Amogha Virya: Amazingly Austere, Very Sweet

[Guest guest]

Amogha Virya Prabhu was in Detroit ISKCON for a number of years in the early 80s. He was on the sankirtan party at that time, and I must have spent close to a year traveling with him around America.

 

He had a very sweet disposition and was so eager to give people some chance to serve Krishna by taking a book, giving a donation, and tasting a little prasadam.

 

He had an incredible taste for hearing the Krishna Book. He would often read when he was taking prasadam, and he would carry the book around with him everywhere he went. He even read Krishna Book while walking around the parking lots on sankirtan.

 

I also recall that his tone of voice was very appealing. It was a soothing voice, soft and kind.

 

Amogha Virya was amazingly austere. He could curl up in the smallest of spaces to take rest, and he was able to stay out on sankirtan for hours at a stretch in the freezing Michigan winters.

 

Amogha was also one of the least envious people I've ever met. He would never talk ill of anyone and had no taste for small talk about devotees.

 

In his own unique and eccentric way he was a great soul, and I'm sure by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada he is wonderfully situated right now.

 

Your servant,

Braja Bihari dasa