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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

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

My dear nephews and nieces in Krishna consciousness, disciples of Bhakti Charu Maharaja,

Please accept my best wishes. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

At 8.30am this morning, Florida time, I received a phone call from one of your more senior Godbrothers who is currently there. He was in a deeply emotional state, and I immediately understood what he had called me about, before he could even tell me. Your Guru Maharaja had departed from this world, back to Srila Prabhupada and Srimati Radharani

My Dear Spiritual Nieces and Nephews/Disciples of His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

All glories to His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami.

I write with a very heavy heart. I can only imagine the sense of grief and pain you must all be feeling today, experiencing the separation of His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami.

Your Guru Maharaja was truly an exceptional Vaishnava, spiritual master, and human being. All who knew him, including all

July 4, 2020

My dear Bhakti Charu Maharaja,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

When you first met Srila Prabhupada he recognized you as a special soul, so much so that within a short time he accepted you as a sannyasi disciple. For the next 45 years you faithfully kept your difficult vows, travelling constantly, promoting Krishna consciousness in service to Srila Prabhupada. Your astonishing, flawless legacy will forever inspire all of Srila Prabhupada’s follow

Dear Devotees,

Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

It is with overwhelming heartache that we announce to you the departure of our beloved godbrother and a dearmost servant of Srila Prabhupada, His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami.

From his earliest days as a young devotee, Maharaja had the extraordinary privilege of serving as one of Srila Prabhupada’s confidential, personal servants. And ever since, His Holiness Bhakti Charu Maharaja’s life has been an offering of

Sri Guru-purnima, or Vyasa-purnima, is the divine disappearance day of Srila Sanatana Gosvami, the eldest of the Six Gosvamis of Vrndavana. The authorized poet Sri Kavi-karnapura, in his book Caitanya-candrodaya-nataka (9.34, 35, 38), quoted in Sri Caitanya-caritamrta (Madhya 24.348–350), tells how Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu blessed Sanatana Gosvami with His specific mercy.

gaudendrasya sabha-vibhusana-manis tyaktva ya rddham sriyam
rupasyagraja esa eva tarunim vairagya-laksmim dadhe
antar-bhakti-

Each year more than 70 lakh people from different parts of the world visit Mayapur, the birthplace of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and headquarter of ISKCON. Over the years Mayapur has evolved as a significant tourist destination of not only West Bengal but the entire world. However this year the global pandemic cast a spell of gloom on the devotees, pilgrims and visitors all over the world who come in search of spiritual enlightenment and submerge in the blissful ocean of Harinam Sankirtan.

After