ISKCON and Hindutva
The International Society for Krsna Consciousness (ISKCON), whose followers
are commonly referred to as "Hare Krsnas," has gained much popularity in
the Western World as well as in
Bharat
in the past few decades. Founded by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada,
it has established numerous Krsna mandirs and published many books on the
Bhagavad Gita and other Vaisnava Hindu scriptures. A large number of
its followers are Westerners who were interested in Eastern philosophy.
On the outside, ISKCON may appear to be simply another Vedic organisation
propagating Sanatana Dharma to the West. In reality, this is far from
the truth. Firstly, Prabhupada made it perfectly clear numerous times
through his statements that his organisation has nothing to do with the "Hindu
religion" (meaning Sanatana Dharma as practised be mainstream Sanatanis).
And indeed, most Vedic Hindus will feel at odds with many of the deeper
philosophies of the Hare Krsnas, since they take a very different interpretation
of Vedic scriptures. Being strictly Dvaiti, they believe that all Devataas
(Shiva, Durga, etc.) other than Sri Krsna (and other forms of Visnu, which
they believe are the same as Him) are merely "demigods", eternally separate
and subserviant to Krsna.
In addition, ISKCON has been known to solicit funds from Hindus in the name
of propagating "Hinduism", and then later stating as mentioned before that
the organisation has nothing to do with Hindus. They praise destructive
religions like islam, stating that Allah is the same as Krishna, while our
God Siva is not!!! Back in 1992 following the destruction of the islamic
structure at Ayodhya, ISKCON in the UK had decided to release a public statement
condemning the destruction, but withdrew it as the Society needed
Hindu funding for one of its projects.
While ISKCON's bringing of non-Bharatiyas into the fold of Vedic culture
is certainly commendable, it is important to remember that ISKCON is not
a pro-Hindutva organisation. Please support true Hindu organisations, who
stand by the Hindus and Hindutva, before ISKCON and others of the like.
