Autumn 2006

On June 4th, 1977, Srila Prabhupada ordered in his Last Will and Testament that all future executive directors of his properties in India should be "my initiated disciple". Furthermore, he stipulated in the Will that the "system of management" in operation in ISKCON - which would have included the ritvik system of initiations - should not change.
On July 9th, 1977, Srila Prabhupada issued an institutional directive which appointed 11 of his disciples to take up the function of being the first "ritviks" (representatives or officiating priests), to initiate disciples on his behalf. Immediately after his departure from this world, the GBC discarded both these instructions from Srila Prabhupada and installed unauthorised gurus to replace him. If you ever wondered why ISKCON led by unauthorised gurus became and continues to become

and subjected to

it is because of this one simple fact: Srila Prabhupada's orders, in particular the order to keep him as the sole diksa (initiating) Guru, were disobeyed.
 

"Following the order of the bona fide spiritual master is the only duty of the disciple, and this completely faithful execution of the order of the bona fide spiritual master is the secret of success."
(Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.9.8, purport)

"Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti also advises that if we want to be successful in our attempt to go back to Godhead, we must very seriously act according to the instruction of the spiritual master. That is the way of perfection. There need be no anxiety over attaining perfection because if one follows the instruction given by the spiritual master he is sure to attain perfection. Our only concern should be how to execute the order of the spiritual master."
(Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.8.71, purport)
 

"We have to render service to a guru and surrender ourselves. It is not that one should accept just any person as a guru. The guru must be the representative of Krsna; then one can surrender oneself. Surrender means that one will accept whatever the guru says. It is not that one thinks, "I do not care for my guru's order. Still I am a disciple." That is not actually accepting a guru. Of course, it has become a fashion to accept a guru in this way, but this will not help anyone."
(Teachings of Lord Kapila)

"There should be no instance in which the disciple or the son says, "This is not correct. I cannot carry it out." When he says that, he is fallen […] the order of the spiritual master is the life and soul of the disciples."
(Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.24.13, purport)

"This acceptance of the words of the spiritual master is called srauta-vakya, which indicates that the disciple must carry out the spiritual master's instructions without deviation. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura remarks in this connection that a disciple must accept the words of his spiritual master as his life and soul."
(Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila 7.72, 77, purport)
 

"The order of the spiritual master is the active principle in spiritual life. Anyone who disobeys the order of the spiritual master immediately becomes useless."
(Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila 12.8-10)

"When disciples do not stick to the principle of accepting the order of their spiritual master, immediately there are two opinions. Any opinion different from the opinion of the spiritual master is useless. One cannot infiltrate materially concocted ideas into spiritual advancement. That is deviation."
(Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila 12.8-10, purport)

"The instructions received from the spiritual master must be followed immediately. One should not deviate from or surpass the instructions of the spiritual master."
(Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.5.14, purport)
 

 "Especially for spiritual advancement, one should carry out the bona fide order of the spiritual master. By the parampara system, one can thus be endowed with the original spiritual power coming from the Supreme Personality of Godhead (evam parampara-praptam imam rajarsayo viduh)."
(Srimad-Bhagavatam 8.15.28, purport)

"The disciple must stick to whatever the spiritual master orders. Simply by following on that line, one sees the Supreme Personality of Godhead
[…] Instead of being eager to see the Lord in some bush in Vrndavana while at the same time engaging in sense gratification, if one instead sticks to the principle of following the words of the spiritual master, he will see the Supreme Lord without difficulty."
(Bhagavatam 4.28.51, purport)
 

"As soon as the disciple thinks independently, not caring for the instructions of the spiritual master, he is a failure ."
(Srimad-Bhagavatam 8.17.1, purport)
 

"Brahma praises Kardama because he carried out the orders of the spiritual master in toto and without cheating [....]
To honor the spiritual master means to carry out his instructions word for word."
(Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.24.12, purport)