Senior ISKCON leaders respond to the removal of the “expert at rape” paragraph from SB 4.25.41

On October 1 Akincana Gocara reported that the final paragraph of Srila Prabhupada’s purport to Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.25.41 had been removed from vedabase.io at the written request of the BBT’s copyrights office, without public explanation.

The paragraph in question reads: “In this regard, the word vikhyātam is very significant. A man is always famous for his aggression toward a beautiful woman, and such aggression is sometimes considered rape. Although rape is not legally allowed, it is a fact that a woman likes a man who is very expert at rape.”

Since publication, senior ISKCON leaders have written to us with their reactions. We publish their messages below in full.

Favorable to removal

Hridayananda Dasa Goswami

Hridayananda Dasa Goswami, initiated by Srila Prabhupada in 1970, is one of the eleven disciples appointed to initiate after Prabhupada’s departure and a long-serving GBC member. He completed the translation and commentary of the Srimad-Bhagavatam left unfinished by Prabhupada, holds a Harvard PhD in Sanskrit and Indian Studies, and is the founder of Krishna West.

Dear Akincana Gocara,

Jaya Prabhupada! Many souls will be lost if that statement is not removed. And many more will blaspheme Prabhupada. I clearly understand that in general, we should not change Prabhupada’s books. But Prabhupada already approved removing statements that had no affect on the philosophy and would incite large numbers of people to blaspheme Prabhupada and reject Krishna consciousness.

With best wishes,
HD Goswami

Unfavorable to removal

Sukadeva Swami

Sukadeva Swami, a medical doctor from Andhra Pradesh, joined ISKCON in the United States in the early 1980s and has since preached across India. He built ISKCON temples in Kurukshetra and Nellore, runs a mid-day meal program feeding about 40,000 children in Nellore, and has authored several books, including Srila Prabhupada in Nellore and Vaisnava Aachara Samhita.

Sex is inbuilt in conditioned bodies. Like food, people need sex. Many big big doctors recommend and say masturbation is OK. Similar are their ideas about gay marriages and lesbian marriages. High court judges and intellectuals opine such ideology. SP says sex is perversion of ādi-rasa or original sex, i.e. love for Krishna, which is pure and not an indulgence of material bodies.

So, in that backdrop, when SP explained Bhagavatam verses in their true context and meaning, what is wrong about it? In so-called sex education, shamelessly things are said by psychologists and other sociologists; why should anybody feel bad about what SP has commented? BG third chapter says insatiable lust burns and destroys our decency. What is truth about conditioned life, why does that statement have to be seen as not so nice? There are persons in all levels of consciousness and SP is guiding and solving the problem so that gradually, by the grace of Lord Krishna, one can gain mastery over impulsive life by practicing Krishna consciousness. By the grace of Krishna and our honest efforts, we can improve and overcome this instinct. Why shun it as taboo? Post Prabhupada’s disappearance, we have no right to change his books, especially as his disciples. If SP is a pure devotee, whatever he has written is under the dictation of the Lord. It is very bad to think we know better than the Lord or SP, His prophesied Senapati, HDG Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada.

These are penny-worth points and humble yet bold comments in support of SP’s personage.

Sukadeva Swami

Send us your statement

This article will be updated as further statements arrive. Senior ISKCON leaders, ISKCON institutions such as the GBC, its ministries and committees, and the BBT itself are invited to send their statements to akincananet@gmail.com.