An interesting thing. My recollection is that I was responding with sarcasm to the claim that we don't know that MMY was Gurudev's "right hand man".
Dana seems to confirm that MMY *did* have a great deal of influence due to his position as Gurudev's secretary, which was all I meant. Secretaries are always powerful, whether the boss acknowledges this or not. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Dana Sawyer's comments: > > ------ Forwarded Message > From: Dana Sawyer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Wed, 07 Sep 2005 12:21:06 -0400 > To: Rick Archer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Re: MMY Conspiracy theories > > Rick, I don't know who wrote the comments on the first comment below but > they are quite accurate about the gripe that exists within Swarupananda's > camp. I'll make a couple of specific comments below. > > >--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "sparaig" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> The recognized Shankaracharya (the one most here seem to prefer) > >> referred to MMY as an ashram clerk. The rumor was that this clerk > >> managed to conspire with a cook to kill Gurudev. AFter the will > >> wasproduced, this clerk was so powerful as to get the first guy on > >> the list proclaimed Shankaracharya overthe protestations (if you > >> believe what everyone here appears to) liaterally everyother disciple > >> of Gurudev besides MMY and the cook. > > First, the person's point here seems to be that it is implausible that a > "cook" and a "clerk" were so powerful that they could usurp the > Shankaracaryaship. This is both true and false. Even throwing out the > idea that Brahmananda was given poison, it is possible that Mahesh, as > secretary, could have skewed the will and then had a less than lucid > Brahmananda sign a different document then he thought he was signing. > Beyond that it's important to recognize, for good or bad, that those who > felt the document was a forgery formed the much larger and more > influential group. They immediately took matters into their own hands and > backed Krishnabodhashrama as the new Shankaracarya, so for them all that > was lost was property, not the position. See? When the guy below says > that, "possession is nine tenths of the law" he's correct with regards to > the government. The Shantanada group had Brahmananda's will with his > signature on it and that's all that the government filing office in > Allahabad cared about. > > > >> > > > >The cook was Shantanand, I beleive, > > yes > > >who was first on the list, and > >became Shankarachara -- so it was a bit more interesting, with a > >thicker plot -- than your account suggests. > > yes, again. > > > > > >And it appears from some testimony regarding the will, that GD was not > >very lucid in his last days. Plausibly the effect of sudden poisons > >introduced. > > Every testimony that I've heard, on either side of the dispute, holds that > Brahmananda was barely able to communicate in his last days - whether > there was poison involved or not. > > > > > > hypothetically, if a signed "list" appeared, it would give > >enough nominal clearance during the chaos of GD's passing, to enable a > >new shankaracharaya to be rushed into GD's quarters. Which is what > >happened. Then it became a game of "possession is 9/10s of the law". > > Exactly right. and in the subsequent court case (the first one), the only > issue for the court was whether or not the person on the will, > Shantananda, was acting in accord with the public trust that was > established. The court, as a secular body, had not interest or concern > for figuring out whether or not Shantananda should own the properties. > > > > > >And GD's clerk or secretary would be the person to prepare such a > >list. And could have had GD sign it, at GD's request, or in the > >confusion of his non-lucidity, if that occurred. > > Mahesh DID prepare the documents and the rest is certainly possible, > though I'm certain nothing will ever be proven one way or the other. In > the meantime, it is a moot point. Vasudevananda cannot travel as the > Shankaracarya or present himself as such. The war is over and > Swarupananda owns the position; that's the fact of the matter and its > time, for better or worse, simply to face it and move on - as Hindus > themselves have. > > Dana > > > ------ End of Forwarded Message ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/JjtolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
