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AFFIDAVIT ON BEHALF OF THE HARE KRISHNA MOVEMENT SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK CRIMINAL TERM, COUNTY OF QUEENS
1. I am a professor of linguistics, anthropology and Sanskrit at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. I graduated with a B.A. from Cambridge in 1962, received an M.A. in Tibetan Linguistics from Cornell in 1965, and a Ph.D. from Cornell in 1967. I have taught at Georgetown University since 1968.
3. As a member of the Indian community, and one who has devoutly observed the principles of the Hindu faith, the missionary activities of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Praphupada are most dear to me. We people of India are eternally grateful to this Hare Krishna Movement. We frequent the Hare Krishna temples regularly just as a Christian would visit the church of his faith. For us it is more than a church, it is an oasis. The religious practices for the worship of God offered at the temples exactly parallel the worship we were taught as youths in India. To question the life-giving value of these beliefs and practices, to call the Hare Krishna movement a cult, is to insult the most precious tradition of our ancient Indian culture. 4. There are eighteen chapters in the Bhagavad-Gita, eighteen thousand verses in the Srimad Bhagavatam, and several hundred verses in the Upanishads. These are the literary works which form the foundation of Indian culture and religion. They are all in Sanskrit. His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder of the Hare Krishna Movement, has transcribed these texts, has translated them, and has explained their essence in English -- from Sanskrit into English. One is an ancient classical language, and the other a foreign language, a difficult task indeed. 5. I have studied most of Swami Prabhupada's works, and can testify as a Sanskrit scholar that they are excellent; they have excellence of thought, perception and understanding. Not only myself, but hundreds of my colleagues throughout the United States and abroad, such as Dr. Samuel Atkins of Princeton University and Dr. William A. Johnson of Brandeis University, are taking-great interest in these ancient Vedic classics, as rendered by Swami Prabhupada, and are studying them and teaching them in their classrooms. This in itself should be more than enough proof of their credibility and authenticity. 6. Such a man with such vision, scholarship, devotion, and hard work, could never associate himself with a cult or with anything that feeds on human greed, weakness, and thrives on exploitation of human values. Only a person with wrong or mutilated information and ill-intentions will doubt the integrity of this man and question the most noble and pious ideals practiced by the Hare Krishna Movement, a movement which he so naturally founded. 7. It is inconceivable to me that efforts on behalf of propagation of Krishna Consciousness can be maligned by calling them brainwashing, and criminalized by indictment in a country which prides itself upon freedom of religion, expression and association, while at the same time the efforts of missionaries of the more popular American religions are applauded, encouraged, and even sanctioned by tax exemptions and other official approval. 8. No member of the Hare Krishna Movement could, consistent with the principles of Krishna Consciousness and adherence to the practices of the Hare Krishna Movement, engage in any kind of coercive activity. If any persons have testified or otherwise given evidence that such was the case, it can only reflect the bias and opinion of such persons and not fact. I believe devoutly that an examination of the testimony which may have been given to the Grand Jury in support of the indictments outstanding against Angus Murphy, Harold Conley and the International Society for Krishna Consciousness can only reveal that there is no evidence to support charges of criminal activity, but only misapprehensions, prejudicial opinions, and perverted judgments. WHEREFORE, I join in the request on behalf of the defendants that the minutes of the Grand Jury proceedings be made available for examination by persons expert and familiar with the practices of Krishna Consciousness so that the meaning in context of what may be therein contained can be elucidated for the Court. SHALIGRAM SHUKLA Sworn to before me, this day of December, 1976.
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