Jagat

Yesterday I went with Jaya and Manjari to Kiki Nagla where Kurma Rupa was resting. As it turns out, it was his last day in this body and it was our good fortune to see him one last time. He had an incurable stomach cancer and had been suffering for several months. Just a few days ago his condition took a turn for the worse and he was moved to the hospital for rest and comfort. Kurma Rupa and I were acquaintances. I liked him. I thought him an exemplary person, someone who was trying to find a way to make a contribution to the growth of bhakti culture. He was actually a closer friend to Babaji and was a frequent visitor to Jiva for Bhagavatam classes. Babaji had gone to visit him a few days earlier when he heard that he was in serious condition, but before he had been moved back to Kiki Nagla. When I was doing the Vrindavan Today project I went to him a couple of times to ask him to become our “cow protection” correspondent . Somehow that never worked out. I saw him around t...

Since my visa extension was refused I have been undergoing something of a revisiting of my devotional past--visiting the seven temples, seeing an old Nabadwip friend at Gokulananda. Then on Thursday going to Iskcon for Vyasa Puja. It has been a bit like a palimpsest -- scraping off layers to see what was there below. So going to Iskcon represents the beginnings of my life as a Vaishnava, and since for better or worse I am still in this game, Srila Prabhupada remains my guru. I heard several teary-eyed testimonials read by Brahmananda Prabhu from a published volume, as well as others given by a number of other Prabhupada disciples who were present. They recounted many stories of amazing achievements by young and inexperienced Prabhupada disciples, such as Gunarnava Das, who somehow during Prabhupada's presence were endowed with almost superhuman capabilities to achieve tasks like the building of the Vrindavan temple. Indeed, it is almost impossible for anyone who lived through t...