A devotee's departure
The news that Srila Prabhupada had decided to live spread quickly through the ISKCON world. Especially in Vrndavana, the devotees became more light-hearted and thankful. One afternoon, later in the month, Hari-sauri came into Prabhupada's room with good news. "I was in Delhi yesterday, Srila Prabhupada. I spoke to one of the temple presidents in Australia, and he gave me a very encouraging report. He said that all the Indian Gitas that we got just recently are almost completely distributed. That's over 11,000 books in a few weeks."
Prabhupada gave an enthusiastic "Hmmm!" Hari-sauri described how the book distribution had doubled in Australia recently. The devotees there had reasoned that if Lord Krsna was pleased with their efforts, He might take their daily prayers seriously, and allow Srila Prabhupada to stay with them.
Hari-sauri reported how New Govardhana farm was receiving many visitors. Devotees there were planning a two-day festival for Govardhana-puja, and expected hundreds of guests. The farm, Hari-sauri pointed out, was special. Although many people in the surrounding districts had tried to establish their own communities, they had not been successful. Because there was no central point, the people would stay for a while, and then go their own way. New Govardhana, he said, particularly due to kirtana and prasadam, had achieved more in six months than other communities had achieved in six years.
Tuesday, 25 October 1977
Hari-sauri entered Srila Prabhupada's room and reported the death of an Australian devotee in Bhubaneswar. He told Srila Prabhupada that Samjata had joined the Melbourne temple at age 51 after leaving his family life. Being an architect, he had come to India to work with Saurabha on designs for a temple in Haridaspur, and had recently been working under Gour Govinda Maharaja in Bhubaneswar. He had contracted a virulent brain virus, his health had deteriorated rapidly and he had left his body the previous day. Hari-sauri wondered about Samjata's destination after death.
"Is Bhubaneswar part of Jagannatha Puri dhama?"
Prabhupada, appearing frail and thin, was resting on the bed, but answered definitively, "Oh, yes."
"Is that a guarantee for going home, if someone leaves their body in the dhama?"
"At least," Prabhupada answered, "he gets high standard of life for many years. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gita." He asked Hari-sauri to find the relevant verses in Bhagavad-gita, and Hari-sauri read aloud from Chapter 6, verses 41 to 43.
"The unsuccessful yogi after many, many years of enjoyment on the planets of the pious living entities, is born into a family of righteous people or into a family of rich aristocracy, or he takes his birth in a family of transcendentalists who are surely great in wisdom. Verily, such a birth is rare in this world, and taking such a birth, he again revives the divine consciousness of his previous life, and he tries to make further progress in order to achieve complete success, O son of Kuru."
Thus Srila Prabhupada confirmed Samjata's auspicious future.
- From "The Great Transcendental Adventure" by HG Kurma Prabhu
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