassion to see the suffering condition of the human society, and he will fully dedicate his life to saving them in spite of all the criticism that he receives for doing so. Jesus Christ did not let anything stand in the way of the execution of his mission to save the people from their suffering. He was undaunted even in the face of crucifixion.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Srila Prabhupada is Unlimitedly Kind

Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: Who Can Become the Next Acharya?

Do you deliver your disciple personally or does Srila Prabhupada deliver him? Did Srila Prabhupada give you the order to be the next acharya? I know he said for all his disciple to be guru. Of course, that does not mean acharya.

You said "I was blessed with the greatest mercy of being accepted as a disciple of such an uttama-adhikari, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. And now on his order I have fully absorbed my life in pushing forward this Krishna consciousness movement all over the world for the deliverance of all living beings. Even though he has departed from this world, it is not that he is dead and gone. He lives forever in my heart and in the hearts of all those who follow his instructions." (dated Aug 1st, 2010)

I recently read the Direction of Management, which was signed by Srila Prabhupada. He never appointed any acharya. He told this to many of his top Sannyasis and disciples, but they assumed their new position after he left this world without his order.

My question is "Did Srila Prabhupada directly appoint you as the next acharya as you stated above in your e-mail?

Pushpendra dasa

Answer: Whoever Strictly Follows His Acharya

The answer to your first question is: No bona fide spiritual master considers himself to be the deliverer of his disciples. Rather he simply considers himself to be a humble messenger on behalf the previous acharyas and Lord Sri Krishna.

The answer to your second question is that Srila Prabhupada did not appoint me to be the next acharya, because acharya is not by appointment; it is by qualification. But he did instruct all of his disciples that we should become qualified acaryas and initiate disciples.

You are making an artificial distinction between guru and acharya. Srila Prabhupada says, "A guru is called also an acarya, or a person who has personally assimilated all the essence of sastras and has helped his disciples to adopt the ways."

It never ceases to amaze when people who never met Srila Prabhupada or even saw him from a distance, who were never personally instructed by him think that they understand his instructions better than those of us who were personally trained by him. This is the one of the symptoms of the present age of Kali that people become easily illusioned.

Srila Prabhupada did not appoint any disciple as the one next acharya. His said that he wanted all of his disciples to be acharyas as defined in his purport to the Caitanya Caritamrita as follows:

"One who knows the conclusion of the sastras, follows in the footsteps of his predecessors and endeavors to preach the bhakti cult all over the world is to be considered an acharya."
---Antya 3.223

I have also read Srila Prabhupada's Direction of Management, which he wrote in 1970 for the purpose of establishing ISKCON's Governing Body Commission. This document has nothing to do with who initiates disciples after Srila Prabhupada's departure. Regarding this, he told us in Vrindavan in May of 1977 that the new devotees would become the disciples of his disciples.

Srila Prabhupada instructed his disciples in Mayapura on 6 April 1975 that when they become mature they should become acharyas and initiate disciples. We do not have to guess what is that maturity qualification. Srila Prabhupada gave us this verse from Srila Rupa Goswami which clearly states the qualification for being able to initiate disciples all over the world:

vāco vegaṁ manasaḥ krodha-vegaṁ
jihvā-vegam udaropastha-vegam
etān vegān yo viṣaheta dhīraḥ
sarvām apīmāṁ pṛthivīṁ sa śiṣyāt

"A sober person who can tolerate the urge to speak, the mind's demands, the actions of anger and the urges of the tongue, belly and genitals is qualified to make disciples all over the world."
---Nectar of Instruction, Verse 1

It's a fact that nobody can become an acharya simply by being nominated. There is only one way for a disciple of an acharya to also become an acharya. Srila Prabhupada describes that way as follows in a lecture in gave in New York City on 1 December 1966:

"Acharya means one who has become a rigid disciple of his acharya."

You say that I said that Srila Prabhupada appointed me as the next acharya. But I have never said that. You are simply fabricating this out of the air. You quoted me as follows:

"And now on his order I have fully absorbed my life in pushing forward this Krishna consciousness movement all over the world for the deliverance of all living beings."

Nowhere in the above quote do I state that Srila Prabhupada appointed me to become the next acharya. I clearly did not make such a statement.

Srila Prabhupada repeatedly ordered his disciples to push this Krishna consciousness movement all over the world for the deliverance of the illusioned souls of this age. For example, he ordered us on 17 December 1973 in Los Angeles, California, USA at the conclusion of his lecture on the Srimad Bhagavatam:

"Become guru and deliver the whole world."

We are sometimes criticized by naysayers for our sincere endeavor to follow the instructions of our spiritual master, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. But what can we do? According to Lord Sri Krishna, the Supreme Authority, as Prabhupada's disciples it is our duty to serve his orders. Srila Prabhupada taught us that the disciple should take the order received from his spiritual master as his very life and soul. So we have to do that. We have no other option.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari