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Should we lament on someone's death?

Posted by Radhe Goswami on July 16, 2013 at 8:48pm in Krishna

My Dearest and Beloved Devotees,
Please accept my humble obeisance. All glories to Srila Prabhupada,

I want to know,

Should we lament when our near and dear one (if not a a devotee of krishna/ shiva or is a devotee of THEM) dies? Because as a devotee we have already known the fact that after death it goes to Krishna.

So how to react in the situation when we see someone is dying..

I am eagerfully waiting for the reply, Thank you very much in advance and forgive me if i am offensive to my dearest devotees.

My best regards ever,

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Replies

  • Volunteer
    Mohini Madhavi July 17, 2013 at 3:23pm
    2539607728?profile=original
    (1)
    je anilo prema-dhana koruna pracur
    heno prabhu kotha gela acarya-thakur

    (2)
    kaha mora swarup rupa kaha sanatan
    kaha dasa raghunatha patita-pavan

    (3)
    kaha mora bhatta-juga kaha kaviraj
    eka-kale kotha gela gora nata-raj

    (4)
    pashane kutibo matha anale pasibo
    gauranga gunera nidhi kotha gele pabo

    (5)
    se-saba sangira sange je koilo bilas
    se-sanga na paiya kande narottama das
     
    (1) He who brought the treasure of divine love and who was filled with compassion and mercy—where has such a personality as Srinivasa Acarya gone?

    (2) Where are my Svarupa Damodara and Rupa Gosvami? Where is Sanatana? Where is Raghunatha dasa, the savior of the fallen?

    (3) Where are my Raghunatha Bhatta and Gopala Bhatta, and where is Krishnadasa Kaviraja? Where did Lord Gauranga, the great dancer, suddenly go?

    (4) I will smash my head against the rock and enter into the fire. Where will I find Lord Gauranga, the reservoir of all wonderful qualities?

    (5) Being unable to obtain the association of Lord Gauranga accompanied by all of these devotees in whose association He performed His pastimes, Narottama dasa simply weeps.
  • Shubham July 16, 2013 at 11:45pm
    His Divine Grace
    Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Prabhupāda's
    Disappearance Day, Lecture
    —
    Los Angeles, December 9, 1968

    (Prabhupāda leads kīrtana)

    Prabhupāda: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Come on. I was thinking of "Where is Jayānanda?" now immediately he has come. (someone brings some kind of offering and Śrīla Prabhupāda says to give it to his Guru Mahārāja) Take care it may not fall down. (pause) All right.

    So today is the disappearance day of my Guru Mahārāja. As I told you that sādhavo jīva vā mara vā. There was a nice story the other day I told you that a sage is giving different kinds of blessings to different types of persons. So to a king's son, a prince, he blessed, rāja-putra ciraṁ jīva: "You are a king's son, a prince. You live forever." And muni-putra, the son of a saintly person, he blessed him, mā jīva mā jīva: "You don't live." Rāja-putra ciraṁ muni-putra mā jīva. And sādhu, devotees, he blessed him, jīva vā mara vā: "Either you live or you die, as you like." And there was a butcher, he blessed him, mā jīva mā mara: "You don't die, don't live." So these words are very significant. That I have already explained, still I am explaining. A prince, he's enjoying sense, that's all. He has got enough facility for sense enjoyment. So his next life is hellish. Because if you indulge in sex life, then Kṛṣṇa will give you facility to have sex life three times in an hour, just like the pigeons, the monkeys, the sparrows, they are very sexually strong. You have seen it. So the facility is given. So princely order, they are after sense enjoyment. So he's blessed that "Better you live forever, because after your death, you do not know what is going to happen to you. You are going to get a hellish life. Better you live for some time. Go on with your enjoyment." And muni-putra mā jīva. Brahmacārī, working under the guidance under strict disciplinary guidance, of a spiritual master, he is blessed, mā jīva, "You better die. Because you are so trained to enter into the kingdom of God, so why should you take so much trouble? Better you die and go back to Godhead." Ma jīva. And a devotee he blessed, jīva va maro va: "My dear devotee, either you live or die, the same thing." And the butcher, he blessed him, ma jīva ma mara: "You don't live, don't die." What he's to do? His living condition is so abominable. From the morning, he has to slaughter so many animals, see the bloodstain, the ghastly scene. That is his livelihood. So what a horrible life this is. So "Don't live. And don't die also." Because after death, oh, he is going to be in so much hellish condition, nobody can describe. So both lives, living condition and death, after death, his condition is very horrible.

    Anyway, apart from others, the devotee, for him, appearance and disappearance the same thing. Just like when my spiritual master appeared at Jagannātha Purī... He was the son of a very big government officer, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. He was magistrate, government officer. In those days a magistrate is a big officer in the government, practically next to governor. And Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura was in charge of the Jagannātha temple. That is the system in Jagannātha Purī. The manager in charge of the temple is the district magistrate. So there was a Ratha-yātrā festival, and the car was passing in front of Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura's house. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura's name was Kedaranath Datta. When he was magistrate, he was known as K.N. Datta. Kedaranath Datta. So the car stopped before his house, and at that time, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, a child in the lap of his mother. The mother took the opportunity of rising on the car. He (She) was magistrate's wife, so he (she) had the facility. Immediately, people gave her way to go on the top of the car and place the child on the lotus feet of Jagannātha. And there were many garlands. One garland fell upon him, Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī, blessings. This was one of the... There were so many other things.

    When he was a child two, three years old, he ate one mango fruit which was kept for offering to the Deity. So his father mildly rebuked him, "Oh, you have done a very wrong thing. It was meant for Deity, and you have taken it. You should not have done it." The child was two or three years old. He took it so seriously that never after that he took mango. Whenever we offered him mango he said, "No, I am offender. I cannot take mango." He was thinking like that, you see. Never in his life he took a mango. He was thinking that "I offended in my childhood by taking the mango of the Deity." This is the characteristic of ācārya. They teach by their life's action that one should be so much determined, that one should not be... A child took the mango, there was no offense. But he took that vow.

    Another instance, in my presence. At that time, we were also young men, and one of my Godbrothers, his name is Dr. Oul Bihari Kapoor... He's now retired in Vṛndāvana, last time I saw him. He was also young man, and his wife was also young. So we were sitting together, talking with Guru Mahārāja, and the girl proposed, "My dear master, I want to speak with you." So Guru Mahārāja said, "Yes, you can talk whatever you like." So she said, "I want to talk with you secretly, not in the presence of everyone." Guru Mahārāja said, "No. I cannot talk with you secretly. You can talk in the presence of my all other disciples." So even that girl was just like his granddaughter by age calculation, he refused to talk with a young woman in a secret place. These are the instances.
    sarasvati -- the goddess of learning -- Sanskrit Dictionary
    sarasvati -- the goddess of learning
    • Shubham > Shubham July 16, 2013 at 11:52pm
      Conversations : 1977 Conversations : February, 1977 : Evening Darsana -- February 15, 1977, Mayapura : 770215ed.may :

      Prabhupāda: Jīvo vā māro vā: "Either you live or you die, it doesn't matter." And for butcher, nā jīvo nā māro: "Don't die; don't live. So long you are living, every morning you have to cut throat of so many. And if you die you shall go to hell and suffer for this cutting throat. So don't live; don't die." And for a devotee: "Live or die." And for prince, king's son. "Don't die." And for brahmacārī... [break]

      Conversations : 1977 Conversations : February, 1977 : Evening Darsana -- February 15, 1977, Mayapura : 770215ed.may :

      Prabhupāda: So this will give impetus to Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati [Bg. 4.7]. Don't be disappointed. Kṛṣṇa will act through His movement and kill them, these demons. How it will be done, that you cannot know now, but it will be done. Let us remain true soldiers. That's all. And if it is a fight, suppose we die in the fight. The fight means with vow, with determination either to gain victory or die. Because it is fight against māyā, why we shall be afraid of being killed? Where there is fight, one must know that "Either I am going to be killed or gain victory." Jīvo vā māro vā. Those who are devotees, either they live or they die—the same thing. While they live they are serving Kṛṣṇa; when they die they will serve Kṛṣṇa. Jīvo vā māro vā. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti [Bg. 4.9]. He goes to Kṛṣṇa. (laughs) So what is the loss? We are working for Kṛṣṇa, and if we die we go to Kṛṣṇa. So what is the loss? Same business.

      SO I THINK YOU UNDERSTOOD IT BUT YES THE LOSS OF A VAISHNAVA FROM THIS WORLD IS NOT REPLACABLE.

      Although there are many faults in this material world, there is one good opportunity, the association with devotees

      Expressions researched:
      "although there are many faults in this material world, there is one good opportunity" |"the association with devotees"

      Sri Caitanya-caritamrta

      CC Madhya-lila

      "O great learned devotee, although there are many faults in this material world, there is one good opportunity—the association with devotees. Such association brings about great happiness. Due to this good quality, our strong desire to achieve liberation by merging into the Brahman effulgence has become weakened."
      CC Madhya 24.125, Translation and Purport:

      “"O great learned devotee, although there are many faults in this material world, there is one good opportunity—the association with devotees. Such association brings about great happiness. Due to this good quality, our strong desire to achieve liberation by merging into the Brahman effulgence has become weakened."

      This is a quotation from the Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya.

    • Shubham > Shubham July 16, 2013 at 11:47pm
      Books : Srimad-Bhagavatam : Canto 4: "The Creation of the Fourth Order" : SB 4.27: Attack by Candavega on the City of King Puranjana: the Character of Kalakanya : SB 4.27.12 : PURPORT :

      In this verse the words priya-yoṣitām and apriyaḥ are very significant. The word yoṣit means “woman,” and priya means “dear” or “pleasing.” Death is not very much welcome for those who are too much attached to material enjoyment, which culminates in sex. There is an instructive story in this connection. Once when a saintly person was passing on his way, he met a prince, the son of a king, and he blessed him, saying, “My dear prince, may you live forever.” The sage next met a saintly person and said to him, “You may either live or die.” Eventually the sage met a brahmacārī devotee, and he blessed him, saying, “My dear devotee, you may die immediately.” Finally the sage met a hunter, and he blessed him, saying, “Neither live nor die.” The point is that those who are very sensual and are engaged in sense gratification do not wish to die. Generally a prince has enough money to enjoy his senses; therefore the great sage said that he should live forever, for as long as he lived he could enjoy life, but after his death he would go to hell. Since the brahmacārī devotee was leading a life of severe austerities and penances in order to be promoted back to Godhead, the sage said that he should die immediately so that he need not continue to labor hard and could instead go back home, back to Godhead. A saintly person may either live or die, for during his life he is engaged in serving the Lord and after his death he also serves the Lord. Thus this life and the next are the same for a saintly devotee, for in both he serves the Lord. Since the hunter lives a very ghastly life due to killing animals, and since he will go to hell when he dies, he is advised to neither live nor die. 

  • Shubham July 16, 2013 at 11:43pm

    HARI BOL NITYANANDA GAURANGA

    JAI ACHRYAS JAI VAISHANAVS!

    Yes and No.

    Yes because  we have lost association of a Vaishnava. Now who will give us care and mercy?

    No because a devotee lives in this world to preach and after disappearance goes to Supreme Lord. There is no reason to lament.

  • Harshikesh Bhattacharya July 16, 2013 at 9:21pm

    Dear Radhe Prabhuji,

    When a near and dear relative (who was not a Vaishnava) passes away, there is no need to lament but still our attitude should be grave and we should perform all the Vedic rites. This is a social protocol. 

    Hare Krishna 

    Harshikesh Bhattacharya

    • Radhe Goswami > Harshikesh Bhattacharya July 16, 2013 at 9:29pm

      But, if the person is Vaishnava, then should we lament ?

      • Harshikesh Bhattacharya > Radhe Goswami July 16, 2013 at 11:45pm

        When Srila Prabhupada disappeared from this material world, all the devotees lamented. It is quite natural to feel the absence of such great Vaishnavas. But at a second thought, we should not lament for them as after all they are enjoying the association of Krishna and other liberated souls. Even in this case, the attitude should be grave but we should not lament.

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