The Importance of the Formal Initiation Ceremony

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His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Prabhupada
Founder-Acarya of the
Hare Krishna Movement

My child, your initiation ceremony happened on the same day when you heard my Gayatri tape. Now by the mercy of our Lord, you could see your initiation ceremony. I changed your previous initiated name because that was not proper initiation. You must spread the mission of Lord Caitanya and re-establish the Ritvik System of Initiation which we initiated.—Srila Prabhupada. Krishnananda das & Gauridasa Pandita Das (03-21-02)

Respected H. G. Gauridas Pandit Prabhu,

Dandavat Pranam. Jai Srila Prabhupada. Hare Krishna.

Prabhuji, this is the first letter I am writing to you. I am dividing this letter in two subjects, viz;1) My Details-in-short, 2) The Special- Incident.

1. MY DETAILS-IN-SHORT:-

   Prabhuji, My name is Kersi Mehta. I am one of the strongest supporter of the Ritvik System of Initiation which was initiated by SrilaPrabhupada the Spiritual Master and the Saviour of the world. I am a resident of Mumbai(Bombay)-India. I am a grhasta and a businessman. I am in touch with the ISKCON-Juhu-Mumbai, since last fifteen years.

   In the year 1991, I appeared for the VIHE course in Vrindavan and I stood first in the examination securing 98% marks. That time, I was very closed to H. H. Tamal Krishna Maharaj, but I did not take the initiation from him. As I am a regular visitor of ISKCON-Juhu-Mumbai and actively involved in Preaching and Book-Distribution,

   H. H. Gopal Krishna Maharaj was very much after me for initiating me. He also gave me a bribe, that if I take the initiation from him, he would make me his personal secretary and this way I can tour the whole world. He also told me that in future he will make me the Temple President or a GBC of the ISKCON-Juhu-Mumbai. I avoided him very tactfully.

   In the year 1994, I came in contact with H. H. Bhakti Charu Maharaj. I found him very kind hearted and soft hearted person. I liked him and decided to take the initiation from him, because that time I was not aware of the ritvik system of initiation. H. H. Bhakti Charu Maharaj gave me the initiation which was very close to the ritvik system of initiation, because before initiation he told me-"I cannot take you to Krishna. I can only take you to Srila Prabhupada because Srila Prabhupada alone can take all of us to Krishna. "Then in the same year (1994), he initiated me. He gave me the name, "Shri Krishna Chaitanya Das. " In the year 1997 I got married. Immediately after my marraige he gave me the brahminical initiation.

   In the year 1999, I came to know about the Ritvik System of Initiation after reading the two prominent papers:1)Prabhupada's Order and 2) The Final Order. After reading these 2 papers I was fully convinced that Srila Prabhupada establised the Ritvik System of Initiation and authorized the same system to continue even after His disappearance. Then I read many papers-supporting as well as opposing the ritvik- system of initiation. I also read your paper, "ON MY BEHALF. "Your Grace has presented the important evidences in your paper. Very important evidence is of 5th July 1977, because Srila Prabhupada said on that day, "Tomorrow, I will announce some ritvik acharyas who will initiate disciples on my behalf when I leave the planet. "

   In August 1999, I wrote a big letter to H. G. Bhima Prabhu, Temple President ISKCON-Juhu-Mumbai, stating that, "THE GBC MUST FOLLOW THE RITVIK SYSTEM FOR THE PROTECTION OF ISKCON. "I forwarded the copy of this letter to H. H. Bhakti Charu Maharaj. In October 1999, I wrote a letter(by email)to H. H. Bhakti Charu Maharaj, stating that, "SRILA PRABHUPADA IS MY DIKSHA- GURU. "After this, he met me at the ISKCON-Juhu-Mumbai and he told me that he received my letter by email, but he didn't reply my letter. Anyway I rejected him as my diksha guru.

   After this I got the information from the IRM newsletters, that H. H. Bhakti Charu Maharaj offended Srila Prabhupada very badly. This is very natural because he followed the first eleven unauthorized gurus, who are the biggest offenders at the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada instead of following Srila Prabhupada directly.

   Nowadays, I visit the ISKCON-Juhu-Mumbai, only once a week. So far, the management didn't stop my entrance in the temple premises.

   H. G. Adridharana Prabhu and H. G. Madhu Pandit Prabhu became very friendly with me as I supported and assisted them in fighting with the corrupt GBC members in the High Court of Mumbai.

   Last year, H. G. Madhu Pandit Prabhu gave me the Gayatri Tape of Srila- Prabhupada to hear through the right ear, since I already accepted Srila Prabhupada as my Diksha Guru. I heard the same tape on 9th March 2001 i. e on Gaura Purnima day.

   Prabhuji, so far I have mentioned all my details-in-nutshell. Now, I am going to mention a very important incident which happened with me recently. For this reason only I am writing this letter to you.

2. THE SPECIAL INCIDENT:-

   Prabhuji, this incident is Transcendental. Please keep this confidential Though this incident happened with me in my dream, this incident is the biggest miracle for me. This Transcendental Dream I saw on the Makara- Sankranti Day. Please note the following:-

   "First I saw a beautiful Hare Krishna(Sri Sri Radha Krishna)temple. In the temple, Srila Prabhupada was sitting on a nice vyasasana. He was looking very very effulgent. My Initiation Ceremony was going on. Srila Prabhupada chanted on the beads and requested me to take the beads. Then he made me take the vows for following the regulative principles and chanting of the sixteen rounds of Hare Krishna Maha Mantra. He also told me to chant atleast two rounds more, everyday. Then SrilaPrabhupada told me very important thing. Please note:

   "Now, your name is***KRISHNANANDA DAS***. That means you are the servant of your spiritual master, vaisnavas, Lord Caitanya and Radharani. They all give pleasure to the senses of the Lord. Now, your duty is to serve the mission of your spiritual master. Be my good disciple and make me feel proud of you. "

   After this the entire scene dissappeared. Once again only Srila Prabhupada appeared. He again spoke to me as follows:

   "My child, your initiation ceremony which you saw now, happened on the same day when you heard my Gayatri tape. Now by the mercy of our Lord, you could see your initiation ceremony. So you are also Brahminically initiated. Please be very sincere. I changed your previous initiated name because that was not proper initiation. You must spread the mission of Lord Caitanya and re-establish the Ritvik System of Initiation which we initiated. "(END)

Prabhuji, whatever I have mentioned above is true and correct. In my life this is a very special dream. On 9th March 2001 i. e; on Gaura Purnima- day I heard the Gayatri Tape of Srila Prabhupada through my right ear.

After this incident, I wrote a letter to H. G. Madhu Pandit Prabhu explain-ing him everything about my dream and requested him to give me the same name-"KRISHNANANDA DAS" as given to me by Srila Prabhupada, because I am a preacher and the general mass of people cannot understand such transcendental dream, so I wanted him to give me the same name because he already gave the ritvik initiation to many devotees in Bangalore Temple But, he refused to do the same. He told me that he has stopped giving the ritvik initiation. Previously, he gave the ritvik initiations, because that time he had left the IRM for some time. Now, he will only give the ritvik initiations after getting the approval from the GBC body as he has once again join the IRM and is acting under the rules of the IRM.

**Prabhuji, I cannot wait, because my conscious is not allowing me to get myself called by the others, Shri Krishna Chaitanya Das. By the transcendental arrangement of the Supreme Absolute Truth-Shri Shri Radha Krishna I received the initiation from Srila Prabhupada, our beloved Gurudeva.

As a preacher I cannot tell such incident to the general mass of people otherwise, some unscrupulous person will consider such transcendental- incident a bluff or even may take the bad advantage of my dream.

**So, I am requesting Your Goodself to give me the same name************ "KRISHNANANDA DAS"** as given to me by Srila Prabhupada. Thus, I will be able to tell everyone that I have taken the ritvik initiation by hearing the Gayatri Tape of Srila Prabhupada and by getting the initiated name from Your Grace. Please do the needful.

**Prabhuji, please accept my humble request. I will remain eternally- indebted to you.

Thanking-You,

Your Servant,

KERSI MEHTA.

PLEASE SEND ME AN EARLY REPLY

Dear Krishnanandana Prabhu,

Please accept my respectful obeisances. All glories to Jagat Guru Srila Prabhupada!

Your letter is very nice and transcendental. I had to think about it for a day as I am not an official ritvik initiator. But since the GBC is not following Srila Prabhupada's order for the ritvik system, somebody has to do this service. I asked the advice of a few Godbrothers and they agreed with me that I should approve your new spiritual name; Krishnananda Das. When the spiritual master appears in a dream it is him for real. This shows that you are a very special soul to get this direct mercy. May you always be a strong devotee and keep Srila Prabhupada and Krsna proud of you and in the end go back home, back to Godhead.

Hoping this meets you well,

Your servant,

Gauridasa Pandita Dasa

Dear Krishnananda Prabhu,

PAMRO AGT SRILA PRABHUPADA!

I think your letter is so nice that it should be posted on the internet but asked me to keep it confidential; so I am asking you for permision to send it to Krishna. org

Waitng on your reply,

Best wishes,

Your servant,

Gauridasa Pandita Dasa

Respected H. G. Gauridas Pandit Prabhu,

Dandavat Pranam. Jai Srila Prabhupada. Hare Krishna.

Thank you very much for sending me a very nice reply. I wanted my letter to be kept confidential because people in general cannot understand the transcendental incidents. But if you feel that the people in general can be benefited by reading my letter, then I have "No Objection" of your posting of my letter to the site-Krishna. org.

With my letter, please attach the copy of your letter that you have considered my request by approving my name-"Krishnananda Das" as given to me by Srila Prabhupada. Our respected Godbrothers whom you consulted for approving my name are correct, that someone has to start giving the ritvik initiation, because of the GBC members disobedience for following the direct order of Srila Prabhupada.

If you act as a Ritvik Initiator now, then you will not disobey the order of Srila Prabhupada(thinking that, His Divine Grace did not appoint you as the ritvik initiator), actually you will render the greatest service to Srila Prabhupada by acting as the ritvik- initiator. In this connection I am sending you a quotation from a letter of Srila Prabhupada:-(SP-letter to Satsvarupa-dated 14/11/1968)

****"The story of Ramanujacarya as stated by you is **not disobedience** It was a great fervor for the disciple to advance the missionary cause of the spiritual master. (. . . . )The idea is that for the service of the superior sometimes such violation appears to be on the scene. Ramanuja- rya violated the order of the spiritual master to advance the cause of the spiritual master. The spiritual master's mission was to deliver - fallen souls, therefore Ramanujacarya considered that if the mantra was so powerful to deliver the persons, why not deliver it to everyone as soon as possible. That was little tactic to advance the cause of the spiritual master. So everything has to be judged by the motive, and as the motive of such apparent violation was very good, Ramanuja's spiritual- master embraced him. This is not actually violating the order of the spiritual master, but such actions are very rarely to be done. "**** (Srila Prabhupada Siksamrita-pg:2492/2493)

Prabhuji, therefore I request you to advance the missionary cause of our Gurudeva Srila Prabhupada by becoming the Ritvik Initiator. This way you will save many conditioned souls by giving them the ritvik initiation; i. e;linking them with Srila Prabhupada. Please do the needful. Srila- Prabhupada will definitely embrace you for such great work. Please send me a reply, that you have definitely approved my new- initiated name-"KRISHNANANDA DAS" as given to me by Srila Prabhupada in my transcendental dream. Thank you very much.

Your Servant,

(Kersi Mehta)

Dear Krishnananda Prabhu,

Please accept my respectful obeisances. All glories to jagat guru Srila Prabhupada!

I thank you for your well written letter. I have recommended many devotees for ritvik initiations by both Kapindra Swami and Yasodanandan Prabhu. I have recommended names and they were accepted. I don't act as a ritvik initiator now because the others are. I can say that I'm sure your name "Krishnananda das" as given to you by Srila Prabhupada is bonafide. I would recommend that you get an official ritvik initiation. We had a sacrifice at the Radha Damodara temple on Srila Prabhupada's Dis. Day last year where we initiated 5 devotees including my wife. It was very nice just in front of Sri Rupa Goswami's Samadhi.

Srila Prabhupada said in a letter that it is not generally the case that a devotee gets his/her spiritual name before their sacrifice but in some cases it is acceptable. I would say that yours is such a case. So as far as I am concerned you should keep using your new name and not worry about what others may say. Then maybe next Kartika, in Sri Vrindavan Dhama, you can be officially initiated on behalf of Srila Prabhupada.

Hoping this is acceptable to you Your friend and servant,

Gauridasa Pandita Dasa

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