About
His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder-Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, several times expressed the desire to see a Constitution for guiding his followers in the future.
In 1971, for instance, he wrote: “We are in the experimental stage but in the next meeting of the GBC members they should form a constitution how the GBC members manage the whole affair.” (Letter to Giriraja, 12 Aug 1971)
Through the years, various attempts at writing the ISKCON Constitution took place but didn’t come to a completion, a final ratification. In 2006 the GBC started a new committee for that purpose, but the results weren’t considered satisfactory.
The present effort started in 2017, with the submission of a first draft. A second and a third followed within the next couple of years. GBC members, SABHA members, GBC deputies, ISKCON initiating spiritual masters, sannyasis, and others were requested for their feedback. Based on their suggestions and on further research, the team developed the present version, Draft Four, which was submitted to the GBC on 11 Feb 2023.
The compilers consider this version as potentially the last before the final document to be submitted in 2024 to the GBC for ratification. We are therefore opening the dialogue to the whole world of ISKCON, to all its leaders and other members, to gauge the level of acceptance of the present document and to receive comments and suggestions that may inform the next iteration of the text.
The present team of the ISKCON Constitution Project, which has been building on the previous work of several devotees, include:
- Anuttama Dasa (ACBSP), GBC member and ISKCON Communications Minister
- Pancharatna Das (ACBSP), ISKCON Online Director
- Devakinandana Das (MVG), GBC member and GBC General Counsel
- Devasri Radhika Devi Dasi (BCS), Ph.D. candidate, Universität Bern; M.A.S.A.S., Universität Heidelberg; B.A. LLB., National University of Juridical Sciences (WBNUJS)
- Gopika Radhika Devi Dasi, Bhaktivedanta degree holder, researcher