After a final review by GBC members, the Srila Prabhupada: The Founder-Acarya of ISKCON was accepted and approved by unanimous vote as a “GBC Foundational Document.” Thus came to be published in February 2014 by the ISKCON GBC Press.
In February 2015 an accusation against Srila Prabhupada: The Founder-Acarya of ISKCON began to be propagated on Facebook and other social media frequented by devotees in and around ISKCON.
The item thus circulated—which gives the appearance of having been extracted from a larger text—reads as follows:
Ravindra’s Founder Acharya Doctrine is also a way of over emphasizing Prabhupada so as to under emphasize present and future ISKCON gurus.
It is in fact a form of soft rtvikism.
No name was attached to this allegation, so Ravindra Svarupa dasa know neither the author’s identity nor his or her current or former standing vis-m-vis ISKCON. Ravindra Svarupa dasa argues that it is evident from the text that the writer has an axe to grind regarding this organization: The word “also” in the first sentence above indicates that this particular complaint is only one among several instances offered in evidence of ISKCON’s allegedly “over emphasizing Prabhupada so as to under emphasize present and future ISKCON gurus.”
Ravindra Svarupa dasa continues: “The writer bestows a name upon this purported deviation: “soft rtvikism.” However, at the conclusion of the excerpt, even the “soft” is withdrawn, and the alleged offense is declared to be “rtvikism plain and simple.” Finally, the sweep of the assault finds a broader target: “and there is where the whole thing is headed and always was.”
In the third and fourth sentences, our polemicist helpfully provides a precise definition of what is meant by “soft Rtvikism,” complete with the exact Sanskrit theological terms.
“Basically, they say . . .” the writer begins—evidently including me among the “they”—that Srila Prabhupada is the uddharaka-guru—the actual savior—while those who come after him as diksa-gurus serve “only” as upakaraka-gurus, as mere helpers or assistants to the savior.
The writer attributes this teaching to Srila Prabhupada: The Founder-Acarya of ISKCON. However, if you consult that document, you will nowhere find those two terms put forward, either in Sanskrit or even stealthily cloaked in a camouflage of English. It is, therefore, likely that the writer has not taken the trouble to read the work (or has read it with a calculated carelessness).
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