The following email was sent by Srila Giri Maharaja on February 9, 2010 as a response to several questions arising from our articles,  “Six Months – Still No Acharya Board” , “Srila Govinda Maharaja Did Not Choose a Single Acharya” and "Acharya Board Simplified".

Dear Prabhu,

Please accept my humble obeisances and well-wishes.

You wrote:

Prabhu, I am one Acharya in a great Mission where our predecessor named six Acharyas to succeed him. My duty to the members of our mission is not to undermine Srila Gurudeva's decision to select six Acharyas, but to support it. That is my understanding.

You are correct in ascertaining my emphasis on the "sameness" of these six Acharyas. They are six of the same thing, Acharyas. I have never denied they are simultaneously different from each other.

If your emphasis on the "special position" and "unique position" of Srila Acharya Maharaja is not intended to point to his "superior position" and thereby, the inferior position of the others, then what is your point?

What I have seen happening, and what I strongly object to, is that the special characteristics of one Acharya, Srila Acharya Maharaja in this case, are being used to infer that he is therefore superior to the others. I believe this is a dangerous precedent that will wreak havoc in our Mission if this conception is promoted by its leaders.

If an individual such as yourself, due to his faith in a particular Acharya, believes that one Acharya is superior to one or more of the others, you have that freedom. However, Srila Sridhara Maharaja informed us that mat guru jagat guru (my guru is the highest guru) is a conception held by the devotees of a junior status, kanishtha-adhikari.

Sri Krishna tells us who is the Acharya, acaryam mam vijaniyan. "The Acharya is Me." Then who are we to decide which Krishna is superior and which is inferior? For that matter, who are we to decide which devotee of Krishna is superior and inferior? (See quotes below from C.C.)

I believe it is a a serious mistake for any of us to embark on what I consider the dangerous path of speculating who, among Mahaprabhu's devotees is higher and who is lower. An Acharya must follow the previous Acharyas. One of the dangers we face is the tendency to invent something new that was not given by the previous Acharyas. I believe the attempt to rank our Acharyas as higher and lower is such a new invention and is beneath the dignity of our Mission.

Srila Krishna dasa Kaviraja Goswami and Srila Bhakti Vedanta Swami are predecessor Acharyas. I am trying to follow them. Here are some of their relevant statements from The Chaitanya Charitamrta of Srila A.C. Bhakti Vedanta Swami.

First we must understand our own rank before trying to rank the Acharyas selected by our Guru. If we understand our rank, that we are fallen jivas, we will see the foolishness of the attempt to rank those who Srila Gurudeva wanted to establish as his successor Acharyas.

Srila Gurudeva did not encourage this sort of speculation. He told me many times, with words to this effect, "In Kali yuga it is very difficult to see who has bhakti." If we cannot see who has bhakti how can we possibly judge how much of it any particular devotee has in relation to another?

Prabhu, we are fallen souls. Do you really think we can establish which Acharya is higher and which is lower simply by counting the number of times someone's name is mentioned in a document? If so, then count the number of times Srimati Radharani's name is mentioned in Srimad Bhagavatam.

You like facts? Here are some facts I think you cannot disagree with. You will find the names of many devotees of Krishna mentioned numerous times in the Srimad Bhagavatam but, nowhere will you find the name of Srimati Radharani. It is not because she is the least important servitor of Krishna, it is because she is the most exalted.

I have no problem glorifying the different devotees in our Mission by pointing to their various distinguishing characteristics. While Srila Acharya Maharaja holds many distinctions, so do the others named in the Will of His Divine Grace.

Sriman Yudhamanyu and Srimatis Jivana and Kumkum "are always obedient towards me." Is there a higher distinction than this?

To attempt to rank our devotees, as if we were government inspectors, charged with determining the various qualities of apples, is an exercise I believe we would do best to avoid.

There are many other things I could say but I think this is sufficient and, again, my time is short

It is good you are asking these questions. We should not feed our doubts by allowing them to linger in our brains.

Lastly, I believe we should all try to avoid the trap set by our minds to engage in speculations about which of our Acharyas is higher or lower. We must try our utmost to see each of the six Acharyas selected by Srila Govinda Maharaja through the eyes of the shastra:

I pray this finds you well in all respects.

Sincerely yours,

Swami B.K. Giri