One is said to be ancient beyond computation, the other can be located in historical time to a point just about 1,000 years ago, when it split from the original stem. One is an old faith being reorganised and rejuventated for the modern age, the other is a much persecuted (in the 20th century) faith that is now beginning to find its place again in a secular (or godless) society. Finally, one is a cosmopolitan citizen of the world while the other still has to shed its suspicion of other ideas. On the whole it may prefer to have nothing to do with them, or even suppress them.
This, in brief, expresses the tensions between the Russian Orthodox Church and the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. It boiled over last June when the state prosecutor’s office in Russia’s Tomsk region moved the courts, on grounds of religious extremism, to ban the Society’s Russian translations of the Bhagavad Gita, its central religious text, and to restrict its activities. It is widely suspected that the case was instigated by the Church and Federal Security Service (FSB). For the moment that tension has been resolved by federal judge Galina Butenko’s decision to dismiss the case. But it would be premature to conclude that this is the end of the matter.
The Bhagavad Gita is one of the world’s oldest and most famous religious texts, and is often called part of the ‘perennial wisdom’. It is also called other, less kind names. Some activists refer to it as a ‘hegemonic’ document a that expresses the high caste attitudes and philosophy of Hinduism. Anyone who reads the Gita carefully will admit that it contains that and much else as well, because texts like the Gita lend themselves to many explanations. It depends on which passages are to be considered central to the theme.
To a great many Hindus, however, it is one of the Necessary Scriptures and therefore sacrosanct. It is quite probable that they have not read it at all but have heard discourses by itinerant scholars who provide various explanations of the Gita. But devout believers view it with reverence, especially as it is an exposition by Krishna, one of the faith’s primordial deities.
Krishna Consciousness
Indeed, the Krishna cult is widespread and immensely influential, both in this country and outside it. Part of the reason is the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon), founded by AC Bhaktivedanta, an ascetic of the Gaudiya Vaishnava persuasion from Bengal. It was his lifelong missionary activity that spread the “Gospel of Sri Krishna” far and wide across the world.
One of the chief features of Iskcon is that it projects Krishna as the one and only deity, to be revered and worshipped above all others, unlike other Indian sects that have chapters abroad. Secondly, it offers a process roughly akin to conversion. Foreign members of the sect are sometimes snidely referred to as “Initiated Brahmins” for this reason.
Indian sects operating abroad are often viewed with suspicion even though the general feeling is positive, given the West’s indulgent attitude towards eastern mysticism. In a way, it is also a reminder to Europe of past imperial glory, a time when its writ encompassed most of the planet. For many sects overseas, operations are little more than some foreign exchange earned for the head office, so their proselytising is half-hearted at best. But Iskcon is different.
For one, Bhaktivedanta’s translation of the Gita is available in over 80 languages, making the Society a powerful vehicle for propagating the faith. Secondly, Iskcon has built temples in many countries and these serve as extremely visible symbols of the sect, symbols that might well be considered to be a threat by some. Indeed, Iskcon was planning a community village in Tomsk, and a temple in central Moscow. While the Society and its acolytes may protest that they represent no danger, the church and its prelates might have a very different view, especially given their extremely fraught recent history.
The Church Strikes Back
When the Russian Revolution washed over the world, it changed many things profoundly, especially in matters of faith. Every religion was affected, particularly Christianity, but for the Russian Orthodox Church it was a catastrophe. The greater part of its parish lay in the new Soviet Union, a state that was know to be a proud Deicide.
The Orthodox faith was always, for historical reasons, an arm of the state. It had begun to flourish only after it came under the protection of the Russian Tsars. After 1917, the Church was bereft. Not only was the state’s protective hand removed, the Church was declared an enemy of the state.
The Church was relentlessly persecuted by the new rulers as a purveyer of “opium of the masses”. It was under siege for the next 70 plus years, coming close to extinction more than once under the commisars. Only the deep and abiding faith of common people who stayed true saved the Church.
The end of communism came as a divine thunderclap, freeing the Church from the worst of its tribulations. But there was little prospect of going back to the pre-revolutionary arrangement. Moreover, the Orthodox Church had competition. Denominations such as the Baptists and Mormons from the United States and other orders from other parts of Europe, even Rome, arrived to grapple for the soul of the Russian Believer.
Some of these orders are aggressive proselytisers, backed by a generous flow of funds and expert at using new media to push their agendas. In comparison, the Russian Church was like Rip van Winkle. It still had the advantage but the newcomers were catching up. It did give way, though grudgingly. At least they were fellow Christians. It was never going to be so generous to ‘pagans’ such as Iskcon.
To understand the Church’s stance it should be noted that Imperial Russia was a state where state-sponsored pogroms against Jews took place in the 19th and 20th centuries. The Church viewed the persecution of Jews with equanimity even if it did not approve. Russian Orthodox prelates have always been suspicious about minority sects in any case. Iskcon is thus a lightning rod, especially as it is a proselytiser, however cleanly and inoffensively it wraps its message. Then there is the Gita, whose antiquity and sophisticated authority are a challenge to every text. Given the context, the Church’s hostility is hardly surprising.
How it will react to the judicial verdict is unclear, but it will be long before Iskcon or other similar sects feel safe from persecution. The Church has a long memory and never gives up on its wayward progeny.