Jayadvaita Swami attacks Madhudvisa dasa

BBT — By Madhudvisa dasa on March 20, 2004 11:50 pm

The following is a description of Jayadvaita Swami demanding a private meeting with me at the in March of 2004 at the annual ISKCON Mayapur Festival at Sridharma Mayapur, West Bengal, India, and what happened, “behind closed doors…”

In 2004 I attended the Mayapur Festival for the first time in many years in 2004 as I had some service to do there for ITV [ISKCON television].

Jayadvaita Swami was chasing me at mangal aroti and whenever he saw me walking around the temple grounds. I was avoiding him, but finally he aproached me and said rather roughly “I want to talk to you!”

He wanted me to go to his room but I said it is nice here, why not talk here in the park? He didn’t like that idea but we talked for a while there. He was very rough, demanding that he is a senior devotee. He told me that I should surrender to him and accept whatever he has done to Srila Prabhupada’s books, he demanding that I take down all my websites and publish widely letters apologizing to him and endorsing his “Revised and Enlarged” versions of Srila Prabhupada’s books.

All the time he was saying “come to my room…” So finally, out of curiosity as to what he had in store for me in his room, I did.

When we got to his room all hell broke loose. He was screaming and shouting “shithead, shithead, shithead… why don’t you accept me as your authority… Take down all your websites.” He was so crazy I really was very shocked. He was pounding me with his fists and kicking me and hitting the walls and kicking the furniture around all the time to the “shithead, shithead, shithead” mantra. And sometimes he would become tired and lie down on his bed to re-gather his energy.

It is not that he physically hurt me. His punches were very light and I could hardly feel his kicks. I did not end up with any bruises or anything. But it was really an amazing sight to see…

I was just sitting there chanting Hare Krishna completely stunned. I had no idea at all that JAS was so crazy. There is no question in my mind now, he is completely insane. He is supposed to be a swami, one who is the master of his senses but his is completely out of control. He let me know in no uncertain terms that it was only because of three crazy devotees that his book editing was ever challenged. He named them: Kirtanananda, Hansadutta and me. He told me for years he has been trying to destroy my preaching. We saw that recently in LA. He tried to poison so many devotees against me. Yadubara and many others. But somehow his actions have not had much effect.

Ultimately I left his room, completely shocked. I could never believe he would act like this. He was still waving his arms around “shithead, shithead, shithead.” Anyhow he is very afraid of Hansadutta Prabhu and by Krishna’s arrangement Bhakti Charu Swami paid Hansadutta’s airfare to Mayapur to give him some inspiration for the animation project he plans to start in Mayapur. He arrived here the morning after JAS’s “shithead, shithead, shithead” explosion.

Hansadutta said the first person he saw here was JAS when he saw him he looked like he had seen a ghost. JAS tried to attack Hansadutta, that he [JAS] was a BBT trustee. That is as far as he got and Hansadutta completely demolished him. So we have not seen JAS since them. How on earth can ISKCON have such crazy people in such high positions. It is insane. Hansadutta says I should have recorded it and posted it on the internet then everyone could see what sort of “swami” he is.

JAS admitted finally during the “shithead, shithead” conversation that there was never a complete list of the changes to the Gita circulated to the devotees. Only a list of changes to the translations. He also admitted and we know it that the changes to the purports are “very extensive.” And to this day the only person who is aware of these extensive changes to Prabhupada’s purports is JAS. No one else has ever seen them or knows what they are or review them. He also expressed his disgust that Prabhupada’s original books are being printed and distributed and said, “It’s only the ritviks who are buying them.” [which is of course competely untrue. There is nothing that unites the devotees of all camps more than everyone's desire to read Srila Prabhupada's original books...]

Please see the following email exchange with Jayadvaita Swami where he admits that all I have said above is true.

For the record, since this meeting, Jayadvaita has been a perfect gentleman and “very sweet” to me. Always praising my determination and dedication to Srila Prabhupada… But I think this is only a show… Deep down in his heart he still does not like me very much…

In the email discussion below my [Madhudvisa's] comments are in blue and Jayadvaita’s comments are in black.

From Madhuvisa:

Dear Sir, (Jayadvaita is addressing me as “Sir”?)

> I humbly admit I found it uncomfortable that you yelled at me so much tonight, calling me so many bad names and overall was very rough with me.

You deserved it. And more…

> We are both followers of Srila Prabhupada and we may have different opinions on some points but we should be able to meet in a gentlemanly manner.

You’re twenty years my junior. You claim to be a brahmacari, and I am a sannyasi. You were initiated (if at all) ten years later than me.

And yet you think you’re perfectly within your rights to broadcast to the whole world, “Jayadvaita Swami [is] disobeying Srila Prabhupada’s direct order that he should not change a word in his books” (an order, of course, that Srila Prabhupada never gave me). And still, after publishing this and other such thoroughly rude insults, you somehow believe you’re entitled to be treated “in a gentlemanly manner.” Hmmm. . .

> You are asking me to apologize but I would humbly request some sort of apology from you also. You called me “shit head” so many times, I really do not think that is appropriate.

You’re right. I apologize [for calling you "s...head"]. If I’d used Srila Prabhupada’s language, I would have said you have cow dung for brains.

> I understand you are upset about some of the things I have posted on the net, but on close examination you will find that every posting contains a significant point which we need to consider.

And lots of garbage we don’t. And, by the way, you don’t raise any points that BBT editors and consultants with much finer discretion than you haven’t considered already….

> Just on the few changes we looked at tonight you admitted to three errors you have introduced into the new version and surely if one did a through study there would be many hundreds of new errors.

Two, if I recall. Both of them petty. And I didn’t admit that I introduced them. If you’d been listening, you might have heard that I didn’t know whether the errors were mine or those of a typist.

> The point of my website is to show that in so many ways the philosophy presented in your “Revised and Enlarged” Gita differs substantially from Prabhupada’s original Bhagavad-gita As It Is. And you accept that. I accept that in some cases you have recovered missing things, etc. But overall I can not personally put my faith in your “Revised and Enlarged” Gita and so many devotees feel like this.

I am not in need of your faith, sir. Put it wherever you’d like.

> Your “Revised and Enlarged” Gita rests on your authority. You have decided what to change and what not to change and as we saw there are so many things you could have changed, but have chosen not to, therefore it is all according to your opinion. You have decided what to change and what not to change.

Son, *every* editor decides what to change and what not to change. And your complaint seems to be that my opinions differ from yours. Your opinion is that perhaps fifty of the revisions are justified, the rest not…. Should I feel crushed? Yes, after due deliberation and consultation, I decided what to change and what not to change….

> The point I have made is this is a very dangerous precedent for the future. We have to preserve the original teachings of Srila Prabhupada. And the original Macmillan Gita was accepted by Prabhupada, he did not request anyone to reedit it. That is the main point. If Prabhupada wanted his books reedited that would be a different matter.

> TKG put this question to Srila Prabhupada in the rascal editors conversation, “Can JAS go through and reedit the books?” and Prabhupada’s conclusion was, “No, the next printing should be the original way.” So that is a clear order from Srila Prabhupada NOT to reedit the books. Your interpretation of this is not honest. The original way clearly means the original way the books were printed.

Not honest? Dear Mr. Honesty: I’m sitting here in front of my VedaBase, and I’ll be hog-tied if I see anywhere in that conversation, “Can JAS go through and reedit the books?” You can take your brand of honesty and shove it.

> I think you are a little unfair in so heavily criticizing the articles I have written,

I haven’t criticized them heavily enough.

> Hopefully when we meet again it can be on more gentlemanly terms.

Hopefully when we meet again you will deserve it.

> I am not anything special but I am sincerely trying to serve Srila Prabhupada with all my energy and I do not really find it very comfortable if you just want to yell at me and call me names.

Oh, you’re uncomfortable, are you? Dear, dear! You can dish out insults to your seniors in public, but when your seniors dish it out to you in private, you can’t take it. Poor baby!

> What is the point of this? My points are valid, and you have agreed to that, you have agreed to three errors in just the few verses we looked at tonight, so I humbly submit that all the faults are not on my side. You have to admit that there are some faults on your side also then we can make some progress.