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by, Rama Giridhari Das
I read the article by Tribhanga Das “No Government
Syllabus for ISKCON Gurukulas,” at http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/editorials/05-19/editorials16922.htm
It was an eye opener. I did not know about the conversation
of Srila Prabhupada quoted there where he specifically says not to get
government affiliated. He describes many reasons out of which one is really
astonishing. He says that government will force eating eggs etc. for nutrition
value.
Gopala Krsna: I was thinking, Srila
Prabhupada, we should get this gurukula accepted by the government also so...
Prabhupada: No, no, no. Never do
that.
Gopala Krsna: No, when our gurukula
children apply for entry visas, they should give them visas right away, because
these kids from abroad will come to India for gurukula...
Prabhupada: Our program is open.
Brahmacari gurukule vasan dantah [SB 7.12.1]. We are training like this,
according to the Bhagavata. That's all. Never mind government.
Prabhupada: No, no, the parents are
prepared to pick up the expense. That's all. Government curriculum is useless. They'll
enforce kids to take eggs, three eggs...
Tamala Krsna: That's right.
Prabhupada: ...in daytime, and
four pounds flesh, otherwise there will be vitamin, less vitamin. Or
"Give them vitamins pills, this..." These... "Don't go to
Yamuna. It is polluted."
It has exactly turned out to be correct. Please see an
excerpt from a recent news about Government policies about Mid-day meal:
Odisha
finds a way to serve children eggs at mid-day meals catered by ISKCON-linked
NGO
Akshaya Patra follows principles of vegetarianism and
will not procure or serve eggs. But it will bear the cost for school
administrations to do so.
Dec 16, 2018 · 02:30 pm
Children in an Odisha school eat their midday meal. | mdmodisha.nic.in
After 12 years
of the NGO Akshaya Patra Foundation serving mid-day meals to schools in Odisha,
the state government had found a way to serve eggs – a vital source of
nutrition – to the children eating those lunches.
Akshaya Patra,
which provides mid-day meals in more than 1,76,000 rural schools across the
country, is an initiative of the International Society for Krishna
Consciousness or ISKCON. It follows ISKCON’s principles of vegetarianism in its
cooking and strictly avoids meat, fish and eggs. This has often been a point of
conflict between the NGO and state governments with the NGO sometimes refusing to
follow state government directives to provide eggs in the meal.
Akshaya Patra
recently refused to follow a Karnataka government directive to
include onion and garlic meals to make them more palatable, arguing that it went
against ISKCON’s spiritual practices.
But in an order
dated November 11, 2018, Odisha’s school and mass education department said
that Akshaya Patra has agreed to include two eggs per week per student in their
mid-day meal in all schools under its service area. The order specifies that
the NGO will not supply boiled eggs to schools directly. Instead, school
managements will ensure that eggs are procured and boiled and Akshaya Patra
will bear the cost.
District
Education Officers have been directed to deduct the costs of the eggs from the
cooking allotment paid to Akshaya Patra.
Akshaya Patra
serves more than 1.5 lakh children in Odisha in 1,980 schools. It has three
centralised kitchens in Puri, Rourkela and Cuttack and one decentralised
kitchen in Nayagarh.
For more detail and
full news article goto:
Thus, deviating even an inch from
Srila Prabhupada’s instructions is going to spoil our movement. We may accept
it or not, but that’s the truth. Please note: there are many more predictions
about Govt. affiliation in that conversation of Srila Prabhupada: eating flesh,
not going to Yamuna etc. All these will come true one by one and ISKCON leaders
may go on explaining that Srila Prabhupada did want these predictions for
ISKCON schools to come true. But the faithful followers should open their eyes
and beware.
Disclaimer:
The views expressed in this article, besides mere facts, are of the author and not of this blog.
