Mahasrnga's Allegations against ISKCON Bangalore
BY: VYOMAPADA DAS
Nov 24, USA (SUN) — Hare Krishna, with all due respects to Mahasrnga prabhu, I really wish to pity him (former President of ISKCON Bangalore) for his utter and dismal understanding of the current situation of ISKCON Bangalore. The information and falsehood being propagated through his article would be worth printing in a third rate tabloid.
There is a saying, empty vessels make more noise, and I think this is apt in the case of Mahasrnga Prabhu as his utter lack of knowledge with respect to real facts and figures of the various activities of ISKCON Bangalore is shocking, totally erroneous in his data and understanding and lastly to make atrocious and offensive allegations against Madhu Pandit Prabhu without any basis is simply ridiculous.
Unsubstantiated allegations ranging from Madhu Pandit prabhu being the richest man, to holding personal properties worth crores, behaving unilaterally, etc., etc. should just be booted out because the main intention of such articles is not to establish or provide real information to innocent devotees all over the world, rather it is a desperate attempt to malign, discredit and bring infamy to people who are doing some good work.
I’m a full-time devotee of the ISKCON temple in Bangalore and to a fair degree I do know the person Madhu Pandit das, and also the various activities of ISKCON Bangalore. To talk about personal issues like Madhu Pandit Prabhu being unilateral, dictatorial etc. is simply not acceptable, as Mahasrnga Prabhu has not given any real instances of Madhu Pandit Prabhu acting like that. To simply make allegations is very easy, but to prove and convict is a different thing altogether. Please, Mahasrnga Prabhu, when you make allegations of such sorts please provide proper examples of such instances or incidents, with conclusive evidence to substantiate such kind of behaviour.
Personally in my interactions with Madhu Pandit Prabhu I have found him to be a fair person and like all of us who are conditioned souls, there are still lot of things which we all need to correct (includes Madhu Pandit das also) and go on to become a pure devotees of Lord Krishna. But definitely when I compare myself and many of the so-called current ISKCON leadership, Madhu Pandit Prabhu’s behaviour and standing is far better.
It looks like Mahasrnga Prabhu has been greatly influenced by this joker called Varada Krishna das. Let me just tell you all readers the background of this character. Varada Krishna das was a full-time devotee of the Bangalore temple from 1991 to 1999. During this period Varada Krishna das was definitely one of the foremost collectors for the ISKCON temple project in Bangalore and during 1998-1999, the time when Bangalore temple was initially disassociating itself from the Guru business, Varada Krishna das was one of the premier votaries against the guru scourge. He was one of those in the frontline battling the guru business and forwarding the cause of bringing Srila Prabhupada to the frontline, but subsequently one can only say for reasons best known to him (read frustrations out of unfulfilled personal ambitions), he suddenly shifted sides and became the frontline battle man of the guru camp. Today he goes around to every politician, bureaucrat, and potential donors simply bad mouthing ISKCON Bangalore, its activities and his principal enemy, Madhu Pandit das.
All one can say is that Varada Krishna simply represents the Ashwathama mentality of the Mahabharatha war in the sense that he is frustrated after loosing a battle and hence just wants to destroy the wonderful preaching baby created by the devotees of ISKCON Bangalore. In unlimited ways, Varada Krishna das has gone to extreme limits to thwart legitimate Krishna Conscious preaching endeavors all over India. I wish to state some of the really nasty, whimsical and wild behaviour of this devotee:
1. He went to one of the premier national channels of India called NDTV, lobbied and got this channel to air a totally biased and false scandalous report on Madhu Pandit Prabhu and our activities, alleging that Madhu Pandit Prabhu had usurped more than hundreds of crores of public money and property. This was all done with a vicious intention of spoiling Madhu Pandit Prabhu’s image in Delhi so that the government of Delhi don't allot Srila Prabhupada’s mission a prime property. Sadly, Varada Krishna das was successful.
2. He went to the Ministry of Home Affairs in India and submitted false documents saying that Madhu Pandit Prabhu was a criminal, when Madhu Pandit Prabhu was nominated for the Padmashri Award (one of highest civilian awards given by the Government of India).
3. He goes around to every bank and discredits ISKCON Bangalore’s name so that those Banks will not participate in any Krishna conscious projects.
4. He created a useless ruckus by meeting some legislators of the Karnataka state assembly and poisoned the legislators to the extant where one of the legislators even had the audacity to point out how our beloved Acarya is a crazy man, and he did this by quoting a point made by Srila Prabhupada wherein Srila Prabhupada is criticizing modern day politicians and their activities.
The list of attempts, methods and means to which he will stoop down to achieve his nefarious and dangerous agendas are endless and it is really disgusting to even describe some of those shady wheeler dealer dealings of this person. I do not think that it is dignified to even talk more in this regard.
The point is that it is really shocking to know that Mahasrnga prabhu is so naïve to listen, believe and acknowledge Varada Krishna’s statements on how ISKCON Bangalore and its leader Madhu Pandit Prabhu behave.
Regarding the allegations of making money from Akshaya Patra, creating personal property, etc., the less said the better because it is a complete humbug. If anyone really wants to see how Akshaya Patra money is utilized, what is the government grant they get and how it is spent, etc, etc., please visit the websitewhere the entire funds utilization of the trust prepared by one of the world’s leading and reputed auditing company KPMG is available.
Madhu Pandit das, President ISKCON Bangalore, Chanchalapathi Das, Vice President ISKCON Bangalore, and many others, fed up with these wild allegations that they have made money and property for themselves, made a written sworn affidavit before the magistrate in Bangalore mentioning their net worth (both cash, bank deposits if any and assets in term of properties held by them. Now if someone feels that their affidavit is false, then they can file a case against Madhu Pandit prabhu in a court of law in India and they can get Madhu Pandit Prabhu arrested. I really request Sri Mahasrnga prabhu to get Madhu Pandit Prabhu arrested by going to a court of law instead of writing a blog or an article.
Summing up, I can only request Mahasrnga prabhu and for that matter any other devotee, that before you categorize and make sweeping comments, please be careful, especially against other devotees. Last but not the least, in spite of all these attempts carried out by the Guru camp and many of their followers at defaming and attacking ISKCON Bangalore, I have to place on record that ISKCON Bangalore is still the most thriving spiritual center and is taking its myriad activities to many, many places. There is also something mystical to this whole temple and its activities, and I have personally seen how Lord Krishna and Srila Prabhupada has guided and protected this one temple from all of the rest (Guruvadi temples), and it is mainly because they had the guts to establish the simple truth of establishing Srila Prabhupada as the sole Acarya of our institution.
Your Servant,
Vyomapada das
