Today in Vrindavan is a memorial program for Srila Prabhupada’s dear disciple Parvati devi dasi. I wrote a letter to her for the occasion:
My dear Parvati Devi,
Please accept my humble, respectful obeisances. All glories to our eternal spiritual master and savior, Srila Prabhupada.
Now you have left us—on Mohini Ekadasi, in Vrindavan—and we are feeling your separation. But as Srila Prabhupada said, when a Vaishnava leaves we feel both happy and sad: happy because we know they are going to serve Krishna, but sad because we will miss their association.
You led a glorious life in service to His Divine Grace, as I witnessed firsthand in Juhu and later in Vrindavan. Srila Prabhupada said, “Bombay is my office,” and you helped keep his office running smoothly and progressively.
He also said, “Vrindavan is my home,” and it is so quite literally, even now, because he is in his samadhi there, and you have rendered steadfast, intimate service to him by caring for and developing his samadhi and its environs.
Further, you maintained the service of organizing the daily Bhagavad-gita classes in his house, which ensure regular pure, philosophical krsna-katha—and you were kind enough to ask me to speak there, too.
After you left, I was touched by the tremendous outpouring of grief and appreciation for you on social media. You were so humble, staunch, sincere, and selfless in your service to Srila Prabhupada that all his followers have deep feelings for you. And as Vaisesika Prabhu said, the world will not be the same without you.
Fortunately, you have left behind your faithful husband and godbrother, Prassannatma, and your beautiful daughters, Kamala and Radhika Priya, to maintain your legacy.
My dear Parvati, what can I say? I miss you so much, and I yearn to join you with Srila Prabhupada whenever he calls me, after I have done for him here what he wishes.
At a Deity-welcoming program at Bhaktivedanta Hospice, a devotee said, “I read that this place, Ramana-reti, is where Krishna and Balarama play and frolic and have fun. And I read a most reassuring and enlivening statement—that when somebody quits their body in this Ramana-reti area, Krishna and Balarama leave Their play and come running to embrace that soul who has left his body here.”
Certainly, Srila Prabhupada has welcomed you with open arms, and wherever he is, there are Krishna-Balarama and Radha-Syamasundara and all Their friends and associates.
Whenever I chant before my Srila Prabhupada deity and think of you, I hear him say, “Parvati is very dear to me; I have called her to join me.”
Hare Krishna.
Your aspiring, eternal servant,
Giriraj Swami
Adult Education At The Temple
In the midst of the lush, green Grihasta Para housing area of ISKCON Mayapur the Sri Mayapur International School is situated. The school campus features an idyllic combination of brick buildings, pathways, and tree-filled grounds, and those living nearby can often hear the children at play, performing kirtan, or practicing mridanga.
Remembering the old days in Riga
