Harimedia Forum

Dear Hari,
Recently
I came across the text in one Vkontakte blog that was announced as An Interview for "Prabhupada Sumedhasam" magazine 2016 with you. The text was given in Russian. So could you please confirm or otherwise if you have given such an interview?
The publication was from some ISKCON VK users. So it seemed somewhat confusing for me personally.
Thank you in advance

I have no idea where this came from and I have not had contact with this magazine since 1998! Someone sent me this article about a month ago and I read it with amusement. It seems to have been written by someone with a vivid imagination who somehow wished I had said these things and who decided to put these words in my mouth! But no, I did not give such an interview, neither would I have said or agreed with most of what was written. I am glad you asked me. I wonder how many people actually believed what was written?

I found that my departure from ISKCON was filled with similar experiences. I remember when Bhakti Tirtha Swami came to visit me in Abentheuer and reported to the world that I said this or that when in reality I did not say one word he quoted! Jayapataka Swami also did something similar, although not nearly as fabricated as the Bhakti Tirtha Swami account. It seems that my situation was so weird for them that their minds went TILT and created a completely different account of what was said or done by me. Such is life. Even more interesting is that most people simply believed it and did not bother to ask me to confirm or deny what was being said. I had no chance to correct this misinformation because my communication with devotees was blocked by the traumatized authorities at the time

I could have commented on this article sooner, but I wanted to see if anyone would ask me about it. It seems that even almost 20 years later that most people are inclined to believe anything they read. Once again, thank you for asking!

Definition: "TILT" = to mess with a game machine by lifting up, or tilting, one side of the machine to affect the movement of the ball, which caused the machine to stop and display an error, "TILT," thus terminating the game.

Dear Hari,
Thank you very much for your answer and clearing this strange situation. Samvartaka has commented there that the publication was fiction.
And he also gives you his thanks and respect for your help

I shall translate this comment of yours and try to post it there for the public of that blog. May I?

Sure! You do not need my permission.