Has Srila Prabhupada expanded himself as ISKCON?

Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu personally went to South India to spread the Sankirtan movement.

Lord Caitanya sent Lord Nityānanda to Bengal

Lord Caitanya sent Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī to Vṛndāvana

“Lord Caitanya kindly left the task of preaching His cult in the rest of the world to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness”

Caitanya Caritamrita Adi 7.171

“Praying at the lotus feet of Śrī Rūpa and Śrī Raghunātha, always desiring their mercy, I, Kṛṣṇadāsa, narrate Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, following in their footsteps.

PURPORT

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu wanted to preach the saṅkīrtana movement of love of Kṛṣṇa throughout the entire world, and therefore during His presence He inspired the saṅkīrtana movement. Specifically, He sent Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī to Vṛndāvana and Nityānanda to Bengal and personally went to South India. In this way He kindly left the task of preaching His cult in the rest of the world to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. The members of this Society must always remember that if they stick to the regulative principles and preach sincerely according to the instructions of the ācāryas, surely they will have the profound blessings of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and their preaching work will be successful everywhere throughout the world.

Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports to Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-lilā,Seventh Chapter, describing Lord Caitanya in five features.”

This is an important verse & purport – the end of the chapter describes the manifestations of the Supreme Lord as Panca-tattva.

It is significant to note that unlike the other great personalities Srila Prabhupada did not indicate himself to be given “the task of preaching His cult in the rest of the world” (he could have indicated himself with a humble “we” or as “the humble servant of His Divine Grace” etc). Instead, he stated that the task was given to his organization ISKCON. He emphasized it by referring to “the members of this Society.”

Subsequently, Srila Prabhupada indicates more prominently that he is equivalent to ISKCON.

“Thus the branches of the Caitanya tree formed a cluster or society, with great branches covering all the universe.

PURPORT

Our International Society for Krishna Consciousness is one of the branches of the Caitanya tree.” (Cc Adi 9.18)

Again, it is significant that Srila Prabhupada did not state his “humble self” or “we” or similar phrase indicating himself as a Branch of the Caitanya tree following the principle of how Srila Krishnadas Kaviraja Goswami in the Adi chapters 9 & 10 describes the prominent branches and sub-branches of Lord Caitanya’s Tree to be originator devotee preachers. Instead, he designates his organization ISKCON to be the branch.

Srila Prabhupada clarifies this in a later verse:

vande śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya-

premāmara-taroḥ priyān

śākhā-rūpān bhakta-gaṇān

kṛṣṇa-prema-phala-pradān

SYNONYMS

vande—I offer my obeisances; śrī–kṛṣṇa–caitanya—to Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu; prema–amara–taroḥ—of the eternal tree full of love of Godhead; priyān—those who are devotees; śākhā–rūpān—represented as branches; bhakta–gaṇān—all the devotees; kṛṣṇa–prema—of love of Kṛṣṇa; phala—of the fruit; pradān—the givers.

TRANSLATION

I offer my obeisances to all the dear devotees of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the eternal tree of love of Godhead. I offer my respects to all the branches of the tree, the devotees of the Lord who distribute the fruit of love of Kṛṣṇa.

PURPORT

Śrī Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī sets the example of offering obeisances to all the preacher devotees of Lord Caitanya, without distinction as to higher and lower. Unfortunately, at present there are many foolish so-called devotees of Lord Caitanya who make such distinctions. For example, the title Prabhupāda is offered to a spiritual master, especially to a distinguished spiritual master such as Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī Prabhupāda, Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī Prabhupāda or Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Prabhupāda. When our disciples similarly wanted to address their spiritual master as Prabhupāda, some foolish people became envious. Not considering the propaganda work of the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement, simply because these disciples addressed their spiritual master as Prabhupāda they became so envious that they formed a faction along with other such envious persons just to minimize the value of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. To chastise such fools, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī very frankly says, kehakaribāre nāre jyeṣṭha–laghu–krama. Anyone who is a bona fide preacher of the cult of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu must be respectful to the real devotees of Lord Caitanya; one should not be envious, considering one preacher to be very great and another to be very lowly. This is a material distinction and has no place on the platform of spiritual activities. Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī therefore offers equal respect to all the preachers of the cult of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who are compared to the branches of the tree. ISKCON is one of these branches, and it should therefore be respected by all sincere devotees of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

(Cc Adi 10.7)

If all the preachers of Lord Caitanya are compared to the branches of the tree, then why is ISKCON one of these branches and not Srila Prabhupada directly?

Here he indicates himself by “our disciples similarly wanted to address their spiritual master as Prabhupāda”. So he could have also stated something like “their spiritual master is one of these branches.” or something similar. Instead, saying that “ISKCON is one of these branches” conveys that Srila Prabhupada is equivalent to ISKCON in some manner.

ISKCON was formed to execute the order of Lord Caitanya & His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī for “many books published to spread the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement”.

“I think that His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura is always seeing my activities and guiding me within my heart by his words. As it is said in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, tene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye. Spiritual inspiration comes from within the heart, wherein the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in His Paramātmā feature, is always sitting with all His devotees and associates. It is to be admitted that whatever translation work I have done is through the inspiration of my spiritual master because personally I am most insignificant and incompetent to do this materially impossible work. I do not think myself a very learned scholar, but I have full faith in the service of my spiritual master, His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhakura. If there is any credit to my activities of translating, it is all due to His Divine Grace. Certainly if His Divine Grace were personally present at this time, it would have been a great occasion for jubiliation, but even though he is not physically present, I am confident that he is very pleased by this work of translation. He was very fond of seeing many books published to spread the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Therefore our society, the International Society for Kṛṣṇa Consciousness, has formed to execute the order of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhakura.

It is my wish that devotees of Lord Caitanya all over the world enjoy this translation, and I am glad to express my gratitude to the learned men in the Western countries who are so pleased with my work that they are ordering in advance all my books that will be published in the future. On this occasion therefore, I request my disciples who are determined to help me in this work to continue their cooperation fully, so that philosophers, scholars, religionists and people in general all over the world will benefit by reading our transcendental literatures such as Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta.

Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports to Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, dated November 10, 1974, at the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, Hare Kṛṣṇa Land, Juhu, Bombay.

Here again, Srila Prabhupada refers to himself as being equivalent to ISKCON. He emphasizes this by addressing his disciples in ISKCON: “I request my disciples who are determined to help me in this work to continue their cooperation fully.”

From all these purports in key verses equating himself with ISKCON, we can surmise that Srila Prabhupada indicates that he has expanded himself into ISKCON.

At a minimum, through this form (the organization ISKCON), he preaches and trains his disciples worldwide.

The local president observes & recommends new initiates practicing in association with devotees.

“The word puraḥ means “before” and caryā means “activities.” Due to the necessity of these activities, we do not immediately initiate disciples in the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. For six months, a candidate for initiation must first attend ārati and classes in the śāstras, practice the regulative principles and associate with other devotees. When one is actually advanced in the puraścaryā-vidhi, he is recommended by the local temple president for initiation. It is not that anyone can be suddenly initiated without meeting the requirements.

When one is further advanced by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra sixteen rounds daily, following the regulative principles and attending classes, he receives the sacred thread (brahminical recognition) after the second six months.

(Cc Madhya 15.108)

Did Srila Prabhupada prescribe a minimum of 16 rounds, or did ISKCON?

“Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu introduced the system of chanting the holy name of the Lord a fixed number of times daily, as confirmed in this verse (tomāra dui hastabaddha nāma-gaṇane). Caitanya Mahāprabhu used to count on His fingers. While one hand was engaged in chanting, the other hand kept the number of rounds. This is corroborated in the Caitanya-candrāmṛta and also in Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī’s Stava-mālā:….

Therefore devotees in the line of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu must chant at least sixteen rounds daily, and this is the number prescribed by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.”

(Cc Madhya 7.37)

It seems Srila Prabhupada considers ISKCON to be the same as him for the purpose of training his disciples.

He emphasizes this below: “As far as our ISKCON movement is concerned, we simply ask that one observe the four prohibitive rules…”.

“We should always remember that to become a bona fide devotee of the Lord is not an easy task, but in this age, by the mercy of Lord Caitanya, it has been made very easy. But if we do not follow even the liberal instructions of Lord Caitanya, how can we expect to discharge our regular duties in devotional service? lt is not possible in this age to follow Dhruva Mahārāja in his austerity, but the principles must be followed; we should not disregard the regulative principles given by our spiritual master, for they make it easier for the conditioned soul. As far as our ISKCON movement is concerned, we simply ask that one observe the four prohibitive rules, chant sixteen rounds and, instead of indulging in luxurious eating for the tongue, simply accept prasāda offered to the Lord. This does not mean that with our fasting the Lord should also fast. The Lord should be given foodstuff which is as nice as possible. But we should not make it a point to satisfy our own tongues. As far as possible we should accept simple foodstuff, just to keep the body and soul together to execute devotional service.

It is our duty to remember always that in comparison to Dhruva Mahārāja we are insignificant. We cannot do anything like what Dhruva Mahārāja did for self-realization because we are absolutely incompetent to execute such service. But by Lord Caitanya’s mercy we have been given all concessions possible for this age, so at least we should always remember that neglect of our prescribed duties in devotional service will not make us successful in the mission we have undertaken. It is our duty to follow in the footsteps of Dhruva Mahārāja, for he was very determined. We should also be determined to finish our duties in executing devotional service in this life; we should not wait for another life to finish our job.”

(SB 4.8.72)

Summary:

Srila Prabhupada equates ISKCON to one of the branches of the tree of Lord Caitanya, which consists of branches and subbranches that are all great personalities in Lord Caitanya’s Sankitan movement. That indicates that he has somehow expanded in the form of ISKCON.

By equating his instructions of chanting 16 rounds, following the four regulative principles, and performing puruscharya-vidhi before initiation to be the instructions of ISKCON, he reemphasizes that ISKCON is he. He is training his disciples through his organization, ISKCON, which would make ISKCON another of his forms.

He simultaneously indicates that he is the Diksha (initiating) Guru or Acharya of ISKCON, as these are the primary duties/instructions of a Diksha Guru towards his disciples.