YES, I
AM THE SPIRITUAL MASTER
OF THIS
INSTITUTION,
AND ALL
THE MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY, THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO BE
MY
DISCIPLES.
"They follow the rules and
regulations which I ask them to follow,
and they are initiated by
me spiritually."
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Interviewer: Now I just want to read one section here. I think
you'll be able to... "The International Society for Krishna
Consciousness began when Swami Bhaktivedanta arrived from
India with $2 on his person, a metal suitcase full of
ancient-looking books and a cotton cloth robe, colored yellow,
as a sign of the renounced order of life. In India, men of his
order are completely dedicated to propagating the spiritual
life of a mendicant wanderer. He had wandered across the sea
upon the order issued to him by his guru who told him he
should prepare to go to America to teach the principles taught
in the Bhagavad-gita and to translate the sixty volumes of the
Srimad-Bhagavatam into English." Now, are you a guru?
Prabhupada: Yes, I am the spiritual master of this institution, and all the members of the society, they're supposed to be my disciples. They follow the rules and regulations which I ask them to follow, and they are initiated by me spiritually. So therefore the spiritual master is called guru. That is Sanskrit language.
(S.P.
Radio Interview March 12, 1968, San Francisco)
Note:
All the members of ISKCON [10,000 year
transcendental preaching mission] they're supposed to be Srila
Prabhupada's disciples. They follow his rules and regulations
given in his lawbooks (mainly 16 rounds 4 regs.) and are thus
initiated by him spiritually. To facilitate his disciples
receiving spiritual names he established a ritvik system.
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