Hare Krishna, dear ISKCON committee. I have suffered greatly due to the ill treatment from one of your fellow Pujari/devotee. I have suffered severely, both mentally and emotionally. This is all because of that one devotee. She is working as a Pujari in Iskcon Rio de Janeiro.
My name is Milan. I have been an ISKCON devotee for 2 years, although I am not initiated. I diligently follow all four principles. I hail from Puri, Odisha, the sacred land of shree Jagannath. I am a disciple of Tukaram Prabhu from ISKCON Kolkata. I am 26 years old.
I was approached by a devotee from the temple. She is a divorced woman, 36 years old, and a disciple of H.H. Hanumant Preksha Swami Maharaj. She is originally from Peru.
I am a virgin man, and my family intended to arrange my marriage this year. She promised to marry me, and because of that, I declined other marriage proposals. We were planning to get married in February 2024. I explained everything to my parents, and they made all the necessary preparations for our marriage in advance. To introduce her to my family, I invited her to visit India. She agreed and recently arrived in India.
However, after arriving here, she went off with some other devotee and subsequently blocked me on all platforms. I was strictly adhering to the four principles and preparing for initiation this year. Regrettably, this woman coerced me into engaging in sexual activities with her (multiple times). I succumbed to her pressure and made a grave mistake. My preparation for being initiated devotee got hampered. I trusted her because she was affiliated with ISKCON, and I believed she would never deceive me. Unfortunately, she lied and betrayed me, using both me and another man named Pitambar Keshava Das from Delhi for her own sexual gratification. She even engaged in the consumption of alcohol, despite being a second-initiated devotee.
India is a land of culture, customs, and sacrifices, and it is a place where promises are highly valued. I gave her my word for marriage and, as a result, I rejected other marriage proposals from women. She also gave me her word of marriage. However, now she has rejected the idea of marrying me and has blocked me. I am at a loss for how to explain this to my parents. I made significant compromises within my family, as it was quite challenging to convince them to accept a divorced woman. I went against their wishes and managed to make them understand and agree to accept this female devotee. Now, I find myself in a dilemma, not knowing what to tell them. The burden of guilt weighs heavily on me.
I wish to convey this message to Maharaj Ji and all the senior members of the community so that right actions can be taken against this fake devotee. If left unchecked, she may continue to exploit more male devotees for her own satisfaction. Also for that devotee, people who faced similar complications like me may start blaming every other female devotee from Peru which can definitely become a matter of shame for our community.
HpS / ASA - AgtSP. Paoho. Esteemed Milan. Thank you for the news.
From Srila Prabhupada's presentation of Veda and our own personal experience such problems as you describe can be very painful, yet constant chanting of the Holy Names under the shelter of Srila Prabhupada certainly gives us good intelligence how to go ahead for everyone's benefit.
Krsna did not give Arjuna a secret weapon.
He gave him good intelligence.
Then he was able to act very expertly for everyone's benefit.
Personally I do not know of any of our disciples in ISKCON Rio de Janeiro.
The very, very, very clear contract that we make on behalf of Srila Prabhupada and ISKCON at the time of Initiation is that the candidate must chant 16-enthusiastic rounds daily and follow the 4-principles strictly.
You know, this, no?
Then, as you describe the woman, she is not our initiated disciple.
If she wants to apologize and take us as Pathpradarsika Guru, then we can try to accept her as a candidate for Diksa and try to serve her as a Siksa guru and try to help her to come back to the path.
Is O.K.?
Hanumatpresaka Swami
