Dr T. D Singh/ H.H. Bhakti Swarup Damodar Swami

[Guest guest]

3rd October 2006

 

PRESS RELEASE

 

In a far and remote corner of the world, there lies a legendary and mystical

kingdom known as Manipur or "Land of Jewels" in the mystic valley of the

eastern Himalayan Mountain Range. At the centre of the valley lies the

Loktak Lake. The life and soul of the people in the mystical kingdom is the

devotional recitation and enactments of Lord Sri Krishna's divine pastimes.

The kingdom is located on the border of Burma (Myanmar) and has maintained

its aristrocratic and vaishnavite tradition for thousands of years. The

Srimad Bhagavatam and the Mahabharata depict Manipur's rich culture,

abounding with generations of saintly kings. It was in this Manipur,

Arjuna, the hero of the Pandavas, married princess Chitrangada, whose son

Babhruvahana defeated his own unconquerable father Arjuna who had

accompanied the horse of the great Asvamedha Sacrifice.

 

In the mystical kingdom of Manipur, in a village known as Toubal, a lovely

child was born on the 9th December 1937 to Shri Yogendra Singh and Smt.

Kanyahanbi Devi. Being vaishnavas, they named their child Damodara, From

the very moment of Damodara's appearance in this world, his father filled

his son's ears with the devotional sounds of the holy names and pastimes of

the Supreme Lord. The boy's mother also nurtured him in a spiritual

atmosphere of remembrance of Lord Sri Krishna.

 

The second world war greatly affected the quiet and peaceful valley of

Manipur and created difficulties for the people of Manipur and forced

Damodara to face a series of unfortunate incidents. In 1945, the

concluding phase of world war II wreaked havoc on the villages of Manipur.

Damodar was a mere child of seven years. Damodara's father brought them to

a barrack on the bank of Yangoi River which runs into Loktak Lake. Soon

thereafter, Damodara's father suddenly passed away of typhoid.

 

Shortly after the war came to an end, by the will of Providence, Damodara

was separated from his mother and younger sister. His elder sister, Smt.

Ahanbi Devi began to look after him. Al though he was young boy, Damodar

learned to till the land left by his father, in order to maintain himself

and his sister. After sometime, Damodar's sister got married and he was

left alone.

 

At the age of 12, he was being on his own depending on the income from the

cultivation of the paddy field left by his father. Working in the fields

and doing household duties, Damodar could not find sufficient time to devote

to his studies. He was thinking of giving up his studies altogether. At t

he request of Shri Yadav Singh, his primary school teacher, Shri Kerani

Singh, his colleague, who was a noble person and one of the most

influential persons of Toubul village agreed to help him..Damodara became

one of the members of Kerani's family and thus began a new chapter in his

life. His teachers found him to be a bright, diligent, sincere, humble and

obedient student.

 

When Damodar was 14 years he came severely ill with typhoid. The village

physicians declared that he would soon die. However, by the mercy of Lord

Krishna and under the loving care of Shri Kerani Singh, who recited daily

the Dasavatara Strotra and with the help of Dr. Yogendra Singh, a naturopath

from Imphal, Damodara miraculously recovered after fasting for 40 days and

drinking only whey.

 

>From the early childhood Damodara was very much attracted to hearing about

the pastimes of the Lord He would also regularly participate in the Deity

worship of Sri Sri Radha Krishna, Sri Gaur Nitai and Sri Sri Jagannath,

Baladeva and Subhadra in his village local temple.

 

In 1957, Damodara passed his matriculation exam in the first division and

joined the prestigious D.M. College of Imphal, Manipur. He obtained his

Intermediate Science Degree in 1959 and graduated with First Class Honors in

Chemistry in 1961. He later acquired his Bachelor of Science degree in

Chemical Engineering and Chemical Technology in 1963 and further obtained

his Master of Technology degree with First Class in Pharmaceutical Science

from Calcutta University in 1964. Shortly thereafter Damodara was awared an

overseas scholarship from the Ministry of Education, Government of India, to

further his studies in the U.S.A.

 

In 1969, Damodara was a student at the University of California, Irvine,

USA, doing his Ph.D. research work in Physical Organic Chemistry. One day

in April 1970, the secretary of the Chemistry Department gave him a telegram

from India informing him that his mother had passed away. Damodara had not

seen his mother for more than three years and was unaware of any ill health.

As such the news was very shocking. He wanted to return to India to perform

her shraddha but he had no money for the flight He managed to borrow some

funds but just before leaving, he got a letter from his guardian and

teacher, Sri Kerani Singh advising him not to return to India from the

shraddha ceremony. Damodara began to lose interest in his studies. He

spent the succeeding nights meditating on the flickering nature of this

material world. Hearing the sad news of his mother's passing away,

Damodara's friend Dr. Ravindra Pratap Rao, cam to see him. Dr. Rao

suggested that they go for a drive. He took Damodara to Laguna beach.

While walking along the coast, they saw some ISKCON devotees chanting

Harinam sankirtan. They followed the sankirtan party and some devotees who

noticed them invited them to join. One of the devotees explained to them

that daily they chanted Lord Krishna's holy names and partook of the

delicious sanctified foods offered to Lord Sri Krishna. He asked them to

visit the temple and join them in singing, dancing and feasting programs.

 

The following day, Dr. Rao went to the Temple along and told Damodara about

the wonderful and pleasant experience he had there. One day Dr, Rao told

Damodara that Srila Prabhupada, the founder acharya of ISKCON, was staying

Los Angeles and asked Damodara to go to Los Angeles to meet Srila

Prabhupada. However Damodara refused saying that he was busy with his

academic work. Dr. Rao went alone to Los Angeles but since he was a

stranger, he was not allowed to see Srila Prabhupada. He still waited in

his car and a little later a devotee came and informed him that Srila

Prabhupada wanted to see me. Thus he met Srila Prabhupada. After this, Dr.

Rao requested Damodara several times to go with him to see Srila Prabhupada

but he refused.. One day Dr. Rao told Damodara with an ultimatum that if he

did not accompany him the next day to see Srila Prabhupada, he will never

come and see him again in his lifetime and their friendship will be finished

forever. Seeing the seriousness of the matter, Damodara decided to

accompany Dr. Rao next day.

 

Net morning they got up early at 5 a.m. and . on the way to Los

Angeles,,Dr. Rao told Damodara that he was going to be initiated by Srila

Prabhupada that morning. . Damodara was struck by his fiend's

determination, enthusiasm and sincerity. He said to him that he admired

his courage and that he must have been blessed by Srila Prabhupada.

 

They reached the Temple around 6 a.m. Srila Prabhupada was just leaving for

his daily morning walk. He returned after about an hour and took darshan of

the Deities and sat on the Vyasasana. Damodara was standing near the

Deities, facing Srila Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada started singing and

Damodara's mind was captivated by Srila Prabhupada's sweet, melodious and

intense devotional singing. Dr. Rao was initiated and was given the

spiritual name, Ramananda Ray Dasa. After initiation, Srila Prabhupada went

to his room.

 

Then they went to see Srila Prabhupada. . Ramanand Ray introduced Damodara

to Srila Prabhupada informing him that Damodara was from Manipur and was

currently working on his Ph.D in Chemistry at the University of California,

Irvine. Srila Prabhupada remarked," Manipuri people are descendents of

Babhruvahana, the son of Arjuna. They have been vaishnavas since the time

of the Pandavas and Manipuri kings have established Sri Krishna temples in

Vrindavan, Radhakund and Nabadvip". Prabhupada asked Damodara that being

born in a vaishnava family why did he come to USA, crossing the ocean. He

added, "You young scholars and students have come here as beggars to beg

scientific knowledge and dollars. But I have not come here to beg. I have

come here to give the Americans something very valuable, which they do not

have - Bhagavata culture. Whey don't you do the same as I am doing? Why

are you simply taking? Why don't you also give something?" Damodara was

deeply moved by Srila Prabhupada's words. After that momentous meeting

Damodara started visiting Srila Prabhupada in Los Angeles almost every day

and after a short period of time, he received spiritual initiation. Srila

Prabhupada gave him the spiritual name, Svarupa Damodara Dasa. Later, after

taking sannyasa initiation, the prefix "Bhakti" was added to his name and

since then he has been known as Sripada Bhakti Svarupa Damodara Maharaja.

 

Shortly after his initiation, Sriman Ramananda Ray Dasa left the USA and

returned to Gorakhpur, India and opened an ISKCON center there.

Unfortunately, he left this world in 1976.

 

Srila Bhakti Svarup Damodara Swami Maharaj passed away on the 2nd October

at 12.15 A.M. due to a cardiac arrest. At Kolkata where he was at present

residing. His body will be brought to Vrindavan on the 3rd October evening

and his Samadhi ceremony will be performed at Radha Kund at 1.30 P.M. on the

4th October 2006.

 

Maharajq's contribution to ISKCON and the spiritual world is an everlasting

one and all the devotees of ISKCON are feeling the great vacuum created his

passing away.

 

 

Vrajendra Nandan Das,

ISKCON Communication India,

New Delhi,

SMobile: 9818522739,