How can we rectify?
Srila Prabhupada had another meeting with the local Vrindavana dignitaries, and they talked at length about how to support our movement. Gopala Krishna has been busy in Bombay garnering letters of support from the leaders of Bombay society. He has a letter from the ex-mayor and is working on the draft of a letter that he hopes many Members of Parliament will sign, including the prime minister, Indira Gandhi. Three MPs have already given good letters, and he is confident of across-the-board support for ISKCON as a genuine representative of Indian culture and religion.
There have been some disappointments, however. Ill feelings towards ISKCON, and Srila Prabhupada personally, are evidently still being maintained by certain leading members of the Vallabhacarya sect following the publication of an article called "What is Guru?" in Back To Godhead Volume 10, No. 8, in which Prabhupada mentions the friendly chastisement of Vallabha Bhatta by Lord Caitanya. When the magazine was circulated some of the sect's leaders saw it and took great offense. Since then they have campaigned among those followers of Vallabhacarya who are our life members that they send in their membership cards and renounce their connection. Srila Prabhupada has already replied to a letter of complaint from Sumati Morarji in August, citing evidence from Caitanya-caritamrita to support his statements about the relationship between Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Sri Vallabhacarya. Now Gopala Krishna reported that after we sent letters to their leading pujaris requesting support, some sent back nasty replies rather than helping us. They are heavily criticizing Prabhupada personally, and they continue to propagandize against us rather than uniting to fight a common enemy.
Gopala handed Srila Prabhupada a letter from Giriraja prabhu concerning this on-going agitation. Giriraja wrote: "In response to the attacks on us in the USA, Shri Sadajivatlal has forwarded some letters by me to various religious leaders of India for their support. One such letter was sent to Shri Govindalalji Maharaj of Nathdwara, the present head of the Vallabhiya Pushtimargiya Sampradaya. A copy of his reply is enclosed. Since Govindalalji has raised certain technical points beyond my experience I am forwarding the same to you. Shyam Goswami in Bombay sent us a very nasty reply which I shall be responding to myself."
Gopala told us that the letter Giriraja enclosed was mild compared to others they have received; the one by Shyam Goswami was so personally blasphemous to Srila Prabhupada that they dared not read it to him.
Prabhupada listened carefully to the letter, which was actually from B. B. Lal Bhatnagar, secretary to His Holiness Goswami Tilkayat Shri Govindalalji Maharaj. Referring to the article in BTG the letter said, "Maharajshri has been pained to note the highly disparaging remarks . . . Maharajashri had noted such disparaging remarks in the book 'Chaitanya Charitamrat' which obviously had been made by the author thereof with a view to boost up the personality of Shri Chaitanya without even looking at Shrimad Vallabhacharyaji's Commentary called Subodhini on the 'Bhagwat' which itself has considered all previous commentaries including the one by Shridhar Swami, and has shown specifically the nature of the error committed by the previous Commentators including Shridhar Swami. As you know, Shridhar Swami, thought profoundly learned, only bore the name of Swami and was never regarded as a Master or Lord by the successive Commentators, and not the least by Shrimad Vallabhacharyaji Maharaj.
"Shri A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada has done great injustice to the Pushtimargiya Vallabhiya Sampradaya by recklessly insulting the founder, instead of delving deeper into the matter to study 'subodhini' itself and making amends for the errors committed in the past by the author of 'Chaitanya Charitamrat'. 'subodhini' completely belies the incident reported in Chaitanya Charitamrat and unduly publicised by Shri A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad. In view of the conduct of the founder of your society, members of this Sampradaya and the Head Tilkayat Maharaj Shri, disassociate themselves from your movement till your Society and the founder thereof make suitable amends and rectify the error of insulting the founder SHRIMAD VALLABHACHARYAJI MAHARAJ of the Pushtimargiya Vallabhiya Sampradaya. I do hope the needful will be done immediately."
Srila Prabhupada dictated his response, telling Giriraja to reply to Govindalalji Maharaj as follows: "What we have discussed is printed in Caitanya-caritamrita. How can we rectify? We can't rectify what is written in Caitanya-caritamrita. We have no bad feeling or disrespect for Vallabhacarya. We consider ourselves the most obedient servants of Vallabhacarya. The exchange between Lord Caitanya and Vallabhacarya was on friendly terms. This was raised in connection with supporting the position of the acaryas.
"The real point is that Sridhara Swami is still being criticized by you in the following words, '. . . and has shown specifically the nature of the error committed by the previous Commentators including Sridhara Swami . . . Sridhara Swami . . . was never regarded as a Master . . .' So, this criticism of Sridhara Swami was as much intolerable for Caitanya Mahaprabhu as His criticism upon Vallabhacarya is intolerable for you. Such kind of friendly criticism you'll always find among learned scholars, but that does not mean any ill feeling with one another. So, as you can criticize Sridhara Swami in the above words, what is the wrong if in the same spirit the supporters of Sridhara Swami criticize you?
"There is an English proverb spoken by Lord Jesus Christ, 'Judge not others lest ye be judged.' So, the conclusion is, as we learn from Caitanya-caritamrita, that in the beginning Sri Vallabhacarya criticized Sridhara Swami and then Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu criticized Vallabhacarya. So what can we do now after 500 years? Recently some criticism has appeared in the Illustrated Weekly also. So, such things will go on in this world, but that does not mean we have got any disrespect for any Vaisnava acarya."
Prabhupada regards the agitation as unfortunate and has already informed the BTG editors to be more careful in what they publish, even though everything printed was sastrically correct. He regrets that the members of the Vallabhacarya sect are still disturbed, but he is not going to compromise on points of sastra.
Reference: Transcendental Diary Volume 5 by Hari Sauri Dasa
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