Praghosa Prabhu: Back on the Street

krsna · March 22, 2005

All glories to

Srila Prabhupada!

From Udayananda Dasa

Posted Mar. 20, 2005

Dear devotees of Jagat Guru A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada,

This is Udayananda dasa here.

It has been almost a year since I wrote my appeal to all of you to help in raising funds to pay for the medical treatment for my dear friend Praghosa dasa. I am truly sorry and apologize to everyone for being unable to give regular updates on Praghosa Prabhu's progress over the nine months that he stayed at Sri Sri Radha Gopinatha Mandir in Chowpatty.

In addition to fundraising, responding to almost every letter that was sent, buying herbs, vitamins, and medicines and sending them to Praghosa and wiring the funds to India, I went through a personal crisis that completely changed my life. With only my wife Rasesvari devi dasi to help me in this regard, there just has not been any time to regularly address the world community of devotees.

I will however, refresh your memory regarding Praghosa Prabhu's condition. In April 2004 it was discovered that Praghosa had developed a cancerous tumor 18 inches long and 10 inches wide on the lower left side of his abdomen. In short, it was life threatening. The severity of the situation was such that it was unanimously agreed that the tumor was so advanced that any alternative or preventative medicine was out of the question for primary treatment. Even radiation therapy was rejected because of the location of the tumor near the aorta.

The decision was made to administer six sessions of chemotherapy over an eight-month period. Chemotherapy consists basically of very powerful poisons that are given to the patient in the hope that they will destroy the cancer cells before they destroy all the healthy cells in the body. Consequently, while the tumor is being assaulted, the rest of the body is ravaged simultaneously. Loss of body weight, loss of hair, nausea, and elimination of all energy are some of the side effects. It really becomes a war of wills: can you last longer than it takes to kill the tumor?

During this period, Praghosa Prabhu was tested to the limit. I can't describe in detail all the challenges he faced; otherwise, this writing will turn into a short novel. I will say that on more than one occasion there were serious doubts from the people around him that he would actually pull through.

In the beginning of his stay in the Chowpatty temple, he was being hit by waves of excruciating pain, followed by brief moments of relief, followed by waves of pain. These ordeals would last for from 15 minutes up to several hours. He was describing them to me saying that he had never experienced any pain like this in his life. Having known Praghosa for 45 years and having seen him in some very painful and difficult situations I could not comprehend his suffering.

Then one day I called him up, and his voice was very weak. I remember thinking that he sounded like an 80-year-old man. I asked him how he was feeling, and he said, "Udaya, I'm in a very bad way."

All of a sudden the ordeal started. Waves of agonizing pain racked his body. He let out a deathlike cry that literally made me sick to my stomach. I thought he was dying. While he writhed in pain he gasped out, "I can't hold the phone any more..." and we were cut off.

I panicked. I thought he had just died. I tried to call back, but all circuits were busy. I couldn't get through.

Meanwhile, Gourangapriya dasa, one of the wonderful devotees of the Radha-Gopinatha Mandir there in Chowpatty, was looking after Praghosa Prabhu. Gourangapriya Prabhu is not only a very nice brahmacari but also a medical doctor. Seeing the situation, he ordered a few devotees to have Praghosa taken immediately to the hospital.

Several men tried to pick Praghosa up and carry him down the four floors of the building where he was staying. The staircase was narrow, and the men struggled to move him down. The pain was coming in waves but would last only a few minutes. Then there would be a break for a minute, then again another wave.

The devotees labored to get Pragosha down the steps, but it was also causing great pain to him, so he suggested that they wait for one of the breaks in the waves of pain. Then he would run down the steps, and when he got to the bottom they could continue to carry him. So they did that, and just as he got to the bottom of the stairs he collapsed.

There were about six construction workers doing some work on the temple, and when they saw him fall to the ground they ran over with a sheet of plywood and placed Praghosa on the plywood. They then lifted him over their heads and carried him down the street to the local hospital. As they carried him, Praghosa said that he looked up in the blue sky, completely helpless, and thought of a verse in the Bhagavad-Gita,"...I preserve what they have, and carry what they lack. "

They rushed him to the hospital and injected him with something that quelled the pain. Over the next eight months he lost 40 pounds, all of his hair fell out of his head, and his body was wasted. But because of the tender loving care of His Holiness Radhanath Swami and all the Radha Gopinatha devotees plus the many prayers by the worldwide community of devotees and ultimately by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and Krsna, the cancer was conquered. The 18-inch cancerous tumor has now been reduced to one centimeter of scar tissue. In short, a miracle.

Recently, I spoke to one of Praghosa's doctors, Dwarkadisa Prabhu. He told me that the tumor was not only large, but had large tentacles that wrapped itself around the aorta. If it penetrated the cell membrane of the aorta, then he would be dead. He didn't want to discourage Praghosa, but in his mind, there was little chance of survival without divine intervention. "For one that Krsna wants to save no one can kill. For one that Krsna wants to kill no one can save."

The treatment was not only physically demanding but also very expensive. In India it cost $25,000.00, in the USA maybe four times that amount. Plus he and his family had regular living expenses. By the mercy of the worldwide devotees we were able to raise $37,000.00. For this I thank all the devotees in the world who contributed generously with their laxmi and their prayers.

And what has been the result of all this fundraising and prayer? On December 15, 2004, Praghosa Prabhu returned to the streets of New York, and on that first weekend distributed over 300 of Srila Prabhupada's books. Since then, he has distributed thousands of books and has made a commitment to give Srila Prabhupada's books to whomever he meets.

Having gone to the brink of death and come back, has given him an ocean of realization and a new meaning to the title Beyond Birth and Death. He often mentions to people that he has recently had a life-threatening bout with cancer, so when he speaks, it is with vijnana, realized knowledge.

I would now like to make a personal request to all the lovers of the books of His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, to those who not only love to read them but also love to have them distributed. We all know the many statements that Srila Prabhupada made regarding the distribution of his books: "If you want to please me in the best way, distribute my books."

Why would Srila Prabhupada make such a statement? Because these books are what Srila Prabhupada referred to as his transcendental devotional ecstasies. Every single devotee outside of India became a devotee of Krsna by getting the association of His Divine Grace through his ecstasies. Thus we are able not only to associate with Srila Prabhupada at any moment through his books, but also to give Srila Prabhupada's association to every human being on the planet through the distribution of his books.

Many of us at one time or another used to be engaged in directly distributing Srila Prabhupada's books. Because of many factors it may be impossible for many of us to go out and distribute the mercy. Praghosa Prabhu on the other hand has been distributing Srila Prabhupada's books for 32 years.

We understand that Srila Prabhupada is the greatest book distributor in the history of mankind. We in ISKCON, regardless of our service, are in reality only assisting Srila Prabhupada in his service to Krsna. But of all the jivas that have come forward to serve Srila Prabhupada in this most important seva, Praghosa Prabhu was and is the best. Now his commitment is more than redoubled. He has told me that he has again vowed to Srila Prabhupada to dedicate the rest of his life to the distribution of Srila Prabhupada's books.

My request to you is, if you can, donate books to Praghosa Prabhu to distribute to the condition souls. If you buy the books from the BBT and ship them to New York City, then Praghosa can distribute them. If this is too complicated, then donate a little laxmi every month to Praghosa Prabhu for the distribution of Srila Prabhupada's books.

In war, the army has many departments providing backup for the actual warrior on the battlefield. I read once that it takes 10 people behind the scenes for one soldier on the front lines. So even if we individually cannot go on the front lines of the battlefield of Kali by dropping the transcendental bombs of Srila Prabhupada's books onto the laps of the conditioned souls, we can get the same benefit by supporting someone who can. You can contact Praghosa directly and make arrangements for your donation. His email address is pdhedemark@.

Thanks and appreciation from dipika.org to our sponsor and host,

In closing my letter, I would like to prostrate myself before all the Vaisnavas and Vaisnavis who contributed any laxmi or prayers for Praghosa's recuperation. The following is a list of the devotees who contributed. I offer my obeisances again and again at your feet.

Bhakti Balah Puri Maharaja

Ambarisa Prabu

Connie Seymour and son Jim Seymour

Jagannath Misra Prabhu

Pratapana Prabhu

Mrgendra Prabhu

Vatsala Prabhu and Sasikala Mataji

Sauri Prabhu and Syamalasaki Mataji

Drumila Prabhu and Uttara Mataji

Kulasekhara Prabhu

Haripada Prabhu and Phalini Mataji

Mira Szabla

Grazyna Piwowarczyk

Hamsa Avatara Das

Chaitanya Lila Mataji

Sujata dasi

Yogesvara Prabhu

Madhusudhana Prabhu

Sankarsana Prabhu

Jagadhatri Mataji

Niravarati Lal Patel

Sanjiv Astavans

Bhakta Goutam

Vaisesakha Prabhu and Nirakula Mataji

Mandapa Prabhu

Maharsi Prabhu

Pragosa Prabhu

Yadubara Prabhu

Manoj Prasad

Dharmasetu Prabhu

Adikarta Prabhu

Uttamasloka Prabhu

Krsna das Kaviraj Prabhu

Srikant Kasturi

Ravi Sale

Restituto Serrano

Hemant Gandhi

Guy R. Hamilla

Gupta Prabhu

Balaji Megharajan

Tara Kubiak

Anil and Nina Goel

Pandava Vijay Prabhu and Sakuntala Mataji

Maduha Prabhu and Bhagavati Mataji

Mahesh Subramaniam

Syama Mohini Mataji

Suddadeva Prabhu

Satyadev Prabhu

Indranuja Prabhu and Lalitasakhi Mataji

Mirabai Mataji

Indravarta Prabhu

Suparna and Kumarjit Mandal

David and Ettel Dobson

Pretty Gandhi

Darubramha Prabhu

Karnamrita Prabhu and Archanasiddhi Mataji

Syamasundar Prabhu

Paul & Sheila McCloud

Krsnavamani Mataji and Brajeshnanda Prabhu

Rashmi Bajaj

Venkatesh and Priya Patel

Sasirena

Charu Chaitanya Prabhu

Parividdha Prabhu

Kaivalya sundari Mataji

Amit and Rajan Rai

Aristanasana Prabhu and Syama Sundari Mataji

Kripamayi Mataji and Bhakta Randy

Roger Leonard

Prahlad Nrsimha Prabhu and Mausurupa Mataji

Barin and Gopa Chakrabarti

Laxmi Nrsimha Prabhu and Pattarajani Mataji

Sadhusanga Men's Group

Svetalana V. Goubanova

Sapna Dixit

Dharmaprana Prabhu

Nagapatni Mataji

Vaisnava C.A.R.E.

Suresvara Prabhu

Santanu Saha

Drisana Prokoshin

Jayadeva Prabhu and Lila Smarana Mataji

Yogini Mataji

Visoka Prabhu

Radhika Mataji

Chandrabhanu Prabhu and Bhakti Mataji

Devala and Sripati Prabhu

Lila Avatara Prabhu

Gokula Prabhu and Bhaktin Coleen

Bhusaya Prabhu and Syama Mataji

Yogendra Prabhu

Dvibhuja Prabhu and Madhavi Mataji

Bhadra Jagannath Prabhu

Parampara Prabhu

Janakaraj Prabhu

Mallela Prasad Rao

Siddhartha Goel

Gunagrahi Maharaj, George Levinton and Kelly Connor

Bira Krishna Maharaj

Stacey Hlad

Kaushik Chakrabarti

May Srila Prabhupada bless all of you with Nitai-Gour Premananda. I thank all of you from the deepest core of my heart and look forward to sharing kirtan rasa with you. As Srila Prabhupada has said, kirtan rasa is the safest place in the material world.

Praying to always remain your servant,

Udayananda dasa

Mataji108 · April 9, 2005

What an amazing story. AGTSP!

krsna · June 9, 2005

From Praghosa Das

Posted June 2, 2005

All glories to

Srila Prabhupada!

Dear Devotees,

I want to take this opportunity on behalf of Srila Prabhupada to thank all of you who personally rendered some assistance to me this past year in my efforts to overcome a bout with a very serious illness.

His Holiness Radhanath Swami and the wonderful devotees in our Chowpatty Temple serving Sri Sri Radha-Gopinatha kindly gave me full facility to mend while there in the wonderful devotional environment created by all of them. In addition, many devotees sent donations, large and small, to help me offset the costs involved in treating my condition.

I am very well aware that you all did so as a result of your seeing me in relation to whatever small service I may have been fortunate enough to have rendered to His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada in the past or present. It is in our mutual service to Lord Krsna, through our Srila Prabhupada, that we all feel ourselves to be eternally associated. Indeed Srila Prabhupada once assured us that "We will all be together in the spiritual world with Lord Krsna."

Then he somewhat humorously said, "Only Mr. Nair will not be there." Of course we know that even Mr. Nair most probably repented his taking any opposing position to our Srila Prabhupada, and his wife was said to have sought Srila Prabhupada's forgiveness on behalf of her rascal husband later on.

My point is, though, that it was very evident to me that all the devotees who assisted me and/or offered their kind words of encouragement and heartfelt prayers did so specifically on account of our mutual history together as aspiring servants of His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada. Therefore I want to say to all of you "Thank you" for helping me to continue on with my aspirations as they pertain to pleasing our Srila Prabhupada.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Thanks and appreciation from dipika.org to our sponsor and host,

I cannot repay your efforts with an equal amount of money or favor. Neither do I expect that anyone of you ever expected anything like that. I am more aware than ever that just as you took the opportunity to help me when it was most needed, you all hope that I will reciprocate with your efforts by multiplying my efforts to act upon the restoration of my health with an ever greater commitment to the chanting of the Holy Name and the distribution of Srila Prabhupada's merciful glorification of Sri Sri Radha/Govinda, Sri Sri Nitai Gauranga, and our Parampara contained within all of his books.

I want to assure all of you that this is my most heartfelt intention. Please rest assured that I am well aware of precisely why the Lord has so kindly allowed me to regain my health, and I only ask all of you to pray with an equal measure of urgency to Lord Chaitanya and His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada for their vigilant protection of my Krsna Consciousness with every bit as much care and capacity as they have done for my temporary material body.

I also pray that I may be given the opportunity to assist any of you in your service in some capacity or another in the future, even if that would only mean chanting together in kirtan before Their Lordships.

In the end, it is the service of the devotees who have dedicated themselves to the propagation of the Holy Name that brings about our full-blown realization of the perfection of Krsna Consciousness. So if I can serve all of you in some small way by being instrumental in helping yours or anyone's faith in the Holy Name and His emissary Srila Prabhupada to manifest and/or increase, then your efforts to help me correct my physical setback will have been successful.

I want you all to know that by the kind mercy of Lord Chaitanya and our Srila Prabhupada, I have been allowed once again the pleasure of distributing some two to three hundred small books for Srila Prabhupada each week and am fully able to attend the morning program with renewed vigor and strength. So I have been given a reprieve for some time, and I want to thank all of you who assisted me during this test or lesson from the Lord.

I look forward to serving our Srila Prabhupada with all of you, directly or indirectly, Krsna willing, for a long time to come.

Sincerely,

Praghosa Das ACBSP

I would love to hear from you. My address is pdhedemark@