Official statement concerning a video by H.H. Bhakti Vikasa Swami hosted by the IISB

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This response addresses certain claims made in an email dated 22 February 2026 from Her Grace Urmila devi dasi, Chairperson of the Shastric Advisory Council. Her message, directed to the GBC Executive Committee, concerns statements by His Holiness Bhakti Vikasa Swami Maharaja in a video posted on the ISKCON India Scholars Board YouTube channel, which I and others oversee. The email has also circulated in other forums and has recently come to my attention.

Is the SAC’s 2005 paper in line with guru, sādhu and śāstra?

Posted inArticles, EssaysNo Comments
In 2005, at the request of the GBC, the Śāstric Advisory Council wrote a paper titled “Female Diksa-gurus in ISKCON.” Since then, its conclusions were the basis of several GBC resolutions. However, the SAC paper has unsubstantiated false claims, nullification of Prabhupāda’s instructions, speculation, and manufactured religious injunctions.