ISKCON Central Office of Child Protection

ISKCON Central Office of Child Protection

P.O. BOX 1438 ALACHUA, FLORIDA 32616-1438

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Official Decision on the case of Bhakti Vidya Purna Maharaja

This judgment, decided on September 20, 2000, was rendered in accordance with the guidelines for adjudicating cases of alleged child abuse established by the ISKCON Child Protection Task Force Report and ratified by the ISKCON Governing Body Commission. This judgment is the official decision of the ISKCON Central Office of Child Protection (ICOCP) on the child abuse case of Bhakti Vidya Purna Maharaja.

This decision defines the parameters of the relationship of Bhakti Vidya Purna Maharaja with ISKCON. The ICOCP advises child abuse victims, their parents, and all members of the ISKCON organization to report suspicion of child abuse to governmental social service and law enforcement authorities. Also, the ICOCP recommends that all members of ISKCON learn and follow their l ocal laws concerning child abuse and mandated reporting of child abuse.

Bhakti Vidya Purna Maharaja was requested to serve as principle of the Mayapur gurukula in 1982. He accepted this service, which was fraught with difficult conditions, including scarcity of resources, lack of staff with even minimally acceptable training, and being forced to accept students who were not appropriate for the school. This caused great strain in a gurukula that already had a history of difficulties, and it is commendable that Bhakti Vidya Purna Maharaja accepted the challenges that this service offered. He persevered as principle of an asrama school in Mayapur despite severe trials and tribulations.

During the 1980s, through 1991, many children suffered physical, sexual, and psychological child abuse in the Mayapur gurukula while Bhakti Vidya Purna Maharaja was in the position of principle of the school. Bhakti Vidya Purna Maharaja has expressed to the ICOCP that he takes responsibility fo r the child abuse that occurred while he was principle of the school. In some instances Bhakti Vidya Purna Maharaja imposed excessive physical punishments on students, and Bhakti Vidya Purna Maharaja also takes responsibility for these acts of misconduct.

Bhakti Vidya Purna Maharaja has been very cooperative with the ICOCP. On February 17, 2000, he met for several hours with a representative of the ICOCP as well as several senior devotees with years of experience in ISKCON education and management. At that meeting all devotees present agreed to the following resolution of this case.

Bhakti Vidya Purna Maharaja will write a general letter of apology to the former students who suffered in the school while he held a position of authority. In addition, Bhakti Vidya Purna Maharaja will make himself available to speak or correspond with any former students who would like to communicate with him about their experiences of mistreatment while they were in his school. The Child Prot ection Office will assist in any way it can to serve as a liaison between Bhakti Vidya Purna Maharaja and the former students.

Bhakti Vidya Purna Maharaja won’t serve in any capacity that is directly connected with children until January 1, 2002. After that time he may serve in a non-managerial and non-administrative capacity connected with children if the ISKCON Education Ministry agrees that he may do so. Bhakti Vidya Purna Maharaja may not at any time assume a managerial or administrative role in ISKCON, and especially not in connection with children. A child is defined as a person under 18 years of age, although a younger age (though not younger than 16 years) may be accepted for this definition if it can be shown that in a particular country, such as India, the legal definition of a child is something other than 18 years.

At the Feb. 17 meeting all devotees present agreed that Bhakti Vidya Purna Maharaja may remain at the Mayapur gurukula till August 1, 2000, during w hich time he is encouraged to train school staff so that the school can continue in his absence. After that time he should not reside on the premises of a school for children. Bhakti Vidya Purna Maharaja is fully encouraged to contribute to the intellectual and theoretical foundation of education in ISKCON. The ICOCP has great respect and appreciation for BVPM’s extensive knowledge of Vedic culture, Vaisnava educational practices, and child psychology, and we hope he will continue to use this knowledge and experience in the training of educational staff and curriculum development.

Bhakti Vidya Purna Maharaja won’t conduct diksa initiations till at least January 1, 2002. This panel respects the choice of devotees who wish to receive initiation from Bhakti Vidya Purna Maharaja, though we have also concluded that some restrictions in this capacity are requisite due to his past transgressions connected with children under his care. Also, it is important that his disciples and as piring disciples are informed of his past to some extent. Bhakti Vidya Purna Maharaja must ensure that his current disciples read this Official Decision within six months of the date of this document, and that aspiring disciples read this Official Decision before they take initiation. In order to accomplish this, Bhakti Vidya Purna Maharaja may refer disciples and aspiring disciples to the ICOCP. The ICOCP herein emphasizes that the position of guru entails providing shelter, and Bhakti Vidya Purna Maharaja, in his capacity as principle of the school, was not successful in providing spiritual and material shelter for many of his dependents. If the ISKCON Governing Body Commission permits Bhakti Vidya Purna Maharaja to initiate disciples, then his service in that capacity must be constrained as described above.

Until January 1, 2001, Bhakti Vidya Purna Maharaja won’t give classes in ISKCON temples, nor will he lead kirtanas in ISKCON temples, nor will he conduct ISKCON semina rs at widely-publicized conferences. If Bhakti Vidya Purna Maharaja resides in an asrama separate from the main temple on the property of ISKCON Mayapur, he may give classes and lead kirtanas at that asrama. Also, until January 1, 2001, Bhakti Vidya Purna Maharaja will refrain from performing priestly functions at high-profile ISKCON ceremonies.

The ICOCP would like to acknowledge and appreciate that Bhakti Vidya Purna Maharaja has, dating back to January 1, 2000, voluntarily imposed upon himself all the restrictions described in this document. Bhakti Vidya Purna Maharaja accepts that these restrictions on leadership profiles are a consequence of neglectful leadership on his part when he was principle of the gurukula.

Full documentation of this case is on file with the ICOCP. The file contains many testimonies of child abuse and neglect that occurred when Bhakti Vidya Purna Maharaja was school principle, and it also includes statements from many devotees, including several former students, attesting to the fine character and spiritual qualities of Bhakti Vidya Purna Maharaja.

The above judgments constitute the minimum restrictions that an ISKCON organization must place on Bhakti Vidya Purna Maharaja. Any specific ISKCON organization may choose to invoke more stringent restrictions.

According to the ISKCON Child Protection Task Force Report, Section 5, in cases where an allegation(s) of child abuse are determined to be valid, the accused may appeal the Official Decision to the GBC Executive Committee and the ISKCON Minister of Justice within one month of the date of the Official Decision. The Official Decision described in this document is effective immediately, and Bhakti Vidya Purna Maharaja must abide by its guidelines during the appeal process, should he choose to appeal this decision.

Panel members serving on this case were Sandamani dasi, Pyari Mohan dasa, and Hanuman dasa. The Director of the ICOCP at the time of this Official Decision was Dhira Govinda dasa, who also served as Case Manager.

This document is also signed by Sesa dasa, ISKCON Minister of Justice, to verify that the procedures followed in resolving this case were valid and appropriate.