771000 - Letter to All ISKCON Centers from Ramesvara
URGENT ! URGENT !
PLEASE READ AT ONCE !
From: Ramesvara dasa Swami
Dear Prabhus,
Please accept my most humble obeisances in the dust of your feet. All glories to Srila Prabhupada ! It is my unhappy duty to notify you of a most disturbing situation that has developed regarding Srila Prabhupada’s condition. Below are excerpts from the diary of Srila Prabhupada’s personal secretary as read to me by phone by Hari Sauri Prabhu. They refer to conversations in Vrindavana on October 25, 1977.
Scene: Prabhupada’s room. His Divine Grace is resting, Baradraj and Hansadutta Swami are sitting silently in the room, Prabhupada, awakens.
Prabhupada: (To Upendra) “So everyone has left?”
Upendra: Yes
Prabhupada: I feel very unhappy when no one is here. They are avoiding me. They do not want to come.
Upendra: Baradraj and Hansadutta Swami are here. Do you want kirtan?
Prabhupada: At least japa while I sleep. When I look around I see the room is empty and I fell very unhappy. When I see no one around me then I feel lonely.
Baradraj: We’ll get some others and Hansadutta Swami and I will do kirtan.
Prabhupada: Why not all of you. You cannot all do kirtan ? Why not others ?
Scene: Prabhupada’s room. Some time later. Prabhupada has stopped eating all solid foods and is not even taking medicines. It is evident that His Divine Grace is discouraged. Atreya Rsi arrives from Tehran.
Prabhupada: Please don’t leave me here. Keep me surrounded. That will encourage me. You keep me surrounded and chant Hare Krsna. There is very little hope for my life. Chant Hare Krsna softly, all together. Do not leave. Now I have become poisonous. Everyone is avoiding me. Things are deteriorating. What is to be done. What is the use. Everything is frustrated.
Scene: Prabhupada’s room. His Divine Grace was planning to go to Mayapur but the trip is cancelled because His Divine Grace feels it would be too risky and he doesn’t have sufficient strength. Instead he decides to be taken out to see the Deities of Krsna-Balaram.
Prabhupada: I want to go on parikrama. By parikrama, even if I die, that is good luck. Arrange like that, with kirtan, I may die or live, it doesn’t matter. Better than dying by jerking of an airplane.
Hari Sauri: For us it matters.
Prabhupada: What can be done ?
From the above excerpts we can all appreciate the situation in Vrndavana very clearly. The only medicine Prabhupada is taking is kirtana and being surrounded by his loving disciples. There is no other way to encourage Prabhupada to stay in this world and continue leading us personally. After discussions with most of the GBC representatives in America, South America and Europe, I would like to urge all temples to act immediately as follows: From every corner of the world, temples should send for men (at least one or two men) immediately to Vrindavan for the month of November. In December send replacements if the first men cannot stay longer than one month. These men will have the unique privilege of being with Prabhupada six to eight hours daily, chanting, massaging, hearing His Divine Grace translate, carrying His Divine Grace on parikrama, etc. They will have the great responsibility of encouraging Srila Prabhupada by serving him personally in this way with devotion and love.
Every temple should increase their kirtan program to 24-hour kirtan if possible. Prabhupada is personally present in each temple and can receive the encouragement and love of His disciples who surround his vyasasana in the temples around the world to petition the Lord for his health to be returned. Special sankirtana marathons should be planned and all devotees should participate for petitioning the Lord to please cure His pure devotee (remember: sankirtana is the best process for petitioning the Lord in this age). Immediately after the Christmas distribution the devotees who were scheduled to go to India for pilgrimage this year can be sent in shifts (January-April) so that there is a continuous flood of loving devotees surrounding Prabhupada and chanting for him. This year’s pilgrimage should be centered around His Divine Grace. Finally, I would humbly remind all temples that there shouldn’t be one moment’s hesitation or delay in sending men immediately for November and December. How can we forget that all the money in ISKCON is Srila Prabhupada’s money and all the time is meant for serving him, that he is in need of personal service right at his bedside and we must hasten to his call! If each center sends only one or two men for November and December, which are the critical months, there will be dozens of senior devotees attending to His Divine Grace. There is no question of not doing this for Srila Prabhupada. Please, act at once!
Jai, Prabhus. I hope this finds you well and immediately making arrangements to send me to Vrndavana for this urgent service. Haribol !
- Your unworthy servant,
- Ramesvara dasa Swami
- GBC representative.
P.S.: One senior GBC man commented that if we don’t send senior men to be with Prabhupada at this time, it is practically demoniac.