My dear disciples of His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
I will not attempt to imagine the pain and emotions you are going through at this moment after the departure of your beloved Guru Maharaja. I can only join Anuttama Prabhu’s memory of the pain and emotions we experienced when His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada left this mortal world. Although we were aware that Srila Prabhupada was very sick at t
Maharaja, please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
The last time we met was in the month of May, 2018, in California where we were both attending a Cow Culture Conference. It was the first time I was hearing from you about your project in Florida where you explained that in North America we must provide special facilities for cows due to the harsh temperatures. You had recently acquired 120 acres of land for that purpose close to Orlando. I was happy to hear of your
Today is a day of intense mourning, the day that Srila Bhakti Charu Swami left this mortal world, and has gone to serve in His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada’s pastimes. For a pure devotee such as Bhakti Charu Maharaj there is no lamentation, as he is continuing his service in another location. However, for those of us who will be bereft of his association, it is hard to imagine continuing our lives without him.
Maharaj was my dearest friend. Once a devotee inquired from me as to who was my clos
One day you asked me not to cook for you, saying, “You can see that I can’t eat anything. Still, why are you cooking? You have so many things to do. Why are you wasting your time cooking for me?”
I told you, “I cook, hoping that someday you will feel better and would like to eat something.”
You replied, “I will get better only when I leave this world.”
I broke down crying. In a very soothing voice you said, “Is this what you learnt from me? Is this what I taught you? Didn’t I say, didn’t I teach
Brother of Gentle Demeanor
By Bhaktimarga Swami
Oh Brother of gentle demeanor,
I am your irrefutable junior.
When I look at all you’ve done,
Nothing short of making that homerun,
I am humbled by your limitless energy.
And now you leave us that memory,
Of absolute conviction to go,
Where a target receives a clean throw.
You aim your desires so right,
And anchor turbulence at a fight.
You offer a calm where there isn’t,
And subdue a storm you see as incumbent.
You go out of your way to cook for u
By Bhanu Swami
There is no question of honoring any devotee of Krishna since such a devotee is very rare.
However, if the devotee exhibits the qualities mentioned in Bhagavatam and Caitanya Caritamrta, how much more we must honor that devotee.
HH Bhakti Charu Swami was known by all who met him as the most gentle, humble, compassionate and learned devotee. Everyone valued his association. Thus, in his absence there will feelings of great loss for everyone.
But for his disciples there will be ext
Dear devotees, Please accept my greetings and the blessings of Lord Krishna. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
More than anything concerning the disappearance of Bhakti Caru Swami I am solaced by the appreciation of his character and service expressed by his godbrothers and leaders of ISKCON. I believe ISKCON above everything is meant to carry on the vision and mission of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu that Srila Prabhupada revealed to the world. However, that vision and mission especially becomes ali
Dear devotees,
May Srila Prabhupada shower his blessings on you. All glories to His Divine Grace.
We’ve just lost one of ISKCON’s most important leaders, His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami, who succumbed to Covid19 and the complications it brought on. He departed on the auspicious day of guru-purnima, which is also the disappearance day of Srila Sanatana Gosvami, a befitting day for one who relished sharing his realizations of Sri Brhad-bhagavatamrta, even before the BBT published Gopiparandhana P
Dear Devotees,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. All glories to Srila Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja.
It is so, so harrowing to endure the departure of someone we love. Indeed there are so many specialists who deal exclusively with helping people through such upheaval and loss. I lost my mother nearly 50 years ago and I still remember that day so vividly, as the trauma at the time was as unbearable as I could have imagined.
Thus it is not surprising to see so muc
I first heard Srila Bhakti Charu Maharaja speak in 1987. He was giving a Srimad Bhagavatam class at the Krishna Balarama Mandir. I was immediately impressed by his speech, his deep empathy, compassion and narrative. After the class I followed him into the reception area of our Krishna Balarama Guesthouse to speak to him. I thanked him for the inspiring talk and invited him to South Africa. Over the coming years he would fondly remind me that I was the first to invite him to South Africa.
Subseq
Brief compilation with personal concluding words by Bhakti Brhat Bhagavata Swami
First Meeting with Devotees
Sarvabhavana Prabhu, who joined ISKCON recalls, “I and a friend of mine, who later became His Holiness Bhakti Caru Swami, went from Calcutta to Hamburg in 1970. There we met the devotees for the first time and accepted an invitation for the Sunday feast. [Srila Prabhupada and Disciples in Germany by Vedavyasa Dasa]
A Cultured Young Man
One day an unusual, young Bengali man came to Mayapu
“Bhakti Charu Maharaj in the final days of Srila Prabhupada was amongst the entourage of Prabhupada. He used to render personal service, so Prabhupada rang the bell and Bhakti Charu Maharaj went. Prabhupada asked for some orange juice and Bhakti Charu Maharaj said “yes Srila Prabhupada I will bring”. And then 5 minutes later the bell rang again but this time the bell was ringing firmer, Prabhupada was ringing urgently. Bhakti Charu Maharaj went and Prabhupada said “So where is the orange juice?”
On July 4th is typically a day of great celebration for Americans but this year it is a day of great remorse. The citizens of this country are so deeply divided I can only wonder how we will be able to continue forward as one great nation. No matter where you sit on the political spectrum our collective future looks very bleak.
Yet what is even more disturbing than all the unrest, turmoil and lawlessness that has dominated the news is the fact that the world lost a very great soul last night tha
Dear Devotees,
Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
As we all try to come to terms with the tremendous loss we have faced, we would like to share more with you about HH Bhakti Charu Maharaja’s departure and what will now follow, logistically.
On the most auspicious day of Sri Guru Purnima, the first day of the holy month of Sravana and Caturmasya, and the divine disappearance day of Srila Sanatana Goswami, July 4th, 2020 at approximately 8:30 am EDT, our dear Bh
“Where will I find that loving smile filled with care and affection that made you feel so important though you are worthless...., that caused you to remember Prabhupada in any circumstance..., that was pure sweetness… I am so angry at you for leaving me here unprotected.
Why did you decide to go back to Srila Prabhupada's Lotus Feet not caring for how we would be unable to tolerate you departure?
With whom shall I laugh reading those signs in Italian that ha
His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami, a beloved disciple of Srila Prabhupada, GBC member, ISKCON initiating spiritual master, and Gaudiya Vaishnava sannyasi, passed away the morning of July 4th due to complications related to COVID-19. He was 74 years old.
His passing coincides with the auspicious day of the disappearance day of Srila Sanatana Goswami, the first month of Caturmasya,
Dear disciples of Bhakti Charu Maharaja,
Please accept my most humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
On this auspicious day of Guru Purnima I want to express my condolences to all of you on the departure of your beloved spiritual master, Bhakti Charu Maharaja. I had planned to write an offering to him today, but I feel a letter to console all of you in your grief would be of greater service to him.
My heart goes out to all of you wherever you are in the world. The outpouring of lo
You are all aware by now of the passing of HH Bhakti Caru Swami Maharaja. Most if not all of you would be well aware that he was an outstanding disciple of Srila Prabhupada and a great leader in Prabhupada’s ISKCON.
Under the circumstances it would be appropriate for all ISKCON centers to observe his departure with a special program, or even more than one special program, bearing in mind, of course, the current situations in different parts of the world because of the same Corona virus which ha
