When Srila Prabhupada first incorporated ISKCON in 1966, he gave it seven purposes:^[20].

1. To systematically propagate spiritual knowledge to society at large and to educate all peoples in the techniques of spiritual life in order to check the imbalance of values in life and to achieve real unity and peace in the world.
2. To propagate a consciousness of Krishna, as it is revealed in the Bhagavad-gita and the Srimad-Bhagavatam.
3. To bring the members of the Society together with each other and nearer to Krishna, the prime entity, thus to develop the idea within the members, and humanity at large, that each soul is part and parcel of the quality of Godhead (Krishna).
4. To teach and encourage the sankirtana movement, congregational chanting of the holy names of God as revealed in the teachings of Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
5. To erect for the members, and for society at large, a holy place of transcendental pastimes, dedicated to the personality of Krishna.
6. To bring the members closer together for the purpose of teaching a simpler and more natural way of life.
7. With a view towards achieving the aforementioned purposes, to publish and distribute periodicals, magazines, books and other writings.

Four regulative principles

Srila Prabhupada prescribed four regulative principles, in relation to the four legs of dharma^[21] , as the basis of the spiritual life:

• No eating of meat, fish or eggs
• No illicit sex
• No gambling
• No intoxication (including alcohol, caffeine, tobacco and other recreational drugs).

The four legs of Dharma are:^[21]

• Daya, Mercy
• Tapas, Self-Control or Austerity
• Satyam, Truthfulness
• Śaucam, Cleanliness of body and mind

Congregational orientation

Many members of ISKCON worship at their local mandir, or temple, and practice Krishna consciousness at home with their families.^[22]

Preaching activities

ISKCON is actively evangelistic. Members try to spread Krishna consciousness, primarily by singing the Hare Krishna mantra in public places and by selling books written by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.^[23] Both of these activities are known within the movement as Sankirtan. According to the doctrine of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, one does not need to be born in a Hindu family to take up the practice of Vaishnavism. There are ISKCON communities around the world with schools, restaurants and farms. In general, funds collected by ISKCON are treated as communal property and used to support the community as a whole and to promote the preaching mission.^[24] Many temples also have programs (like Food for Life Global) to provide meals for the needy. Also, ISKCON has recently brought the academic study of Krishna into western academia as Krishnology.

 Food for Life

Main article: Food for Life

ISKCON has inspired, and sometimes sponsored, a project called Food for Life. The goal of the project is to "liberally distribute pure vegetarian meals (prasadam) throughout the world", as inspired by Prabhupada's instruction, given to his disciples in 1974, "No one within ten miles of a temple should go hungry . . . I want you to immediately begin serving food".^[25] A global charity, directed by Paul Turner and Mukunda Goswami,^[26] coordinates the project. Food for Life is currently active in over sixty countries and serves over 700,000 meals every day.^[26] Its welfare achievements have been noted by a number of journals worldwide.^{[27][28][29][30]}

 Management structure

Srila Prabhupada spent much of the last decade of his life setting up the institution of ISKCON. As a charismatic leader, Srila Prabhupada's personality and management had been responsible for much of the growth of ISKCON and the reach of his mission.^[31][32]

The Governing Body Commission (or GBC) was created by Prabhupada in 1970. In a letter written on 28th July 1970 Prabhupada appointed the following members to the commission, all of them non sannyasi: ^[31]

• 1. Śrīmān Rupanuga Das Adhikary
• 2. Śrīmān Bhagavan Das Adhikary
• 3. Śrīmān Syamsundar Das Adhikary
• 4. Śrīmān Satsvarupa Das Adhikary
• 5. Śrīmān Karandhar Das Adhikary
• 6. Śrīmān Hansadutta Das Adhikary
• 7. Śrīmān Tamala Kṛṣṇa Das Adhikary
• 8. Śrīmān Sudama Das Adhikary
• 9. Śrīmān Bali Mardan Das Brahmacary
• 10. Śrīmān Jagadisa Das Adhikary
• 11. Śrīmān Hayagriva Das Adhikary
• 12. Śrīmān Kṛṣṇadas Adhikary

The letter outlined the following purposes of the commission: 1) improving the standard of temple management, 2) the spread of Krishna consciousness, 3) the distribution of books and literature, 4) the opening of new centers, 5) the education of the devotees. ^[33] GBC has since grown in size to include 48 senior members from the movement^[34] who make decisions based on consensus of opinion rather than any one person having ultimate authority. It has continued to manage affairs since Prabhupada's passing in 1977.^[31]

Influential leaders since 1977

Before his death, Prabhupada appointed eleven of his closest disciples to serve as gurus.^[35][36] Upon Prabhupada's death on November 14, 1977, these eleven western gurus were chosen to succeed as spiritual heads of ISKCON.^[37] Satsvarupa dasa Goswami ^[38], Jayapataka Swami ^[39], Hridayananda dasa Goswami, Tamal Krishna Goswami ^[40], Bhavananda Goswami, Hansadutta Swami, Ramesvara Swami, Harikesa Swami, Bhagavan dasa Adhikari, Kirtanananda Swami, and Jayatirtha dasa Adhikari.

Of these eleven, the first three have remained prominent leaders within the movement, as was Tamal Krishna Goswami until his death in a car accident in March 2002. Bhavananda no longer holds the post of an initiating guru but is still involved with preaching activities. Ramesvara and Harikesa resigned as spiritual leaders in 1987 and 1999 respectively and the remaining four were all expelled from the movement by the Governing Body Commission during turbulent times in the 1980s.^[41] Of Prabhupada's disciples, who number some 5,000 in total,^[42] approximately 70 are now acting as diksha gurus within ISKCON.^[43]

As of March 2008, Ramai Swami is the chairman of ISKCON's Governing Body Commission. ^[44]

For further information see: Disciples of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami.

Internal problems and controversy

In the years following Prabhupada's death in November 1977, a number of theological controversies arose:^[45]

Origin of the soul

Srila Prabhupada explains that the soul falls from the spiritual world to this material world and that the supreme objective of the human life is to become Lord Krishna conscious to be able to return "Back to Godhead" (also the title of the official ISKCON magazine). However, some Sarasvata Gaudiya Vaisnavas also teach that the soul has never been in the spiritual world. Discussions about these apparently contradictory views are available in the book Our Original Position published by GBC Press and the article "Where Do the Fallen Souls Fall From?" ^[46]

The Guru and the Parampara

ISKCON adheres to the traditional system of paramparā, or disciplic succession, in which teachings upheld by scriptures are handed down from master to disciple, generation after generation.^[47] A minority of people who express faith in Srila Prabhupada's teachings say that Srila Prabhupada, in contrast to the tradition, intended that after his physical demise he would continue to initiate disciples through ceremonial priests, called ritviks. One version of this idea is espoused by a group calling itself the ISKCON Revival Movement.^[48] ISKCON's Governing Body Commission has rejected all such ideas.^[49]

Issues within the society

ISKCON also experienced a number of significant internal problems, the majority of which occurred from the late seventies onwards, and especially within the decade following Prabhupada's death.^[50]

In 1976 a case involving allegations of "brainwashing" involving a minor named Robin George and her parents went all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States. In 1983, a California jury awarded the family more than $32 million in damages for false imprisonment and other charges, which was reduced to $485,000 in 1993.^[51][52].

Also ISKCON has been subject matter of discussion in some anti-cult movements.^[53][54][55]

Currently, except in a few countries (such as some in the Islamic world), the Hare Krishna movement is accepted by the academics as "the most genuinely Hindu of all the many Indian movements in the West".^[56]

Stories of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse of children at the society's boarding schools in India and America began to emerge in the 1980s, with cases dating back from the mid-1970s onwards.^[57] Some of these cases later appeared in print, such as in John Hubner and Lindsay Gruson's 1988 book Monkey on a Stick. In 1998 an official publication produced by ISKCON detailed the physical, emotional, and sexual abuse of children at the society's boarding schools in both India and the U.S. during the 1970s and 1980s.^[58] The group received praise for its candor but later was sued by 95 people who had attended the schools.^{[citation needed]}

Facing the fiscal drain likely to ensue from this legal action, the ISKCON centers involved declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy. This allowed them to work out a settlement of US$9.5 million, meant to compensate not only the former students who had brought the suit but also any others who had undergone abuse but had not sued.^[59] About 430 such people responded to newspaper advertisements seeking to identify them. Individual victims are expected to receive between $6,000 and $50,000, depending on the nature and duration of their abuse.^{[citation needed]}

To guard against further abuses, ISKCON has established a child protection office with teams worldwide, meant to screen out actual or potential abusers, educate children and adults on child abuse, and encourage due vigilance.^[60] A petition circulating (as of July 2006) among ISKCON members calls for "zero tolerance" for past offenders.^[61]

In 1990 US Courts pronounced Kirtanananda Swami, the leader of the 'New Vrindavan' religious community (which was expelled from ISKCON for ten years between 1988-1998) ^[62] guilty on charges of racketeering and conspiracy to murder for his role in the death of two devotees (Steven Bryant and Charles Saint Denis) who had threatened his control of the community. Kirtanananda was sentenced to 20 years in prison on the racketeering charge, but was released in June 2004 for health reasons.^{[citation needed]}

In response to the need to establish transparency and accountability among its members, ISKCON encouraged the establishment of an ombudsman organization, ISKCON Resolve.^[63] This Integrated Conflict Management System (ICMS) also provides facilitators, arbitrators, and conflict analysis experts to help ISKCON members deal with internal disputes and concerns. The Resolve organisation states that its aims are to give all members of ISKCON a voice and to bring the ISKCON leadership to higher levels of transparency and accountability.^{[citation needed]}

 Rath Yatra controversy