(This article responds to an article of the name “Quest for Justice”
which was recently posted on the Sampradaya Sun website.)

Steven Jobs	A. In June 2005 one of the world’s wealthiest, intelligent and famous persons, i.e. Steven Jobs, founder of Apple computers, spoke to a class of graduates at Stanford University. He said that when he went to college in Portland, Oregon in 1972 he “would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple.” “I loved it” he said. http://www.rvc.edu/news/jobs.html
Mr. Vajpayee	B. Atal Bihari Vajpayee was Prime Minister of India from 1996-2004. He was only the second in history to occupy the office of the Prime Minister of India through three successive mandates. Mr. Vajpayee publicly attended and inaugurated many major ISKCON projects in India.
Proposed Moscow Temple	C. The Mayor of Moscow has allotted a 1.05-hectare (2.5 acre) plot of land on the prestigious Leningrad Prospekt to the Moscow chapter of ISKCON for the construction of a temple and Vedic Centre.

Allegation 3) There is no constitution in ISKCON.

Reply: ISKCON has been conducted since 1975 under the managerial direction of official governing statutes, which taken in their entirety, serve as the constitution for ISKCON. According to The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language a constitution is defined as: “The system of fundamental laws and principles that prescribes the nature, functions, and limits of a government or another institution.” Among others, four important statutes providing these fundamental laws and principles for ISKCON are:

A) ISKCON’s Articles of Incorporation whereby Srila Prabhupada stated seven well-publicized purposes for his society beginning with:

1. To systematically propagate spiritual knowledge to society at large and to educate all peoples in the techniques of spiritual life in order to check the imbalance of values in life and to achieve real unity and peace.

B) Direction of Management (discussed in Point 5 below)

C) The substantial ISKCON Laws and Provisional Orders derived from the annual GBC Resolutions explicitly explain all rights and responsibilities of ISKCON entities, officers and members, etc. This ingenious organizational arrangement combines thirty years of thoughtful and faithful legislation and execution.

D) The Founder-acarya of ISKCON’s “Declaration of Will” beginning with:

1. The Governing Body Commission (GBC) will be the ultimate managing authority of the entire International Society for Krishna Consciousness.

Allegation 4) There is no justice in ISKCON.

In the beginning of ISKCON, His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada prevailed as the ultimate judge for major disputes within his society and after his departure, the GBC body assumed that responsibility itself. In 1980, the GBC body formed a judicial department called the Privilege Committee which led to the formation of the Ministry of Justice later in 1986 by the GBC. Since that time, not only has the Ministry of Justice continued to function but additional justice-related departments have been created such as the highly reputed Child Protection Office (CPO) and ISKCON Resolve, a broad global system of mediation. The ISKCON judicial domain incorporates several levels of regional and international justice administration. Together ISKCON judicial bodies have adjudicated and documented numerous cases.

Allegation 5) That GBC secretaries should be elected each three years.

His Divine Grace described in the Direction of Management document formulated on July 28, 1970 a system for re-electing GBC members for three year terms by a body of temple presidents. However, to my knowledge, this system was never instituted at any time during Srila Prabhupada’s presence. Rather, His Divine Grace personally selected the GBC members and all of the proficient GBC secretaries continued their service for many years without any elections or re-elections by the temple presidents. In 1977, Srila Prabhupada directed how future GBC secretaries would be chosen in his absence.

Prabhupada: Selected men are chosen, so they cannot be changed. Rather, if some competent man comes, he should be added… GBC is not to be changed.
GBC Representatives: But then, in the event that some present GBC member leaves…
Prabhupada: Another should be elected. So there is no question of changing GBC. Rather, one who is competent, he can be selected to act by the board of the GBC. (May 28, 1977 Srila Prabhupada Meeting with GBC Representatives)

To summarize, Srila Prabhupada originally conceived of a three-year term for GBC secretaries but never used it. Instead he changed his mind and preferred to have GBC secretaries serve permanently. He indicated that if additional GBC secretaries were required for management or in case of resignations or removals, the vote of the GBC body would elect the new GBC secretary(ies). This system he clearly enunciated in the discussion above and it has been followed in ISKCON since 1977.

Allegation 6) That absolute sovereignty has fallen into the hands of individual leaders within
ISKCON.

History shows that any ISKCON leader who thought himself independent from the GBC supervision has either been rectified or replaced. ISKCON maintains and exercises an internal system for correcting its leaders consisting of warnings, censures, probation, suspension and removal.

Allegation 7) That the ISKCON GBC has illegally usurped the sovereign power of the organization.

Aside from the fact that this accusation completely contradicts the preceding allegation (6), it has already been shown in 3D1 above that the Declaration of Will assigns ultimate authority to the GBC body.

Allegation 8) The ISKCON GBC has consistently proven itself to be less than pure and self
adherent to the founders [sic] instructions.

Srila Prabhupada said, "Your love for me will be shown by how much you cooperate to keep this institution together after I am gone." Despite undue criticism in a crazy world, the ISKCON GBC has, in my opinion, demonstrated its sincerity by doing just that.

Allegation 9) ISKCON is dying.

ISKCON is fully alive and will continue to grow and prosper provided the devotees follow the regulative principles of Krishna consciousness. Of course, it would be even more glorious if all those who once joined ISKCON would remain responsible and faithful to Srila Prabhupada’s movement. Even though persons may wish the demise of ISKCON, it does not mean that it will happen anymore than a cow must die because of the curse of a hungry vulture.
Once a disciple asked Srila Prabhupada what should be done, if after His Divine Grace’s departure from the world, the movement seemed to be going off track. Srila Prabhupada said that the devotee should remain in ISKCON and work sincerely himself to help correct the deviation.

Allegation 10) In nearly every case when a mainstream law is broken no official has been charged
either within the organization or by the legal system of the mainstream.

ISKCON has engaged and continues to engage secular local, state and federal judicial systems for issues outside its jurisdiction. It is a fact however, that in some cases, ISKCON devotees with legitimate legal claims against others choose not to pursue secular legal recourse. I have witnessed that even when advised by ISKCON authorities, some devotees prefer not to blame others for their grievances—that is a legal right.
It may also be mentioned that ISKCON does not claim to be the all-in-all when it comes to ascertaining and dispensing justice for its members. As explained in the sastras, there is a universal system of justice conducted by honorable personalities such as Yamaraja. This system known as the law of karma perfectly assesses and judges misbehavior and awards punishment under the auspices of the Supreme Godhead.

Allegation 11) Temple Presidents have been remiss in their duty and have surrendered their
granted mandate of sovereignty to the GBC.

This allegation is unclear about specifically what “duties” and “granted mandates” the temple presidents should wrestle back from the GBC secretaries.

Allegation 12) The remedy is the formation of new and vibrant organizations established firmly
upon the instructions of the Founder Acharyas.

We, in ISKCON, know but one founder-acarya. Although others have tried splintering off and/or founding their own new organizations, such attempts are marked (and checkered) by the tendency to minimize the teachings of Srila Prabhupada and/or to concoct new ideas. For instance, one splinter group discontinued deity worship and chanting of the mahamantra altogether while another adopted giving women the order of sannyasa.

Srila Prabhupada once told a small group of devotees, of whom I was one, that despite the inevitability of splinter groups arising, ISKCON should not be shakened, but remain strong in following its principles. Hare Krishna.