Message From HG Praghosa dasa

Dearest Maharaja,

 

So, so much wishing I was paying my obeisances to you in person, then giving you a big hug and then discussing the glories of Srila Prabhupada with you. There was no way anyone in your sweet company could fail to be immediately immersed in the transcendental pastimes of His Divine Grace once with you for a minute or two

 

As a young man you left Bengal and by Krishna’s arrangement came in contact with Srila Prabhupada’s mission thousands of miles away, via his book ‘The Nectar of Devotion’ and immediately accepted Srila Prabhupada as your spiritual master. Thus began your service to your dearly beloved spiritual master which has continued to this very day and will now go on eternally.

 

At your first extraordinary meeting with Srila Prabhupada in early 1977 he instructed you to translate all his books into Bengali. For me there is such a sweet parallel between your first meeting with Srila Prabhupada and Srila Prabhupada’s first meeting with Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura, wherein he implored his soon to be disciple to preach Krishna consciousness in the English speaking world.

 

Then just a few months on from your first meeting with ISKCON’s Founder Acarya, he awarded you both first and second initiation at the Gaura Purnima festival of 1977 and within no time at all after that you were awarded sannyasa. What extraordinary events they were, unique in ISKCON and such a clear and obvious indication that Srila Prabhupada saw in you something equally extraordinary. No doubt he saw many of your sublime qualities, not least your all attractive purity. 43 years on Srila Prabhupada’s decision has been unequivocally vindicated and we have all been the beneficiaries of his wisdom.

 

Your contribution to ISKCON has been second to none and this tribute to you would be too lengthy if I were to list them all but let me mention a few.

 

You have been travelling and preaching for over 43 years now and have inspired so many across the globe. You translated Srila Prabhupada’s books into Bengali as he requested, completing that service in 1996, Srila Prabhupada’s centennial year.

 

Subsequently you were the inspiration and directly involved in writing, directing and producing the Abhay Charan films which were broadcast on National television in India. That production depicted the glorious life and extraordinary achievements of Srila Prabhupada.

 

You have given thousands of lectures and seminars over the decades and completed a wonderful book, ‘Ocean of Mercy’, allowing everyone to enter into your unique association with Srila Prabhupada. In recent years you have created from scratch, with the help of your dedicated followers, a wonderful project in Ujjain where all aspects of the ISKCON mission are present and in rude health. Even more recently you have started a project to protect Lord Krishna’s old and neglected cows in the US. All of your efforts over many, many years create a vivid picture of your boundless energy & enthusiasm, vision, purity and most of all, your unflinching faith and dedication to His Divine Grace

 

As I say so much more could be said on all you have done in service to Guru and Krishna but let me finish by saying how kind, generous and loving you have also been to me for many decades. All that love and kindness has been showered on me without any expectation of something in return. It is that selflessness that makes you for me, the sweetest person I have ever known. That sweetness was also present for all to see and hear in your most devotional and ambrosial singing of the Hare Krishna mantra.

 

I cannot finish by not mentioning all the wonderful times we honored prasadam together, both just the two of us as well as with sometimes dozens of other devotees. My memories of those experiences are that they were a replica of what must take place in the spiritual world.

 

Thank you so, so much Maharaja and I so much look forward to having your association sometime in the future and I will pray to Srila Prabhupada and Lord Krishna to allow me that wonderful mercy again. Until then I will miss you dearly

 

Your servant, friend and admirer,

 

Praghosa dasa

July 4, 2020

 

 

(Source – http://www.dandavats.com/?p=87054)

Dear Devotees,


Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. All glories to Srila Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja.


It is so, so harrowing to endure the departure of someone we love. Indeed there are so many specialists who deal exclusively with helping people through such upheaval and loss. I lost my mother nearly 50 years ago and I still remember that day so vividly, as the trauma at the time was as unbearable as I could have imagined.


Thus it is not surprising to see so much outpouring and love expressed when someone departs. Indeed those close to a departed loved one will often honor them for the rest of their lives, bringing flowers to their grave or memorial on a regular basis.


As devotees we also experience these emotions. In some ways we are better protected from such grief due to being grounded by our philosophy. In other ways it can be even worse when we lose someone, who we not only love, but someone who has helped us so much and given their life to help us on the path back to Godhead, back to Lord Krishna.


So please know that your grieving at this time is both understandable and needed and as the days pass it will become more and more clear that all that HH Bhakti Charu Maharaja has sacrificed for you in assisting in your spiritual journey remains and even more importantly continues.


So kindly rest assured that Maharaja is still with you and still urging you to do all you can to remain fixed at his lotus feet and by doing so you will also remain fixed at the lotus feet of his beloved spiritual master, Srila AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, in the very same way your Guru Maharaja is. Indeed there is no one more loyal and dedication to Srila Prabhupada and his ISKCON mission than your Guru Maharaja.


Lord Caitanya, manifested one most incredibly notable emotion, the rasa of acute hankering for Krishna, known as vipralambha, service in separation. We know that without union there can be no separation and without separation there can be no union. One is fully dependent on the other and each is equally beautiful and ecstatic.


Right now what you are experiencing is an important component for your ongoing and ever increasing loving relationship with your dearmost Guru Maharaja. Please also know you are not alone as so many of your Guru Maharaja’s godbrothers and godsisters, nephews and nieces are experiencing the very same and we all stand with you during this extraordinary time.

Let me finish by offering assurance that we will all get through this and while we do not know what the Lord’s plan is, we do know that He has a plan, a plan that is perfect for all of us. This mood I think was expressed no more perfectly than by Lord Caitanya Himself as follows:


He prayed, “O My Lord, in Your separation I am feeling one moment to be like twelve years or more. Tears are falling from My eyes like torrents of rain, and the whole world appears vacant in Your absence. I know no one but Krishna as My Lord, and He shall remain so even if He handles Me roughly by His embrace, or makes Me broken hearted by not being present before Me. He is completely free to do anything and everything, for He is my most worshipable Lord, unconditionally.” (Siksastaka 7-8).


His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja ki jai!


Source – https://iskconconnection.org/ru/civicrm/mailing/view?reset=1&id=830