Back To Prabhupada, Issue 64, Vol 4, 2019
In the article on page 14, we quoted the confession of guru hoaxer HH Hridayananda Dasa Goswami ("HD") that he had specifically been forbidden by Srila Prabhupada to ever be able to translate the Srimad-Bhagavatam. HD admitted that he was told to stop learning Sanskrit by Srila Prabhupada as soon as Srila Prabhupada heard from HD that HD was studying it, but that he still disobeyed this direct order and later took up learning Sanskrit so that he could translate the Srimad-Bhagavatam:
"I also received this grammar book by Macdonell, and sort of being a language buff, especially always being fascinated by Sanskrit, I began to study it. And I wrote a letter to Prabhupada telling him what I was doing. And Prabhupada said, "Oh, don't waste your time learning Sanskrit." [...] in Brazil in 1978 [...] I just heard Krsna telling me, "Okay, you passed the test. Now you need to learn Sanskrit and finish the Bhagavatam.""
(HD Talk, 18/8/17, emphases added, along with all other emphases that follow)
2) Following the exposure of this embarrassing confession of gross disobedience in BTP 57 ("Guru Hoaxer Confirms BTP Article"), HD has resorted to simply lying about it. He now tells the same story, but lies about the key detail of the order he received from Srila Prabhupada:
"I found a very special book. It was by Macdonell [...] a Sanskrit Grammar for Students [...] I had studied that book in 1972 just after I took sannyasa and Prabhupada said now's not the time for you to study Sanskrit."
(HD Talk, 19/10/19)
Thus, in his 2017 confession quoted in the previous point, HD had truthfully explained that Srila Prabhupada forbade him to learn Sanskrit permanently. But now he lies and claims that Srila Prabhupada only told him that he should not learn at that time, thus giving himself a cover for having later taken up learning Sanskrit so that he could translate the Srimad-Bhagavatam.
3) However, here is what Srila Prabhupada actually wrote to HD in 1972:
"You have studied the Sanskrit language for some years, that is sufficient of study, there is no more need. Now you read our books, not that lifelong you have to study Sanskrit. Simply read our Sanskrit wherever it appears in our books and teach these slokas to the devotees, do not waste time by studying Sanskrit independently of our books."
(Srila Prabhupada Letter to HD, 6/8/72)
By noting the underlined parts, one can see that Srila Prabhupada told HD *3* times, in different ways, in a very short letter that he should never learn Sanskrit again, rather than "now's not the time", such was Srila Prabhupada's insistence and clarity regarding this order:
a) "sufficient of study, there is no more need";
b) "not that lifelong you have to study" — thus no more continuing studying in this "life";
c) "do not waste time by studying Sanskrit independently of our books" — Sanskrit is to never be studied, other than just by reading the verses in Srila Prabhupada's books.
4) HD going to the trouble of lying about his disobedience to cover it up, and thus trying to justify his disobedient acts, just makes the significance of his disobedience even more prominent. The lie reveals he is aware of the significance of having been forbidden to study Sanskrit by Srila Prabhupada — as it renders his whole Srimad-Bhagavatam project unauthorised — and hence he has no choice but to cover up this fact. Unfortunately for HD, he forgot that we possess the magical superpower of being able to "read"! And thus his cover-up is exposed.
5) This incident again exposes the dynamic that exists in ISKCON between the guru hoaxers and their followers. In BTP 61, "Srila Prabhupada's Words Expose Ambition", we exposed how Srila Prabhupada forbade another guru hoaxer, HG Sankarshan Dasa ("SAD"), from trying to become a pop star. And yet he continues to engage his followers in helping him do just this. In both cases, HD and SAD are assuming that their followers are so gullible and such blind followers that they will just swallow the lies their gurus tell them about how their gurus are following Srila Prabhupada's orders, and not even bother to spend two minutes simply reading these orders for themselves. Or, HD and SAD are assuming that even if their disciples did read Srila Prabhupada's actual orders, they would not even care that their gurus were lying. These assumptions, if true, would reveal a very low quality of disciple that the guru hoaxers are attracting.
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