Mrs.Nirmala Singhal,

[Guest guest]

hare krishna

Dear Devotees

PAMHO,AGTSGM,AGTSP

Pl find below some touching memories of Mrs Nirmala

Singhal mataji by HH Giriraja Swami maharaj and she

was an active member at our Juhu temple and

contributed a lot with her preaching and care for the

devotees in the temple.shepassed away on 11th feb 05

and had been a great well wisher to all the devotees

of ISKCON and we could hear nice pasttimes of Srila

Prabhupada from her on many occasions during the Vyasa

puja offerings at Juhu temple

pl pass on this mail to your circle of devotees

Yr hs

radhabhava gaur das

 

 

 

 

My dear Mrs. Singhal,

 

We are feeling intense separation from you.

 

Srila Prabhupada wrote to you, "It is very nice how

you are caring for

the

devotees. They have left everything for me, so they

should be treated

as

sons and daughters."

 

Indeed, you did care for us as a mother. In fact, you

and your devoted

husband, Dr. Captain K.H. Singhal, took care of us in

all respects. You

served and encouraged us in our service at Hare

Krishna Land, and when

we

were sick we could always come to your husband's

dispensary. He would

examine us and treat us and send us back with our

little packets of

medicine.

 

In my own case, when I was sick and exhausted, you

took me into your

home,

gave me a room with a bed to relax and recuperate, fed

me wonderful

prasadam

appropriate to my condition, and encouraged me to eat.

(In those days

we

didn't have beds to sleep on, or much healthy prasadam

to eat.) And

with

your motherly care and devotion, and your husband's

good wishes and

medicine, we were nursed back to health--to continue

our struggles on

behalf

of Srila Prabhupada and Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari at

Hare Krishna Land.

 

You were a great devotee. You always wanted to sing

and speak in praise

of

Lord Krsna, Srila Prabhupada, and their devotees.

Srila Prabhupada

wrote to

you, "Please help and tell everyone how nice chanting

Hare Krsna is."

In

Kali-yuga the most important method of worship is to

chant the holy

names

and sing the glories of the Lord.

 

nama-sankirtanam yasya

sarva-papa pranasanam

pranamo duhkha-samanas

tam namami harim param

 

"I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme

Lord, Hari, the

congregational chanting of whose holy names destroys

all sinful

reactions,

and the offering of obeisances unto whom relieves all

material

suffering."

(SB 12.13.23) And so you began the Tuesday afternoon

women's satsanga

group.

Every Tuesday without fail, come what may, you would

come to Hare

Krishna

Land to lead the ladies in bhajanas and kirtanas

before Sri Sri Radha-

Rasabihari. And so it seems fitting that when you

collapsed, it was on

a

Tuesday afternoon before Their Divine Lordships Sri

Sri

Radha-Rasabihari,

your beloved Deities, in the assembly of your devotees

gathered to sing

the

holy name and glories of your Lord.

 

Then too, Srimad-Bhagavatam is the spotless Purana,

the cream of the

Vedic

literatures, the ripened fruit of the Vedic tree of

knowledge.

 

nigama-kalpa-taror galitam phalam

suka-mukhad amrta-drava-samyutam

pibata bhagavatam rasam alayam

muhur aho rasika bhuvi bhavukah

 

"O expert and thoughtful men, relish

Srimad-Bhagavatam, the mature

fruit of

the desire tree of Vedic literatures. It emanated from

the lips of Sri

Sukadeva Gosvami. Therefore this fruit has become even

more tasteful,

although its nectarean juice was already relishable

for all, including

liberated souls." (SB 1.1.3)

 

Srila Prabhupada instructed you: "Try to bring all the

people of Vile

Parle

Scheme to come to the temple daily. And read the Hindi

 

Srimad-Bhagavatam to

the women. Simply read it and they will understand the

whole

philosophy. It

is so nice."

 

You also were a great teacher, speaker, writer, and

poet, well versed

in

English, Hindi, Urdu, and Punjabi. On special

occasions, you would

speak

about the struggles at Hare Krishna Land--Srila

Prabhupada's heroic

service

to Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari and his devotees'

surrendered service to

him.

When you spoke, your audience would be moved,

sometimes to tears,

sometimes

to laughter, and sometimes to applause.

 

You published many books and poems about Srila

Prabhupada and Krsna

consciousness in English, Hindi, and other languages.

You wanted to

give

people in general some instructions and practices that

they could

easily

understand and adopt, that would help them and

encourage them in Krsna

consciousness. You so much wanted that people should

become Krsna

conscious.

Sometimes you would tell me how after so many years of

austerity and

struggle, when so few people would come to Hare

Krishna Land, now so

many

were coming, and you would brighten in happiness as

you thought of all

those

souls coming to Krsna consciousness through Srila

Prabhupada's efforts

and

grace, chanting the holy names of Krsna, hearing the

philosophy of the

Bhagavad-gita, and bowing down at the lotus feet of

Sri Sri

Radha-Rasabhihari. Just last year you prepared a

manuscript in Urdu

especially for the people of Pakistan, which we are

soon to publish.

 

Even Srila Prabhupada relished your writings. Once,

you presented him

the

manuscript of your article "Krsna-lila at Hare Krishna

Land." Srila

Prabhupada appreciated it and said he would get it

published in Back to

Godhead magazine. Some devotees may have thought that

Srila Prabhupada

told

you that just to encourage you, but many years later,

after Srila

Prabhupada

had left us, I heard a tape of him speaking in Hawaii.

Tamal Krishna

Goswami

said, "A book should be written about the Bombay . .

.." and Srila

Prabhupada

responded, "Yes, that . . . Nirmala, Dr. Singhal's

wife, has already

sent

some article. Why it is not published?" Then I knew

that Srila

Prabhupada

actually was serious. He wanted your article to be

published so people

could

read it. (Finally we printed it in our Hare Krishna

Monthly magazine in

Bombay.)

 

Although you and your husband were not wealthy, you

had a sincere

desire to

visit Srila Prabhupada's temples in England and

Mauritius--to see the

Deities, meet the devotees, and glorify Lord Krsna.

You told me how you

arrived at the Bhaktivedanta Manor near London while

Srila Prabhupada

was

sitting on his Vyasasana giving class. As soon as he

saw you, he

interrupted

the class and exclaimed, "Oh, Mrs. Singhal, you have

come! Please sit

here."

And from then on, through your entire stay, Srila

Prabhupada saw to

your

every need, even arranging for you to accompany his

select disciples to

all

of his programs. (Mother Malati was one who helped you

then). Years

later

you came with us to Mauritius, when we went to

celebrate our

Vyasa-puja.

There you inspired all the devotees with your

devotion; your culture of

Vedic hospitality, respect, and worship; and

especially your sweet

songs

about Lord Krsna, which they learned and sang,

following you with great

enthusiasm. You have written a brief account of your

visit to

Mauritius,

published with some photos in one of your small books.

 

Every Balarama's Appearance Day you would come to the

temple and tie

rakhi

on us for protection (Raksha Bandhan). But you were

practical too. Once

you

told me, "Don't expect others to care for you. You

have to look after

yourself." And once you advised, "Don't be too strong.

Otherwise they

will

throw you out of India again."

 

You had much respect for all of Srila Prabhupada

devotees and their

efforts

to serve him--especially the sannyasis who had made

such great

sacrifices at

a young age: His Holiness Tamal Krishna Goswami, His

Holiness Sridhar

Swami,

His Holiness Lokanath Swami, His Holiness Gopal

Krishna Goswami, and

all

others. Even in later years you would come to meet us

on Sundays and

give us

sweets and candies--a token of your affection and

appreciation. And

often

you would cook our favorite preparations--dal,

chapatis, pappad sabji,

palak

panir, alu gobi, and gajar halava or rice pudding--and

bring them in

your

tiffin from home. You were a great cook, and Srila

Prabhupada always

relished your cooking, whether at the temple or when

he visited your

home.

 

You did so much: you cooked for the devotees when they

were locked in

the

Santa Cruz jail, and your dear husband personally

carried the food from

your

home to Santa Cruz; you made outfits for the Deities,

Sri Sri Radha-

Rasabihari; you assisted your husband when he

organized the local

children

into the Ghanshyam Boys Club and engaged them in

hearing and chanting

and

various practical services; you brought Balraj, your

grandson, to the

temple

and encouraged him to be Krsna conscious; and on and

on and on . . .

 

As did Srila Prabhupada, I keep old envelopes and slit

them open to

write

on. Feeling so much separation from you today, wanting

to write

something to

you, I reached my hand onto the stack of large

envelopes on the top

shelf of

the cupboard to bring one down. Suddenly the letters

on the envelope

caught

my eye--BTG. Back to Godhead! Then I felt some

consolation. Although we

feel

grief in your absence, in the loss of your imminent

care and love and

Krsna

consciousness, you have reached your "revered and

beloved Guru

Maharaja,"

Srila Prabhupada, and your beloved and worshipable

Lord, "Shri

Krishan"--

back home, back to Godhead.

 

Of course, you also had your home in Vile Parle. You

often remarked

that you

felt Srila Prabhupada lived there with you and that he

was in fact

always

there with you in his spiritual presence. We can only

pray that Srila

Prabhupada, along with his dearest associates, such as

Mrs. Singhal--

"Nirmala"--will also dwell in our hearts and always

bless us with their

love

and grace.

 

Thank you. Hare Krsna.

 

Your eternal servant and son,

"Swami Giriraj"

 

 

 

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