The purpose of the Governing Body Commission is to act as the instrument for the execution of the Will of His Divine Grace.
There are two key words, and one key phrase, in this sentence, and they are:
- Instrument.
- Execution.
- “Will of His Divine Grace.”
In the following, I am providing the definitions of these 2 words and 1 phrase, in order for you to fully get a grasp of what Srila Prabhupada is meaning by this sentence.
Instrument,
“A person who is exploited or made use of.”
Execution,
“The carrying out or putting into effect of a plan, order, or course of action”.
The phrase “Will of his Divine Grace”, is more complex. This is clearly saying who is expressing “will”, and that person is “his Divine Grace”.
In this case “Will” means,
- Expressing a strong intention or assertion about the future.
- Are bound to.
- Expressing a request.
Using these definition’s, Srila Prabhupada’s statement can be further illuminated, as follows.
Srila Prabhupada requested, that the purpose of the Governing Body Commission, is to act as the persons
who are exploited or made use of,for carrying out or putting into effect, his expressed, strong intentioned, plans, orders, and course of actions for ISKCON, as he has asserted, for the future of ISKCON, and these GBCs are bound, simply by the authority of His Divine Grace’s will.
The GBC oversees all operations and management of ISKCON, as it receives direction from Srila Prabhupada and His Divine Grace has the final approval in all matters.
Here the word “oversees” is important. Oversee means,
“To watch over and direct; supervise. To subject to scrutiny; examine or inspect.”
As you will see further on, this was the relationship of GBC and a Temple president. The GBC was never authorized to directly manage or make decisions that are within the Temple president’s authority. In addition, you will see later that Prabhupada instructed that if there are any problems with a Temple president neglecting his duties or going beyond his authority, it was to be reported to the GBC and the issues would be addressed at the next GBC meeting. You will also see; removal of a Temple president could not be done without the approval of the members of the community. Otherwise, it was always understood that the Temple president is the ultimate authority in temple management and the administration of the community. The GBC duty was to guide, and inspire, the temple community with the instructions given by Srila Prabhupada and the resolutions passed by the GBC and approved by Srila Prabhupada. This is not how ISKCON is managed today. The GBC is now a Totalitarian regime; each GBC, individually, is a dictator of his zone or sphere of influence..