Lost in Translation
BY: SATYAVATI DEVI DASI (ACBSP)
Oct 21, ALACHUA, FLORIDA, USA (SUN) — Regarding the article by Harinamananda titled Open letter to Hridayananda. I found some discrepancies when I looked at the original article in Spanish published as El Tambor Rugiente on October 7, 2009.
First of all, the article had only one photo of Hrdayananda with a female disciple, Dushala dasi, who has been married to Manu Dasa ACBSP for +/- 30 years. This couple has been serving Gaura Nitai here in Alachua since the early seventies until the present, as they never left to go to other temples or engage in Maya. For many years mother Dushala went out to collect laksmi at the rest stops along highway I-75 in order to pay the mortgage for the Alachua Farm that now houses the beautiful temple, that services more than 500 Vaisnava families. In the Sampradaya Sun version many other photos were added for sensasionalism.
Second, some of the paragraphs were altered in translation. For example, Harinamananda not only criticizes Hrdyananda in the original Spanish version, but also other leaders in ISCKON and the GBC. Now why have these criticisms been excluded and images added in the English version? One example can be found in the paragraph that starts with, "What we have been facing at ISKCON for the last 32 years is very sad … It is not only Hridayananda—there are quite a few leaders that have developed the rare mystic power to be two persons at the same time”. In the original Spanish version, Harinamananda adds “and all of these (behavior) is authorized and blessed – overlooked for political reasons – by the governing pair called ISKCON & GBC." There are more examples that were excluded and lost in translation.
In conclusion, Harinamanada das should look at how to improve his service to Srila Prabhupada instead of fabricating sensational stories to call attention to himself. Clearly, everyone else is a kanistha-adhikari as Harinamananda calls us in his original Spanish article, since he claims himself the guardian of Srila Prabhupada. "I impelled by a sense of responsibility and maintainer of the name of my spiritual master, His divine grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada." Now every sannyasi will be afraid to talk to their female disciples, let alone have their picture taken.
