His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada came to the USA from India in 1965, and with great difficulty soon started the Hare Krishna Movement and ISKCON. He proved himself, by his accomplishments and spiritual influence, to be the greatest modern-day saint, scholar and spiritual ambassador. From the first temple in New York, gradually his new disciples started temples all over the world. ISKCON grew quickly, and by 1969 there were 35 temples and 200 disciples. Also in 1969 came a “soft coup,” which Srila Prabhupada described as a “sinister movement,” where he was minimized by his Godbrothers and personal ambitions sprouted in some disciples. In reaction, Srila Prabhupada formed a 12-member Governing Body Commission (GBC) in 1970 through a legal document, Direction of Management (DOM). In 1972, ambitious GBCs decided without sanction to refashion and centralize ISKCON, about which Srila Prabhupada was very disturbed, and he temporarily suspended the entire GBC.
Strangely, the GBC ignored and never implemented the DOM or its prescribed GBC elections by temple presidents. In 1974 Srila Prabhupada issued a “Topmost Urgency” ISKCON notice that re-emphasized the DOM, specifically about protection of properties with trustees. In 1975 Srila Prabhupada supervised the first official GBC meetings. In March 1976 Srila Prabhupada removed Tamal Krishna Goswami, the most ambitious GBC member, from all positions and “exiled” him to China. Months later Srila Prabhupada’s homicidal, malicious poisoning by heavy metals began, continuing with his health inexplicably and relentlessly deteriorating until his passing in Nov. 77.
Srila Prabhupada’s instructions in his last year for the future of his movement were hidden, distorted, or suppressed as a deliberate strategy to introduce deviations into ISKCON. By the time of his demise Srila Prabhupada had 5000 disciples, millions of followers, 200 temples and farms, and almost 80 books translated from the Vedic scriptures in 60+ languages that astounded religious academics worldwide. By 2024, his books in print numbered over 600 million.
1978 GBC-GURU HIJACKING, ZONAL ACHARYA REGIME
In March 1978 the 24-member GBC endorsed and announced the hoax and total lie that Srila Prabhupada had appointed 11 successor acharyas, leading to a tyranny of unqualified rascals who cemented their parasitic dominion over ISKCON. These 11 became entrenched with the assistance of their own Godbrothers. ISKCON’s GBC was controlled by these 11 “gurus,” leading to a horrible repression and religious fanaticism, but by 1986 most of them had fallen from their spiritual standards in great scandals. In 1987 the secondary ISKCON leaders rebelled and a pseudo reform movement expanded the false gurus within a few years to a hundred. The guru appointment was admitted as false but the GBC then claimed they embodied the divine authority of Srila Prabhupada, and that they were authorized to do whatever they deemed necessary. The GBC adopted a novel guru vote approval system and the GBC-guru cartel was further solidified. Further undermining ISKCON, in 1990-95 Tamal attempted to “piggy-back” install Narayan Maharaja as the new ISKCON Acharya. Secondary leaders managed to restrict this hijacking plot.
MALICIOUS, HOMICIDAL, LETHAL HEAVY METALS POISONING OF THE FOUNDER-ACHARYA
In 1997 shocking whispers and conversations about poisoning Srila Prabhupada came to light on recordings from his last days in 1977. Ex-GBC Chairman/attorney Balavanta was authorized by the GBC Executive Committee to investigate whether Srila Prabhupada had been poisoned, and he was assisted by GBC Naveen Krishna. This investigation was under-productive and poorly funded, and so, a private investigation was organized by a group of concerned, senior Srila Prabhupada disciples, cooperating with Balavanta and Naveen Krishna.
In 2000, the four primary poisoning suspects amongst the GBC secretly fabricated a fraudulent cover-up of the facts and evidence, publishing Not That I Am Poisoned, a book then unanimously endorsed by the GBC. Balavanta and other GBC agents had sent several 1977 Srila Prabhupada hair samples, always in GBC custody, to be tested by Dr. J Steven Morris at MURR. Upon the GBC’s public invitation, Dr. Morris was paid for 6 neutron activation analysis (NAA) tests on hair samples. Three samples determined Srila Prabhupada’s lethal levels of cadmium over at least 10 months in 1977. Three other samples showed normal pre-1977 levels of heavy metals.
A series of top-level audio forensic studies were obtained, all of whom determined that Srila Prabhupada’s caretakers were speaking and whispering about malicious poisoning just days before his departure. All the evidence, history, facts, and analysis gathered by this private investigation into the mysterious circumstances surrounding Srila Prabhupada’s 1976-77 physical departure has been compiled. This, and extensive analysis of the corruption and spoiling of Srila Prabhupada’s books, teachings, followers, and Divine Mission, is now available in a dozen published books, most available online. The truth and forensic facts were gathered in the face of ISKCON denials and obstruction. The GBC has conducted multiple fraudulent cover-ups of Srila Prabhupada’s poisoning despite solid scientific proof.
TRUTH LABS (INDIA) RETAINED TO STUDY POISONING EVIDENCE
In 2020 Truth Labs was retained, and the Srila Prabhupada poisoning issue was studied with the latest technology and a neutral, scientific interest to reach a full discovery of the facts. As a natural evolution of the GBC and private investigations, and the Balavanta-Naveen Krishna efforts, and after thousands of hours of forensic study, research, and deliberations in consultation with various experts, Truth Labs, the world’s premiere and highest standard investigative agency, has determined that Srila Prabhupada was indeed lethally poisoned in 1977 by his own caretakers. In 2024, Justice for Srila Prabhupada Foundation was organized,consulting with reputable attorneys.
ISKCON HIJACKERS ALLOWED AND PROMOTED SEXUAL CHILD ABUSE
From 1978, key leading ISKCON gurus and GBCs fostered a toxic environment of sexual child abuse in ISKCON, especially in Indian gurukula-schools. Many were direct perpetrators while others looked the other way or received special favors. Sexual offenses under the governance of the GBC ISKCON hijackers were institutionally covered-up and continued unaccountably for decades until the present. Like the poison issue, the child sex abuse was deliberately not investigated (or corrected), destroying the younger generation of ISKCON devotees with whom Srila Prabhupada had entrusted the future of the Hare Krishna movement.
In 2000 a grass roots civil lawsuit against ISKCON by 500 abused ISKCON youth members resulted in an ISKCON bankruptcy and monetary awards to victims. However, the child abuse culture in ISKCON was not corrected and scandals have continued. Further, a massive and effective genocide of Srila Prabhupada’s direct disciples occurred due to ISKCON’s transformation into a false-guru tyranny. This led to an exodus of those who gave their lives to build the movement from 1966 to the 1990’s.
GUROCRACY ESTABLISHED AS AN ELITE GBC CARTEL
In 2024, ISKCON’s 36-member GBC is effectively an acharya board, and the interests of the false gurus rule the society, destroying Srila Prabhupada’s actual intent for a GBC. The GBC is mostly “gurus” or aspiring gurus, and it is a self-electing club, as its members decide who can join and stay. This is inherently self-corrupting and disallows honesty, purity, or even checks and balances. GBC members are never judged by an external, independent panel of senior devotees. They face no elections. This closed circle system has drained ISKCON of its former purity and objectivity. By lack of GBC transparency and integrity, ISKCON has lost its spiritual potency and credibility. The GBC is unchallengeable with their assumption of a “blank-check,” ultimate authority- they claim to be non-different from Srila Prabhupada himself. This has led to many scandals, cover-ups, corruptions, and the disenfranchising of Srila Prabhupada’s direct disciples, 95% of whom have left active participation in the ISKCON institution.
The non-elected GBC has disregarded Srila Prabhupada’s intent and instructions for independent temples by delegating itself super-powers and centralizing under GBC legal control. Srila Prabhupada’s desire that ISKCON be an organization to spread Krishna consciousness has been replaced by the GBC-guru elite club’s use of ISKCON to gather disciples, wealth, prestige, and worship in their separated, franchised guru kingdoms. Their “big lie” is that their guru business is spreading Krishna consciousness and is what Srila Prabhupada wanted. This falsehood is enmeshed into the Society’s fabric to conceal ISKCON’s actual dark purpose. ISKCON has been “gurujacked” and is no longer what Srila Prabhupada created. This gurocracy is hidden behind the phony façade of a formerly-spiritual organization.
Ravindra Svarupa (GBC spokesman): “Srila Prabhupada had not set up ISKCON temples under the legal control of the GBC, but in recent decades it has evolved in that direction. As a registered Society, the GBC wanted legal control over the temples, as confirmed in their minutes and resolutions. They thought that unless the GBC has full legal powers of control and authority, the organization cannot be effective. The GBC collects oaths of allegiance from temple presidents and officers, modifies temple charters and bylaws to accept legal control by the GBC Society of West Bengal, and otherwise solidifies GBC control over the society. All temple presidents are appointed or removed by the local GBC person.”
THE GBC IS ITS OWN SOCIETY WITH ITS OWN BYLAWS
From the new 2009 incorporation bylaws that were imposed by the GBC on all ISKCON temples worldwide: “The GBC is a distinct body, independent of this corporation, and operates under its own rules, regulations, and principles.” The GBC Society of West Bengal has its own Bylaws as its own legal religious society, and their separate legal existence now shields the individual GBC members from lawsuits, protecting the gurus in their plunder of ISKCON. Thus, the GBC-guru cartel is free to legally carry out their false guru franchise business.
But the devotee society that the GBC is supposed to manage and protect doesn’t know about the GBC’s secret discussions and “unpublished” resolutions. The GBC society bylaws, principles, raison d’etre, regulations, and charter- these things are not openly shared with ISKCON members, who are now legally no longer members and are only “advisors” (to be ignored). This makes the GBC non-transparent, similar to Skull and Bones, Freemasons, and the Vatican. If we don’t know what the GBC is, what they discuss, or what they do- why should they be trusted or blindly followed? They are incorrigibly unaccountable to everyone- politically, financially, institutionally, organizationally, legally, tax-wise. They are masters to themselves only. A recipe for evil.
GBC EVOLVED INTO A CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE OF FALSE GURUS
The GBC motivation to hide Srila Prabhupada’s poisoning and the false-guru hijacking of ISKCON arises from their desire to capture and exploit Srila Prabhupada’s followers and assets for their own personal self-aggrandizement. ISKCON properties and assets are today worth about $4-5 billion, an attractive target for those who have adulterated Srila Prabhupada’s teachings to facilitate their exploiting his assets and transcendental mission. E.g., GBC Tirtharaj das used the GBC bank account for years to launder criminal monies, and then the GBC covered this up.
Also, the founding signatures of the 1993 GBC Society included Madhu Pandit das (Bangalore), who stated in 2021 that his signature was forged by Bhaktarupa das, and he filed this fact in Indian High Court and he could file a criminal complaint in Calcutta to vacate the GBC Society’s registration. The GBC is now a criminal enterprise which has disregarded the Founder’s arrangements, in order to enable and protect their GBC-guru cartel in plundering ISKCON. Actually, Srila Prabhupada’s GBC ceased to exist with the secret poisoning conspiracy of the Founder-Acharya by some GBCs, who then in March 1978 engineered a hijacking, or gurujacking, of the movement by luring the other GBCs and society leaders into an illegal guru regime.
However, Srila Prabhupada plainly stated in his June 1977 Last Will that there was no need to change from the way he had set up ISKCON to be managed, which included an unincorporated GBC. Yet, violating Srila Prabhupada’s instructions, the GBC incorporated itself and then imposed legal, central control on all temples. This is disobedience, lack of faith in Srila Prabhupada, a major deviation, and a betrayal, a criminal act of immense fraud. The GBC must be prosecuted for breach of fiduciary and spiritual duties; they are all criminals and frauds.
Whenever the GBC perceives their guru regime is threatened, they resort to false accusations and dirty tricks. Srila Prabhupada’s 1972 temporary suspension of the entire GBC and his order that the temples disregard the GBC clearly shows he did not want the GBC to legally control the temples. His suspending the GBC was specifically because the GBC had tried to legalize, bureaucratize, and centralize ISKCON. This incident confirmed again that the GBC was to have primarily an ecclesiastical function, to simply execute their limited duties on the strength of loyalty to His Divine Grace’s will and instructions. In a famous 1972 letter to Karandhar, Srila Prabhupada spoke strongly against ISKCON centralization. He did not want what the GBC has done.
By the authority of spiritual knowledge and by inspiring devotees to voluntarily surrender to Srila Prabhupada, out of love and trust, the GBC was to maintain spiritual standards, but not legally centralize. The GBC has covered-up Srila Prabhupada’s proven poisoning, gurujacked the movement in 1978 with the lie of being appointed as successor acharyas, adulterated his sacred books with unrestricted “editing,” drove away his disciples, abused the children and devotees, and changed the Founder-Acharya’s system of management. And, as unauthorized gurus, they are exploiting the assets of the Founder-Acharya by diverting them into their control and accounts.
The Krishna consciousness movement needs brahminical leaders who can guide others; it does not need centralized corporatism or a corrupt gurocracy. This is not Srila Prabhupada’s vision and this is miserably failing in fulfilling the actual purpose and essence of Srila Prabhupada’s mission. ISKCON has evolved into a corporate, corrupt, institutionalized church. The legal powers that Srila Prabhupada chose to give the GBC were strictly limited as property trustees to protect ISKCON properties from sale or encumbrances. GBCs were to see that temple presidents were not misusing funds, and that, as spiritual guides and preachers, they would maintain the spiritual standards of all the devotees. The GBC could not remove temple presidents or interfere in temple management. But ISKCON is now a centralized criminal enterprise. The gurus control the GBC body, and the GBC body controls all doctrines, policies, and temple boards of directors.
SUMMARY
The ISKCON GBC has regularly concealed guru and child abuse scandals. Their policies of tyranny disallow the process of understanding Srila Prabhupada’s teachings of transcendental knowledge through open discussion and debate. They politicize and compromise ISKCON with mundane considerations and philosophical deviations. They mismanage and steal the assets of the society, diverting-converting them tax-free to secret and private holdings. They changed Srila Prabhupada’s books, kirtan, and the deity worship. They cheated everyone with their unauthorized gurus while denying sincere devotees access to Srila Prabhupada. They oversaw the abuse of the children and devotees and focused on their own benefits rather than protecting their dependents.
As more of Srila Prabhupada’s sincere followers become enlightened as to the real history of ISKCON, and understand the evidence that Srila Prabhupada was lethally, homicidally poisoned by senior men who hijacked his mission for their own personal ambitions, the reign tyranny moves closer to its end. The ISKCON GBC-guru club criminal franchise operations are run by liars, thieves, and the worst false pretenders. They cheat the innocent in the most deceitful and horrible ways. They, and their deviations, must be removed and ISKCON restored to the teachings and principles inculcated by its Founder-Acharya. This time is fast approaching.
“The system of management will continue as it is now and there is no need of any change.” (SP’s Final Will, June 1977)
