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2000 years ago, the Greek ambassador to India “Megasthenes” travelled throughout India recording his observations. The following are extracts taken from his book “Indica”.
 

 
“India has many huge mountains, abounding in fruit trees of every kind, and many vast plains of great fertility, beautiful, very much alike, and intersected by a multitude of rivers. The greater part of the soil is under irrigation, and consequently bears two crops in the course of a year. It teems with animals of all sorts, beasts of the fields and fowls of the air, all of differing degrees of size and strength.
 
It is prolific besides in elephants which are of monsterous bulk, as its soil supplies food in unsparing profusion, making these animals far exceed in strength those which are bred in Libya. The inhabitants in like manner, having abundant means of subsistence, exceed the ordinary stature, distinguished by their proud bearing. They are also found to be well skilled in the arts, as might be expected of men who inhale pure air and drink the very finest water. And while the soil bears on its surface all kinds of fruits, underground, it also has all kinds of metals, for it contains much gold, silver, copper and iron in large quantities.
 

 
In addition to cereal, there grows throughout India, much millet, which is kept well watered by the profusion of river streams, and much pulse of different kinds, as well as rice, and many other plants, useful for feed which grows almost spontaneously. It is accordingly affirmed that famine has never visited India, and there has never been a scarcity in the supply of nourishing food. For since there is a double rainfall in the course of each year, one in the winter season, when the sowing of wheat takes place, and the second at the time of the summer solstice, which is the proper time for sowing rice, sesame and millet, the inhabitants of India almost always gather in two harvests annually, and even if one crop fails, they are always sure of the second crop.
 
The fruits are of spontaneous growth, and the esculent roots which grow in marshy places and are of varied sweetness, afford abundant sustenance for man. The fact is almost all the plains of the country have a moisture which is alike congenial, whether derived from the rivers, or from the rains of the summer season, which are want to fall every year at a stated period, with surprising regularity, while the great heat which prevails, ripens the roots which grow in the marshes, espescially those of the tall reeds.
 

What is ISKCON? ISKCON is the followers of Srila Prabhupada. So that his followers could associate together and realize his teachings, Srila Prabhupada created the legal entity known and registered as ISKCON. But it was never about creating a corporate entity to which people surrendered. ISKCON was and is meant as a shelter for those who have faith and love for Srila Prabhupada and the path of transcendental life that he taught with such enthusiasm. Put simply, ISKCON is the devotees of Srila Prabhupada and Sri Krsna. The external form comprising the legal documents, meetings, title deeds, property, etc., are all subordinate to the goal of providing an association of spirit souls who want to collectively hear and chant the glories of Sri Sri Gaur Nitai, Sri Sri Radha Krsna and Their devotees. ISKCON is the society of devotees, not the bricks and mortar and legal documents. Thus ISKCON is the actual devotees. You are ISKCON. Where you go, ISKCON goes.

Vaisnavism is the ultimate in personalism. The Vaisnavas know that the highest aspect of the Absolute Truth is the Personality of Godhead. The personal aspect reigns Supreme, bestowing nectarine bliss. The whole creation is an expression of Sri Krsna’s personality. The Bhagavatam informs us that the birds with their wondrous plumage are created out of the artistic flair of the Supreme Personality. In the Gita, Sri Krsna explains to Arjuna that he should understand that all beautiful and mighty creations are created out of a single spark of His splendor. The message is clear, but easily forgotten in this material creation, that the personal reigns Supreme over the impersonal.

Sri Krsna explains that he is equal to all, and yet he is personally inclined to those who render him service. To those that render Him dedicated loving service, He personally carries what they lack and personally preserves what they have. He instructs Arjuna to declare it boldly that His devotees will never perish because He personally protects them. To those that surrender to Him, He assures that He will personally subdue all pending sinful reactions, finally emphasizing, “Do not fear.”

 
After working with cows in close proximity for twelve years I’m convinced that substantial telepathic communication takes place among them. Likewise I’m convinced that cows send thoughts to humans as well and if we tune into the right frequency, we can effectively receive non-verbal messages from them.
 
A recent example: A street bull I know well entered the small garden to be served. That cold morning I offered him hay sprinkled with hot ginger tea, gur, flour and bran, a mixture he most relishes. After consuming his fill, he sniffed the ground and found a suitable place to sit and ruminate. I sat next to him to chant japa and relish his peaceful company. I thought, “How fortunate am I that I can serve Dharma Personified in Vrindavan.”
 
The thought he sent me was, “I am grateful to you for that wonderful meal. I especially liked the tidbits of ginger and gur as it takes the chill out of this winter morning.
 
“In return I offer you this to carefully ponder: A former sannyasi recently attributed his fall from grace to the coercion by his godbrothers to take celibacy vows though he was not fit. Later, his godbrothers again coerced him to take on administrative duties which he lacked the nature to perform. Again the same godbrothers ordered him to accept disciples, though he knew he could not set the proper example to guide them. Following their advice forced him into constant travel, which again went against his grain.
 

 
This is a commentary on the recent events surrounding Prabhavisnu Swami’s fall from grace. I concur with the analysis and conclusions of several Sun contributors who have commented over the last few days on the letter Prabhavisnu wrote, so I’m not going to focus on that aspect of the drama today. I would like to comment on what hasn’t yet been addressed, and that is, how Prabhavisnu’s situation can be seen in the context of diksa initiation in ISKCON. This siddhantic issue is one of the highest principles at play here.
 
Individuals who are involved in falldowns like Prabhavisnu’s are the personification of a flawed siddhantic understanding of the process of initiation. We have been exposed to many quotes in sastra and instructions directly from Srila Prabhupada in regards to the necessity of accepting a Spiritual Master and the importance of being connected to the sampradaya. However, due to the very strong tendencies produced by our conditioning, there is a phenomenon that takes place after the departure of great Acaryas – the pure devotees in our disciplic succession. After they depart, the inevitable evolution towards religiosity takes place. I have already written extensively on this subject, but it is again directly relevant to the current situation.
 
This phenomenon is especially evident in the case of the three previous Sampradaya Acaryas, who have been sent in order to fulfill Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s prediction of Krsna consciousness being spread throughout the world. In order to accomplish that mission, by their divine wisdom they concluded that the facility they required was that of forming an institution. This is understandable, given that spreading Krsna consciousness ‘throughout the world’ meant primarily taking it to the West, out of India, and in the West, institutional organization is the norm. During their lila periods, these institutions served the Sampradaya Acaryas well in terms of organizing their mission. But as we know, they also warned us that particularly during the periods between the personal presence of a great Acarya, the trend is towards transforming a spiritual mission into a vehicle for religiosity. And that trend is escalated on account of being in the context of an institution. At present, this phenomenon is unfolding in the institution established by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada — the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.
 
Religiosity, especially in this context, comes about partly as a result of the fact that some of those holding power within the institution are granted power and position on an institutional basis rather than on the basis of spiritual qualification. This is true in the case of ISKCON’s GBC and their various ministers and underlings. On the other side of the equation are the sannyasis and gurus. Sometimes one personality manages to secure several of these positions at once. But if their spiritual potency doesn’t qualify them to hold these positions, if they attempt to maintain these positions without the potency to come up to the standards by which the positions are defined, then they fall back. So in order to keep the power they’ve become addicted to and have come to identify with as part of their false ego, they are naturally inclined to conclude that forming a religion is the easiest way to hold power.
 

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    Over two thousand years ago ‘Megasthenes’ a greek ambassador, spent many years living in India, his memoirs were preserved in a famous book called “Indica” and the following is a selection on the elephants of ancient India some two thousand years ago.   When feeding, the elephant ordinarily drinks water, however, during the … Read more

In 1971 Srila Prabhupada went to Allahabad for the Ardha-kumbha-mela, and Yamuna-devi and I were in the party that accompanied him. Srila Prabhupada spoke on the story of Ajamila and the holy name, from the Sixth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam. Only the first two cantos had been translated and published, so Prabhupada read from his Sanskrit Bhagavatam with commentaries, sometimes translating from Sridhara Svami’s and occasionally from Jiva Gosvami’s. While there, I heard that Srila Prabhupada had said that he was speaking for Yamuna. And in April 2007, when Yamuna visited me in Santa Barbara, I asked her about it, and she told me something that etched an indelible impression on my heart.