Disappearance of Srila Prabhupada’s granddaughter, Gauri dasi

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Disappearance of Srila Prabhupada’s granddaughter, Gauri dasi

Official announcement regarding the disappearance of Srimati Gauri dasi,

Yamunangi dasi and Sri Hari dasa.

With great regret the Mayapur management wishes to inform the community of

devotees about the disappearance of Srimati Gauri dasi, the granddaughter of

Srila Prabhupada, her three years old daughter Yamunangi, and her

brother-in-law, Sriman Sri Hari dasa.

Gauri dasi leaves behind her husband, Sriman Sujitendriya dasa, a Mayapur

gurukula graduate who has lived in the ISKCON Mayapur community his whole life,

and her youngest daughter, Bhagirathi aged ten months.

These three devotees were tragically drowned in a boating accident in Sri

Mayapur dhama at sometime in the early afternoon on Wednesday 27 September,

2006.

The tragedy occurred on a flooded stretch of road on the way to the

Yoga-pitha, nearby where Sujitendriya and his brother Sri Hari were building a

house.

Because of the floods Gauri had rung her father Sriman Vrindavan Candra De,

and he advised her to come to their family home in Kolkata until it receded.

Thus, Sujitendriya, Gauri and their two daughters, Sri Hari and several others

were waiting for a boat to leave Mayapur. Instead of the boat they expected, a

smaller one came and offered to take them so everyone, about twelve or fourteen

persons, agreed to use it.

Their route followed the flooded road leading to the Yoga-pitha. The current

was running strong at ninety degrees to the road, so about six of the men got

out to push and guide the boat along from the front and back. Gauri and the two

children, along with their maid, were sitting in the boat with six others, plus

the two boatmen.

Due to the powerful current somehow the boat got out of control and it sank

into the water pitching the occupants into the flood. Gauri couldn’t swim and

Sujitendriya grabbed her and their daughter Yamunangi, but both were going

under. To save all of them from being swept away Sujitendriya grabbed hold of a

banana tree with one hand. With the other he was hanging on to his wife Gauri

in a desperate attempt to save her. But by this time she was fully submerged

and unconscious.

They were pulled out onto the bank and an Australian devotee, Shanti

Parayana prabhu, attempted to revive Gauri with CPR. After some time

however it was clear the attempt was not successful. Yamunangi had also

expired in the arms of her father.

Sri Hari prabhu went to save the youngest daughter Bhagirathi and the maid.

He succeeded in doing this but in the attempt, although he was a good swimmer,

he was also dragged under and drowned. He died a hero, saving others while

giving his own life.

Out of all the passengers three died; Gauri, Yamunangi and Sri

Hari–Sujitendriya prabhu’s wife, daughter and brother.

The bodies were taken in the afternoon to Krsnanagar and offically declared

dead and laid in the morgue to await postmortem. Sujitendriya prabhu was

brought back to Mayapur, almost dead himself from ceaseless lamentation. I

cannot give the details here of the trauma Sujitendriya prabhu was suffering.

It was a very heart rending experience. Every few moments he would break down

and beat his head or chest with his hands and cry in anguish. Kurma Caitanya,

one of our Mayapur pujaris, was a great help, staying with him the whole night

to help comfort him.

The following day, Thursday 28 September, Dayaram prabhu, Naru-gopala prabhu,

Ramadevi dasi, and a team of devotees went with Sujitendriya prabhu to

Krsnanagar by large motorized boat along the Jalangi since it is the only way

out of Mayapur at the moment. It took nearly 21/2 hours to get there.

Because of all the arrangements that needed to be made with the Krsnanagar

morgue for the post-mortem and reception of the bodies for peforming the

cremation, it was not possible to leave Mayapur until about 11 AM. We got there

about 1.30 PM.

Gauri’s family, Vrindavan Candra De and his wife and son, had traveled late

at night from Kolkata and reached Krsnanagar about midnight. They were hosted

by a local devotee in Krsnanagar but were not informed of all the details when

they arrived. At that point they had only heard that their daughter was in

hospital. We wanted to be personally present when they heard the full details

of the tragic event so that we could help them deal with the shock and grief.

Myself, Dayaram and Ramadevi had the task of informing Vrindavan Candra and

his wife and son of what had happened. It is without a doubt one of the most

difficult things one has to do in life. Vrindavan Candra was stunned almost

speechless, his wife and son both broke down sobbing and crying. Meanwhile

Sujitendriya had come to another room in the house and after some time

Vrindavan Candra and the son met with him. Needless to say it was an

inconsolable scene as Sujitendriya told them what had happened, in between

repeatedly breaking down himself.

After some time we had to get to the practical business of viewing and

receiving the bodies. It was getting late, the postmortem was only done in

mid-afternoon and we were told we couldn’t get the bodies until 3.15 PM. This

being India that meant sometime later.

Thus about 4.00 PM we had to go and pick up the bodies from the morgue. We

only took Vrndavan Candra and family with us to view the bodies. Initially the

mother didn’t want to see the bodies but finally decided to come along.

We thought the viewing of the bodies would be in a private room but it seems

that in rural India, or at least Krsnanagar, such things are an unobtainable

luxury. We had to stand around outside the broken down building that passes off

as the morgue as three cheap wooden beds were set outside. About twenty people

were milling around curious to see the event. Finally the bodies were brought

out and placed on the beds. Thankfully they were at least wrapped nicely and

kept in clean, white, fine muslin bags.

The pathos when Gauri and Yamunangi’s bodies were unwrapped for her parents

to see, is undescribable. The mother was fully distraught. The body of

Sujitendriya’s brother, Sri Hari prabhu was also lying there and his was

identified by the devotees.

Vrindavan Candra and family then returned directly back to Kolkata. The

thought of coming to Mayapur for the cremation was simply too much for them to

bear.

By this time it was about 4.45 PM and we still had to get the bodies back to

Mayapur for cremation. The flood makes everything difficult. The Navadvipa

crematoriom isn’t working right now, the Krsnanagar one is also temporarily out

of service and we were unsure about where to do it on our land. We considered a

spot near the Gauranga Setu, the big bridge running into Navadvip, but in the

end it was settled by Sujitendriya prabhu informing us that his wife had once

made him promise that she would be cremated in ISKCON Mayapur.

The devotees at the goshalla are expert with organizing this and they assured

us that we could get in by boat from the Jalangi and do the burning on some

higher ground there. From Krsnanagar we were able to drive to the house of

Bhaktivinoda Thakur where there is a small ghat, not far upstream and opposite

from our goshalla. The bodies were sent ahead by truck while we picked up

Sujitendriya prabhu. Our boat was waiting at the ghat for us and the bodies

were loaded onto the deck.

About 20 devotees were on board as we set off downstream in the failing light

to find a suitable spot to breach the flooded banks of the Jalangi and sail

into the goshalla. We achieved that within a few minutes and started chugging

across fields towards the buildings in the near dark.

Suddenly some low-lying telegraph lines were upon us. We had to dive for

cover on the deck as they scrapped over the boat. Devotees sitting on the roof

of the cabin, including Dayaram and Naru-gopala prabhus, were almost swept off

by the wires; one wire snagged across the deck cabin and snapped, the rest of

the wires got caught on the wheel house and the whole lot ripped out of the

pole. Luckily noone was hurt or electrocuted. Proceeding cautiously the

devotees thence expertly brought the boat into the goshalla area, between the

buildings, over fences and the road, to dock right at the main cow shelter.

Then over the next two hours the bodies were washed, clothed in new garments

and all the Vaisnava pujas were done for the departed souls. They were then

burnt.

Now we have the task to look after Sujitendriya prabhu and his remaining

daughter, 10 months old Bhagirathi. Sujitendriya and Gauri were also looking

after the widows and children of two other of his brothers who expired in the

last couple of years. Now there are three with the widow of Sri Hari prabhu. It

will take a while to help him and them sort their lives out but we are

confident he will get all the support he needs from the families here in Sri

Mayapur dhama. We ask all devotees to please pray for the well-being of these

devotees.

Tragic as it is, at the same time these departed souls have to be seen as

most fortunate. Gauri dasi was Srila Prabhupada’s granddaughter. That in itself

would have been enough to gaurantee her liberated status. However, she was a

devotee not just by birth, but by choice also. She was serious about her

spiritual life and loved to live in Mayapur despite not having very opulent

circumstances. She was well liked by all the devotees here. She was married to

a young man who has practically lived his whole life in Mayapur, going through

the whole gurukula and then running a business in conjunction with the Deity

dept. selling beautiful photos and laminations of the Deities here.

Yamunangi took her birth in the most auspicious place, in the most auspicious

family line, and she left her body in the same holy dhama. Srila Prabhupada

once said that when a devotee child leaves early, it means that that soul was

an advanced devotee in their last life who had some small residue of material

desire or reaction to burn off by taking another birth, and having done so,

they return back to Krsna.

Sri Hari prabhu was the President of ISKCON Chittagoan in Bangladesh. He

joined ISKCON in 1978 and was the senior-most devotee in Bangladesh. He fully

dedicated his life to Srila Prabhupada’s preaching mission. It is said that if

one even thinks of living in the holy dhama, Krsna reserves a place for that

person, so Sri Hari prabhu has now by the mercy of the Lord attained the

supreme abode.

While we lament the loss of the association of these devotees, there can be

no inauspiciousness for them. They fulfilled their life’s purpose and left

their bodies in the heart of Sri Mayapur dhama in the bosom of Mother Ganges.

Most certainly they all three went home back to Godhead. What more can one

desire?

According to Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s Navadvipa-dhama Mahatmya:

“O brother! One who resides in the land of Navadv…pa is greatly fortunate,

for he obtains pure love for KŠa. Whosoever goes at any time to visit

Navadv…pa becomes freed from all offenses. Whatever a pilgrim obtains by

wandering to all the holy places is obtained simply by remembering ®r…

Navadv…pa. This all the scriptures sing.

“A person who simply sees Navadv…pa gets the great fortune of love for KŠa

birth after birth. Even one who practices karma- or buddhi-yoga never again

takes birth if he goes to Navadv…pa.

“If a person wanders in Navadv…pa, at every step he obtains the result of ten

million horse sacrifices. That too is stated in all the scriptures.

“If anyone resides there and chants his given mantra, that mantra becomes

Lord Caitanya, and so he is easily delivered.

“What yogis obtain in other holy places after ten years of practice is

obtained in Navadv…pa by practicing for only three nights.

“The liberation obtained in other holy places by knowledge of Brahman is

obtained simply by bathing in the Bh€g…rath… in ®r…dh€ma Navadv…pa. The five

types of liberation—achieving the same planet as the Lord, getting a form

similar to that of the Lord, obtaining opulence equal to that of the Lord,

getting direct association with the Lord, and merging into the Brahman

effulgence—can be obtained in Navadv…pa, even without one’s knowledge, by those

who desire such liberation.”

We request all the devotees to give their blessings and prayers for the

departed Vaisnavas, and also their support to Sujitendriya prabhu so that he

can overcome his loss, raise his daughter Bhagirathi nicely in Krsna

consciousness, and continue to progress in his devotional life as a resident of

Sri-dhama Mayapur.

On behalf of ISKCON Mayapur,

Your humble servant,

Hari-sauri dasa

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHANT HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE

HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE AND BE HAPPY

Your humble servant

radhabhava gaur das

 

 

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