
Just few weeks before His Holiness Bhakti Tirtha Swami Maharaj left this world, His Holiness had requested Srila Guru Maharaja to visit the West African countries and to care for His disciples there. Since the time His Holiness Bhakti Tirtha Swami left this material world, Srila Guru Maharaja had visited Ghana and Nigeria once in the Year 2006 and 2007 respectively. Unfortunately, Srila Guru Maharaja had not visited the West African countries ever since Srila Guru Maharaja fell ill in 2008.
Now, after a gap of almost six years, Srila Guru Maharaja visited West African countries this year. Earlier, we were informed to visit Nigeria but due to the recent political situations there, it was best to avoid and instead, we were told to visit Accra, Ghana. Without wasting any further time, we landed in Accra on the night of 21st May. On the next day, 22nd May, His Grace Srivas Prabhu who is the Regional Secretary for Accra arranged for an evening house program in the city which is about 40mins drive from the place where we were staying. Srila Guru Maharaja together with all the servants, stayed in one devotee’s house which was located next to the Accra ISKCON Temple.
Srila Guru Maharaj wanted to pay His respects and take Darshan of Sri Sri Radha Govinda, who are the Presiding Deities of ISKCON Accra, before proceeding for the program, but it was already 7.45pm! All the servants reminded Srila Guru Maharaja and tried to persuade Him that we should leave for the House Programme immediately as it will take an additional 30 minutes (to go for darshan) and the house program starts at 8pm. However, who can stop Srila Guru Maharaj? Therefore, upon the insistence of Srila Guru Maharaja, we escorted Srila Guru Maharaj to the Temple for the Darshan of Sri Sri Radha Govinda before leaving for the house program. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the Temple, we noticed that the Altar was closed! Again, we insisted that Srila Guru Maharaj should leave without wasting any more time in the Temple. Srila Guru Maharaj made it very clear, with His stern voice he said “I am not leaving without seeing the deities. I will just take darshan from inside the car”.
Few local devotees who were around us also quipped that the Pujaris are changing Their Lordships Veshas (dress) and it may take another 10 minutes or so before the Altar curtain is opened for Darshan. Hearing this, Srila Guru Maharaj was quiet for a minute or two. We then asked the driver to move out from the Temple’s courtyard slowly. Just as the Driver moved the car slowly, we heard the sound of the Conch! The curtain then opened and Srila Guru Maharaj told the Driver to stop the car immediately. Srila Guru Maharaj then had a nice Darshan of Sri Sri Radha Govinda for about 3 minutes before we all finally took off for the House Program.
This was the first House Program for the day and it was arranged in the house of one of Srila Guru Maharaj’s aspiring disciple. The Program begun at around 9pm and ended about 11pm. After the Program, Srila Guru Maharaj was having his dinner in the car on the way back to where we were staying for the trip.
The time was almost 11.45pm, just about 2 kilometres before reaching the residence, one of the car’s tyres burst! The car went out of control. The car practically went zig-zag and spun 360 degrees for four times! While this was happening, all of us were all screaming Krsna, Krsna! Nrsingha Dev, Nrsingha Dev! The car then finally stopped moving and we were all totally shocked and were clueless.
Some of us then got out of the car and quickly checked the surroundings to ensure that we are not in the middle of the road. We also saw the whole back of the car was inside a 3 feet depth drain with the front of the car on the shoulder of the highway! We all knew that by the mercy of Lord Krsna and Nrsimha Dev, we were all saved that night! Not even a scratch on any one of us, yes not even a scratch! We then approached Guru Maharaj to make sure he is doing fine. He said, “I am ok.” Then he told Haridas Prabhu to give him a bread and little cheese on top. (He resumed his dinner while sitting so cool as if nothing happened) Several local people came running towards our car. We saw the completely surprised looks on their faces. They inquired if we were all fine and went on to say, . “Your god is great, Oh my god! We cannot believe this. We saw how the car was spinning and landed crashing into the drain. We thought you guys are finished. But not even a scratch? Uhhhh!” In less than a minute, out of nowhere, a tow truck arrived at the scene! It was middle of the night, somewhere at the outskirts of the city, in Accra and a tow truck appearing in less than a minute? Yes, totally unbelievable! The tow truck guys came and immediately sprang into action. They towed our Toyota Land Cruiser out from the drain while Srila Guru Maharaj was still sitting in the car. They also helped to change the tyre and left with some reasonable amount. All these, happened in less than 15 minutes!
In some parts of the world, it is quite a norm where tow-truck guys will throw some sharp objects on the roads and sit in hiding waiting for their next victim to drive through the sharp objects. As soon as they do, their tyres will go flat and tow-truck guys will spring into actions. They will do everything and give a very hefty bill at the end. This is how most of them make a living! We were hoping the guys who helped us to fix the car were not like these unscrupulous ones. The locals were still amazed and were unable to believe that we were all saved without a scratch despite the car turning and crashing so violently. They were convinced that it was only possible through some miracle and by God’s act that we were saved. We were all of course knew that Lord Krsna had taken charge of the whole incident and it was through His mercy only that all of us escaped without even a scratch on our bodies.
The next morning, I was still pondering over the accident. Most of us were still in the state of shock and we were still talking about it. More than anything, it was unbelievable how we all escaped the whole crash without even a scratch on our bodies. I told Guru Maharaj that, Ruci prabhu and I were discussing how we felt the car was wobbling and we said to each other that hopefully the tyres will stay in and not come out while we were on the road. Srila Guru Maharaj interrupted our conversation and chastised us “You guys are Brahmins, and Brahmins should never speak with negative words.” You see, “hopefully the tyre would not come out”, is negative in nature and it did almost become true!
Brahmins should always talk positively even though situations may seem to be negative. Srila Guru Maharaj went on to give an example that we should have said “By Krsna's mercy hope nothing happens to the tyre and we would reach safely." Also Srila Guru Maharaj said, “Radha Govinda saved us. I told you guys to take Darshan of the Lord before leaving for the program, and hope now you know how important it is to have Darshan of the Lord?!”
Your Servant,
Maha Varaha das
(on Behalf all the servants)