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An Open Letter to The Present
And Future ISKCON Devotees
January 14th, 2023

Dear Esteemed Vaishnavas and Vaishnavis,

Our most respectful obeisances to you all. All glories to our beloved Founder-Acharya, Srila Prabhupada.

We are a group of women disciples of Srila Prabhupada who has been sincerely serving his ISKCON for fifty-some years.

We’ve been on the front lines of preaching; we’ve helped build and maintain temples; we’ve translated, produced, and distributed BBT books, and brought many of

At its November 2, 2022 meeting, the Governing Body Commission (GBC) of ISKCON resolved to again put a moratorium on women devotees accepting disciples in ISKCON. (The resolution can be found at the end of this article.)

The topic has been debated and discussed in various forums in ISKCON for twenty years and has evoked strong feelings (as well as lengthy papers and lists of oppositional sastric [scriptural] references) on all sides of the issue. In 2014, for example, the GBC held a special 3-d

Last week Janmastami & Prabhupada Vyasa Puja was celebrated all over the world. At Bhaktivedanta Manor, it was extra special with British Politician Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murthy joining the celebrations.

In India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent a written message to ISKCON on the occasion of Janmastami, quoting Bhagavad Gita & glorifying Srila Prabhupada’s mission.

Janmastami Day was also special as Narayani devi dasi, ISKCON’s first Vaishnavi (female devotee) diksa guru formally a