May 13th, 2025
NEW STATEMENT FROM JFSPFoundation, May 13, 2025
(We have confidential info that the ISKCON GBC is sweating now...)
"Srila Prabhupada’s Departure Deserves More Than Dismissal: A Call for Truth and Transparency in ISKCON
On April 25, 2025, Anuttama Das, GBC Minister, ISKCON Communications, issued a public statement on unfounded poison allegations regarding Srila Prabhupada. The document, issued in response to renewed investigations by the Justice for Srila Prabhupada Foundation, claims that these concerns have been thoroughly debunked and are based on unreliable evidence.
As an organization committed to Srila Prabhupada’s mission, we believe this response is not only inadequate—it is an affront to the transparency, truthfulness, and fearlessness that Prabhupada himself demanded of us.
Distorting the Record
The Communications Ministry claims that the allegations rely on two primary pieces of evidence: old audio recordings and hair samples. In doing so, it reduces a complex and troubling history into a caricature, ignoring the broader body of concerns that have been raised over decades.
Among the most significant pieces of evidence is Srila Prabhupada’s own voice. In the final weeks of his life, he made multiple references to the idea that someone may have poisoned him. He said:
“Someone says that I have been poisoned.”
“Somebody was saying that Someone has given Poison.”
“The same thing, that someone has poisoned me.”
These are not casual remarks. Nor are they vague metaphors. These are the concerned utterances of a spiritual master whose voice we were trained to never ignore.
Dismissing such statements, especially when recorded on tape and corroborated by others present, as misinterpretations is not only disrespectful but irresponsible. The suggestion that these recordings are unreliable because of “discredited audio technology” is an unsupported assertion, especially when professional forensic analysts have identified whispers such as “SO THE POISON’S GOING DOWN” and “IS THE POISON IN THE MILK?”
If such statements were found in any other death investigation, they would be cause for immediate investigation, not sweeping dismissal. Rather than engage with the totality of these statements, ISKCON’s official line isolates a single instance where Srila Prabhupada said, “Not that I am poisoned,” and deceptively uses it out of context and as conclusive proof against any suspicion.
Selective interpretation of such serious words is not an act of devotion—it is an act of deflection, and even deception.
The Hair Samples: Dismissed, But Never Disproved
The article goes to great lengths to discredit the use of hair samples in toxicology, calling the methodology unreliable and legally inadmissible. Yet, hair testing remains a recognized and widely used forensic tool in the Court of Law—especially in retrospective cases like this, where tissue and blood samples are unavailable.
More importantly, the tests conducted on Srila Prabhupada’s hair showed cadmium levels 250 times above normal, levels that toxicologists have stated are consistent with poisoning. To suggest this is due to “environmental contamination” without any proof, and to provide no plausible source for such high concentrations, is to offer speculation in place of analysis.
Unqualified Voices and Suppressed Truths: Exposing the GBC's Obstruction in the Prabhupada Case
The statement issued by Dr. Andrew McIrvine of Watford General Hospital, claiming that His Divine Grace was suffering from irreversible renal failure and advanced diabetes, is neither conclusive nor does it eliminate the possibility that heavy metal poisoning—specifically cadmium toxicity—may have been the underlying cause. It is well-documented in medical literature that chronic exposure to cadmium can lead to severe renal impairment, manifesting as proteinuria, polyuria, and a progressive decline in glomerular filtration rate due to its accumulation in the renal cortex.
Moreover, the GBC’s reliance on the book Deception (2020) by Mayesvara Dasa as a credible source is wholly misguided and, frankly, absurd. Mayesvara Dasa possesses no qualifications as a forensic expert, crime investigator, legal professional, or prosecutor. His commentary lacks both scientific and legal foundation, and his involvement represents yet another attempt by the GBC to mislead devotees and suppress a thorough and impartial investigation into the alleged poisoning of Srila Prabhupada.
Selective Witnesses and Biased Investigations
The Ministry points to statements by Srila Prabhupada’s caregivers, saying none of them find the poisoning theory “remotely plausible.” But this group includes those who controlled his access to food, medicine, and people during his most vulnerable moments. To take their word as gospel without cross-examination/independent verification is to allow those under suspicion to act as an investigator, judge, and jury in their own case.
Internal Investigations Are Not Independent Investigations
The GBC-commissioned inquiries in 1997 and 2001 are held up as definitive. Yet these were in-house reviews, with limited access, no third-party oversight, and pre-established goals to shut down the controversy. True accountability requires an independent panel of legal, medical, and forensic experts, not preselected insiders looking to protect institutional reputation.
Why Is ISKCON Afraid of Outside/Independent Inquiry?
Rather than supporting the Justice for Srila Prabhupada Foundation’s engagement with Truth Labs (a well-respected forensic institute in Hyderabad, India), ISKCON attempts to undermine it by pointing out that full findings have not yet been released.
But ISKCON has never fully released its own investigation results, audio materials, or transcripts. Demanding transparency from others while refusing to reciprocate is a hypocritical stance that weakens the institution’s moral authority. If the GBC truly seeks truth, they should not obstruct third-party investigations—they should welcome them. Why fear external scrutiny, if there is truly nothing to hide?
Srila Prabhupada Deserves Better: The Moral and Spiritual Cost of Silence
This issue is not about division or scandal—it is about truth. If there is even a possibility that Srila Prabhupada was deliberately harmed, it is the duty of every sincere devotee to demand answers. To ignore his own words, the scientific data, and the appeals for independent review is not “unity”—it is betrayal disguised as loyalty.
We are not here to accuse blindly. We are here to ask, with reason and reverence, that ISKCON stop treating legitimate questions as attacks, and instead facilitate a transparent, independent investigation.
In the name of Srila Prabhupada, and for the health of the spiritual movement he gave his life to build, we demand clarity, not cover-up. Let history remember that we asked the hard questions—not to divide ISKCON, but to purify it.
A Call to the Global Vaishnava Community
This is a pivotal moment for ISKCON. We can choose institutional self-preservation over truth—or we can rise to the standard Srila Prabhupada set for us:
“Religion without philosophy is sentiment..”
Likewise, devotion without accountability becomes blind, and loyalty without truth becomes complicity.
We are not here to cause division—we are here to purify the movement. To honor our spiritual master, we must fearlessly demand truth, transparency, and an independent investigation.
Because Srila Prabhupada deserves nothing less.
Your servants, The JFSPF team"
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