I have good cause to always remember Sriman Aindra prabhu. Of course, we all do, with the many hours of blissful kirtana recordings he left us and the indelible impression of his personal association.

But I have a special reason for remembering him everyday.

In 1989 I was attending the Mayapur Gaura Purnima festival.  I had had a rather turbulent time in the mid-80s after giving up my sannyasa and service as GBC in the South Seas zone.  I was just starting to get stablized again and I developed a strong sense or need that I should begin worshipping Srila Prabhupada in his murti form again.

I say ‘again’ because in early 1978 I bought one of the very first small brass murtis of His Divine Grace and I did daily puja, massaging him, bathing and dressing him, and then offering arati and a plate of fruit.

However, due to a heavy travel schedule, and also having to visit Indonesia on a regular basis which is mainly a Muslim country, after a while I ended up leaving that murti on the altar in the Adelaide temple (where I hope he is still being worshipped).

So 1989 came around and I had a strong desire to begin my personal service to Srila Prabhupada again.

I looked around Navadvipa but couldn’t find any suitable murti. Then I went over to Vrndavana with the hope I would have better luck in locating a nice deity. I had intended to take a look around Loi Bazaar but I wasn’t very hopeful.

After a day or two I had the occasion to go up onto the top floor of the Gurukula building to meet with Bhurijan prabhu. My route took me right past Aindra prabhu’s room. Just as I passed it, Aindra stepped out, greeting me with a huge grin and some kind words. I had been the GBC in New York in 1982-3 when with my encouragement he took his leave from his many years of service there to move to Vrndavana; so we knew each other quite well.

We had a good chat, I hadn’t seen him for some time and then he invited me into his room to see his Deities. I was rather amazed at how he had transformed his room into this incredible sanctuary. A huge altar dominated, filling half the room. The walls and floor were caked in cow dung and his Deities were resplendently situated, happily receiving the worship of Their dedicated devotee. It was impressive to say the least.

As we talked, I suddenly got inspired to ask him if he knew where I could get a nice Deity of Srila Prabhupada. Without hesitation and without looking, he stuck his hand behind the curtain that hung down over some concrete shelving just behind him. In a second he produced a beautiful six inch murti, exactly what I had been looking for.

“But what about your worship?” I asked him.

“Its OK, I already have Srila Prabhupada on my altar. This murti was given to me six months ago so you can have him.”

I was very happy. To me it was a confirmation that Srila Prabhupada wanted me to start personally serving him again. He had come to me via Aindra prabhu, without any extra endeavor on my part.

I keep the murti for a few months in Australia without beginning the worship. I was still  a bit unsettled and unsure whether I would be able to keep it up once started. Then in October 1989 (Friday 13th to be exact!) I got married to Sitala dasi in London, Soho Street, in front of Sri Sri Radha Londonisvara.

The next day was the first day of Kartika, and we flew to India to spend the first month of our marriage in the holy precincts of Vrndavan-dhama. I had brought my murti of Srila Prabhupada with me and on Srila Prabhupada’s tirobhava mahotsava we began the daily puja of His Divine Grace.

Its still going strong, and every day as I bathe and dress Srila Prabhupada I have cause to give thanks to Aindra prabhu for bringing him to me.

I am sure Aindra is doing his puja and service to Srila Prabhupada now in a more elevated place than this material world (not that he was living in it anyway for the last 27 years) and I hope to join him when its my turn to leave.

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