APPENDIX 9:by Dharmapada Dasa
UNVERIFIED INFORMATION
Dear Prabhus,
The below information was gathered over the course of the last two years. Some of the information has already been revealed publicly but much of it hasn't. Unfortunately, most of it can only be considered supportive and not material evidence. As far as possible, I tried to put everything in some sort of chronological order. Some of the entries are from first hand witnesses and others still need to be verified. In most cases the witnesses had no idea we were conducting an investigation nor did we ask their permission to publicly release their statements. Therefore many of the names have been deleted in this version until we can determine which information can be of value and how to preserve the confidence, as well as address the obvious concerns for safety. Any information in this report which has not already been made public should not be made public until we can satisfy the above concerns.
I was about to turn this information over to Balavanta but in light of recent events have become greatly disappointed in his performance and totally outraged by the official GBC statement in regard to the investigation. Also, myself and the other devotees involved on this end have no connection with Puranjana and do not want to be associated with him. The fact that our separate investigations apparently began at the same time is purely coincidental, or more likely, a confirmation from Krishna that this issue needed to be resolved. I'm deeply grateful for the work of VNN and the proposal for IVC. I read VNN daily and (with a couple exceptions) have found it a reliable source for objective and responsible journalism. I also read the IVC site last night and found it extremely thorough and highly professional. I was further impressed at how promptly the package was put together and positioned. In addition, VADA's chronicle outlining the events of the investigation appears to be precise and verified. I now feel there's hope that Srila Prabhupada's mission will not be lost in the impending cataclysm. I thank all of you for your dedication to this service and pray that Krishna will give you the strength to continue. Many devotees will be counting on you.
Your servant, Anonymous das
REPORTED AND UNVERIFIED EVENTS: (Verified items in italics)
1. Prabhupada complains about getting injections, then tells Brahmananda that Tirtha poisoned Srila Bhaktisiddhanta.
2. New York: Prabhupada tells devotee: "Get a gun. Someone's trying to kill me."
3. A group of devotees lock Prabhupada in his room in LA and tell him that they are taking charge. (in 1970?)
4. A devotee finds Srila Prabhupada crying alone in his room and asks him what is wrong. Prabhupada says that they have tried to kick him out three times.
5. TKG tells people that he is losing faith in Srila Prabhupada.
6. TKG asks Jayapataka, "Do you ever find that Srila Prabhupada gets in the way?"
7. Prabhupada tells devotee of TKG, "This man is not a Vaisnava. I've studied him. He is not a Vaisnava."
8. While devotee is waiting to see Srila Prabhupada, he hears TKG arguing with Prabhupada. When TKG comes out of the room he slams the door shut and says: "Damn it! Prabhupada fu--ed up again!"
9. Nara Narayana hears TKG tell Syamasundara that Prabhupada is a senile, old man.
10. Pyramid House Tapes Tamal mentions the time Hamsaduta was praying for Prabhupada's death. (see Pyramid House Tapes)
11. Devotee is told by Hansadutta that he wished Srila Prabhupada would die.
12. Prabhupada tells servant: "They're all waiting for the old man to die so they can be guru."
13. Prabhupada tells Bhagatji that his disciples aren't very advanced and he wouldn't be surprised if they tried to do him great physical harm.
14. Jaya Gauranga states that Prabhupada's hands were swollen as a result of sickness and this symptom appeared as early as 1976. (Correct)
15. Prabhupada tells servant that TKG the cause of all the problems in the movement.
16. Vrndavana: TKG is in charge of all Prabhupada's medicines.
17. Vrndavana: Prabhupada tells servant: "Some of my senior disciples are trying to kill me because they want to be guru." Witness also revealed that Prabhupada didn't want to eat anymore because everything they gave him was making him sick.
18. Vrndavana: Bharadvaja relates in tape of his memories that Prabhupada once looked carefully at medicine given to him and declared, "This is poison!"
19. Vrndavana: Prabhupada orders devotee to clear all medicine from cabinet.
20. Vrndavana: Jaya Gauranga states that TKG would not let anyone bring food to Prabhupada.
21. Tamal, depressed, confides to a devotee that he has ruined Srila Prabhupada's movement.
22. Vrndavana: When the devotees are in Prabhupada's room and the leaders are not present Prabhupada states: "You are all here praying for me to live and they are in the next room praying for me to die."
23. Vrndavana: Devotee goes to Indian astrologer to inquire about Prabhupada's health. Astrologer tells them that Prabhupada will be troubled by His juniors.
24. When two devotees from Latin America offered Srila Prabhupada their youth for His old age, Srila Prabhupada gracefully declined and remarked how devoted His disciples were. Then He remarked, "But there are also some who want to kill me." (Unconfirmed)
25. Nov. 1977, Vrndavana: When Hansadutta comes to relieve a devotee from his watch, Prabhupada tells him: "Please do not leave, this man wants to kill me."
26. Nov 9-10, 1977, Vrndavana: Srila Prabhupada states on tape that he is being poisoned. (Vedabase)
27. Nov. 11, 1977, Vrndavana: When TKG tells Prabhupada that he will die if taken on parikrama, Prabhupada responds: "Better to be killed by Ram." (Vedabase)
28. Nov. 1977, Vrndavana: Just before Srila Prabhupada's disappearance Sudama was about to leave Vrndavana when Bhavananda tells him: "Don't leave yet. We're about to split up the pie. I'll make sure you get a piece."
29. Nov. 14, 1977, Vrndavana: Srila Prabhupada's will is changed the midnight before his departure—In the paper titled, "Questions On Authenticity", Janajanmadi dasa (Jeffrey Balawajder) states that he visited Srivatsa Goswami of the Radha Ramana Temple in 1984. According to his account, Srivatsa Goswami told him that TKG had Prabhupada's will changed on the midnight prior to Srila Prabhupada's departure.
30. Adri Dharan has stated that he was the one who found the kaviraja Prabhupada described in his dream. This doctor was treating Prabhupada at the time of his departure and his opinion was trusted by all. The doctor told the devotees the exact time, within a day, Prabhupada would leave his body and his prediction was correct.
31. Nov. 1977, Vrndavana: Bhavananda eats french fries in a joyful mood at the time of Prabhupada's departure.
32. Nov. 1977, Vrndavana: Bhavananda stands at top of stairs and shouts, "Power!" at time of Prabhupada's departure.
33. 1977-78 (?), Bombay: Jaya Gauranga states that TKG went to Bombay and demanded that they let him occupy Prabhupada's quarters and have a vyasasana like Prabhupada's.
34. 1981-1984 (?), New Dwarka: Story circulates about a former Gurukula boy (now grown and living in Mexico) who tells about overhearing plot by GBC men to poison Prabhupada. At the time this story is circulating, some GBC men take a trip to Mexico.
35. Nara Narayana has found that a common form of political assassination in India is poisoning, the results of which cause kidney failure. Brahmananda confirmed that one of the external causes for Srila Prabhupada's departure was kidney failure.
Replies
CHAPTER 3:
WHISPERS ALARM DEVOTEES
Mahabuddhi Prabhu e-mailed his discovery to Balavanta and phoned Isha. Apparently Balavanta and associates in Alachua were already aware of the whisper, because the next day, November 11, 1997, the Vaishnava News Network, or VNN, posted not only Mahabuddhi Prabhu's letter on the internet, but also a statement from Balavanta as the newly appointed "GBC special investigator." Apparently the GBC Executive Committee and the GBC Chairman, Madhusevita Prabhu, acted quickly, without full approval of the GBC, by immediately arranging for Balavanta Prabhu to investigate "independently" the alleged poisoning of Srila Prabhupada, beginning with research into the validity and nature of the alarming whispers.
Balavanta's report stated, regarding the November 10-11 tape (T-46 or #18 out of the last 20):
"…it contains a whisper which refers to poison. This tape was digitally processed for clarity by an independent laboratory in Gainesville, Florida. According to the laboratory technician the following is the probable contents of the whispered statement. Either:
1. "Lets not poison him and go" or
2. "Lets now poison him and go."
We are currently sending the tape to another laboratory with more advanced equipment for further investigation. We will report the results of that study as available."
It is noted here that, to the best of our knowledge, this was the first and last public statement made by Balavanta as GBC Special Investigator. Since then, however, Balavanta Prabhu has spoken with others about the investigation unofficially. He, Mahabuddhi and Isha discussed arranging for more testing on the whispers, and Balavanta disclosed that he had sent the T-46 "poison tape" to the National Audio Video Forensic Laboratory in California, headed by a Mr. Norman Perle. Just two months prior, Mrigendra Prabhu, a devotee attorney and former temple president of Los Angeles ISKCON, had sent the famous so-called "appointment tape" of May 28, 1977, to Perle's lab to test for evidence of alleged tampering or editing. The appointment tape forensic test results will be discussed later on in Chapter 11 and Appendix 1.
Meanwhile, Isha and Mahabuddhi were finding more incriminating-sounding whispers on the same "poison tape." In total, as reported on VNN, they were:
1. "Lets poison him and go," or perhaps, "Put poison in the milk"
2. " poison ishvarya rasa…get ready to go",
3. "the poison's going down, the poison's going down"
4. "put poison in different containers."
The level of concern and fear amongst devotees became greatly heightened. On November 30, Isha, very expert in manipulation of computer and sound recording equipment, reported on VNN his own personal findings in regards to the poison whispers on the "poison tape." They were:
1. Conversations Vol. 36, pg 373: After Srila Prabhupada asks to lie down flat is heard this whisper: "The poison's going down..(giggle) the poison's going down."
2. Con:36.373: After Jayapataka says, "follow the same treatment," a whisper: "Is the poison in the milk? Um hum."
3. Con:36.374: After Srila Prabhupada says, "Daytime we expose...", we hear the whisper, "Do it now." Then Srila Prabhupada drinks something.
4. Con:36.378: We hear the whispers, "Jayadwaita... will you serve Srila Prabhupada poison Jayadwaita?", then several negative responses followed by "Nette, nette."
5. Con:36.391: After Jayapataka says, "Should there be kirtana?" we hear a Bengali phrase, and then the whisper "Poison ishvarya rasa." Srila Prabhupada says weakly and very surprised, "Me?", then we hear, "Take it easy, get ready to go," then a few seconds later, "The poison's in you Srila Prabhupada." Then, "He's going under... He's going under." Then Hansadutta's kirtan began.
The audio clips including the above whispers were posted on VNN on December 5, 1997. It is difficult for many to make out the whispers due to so much of the quality lost in that means of transmission. Dozens upon dozens of devotees have been taken by Naveen Krishna Prabhu in Alachua to a local sound studio to listen to the enhanced and "cleaned up" whispers. Most agree, after listening carefully a few times, and there is no doubt in their minds, what the whispers are about: Srila Prabhupada was poisoned in a conspiracy by His own closest disciples. The number of devotees with this experience in Naveen Krishna's sound studio continues to grow as time goes on.