ISKCON Mourns and Pays Tribute to His Excellency Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi

By Krsangi Radhe Dasi

It is with gratitude and deep sadness that ISKCON extends their heartfelt condolences to the Family of Prince Buthelezi, the Zulu Nation, and followers of Prince Buthelezi, Founder and President Emeritus of the Inkatha Freedom Party.

ISKCON’s relationship with Prince Buthelezi dates back over four decades, wherein he helped secure the land on which the beautiful temple of Sri Sri Radha Radhanath in Durban was built. He was also a special guest at the temple opening on October 18th, 1985. After that, he often visited the temple on many occasions.

“His steadfast commitment to promoting culture, peace, love and togetherness was demonstrated through his various acts of support for our Food For Life projects, Festival of Chariots, and other outreach events,” said Krsangi Radhe Dasi, of the Communications Ministry for ISKCON’s South African National Council (SANC). Prince Buthelezi offered his full support to ISKCON and was always obliging to either send messages of well-wishes or personally be present at many of their celebrations. Not only was he an advocate for democracy, he was also a leader who openly embraced cultural diversity. A live interview in front of the Durban temple, celebrating this close relationship, was broadcast on Newzroom Afrika.

“We believe that all his excellent work within the community and his selfless service to God and the people of South Africa will ease his onward journey. Prince Buthelezi will be remembered as a man who stood for righteousness and carried out his duties in the most polite and remarkable manner,” Krsangi Radhe Dasi continued, “Devotees worldwide stand with the Zulu Nation and mourn his passing, for he will forever be remembered within ISKCON. We also offer our gratitude to his family for sharing Prince Buthelezi with us and pray that Lord Krishna gives you all strength during this time of mourning.”

Read more: https://iskconnews.org/iskcon-mourns-and-pays-tribute-to-his-excellency-prince-mangosuthu-buthelezi/

Even though i was born in a white body this time, from early childhood black culture, music and people have had a strong and positive place in my life. In my childhood the music i listened to was old black blues from the 20s and 30s like Leadbelly, Robert Johnson and Mississippi John Hurt. Later on it was the current black music of the times, and one of my favorite movies of all time was the powerful true story of how the great Zulu warriors of South Africa dealt with the invading British soldiers at one of their final battles. That movie was called Zulu, and as a ksatriya-natured person it really moved my spiritual warrior's heart in a profound and very powerful way.

The movie was the true story of what happened at one of the last battles between a small band of British soldiers stationed at an outpost on or near the homelands of the great Zulu Nation and the entire army of Zulu warriors totalling more than ten thousand. The British soldiers fought vigilantly from within the walls of the small fortress while they were attacked over a number of days from outside by the Zulu army of warriors. It is well-known that the Zulus are among the greatest and most powerful natural fighters in the world, along with the Sikhs from India, the Gurkhas from Nepal and the great Native American warriors from North America.

On the last night of fighting, most of the British soldiers had been killed and just before dawn there was a lull in the fighting while the handful of survivors, most of them wounded, wondered what happened. Not knowing how many Zulus they had been facing, some of them speculated they might have won the battle, so they took some time just before sunrise to relax and recoup. As it got light they realized they had not understood the gravity of the situation as at first a rumbling sound began that continued to increase in volume, and one by one the hilltops were covered by hundreds, then thousands of Zulu warriors rattling their spears on their shields to make the fearsome noise they were hearing. One of the British soldiers who also spoke Zulu said to the handful of soldiers who were still alive... "Looks like this is it for us, men... there's no way we're getting out of this." At that moment the rumbling sound stopped as an elder Zulu Chief stepped forward and said something in Zulu.

The soldier who understood the language was silent as tears welled in his eyes, and the other soldiers urged him to tell them what the Chief had said and what was happening. As every hilltop in a full circle around them filled with thousands of Zulu warriors who then one by one turned and walked away, he told his fellow soldiers... "He says they are letting us go. They respect us and our fighting spirit and they are retreating and letting us go."

I am emotional just remembering this story of this profound example of the spiritual warrior spirit of the great Zulu people that was so beautifully exemplified over the years by His Excellency Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi in his dealings with Srila Prabhupad's movement and the devotees.

All glories to His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupad.
All glories to His Excellency Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi.

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Comments

Craig Joseph Nanda Kumar das September 14, 2023 at 1:28am

Even though i was born in a white body this time, from early childhood black culture, music and people have had a strong and positive place in my life. In my childhood the music i listened to was old black blues from the 20s and 30s like Leadbelly, Robert Johnson and Mississippi John Hurt. Later on it was the current black music of the times, and one of my favorite movies of all time was the powerful true story of how the great Zulu warriors of South Africa dealt with the invading British soldiers at one of their final battles. That movie was called Zulu, and as a ksatriya-natured person it really moved my spiritual warrior's heart in a profound and very powerful way.

The movie was the true story of what happened at one of the last battles between a small band of British soldiers stationed at an outpost on or near the homelands of the great Zulu Nation and the entire army of Zulu warriors totalling more than ten thousand. The British soldiers fought vigilantly from within the walls of the small fortress while they were attacked over a number of days from outside by the Zulu army of warriors. It is well-known that the Zulus are among the greatest and most powerful natural fighters in the world, along with the Sikhs from India, the Gurkhas from Nepal and the great Native American warriors from North America.

On the last night of fighting, most of the British soldiers had been killed and just before dawn there was a lull in the fighting while the handful of survivors, most of them wounded, wondered what happened. Not knowing how many Zulus they had been facing, some of them speculated they might have won the battle, so they took some time just before sunrise to relax and recoup. As it got light they realized they had not understood the gravity of the situation as at first a rumbling sound began that continued to increase in volume, and one by one the hilltops were covered by hundreds, then thousands of Zulu warriors rattling their spears on their shields to make the fearsome noise they were hearing. One of the British soldiers who also spoke Zulu said to the handful of soldiers who were still alive... "Looks like this is it for us, men... there's no way we're getting out of this." At that moment the rumbling sound stopped as an elder Zulu Chief stepped forward and said something in Zulu.

The soldier who understood the language was silent as tears welled in his eyes, and the other soldiers urged him to tell them what the Chief had said and what was happening. As every hilltop in a full circle around them filled with thousands of Zulu warriors who then one by one turned and walked away, he told his fellow soldiers... "He says they are letting us go. They respect us and our fighting spirit and they are retreating and letting us go."

I am emotional just remembering this story of this profound example of the spiritual warrior spirit of the great Zulu people that was so beautifully exemplified over the years by His Excellency Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi in his dealings with Srila Prabhupad's movement and the devotees.

All glories to His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupad.
All glories to His Excellency Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi.

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