Nrisimhadeva was one of those great souls who was universally well liked and whose presence was always a pleasure to be in.

He joined ISKCON in the early 1980s and became one of the stalwart sankirtana devotees in Melbourne almost overnight. Travelling the world he collect an estimated several million dollars for Srila Prabhupada’s movement.

Later on he started his own painting business with a turnover of over a million dollars a year, much of which he donated or spent on preaching enterprises. I personally benefitted from his financial support and willingness to share his good fortune, as did many others. As one devotee recently commented, “He had a heart like an African taxi: ‘always room for one more!”

seen here with HH Mukunda Goswami, Bhagavat Asraya prabhu, Peshala dasi and myself in 2004

and here with my wife Sitala, Bhagavat Asraya, Mukunda Maharaja and myself

He was particularly noted for a largess and generosity of spirit rarely found in this world. He fitted the description given by Srila Prabhupada of a genuine, non-envious devotee:

“So the Bhägavata-dharma is meant for paramo nirmatsaräëäm. Matsarata means one who cannot endure or can tolerate others’ advancement. That is called matsarata. That is the nature of everyone. Everyone is trying to advance more. The neighbor is envious: “Oh, this man is going ahead. I could not.” Even if he is brother, even if he is son, this is the nature of the… So therefore this Bhägavata-dharma is not meant for such persons, who are envious. It is meant for the paramo nirmatsaräëäm, who has given up this envy or envious attitude ultimately. Now, how it is possible? It is possible only when you have learned how to love Kåñëa. Then it is possible. …” — March 12 1975 London

He was always thinking of different ways to spread Krsna consciousness and despite some ups and downs that would have daunted lesser souls he remained a firmly committed supporter of ISKCON.

The 40th anniversary of the installation of Sydney’s presiding Deities Sri Sri Radha Gopinatha and Prabhupada Disciples Reunion held in May last year was my last meeting with him.

Nrsimhadeva with Jnana-samudra and Partha;

Charu, Nrsimhadeva and Jnana-samudra

After a tremendously enlivening three day festival Nrsimhadeva came over to me as we were preparing to leave and planted a big kiss on the top of my head. He grinned and told me how grateful he was to the disciples of Srila Prabhupada for bringing Krsna consciousness to so many souls like himself. It was a typical down to earth expression by him of his genuine love and appreciation of everything to do with Krsna.

He was a dedicated disciple of Srila Tamal Krishna Goswami

and it is this connection that I chose as my theme to write my simple eulogy of Nrsimhadeva prabhu which was read out among many, many offerings at a special Utsava at New Govardhan farm last Saturday March 24:

Nrsimhadeva Prabhu

This is an obituary I didn’t want to have to write, but one I am honoured to offer. Nrsimhadeva prabhu was universally liked; a dedicated servant of his spiritual master Srila Tamal Krishna Goswami and Srila Prabhupada; a loyal ISKCON man; a hard working and responsible husband to his wife Shyamarasa mataji and a loving father to his daughters Tarunya and Sundi.

To me personally he was a great friend and a generous supporter who went out of his way to provide facilities for me in order to do my service. I am indebted to him in many ways and I will sorely miss his association, as we all will.

In an active devotional life of 30+ years there are too many stories to tell and too many examples to give of a life well spent in transcendental service. But like a pot of rice that can be understood by sampling a single grain, there is one example that I always remember which for me exemplifies who Nrsimhadeva prabhu was and the true nature of his character.

In the late 1990s his guru maharaja, Srila Tamal Krishna Goswami, was facing a life-threatening operation. As he awaited surgery in Dallas, he called Nrsimhadeva prabhu all the way from Australia to come and be with him. It wasn’t because Nrsimhadeva had any special insights or expertise in medicine and how to treat the disease. It wasn’t because he wanted funding for some project. It was simply because Nrsimhadeva’s presence automatically cheered him up. Nrsimhadeva’s general disposition was such that his guru wanted him to be around and felt better for it.

I think that says volumes for the kind of person Nrsimhadeva prabhu was. You wanted to be with him and his presence automatically brightened up your day. It is no small thing and nothing superficial. In the society of devotees there is no treasure greater nor more desirable than the association of each other. That is what spiritual life is all about, and Nrsimhadeva prabhu had that life-enhancing persona in great measure.

I was particularly glad to read the report that one of the devotees had a dream before Nrsimhadeva left in which Tamal Krishna Maharaja informed her that he was calling Nrsimhadeva prabhu to again be with him. Not many souls get that call. Most simply pass from one state to another, anonymous and unrecognised. To be called by Krsna or His devotees is special. It is a recognition of a life well-lived, service well done, and a sincerity of heart that is unusual in this world. As he had previously called him to Dallas his Gurudeva has again called him and we should be glad that we knew one who has been so recognized and whose association is so desirable.

Sabhapati prabhu commented to me after hearing of Nrsimhadeva prabhu’s passing, “He had a heart of gold.” That I think is a good summary of a devotee who we will all remember with great fondness and who we will miss intensely.

All glories to Sriman Nrsimhadeva Prabhu!

    This issue covers the six months from July – December 2011. It features short articles and photos of some very exciting developments:

*    Rare book collection

*    Preservation efforts

*    Mission for Manuscripts

*    Special Guests

*    New Projects

*    New Acquisitions

*    New Members

    You can download the pdf file with this link:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/29683641/Newsletter%204-5%20July%20-%20Dec%202011.pdf

    You can download the Word2007 file with this link:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/29683641/Newsletter%20%234%20%26%205%20July-Dec%202011.docx

    Or you can view it on-line at:

http://brcindia.com/newsletter/quarterly-newsletter-45-july-december-2011

    If you have to paste the address in your browser please make sure there are no gaps or > characters in it.

        Your humble servant,
        Hari-sauri dasa

Director BRC
Bhaktivedanta Research Centre
Ph: 033 24755216
Mob: 09830120437

    This issue covers the six months from July – December 2011. It features short articles and photos of some very exciting developments:

*    Rare book collection

*    Preservation efforts

*    Mission for Manuscripts

*    Special Guests

*    New Projects

*    New Acquisitions

*    New Members

    You can download the pdf file with this link:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/29683641/Newsletter%204-5%20July%20-%20Dec%202011.pdf

    You can download the Word2007 file with this link:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/29683641/Newsletter%20%234%20%26%205%20July-Dec%202011.docx

    Or you can view it on-line at:

http://brcindia.com/newsletter/quarterly-newsletter-45-july-december-2011

    If you have to paste the address in your browser please make sure there are no gaps or > characters in it.

        Your humble servant,
        Hari-sauri dasa

Director BRC
Bhaktivedanta Research Centre
Ph: 033 24755216
Mob: 09830120437

    This issue covers the six months from July – December 2011. It features short articles and photos of some very exciting developments:

*    Rare book collection

*    Preservation efforts

*    Mission for Manuscripts

*    Special Guests

*    New Projects

*    New Acquisitions

*    New Members

    You can download the pdf file with this link:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/29683641/Newsletter%204-5%20July%20-%20Dec%202011.pdf

    You can download the Word2007 file with this link:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/29683641/Newsletter%20%234%20%26%205%20July-Dec%202011.docx

    Or you can view it on-line at:

http://brcindia.com/newsletter/quarterly-newsletter-45-july-december-2011

    If you have to paste the address in your browser please make sure there are no gaps or > characters in it.

        Your humble servant,
        Hari-sauri dasa

Director BRC
Bhaktivedanta Research Centre
Ph: 033 24755216
Mob: 09830120437

The front stairways are almost complete. The eastern side is cast, the western side is nearing completion.

It really gives a sense of how big the building is when you are stood at the foot of the step facing up towards the main entrance.

From the centre of the temple room floor you can now see the three gallery levels.

And above them the support columns for the main dome are racing up towards the sky. A further 40+ feet high of wall will be added to what you see here before the dome itself is added.

Looking down from the top gallery to the present temple and Conch building.

And looking down into the new temple room from the third gallery level

Now Lord Nrsimhadeva’s temple is under construction and is schedule for completion of the superstructure by the end of this April

One problem the managers have encountered is a shortage of local workers. They are not used to working at such height and the increased danger means absenteeism is a bit of a problem. About 70% of the work force are from Bihar.

Here’s Govinda prabhu, our on-site supervisor, with the February casting schedule of laying the floor slabs. If schedule is met, the workers get a bonus.

Here’s the west wing which will house the planetarium theatre and exhibits

Govinda informed me that the entire superstructure should be finished within one year from now. Right now the building is only approx. one third of its total height! So watch out for a lot more exciting shots from the TOVP construction.

Akrura prabhu, the Vancouver temple president invited me over in late May 2010. I hadn’t been there since 1994 so I was overdue for a visit and looking forward to it. But high on my agenda was a trip to Saranagati, a well-known but remote outpost of Krsna consciousness and home to some distinguished residents.

Apart from fulfilling a long standing curiosity about the farm, I was excited because I would be seeing Yamuna. In fact I had written to my wife Sitala “I am only going because Yamuna is there.”

We had had the immense pleasure of hosting Yamuna in Mayapur for two months in the flat next to ours during the winter of 2009 so my visit to Saranagati was a kind of reciprocation.

Here’s the report I sent to Sitala on May 30th 2010, two days after. It sums up nicely the visit:

“The trip to Saranagati was well worth it although I was only there half a day and one night. Its a long drive of 4 hrs. I stayed at Kala and Yasomati’s house for Lord Nrsimhadeva’s appearance. They invited friends and relatives and about a dozen people turned up. It was low key but still very enjoyable.”

“Next day we drove up to Sarangati with Krsnadas, Kala’s son, and his Iranian girl friend Asadah. It was a long drive through continuous mountains, with very impressive country side of mainly pine and fir forests and deep river gorges. The area where the farm is doesn’t look very good, a kind of high desert region, but once you climb the dirt road up the mountain side, you come to a plateau and about 3,000 acres of land and forest owned by ISKCON and the devotees. Its quite like a shangrila.”

“There are about 20+ private houses scattered within 2-3 kilometers of each other. We had lunch with a very nice devotee Yoginatha prabhu and Vishakha came to join us. Yadubara is down in LA for the Prabhupada festival.”

  “Then we visited the school. Kar and Radha have had a beautiful little boy just three weeks ago, and they run the school.”

“For convenience they have moved into a large room in the school building. They have about a dozen girls and one boy currently in the school and a few couples with children are about to move there. It was a nice set up, very Krsna conscious, and all the kids, who range from about 5-16 yrs. are very sweet, innocent and eager to hear about Srila Prabhupada. I spoke for about 15 mins.”

“Then we went off to Yamuna’s. I was surprised to see a modern looking bungalow.

“I had heard about its straw bale construction and was expecting something a little crude, but its a well designed attractive house. And the interior is exceptionally beautiful, not so much because of its architecture but more because every inch of it oozes bhakti.”

“Yamuna and Dina (who arrived back from Florida just as we were leaving)

have decorated every nook and cranny with beautiful expressions of their love for Sri Sri Radha Banabihari. Yamuna is such an artistic and thoughtful person, and her attention to every little detail comes shining through.”

“We spent a couple of hours with her, it was a delight. She is such a deep, sober and good hearted devotee. She was very happy to see me and we had an extremely enjoyable meet. It was worth the trip just to see her.”

That was the last time we met personally. Late in 2010 she became seriously ill, had to go to Mumbai for treatment and ended up leaving Saranagati, never to  return. She and Dina moved south to Melbourne Beach Florida. In mid-August this year while I was on tour in Spain, I was thinking about her a lot and wrote to ask her how she was faring. I received this letter in response on Lord Balarama’s appearance day, my last communication with her:

Dear Hari Sauri Prabhu,
Pranam Dandavats
Sree Balaram Mahotsava keejay

How auspicious to hear from you on this sacred eve. Thank You for thinking
of me at all, what to speak of lately. Truth be told, think of all three of
you often–I have many photos Rama Devi gave me of you, your daughter’s
initiation, and 1500 photos of archa vigrahah in Mayapur dham on my screen
saver. So you are never far out of mind.

Well the free fall that began nearly a year ago ended two months ago
tomorrow, when on June 13th we moved into our eighth floor. furnished beach
front condo rental. We have named the place Melbourne Beach-Puri-by-the-Sea.
It’s a year rental for now. No sale of our Saranagati ashram. In the last
decade, only two families moved there, but more moved out. Time will reveal
that one. Cannot even consider our next move until we sell that ashram.

At any rate, here we are in a clean environment with running water and
enough electricity and we feel blessed to be here. Krsna so very kindly gave
us a swift kick to remove us from Saranagati and place us elsewhere. This
particular dham is most conducive to healing and rejuvenation, and we are
deeply grateful for it.

Taken time to settle in, and so far, engaged almost exclusively chanting and
reading and physical rejuvenation and serving Their Lordships. Here is a
photo of Radha Banabehari taken this morning in the small alter environment
we made for Them in a smallish temple room; 

Srila Prabhupada;

a snap Dina took this morning of ‘turtle tracks heading seaward’ and her friend the blue
heron crane on the steps to the beach,

and a snap I took of sunrise from our porch.

Think you get a peek into our peace and opulence in our lives.

My health: Exercise in the pool daily at dawn (Dina on her beach japa walk)
before morning Bhagavatam class; too good for words. Starting a two week
liver cleanse day after tomorrow as pre-op for a minor laproscopy surgery
August 29th. So in between Janmastami-Vyasa puja next weekend, heading up to
Gainsville three times for doctor appointments and tests. All in all, my
health is slowly but very surely improving for the better, gaining mobility
and strength, as is Dina.

Got my research materials sent down here from Saranagati, and plan to begin
writing in September. Dina will soon begin editing a book from the Radhanath
Swami camp.

Back at you: how are all of you? Health? Any new book volumes out from you?
Sitala still in Poland giving KC as only she can do? Your daughter? Saw an
ecstatic Kirtan online with Madhava at Woodstock.

Your always aspiring servants.
Yamuna and Dinatarine

I don’t know if Yamuna did start writing again. Her book was the one most devotees were looking forward to reading. Now she’s gone, heading off into the sunset of Melbourne Beach and into the eternal sunshine of Goloka Vrndavana to serve her beloved Radha Banavihari and Srila Prabhupada. She will be sorely missed.

I  hope to have the privilege to see you again sometime Yamuna devi.

In my first offering in praise of and to Yamuna devi I focused a little on her chanting.

Another devotional art she was famous for (among many) was cooking.

It was in 1976 that I finally got to meet Yamuna-ji in person. By that time she had started a small asrama in Oregon with her close friend Dina Tarine dasi.

At the beginning of the year she had written to Srila Prabhupada to seek his blessings for their project. They had installed beautiful Deities of Sri Sri Radha Vanabhari

and she outlined their plans for preaching in typical ISKCON style. But Srila Prabhupada’s initial reaction was a little negative, at least to his secretary Tamal Krishna Goswami and her local GBC, Jayatirtha. To Yamuna however, he offered encouragement while instructing her to keep her program simple and concentrate on chanting and Deity worship rather than what he called a “grotesque” program.

Yamuna had of course been one of the first devotees, along with Silavati dasi, to be personally trained by Srila Prabhupada in the art of Deity worship. She was the first pujari of the first large set of Deities in ISKCON Sri Sri Radha Londonisvara

[Who, Srila Prabhupada personally told me on several occasions were his favorites].

[TD1] January 10, 1976 – Bombay

During the massage Tamal Krishna Goswami went over the day’s mail. He read out a letter from Yamuna dasi. She and Dinatarini dasi have a small farm in Oregon. On Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati’s disappearance day Jayatirtha installed Deities of Sri Sri Radha-Vanabihari there.
They are hoping to start an asrama for senior women, and they requested financial assistance from the BBT to buy a place. Their idea is to have about twelve women and gradually begin a preaching program. Yamuna, however, did express some apprehension, admitting, “Generally women are mad after sense gratification, to dip and gossip, so thus we feel to proceed with careful attention.” In a separate letter Jayatirtha also inquired whether a BBT loan could be given for the ladies’ project. He said the property they are looking at costs $100,000, requiring a down payment of $25,000. He wanted to know what priority Prabhupada gives to this kind of project, suggesting that he might help oversee managerial and financial matters. He also suggested that Yamuna and other asrama members could earn some income and help support themselves by sewing Deity clothes for the sannyasis’ traveling parties.
Prabhupada’s personal opinion is that women should not live independently. “Why don’t they go to L.A.?” he asked Tamal Krishna. Nevertheless, since they are eager to begin the project, he encouraged them. “You can attract the fair sex community. Most of them are frustrated being without any home or husband. If you can organize all these girls they will get transcendental engagement and may not be allured to the frustration of life. Your engagement should be chanting and worship of the Deity.”
He also tactfully laid down strict guidelines for the ladies to follow, stressing that as single women they should live very humbly and not “dress nicely to attract men” nor attempt to start any large program. “In bhakti there is no grotesque program. A humble program is better. We are doing all these grotesque programs to allure the masses. My Guru Maharaja used to say that no one hears from a person coming from a humble, simple life. You remain always very humble.”
To Jayatirtha prabhu, however, he spoke more candidly, describing their desire to be independent as a “defect.” He further elaborated on this by saying that according to Vedic culture a woman cannot live independently. He decided that if they wanted this badly enough, he would allow it. But they must function managerially and financially independent of ISKCON, although he conceded that Jayatirtha could check on them now and then to see if they were chanting and following the rules of the Society. He also made it clear there could be no connection whatsoever with sannyasis.”

He gave further instructions in reply to another letter on February 21 1976 which, in retrospect, became a template for Yamuna’s devotional practice:

Another letter arrived from Yamuna dasi, indicating that she would like to develop a cow-protection program. The impression given was that they wanted to run their women’s asrama along the lines of a big temple.
Prabhupada said in his reply that it is too difficult for women to engage in large-scale cow protection. He recommended that they keep the program small and manageable, with just a few cows for offering milk and sweets to the Deities. He explained that expansion means they will have to take help from men. Therefore he reiterated instructions he had given them previously, “Simply keep yourself aloof from men — chanting, many more times as possible, read books, worship the Deity…. A widow is forbidden to use ornaments, nice sari, decoration, combing the hair nicely. These are forbidden for a woman who is not with husband.”

Srila Prabhupada’s high regard for Yamuna came out later in the year as he began his world tour. Beginning from Melbourne Australia and commencing to Auckland New Zealand and then Fiji, His Divine Grace then camped in Honolulu for the whole month of May. Yamuna wrote to him there in mid-month:

[TD2] May 16 1976 – Honolulu

Yamuna and Dinatarini dasis sent some beautiful photos of their Deities, Sri Sri Radha-Vanabehari, taken at their Gaura-purnima and Chandana-yatra festivals. Their letter enthusiastically expressed their satisfaction in living according to Srila Prabhupada’s recent instructions to them. “We have taken your instructions very seriously and live in such a way as to have virtually no association with men, living a pure simple life in the full fire of Krsna Consciousness. We think this is most beneficial and are factually tasting the results of this simple life. You know what is the proper engagement for each individual by dint of your complete purity. This is your special mercy.” They also mentioned their desire to come and see Prabhupada when he visits Los Angeles, but their inability to do so, due to lack of funds.
Prabhupada thanked them for the photos of the Deities, which he said appeared nicely cared for. As for their coming to see him, Prabhupada was more than happy at the prospect. He was very glad they are taking his suggestions seriously and wants to encourage them. “I am scheduled to be in Los Angeles from June 1 to June 11. I am even contemplating coming to see you there on your farm if you are unable to come to see me. Please continue to develop things there for women devotees as previously instructed.”

As it happened Yamuna was able to come to Los Angeles and with Palika dasi, cook for Srila Prabhupada during his ten day stay. Srila Prabhupada was exceedingly happy to receive her service and dine on first class, devotionally surcharged prasadam. I was also very happy because I was not a cook and had several times proved to be a complete failure at the art. I didn’t mind the slight inconvenience caused by the servant’s room being converted into Yamuna’s kitchen if it meant Srila Prabhupada would get excellent meals:

[TD2] June 2, 1976 – Los Angeles

There is no servant’s room, the old one having been converted into a temporary kitchen, to be used exclusively for the preparation of Srila Prabhupada’s prasadam. Fortunately both Yamuna dasi and Palika dasi, who both learned to cook in India and from Srila Prabhupada personally, will cater for His Divine Grace while we are here. So that is a headache I am relieved of. I sleep on the stairway landing just outside Prabhupada’s bathroom door and keep my luggage in the closet. Pusta Krsna Swami is in the building next door.”

I don’t remember having much association with Yamuna during that visit because she was almost always in the kitchen, but I do remember putting in a request to the managers at the end of our stay for Yamuna to be added to Srila Prabhupada’s party as cook, at least for the duration of his seven week tour in America. Unfortunately she was not able to stay away from her asrama for that long and so Palika devi travelled with us instead.

[TD2] June 11, 1976 – Los Angeles

Since Prabhupada’s arrival here Yamuna and Palika prabhus have been cooking wonderful meals for him, and Srila Prabhupada has been appreciating their service very much. Both are expert and so the prasadam has been to his full satisfaction. I also found out that despite his rejection of avocado in Melbourne, he does like a yogurt and avocado whip called guacamole that they have been giving him.
With Srila Prabhupada’s agreement and after conferring with Ramesvara Swami, it was decided that Palika will join our party for the rest of the American tour in order to ensure a consistently high standard of cooking for Srila Prabhupada. Visakha dasi, photographer and writer from Back to Godhead, will also accompany Prabhupada on his travels, recording his tour for an eventual article in the magazine. Hayagriva prabhu’s interview work is completed and he will remain here.

As for Yamuna’s project, the new GBC for Los Angeles, Ramesvara Swami, had heard that privately Srila Prabhupada had been a little critical of the ladies starting their own project. So he approached him about it:

[TD2] June 5, 1976 – Los Angeles

Since Yamuna has been here, Ramesvara discussed her farm program with Srila Prabhupada. Prabhupada suggested that some brahmacarinis could be sent to her for training. This morning Ramesvara asked if perhaps she could come down to Los Angeles instead because it would be cheaper. There was some suggestion by Tamal Krishna that devotees going there may develop a bit of a separatist mentality from ISKCON but Srila Prabhupada didn’t take it seriously. He simply said he had no objection if Ramesvara wanted to make that arrangement. But when Ramesvara told him that Yamuna objected and that her idea is to make their farm a little bigger, with more women living with them, Prabhupada told him, “I like that idea.”
Ramesvara said there would be no men involved. Prabhupada approved. “Just like in Vrndavana there is bhajan-asrama, they’re only women.”
“So that’s a good idea?” Ramesvara asked.
“With man is dangerous for both,” Prabhupada told him. “I have given that: man is good, woman is good, when they come together — bad. Both of them bad.”

On July 26 1976 Srila Prabhupada met with George Harrison in England for the last time. George came to the Manor and dined on first class prasadam as Prabhupada entertained him in his bedroom. George’s old friends Mukunda and Gurudasa were both there. Gurudasa of course had been Yamuna’s husband when they had first started ISKCON in the UK but now he was a sannyasi. When at one point George referred fondly to him, it elicited a response from Srila Prabhupada equally praising Yamuna as a renunciate:

George expressed pleasure at seeing his old friends. “They are looking better and better all the time. It’s nice for me to see Gurudasa. He’s turning into a mountain!”
Prabhupada smiled. Then, referring to Yamuna dasi, he said, “His wife has also [become] sannyasi, renounced. Have you seen her lately? She has cut hair and white dress,

living alone in the temple. Vairagya-vidya-nija-bhakti-yoga. This bhakti-yoga means vairagya-vidya, means detachment. That is the perfection of life. If we remain attached, that is conditional. Maya has made so many things attractive so that we have to remain attached. And to come out of this attachment is called bhakti.“

The next time I saw Yamuna was in Vrndavana. She was intimately connected with the project there, and instrumental in many ways in the development of Krishna Balarama Mandir but had returned to America before the opening on Ramnavami 1975.

On October 22 1976 she returned and was immediately honored by Srila Prabhupada:

[TD4]

Srila Prabhupada was surprised and pleased to receive Yamuna dasi today. She arrived from America just as he was taking his lunch. Normally he doesn’t receive guests while eating, but he immediately invited her to sit with him and offered her a small plate of his prasadam. After eating, they sat together in his darsana room and chatted. She showed him photos of their asrama in Southern Oregon and their worshipable Deities, Sri Sri Radha Vanabehari.
Yamuna has come to ask for Srila Prabhupada’s formal blessings and approval to write a cookbook, something he suggested to her in 1967 but which she didn’t feel competent to do until now, although she has previously written and calligraphed a book entitled Krsna Prasadam but this has not been published. She told him that she intends to remain in Vrndavana for about a week and then go to Calcutta to stay with Mr. C.L. Bajoria, one of our prominent life members. Mr. Bajoria has a first-class cook with whom Yamuna has studied, and she wants to learn more from him about Bengali cooking. She is also planning further research and interviews with Pishima, Prabhupada’s sister.
Srila Prabhupada was most happy with her proposal and gave her his full encouragement.

October 31 1976 –Vrndavana-dhama

Yamuna has prepared Srila Prabhupada’s breakfast several times during her stay and also cooked his lunch a couple of times. Now today she left for Calcutta to take up her cooking research. Srutirupa dasi, who often helps Palika with Prabhupada’s cooking, decided that she wanted to accompany her, and since the two of them were going, Palika decided she also wanted to go. Palika currently has a bad case of weeping eczema on her hands, and this is interfering with her service to Srila Prabhupada. She took permission from Srila Prabhupada after giving assurances that Arundhati would cover her cooking duties, although Arundhati is not as experienced and expert in the art. Last night when Prabhupada called Arundhati in and asked her to prepare iddli for his breakfast, she was quite nervous about it because she hasn’t made them before.

After a couple of weeks in Calcutta Yamuna returned to the west. It wasn’t until 1987 that she finally got her cook book into print. I guess that was reflective of the precision and perfection that she applied to everything she did. When it hit the stores it was a blockbuster and she won numerous awards including the International Association of Culinary Professionals ‘Cookbook of the Year.’

She became a regular columnist in several top newspapers and I remember seeing her in Los Angeles in the early nineties during a national book tour she was doing. She enthusiastically greeted me and I her, as old friends and fellow servants of Srila Prabhupada. I felt privileged that she saw me in that light.

Again this is just a glimpse. I hope by it to show how dear Yamuna was to Srila Prabhupada and how she pleased him by her expertise in cooking, the very first devotional service he engaged her in when she first met him in 1966.

Its seven days since the departure of one of the most beloved disciples of Srila Prabhupada, Her Grace Srimati Yamuna devi dasi on December 20 2011 in Melbourne Florida, Saphala Ekadasi. I have been musing on what to write, thinking that I could never say enough to properly glorify and appreciate such a great soul. There aren’t enough superlatives to adequately convey the respect and deep loving regard that Yamuna devi commanded by her purity, humility, deep devotion, personalism and precise absorption in the mellows of transcendental dealings.

Aside from Srila Prabhupada himself, it’s hard to think of anyone I have met who was as Krsna conscious as she.

‘

I have read over the last week a great outpouring of appreciation and love from all sectors of the Vaisnava community-men, women, sannyasis, new and old devotees. She touched the lives of millions directly and indirectly by her service and devotion. She was not an ordinary person nor indeed an ordinary devotee.

One of the things that comes strikingly through from the offerings and eulogies is her unique ability to make everyone she met feel special. Her dealings were such that even a brief meeting with her left you feeling as if you had known her all your life. She was kind, attentive, appreciative, wise and completely present with whoever she was with. Even in seemingly casual conversation she had that deep and fathomless quality that only the very advanced  possess.  When you met her you felt that you had a special relationship with her; and that’s what made her special. She was a true daughter of Srila Prabhupada.

I hope I can add to the portrayal of our dear Yamuna devi with a few anecdotes which may highlight her special relationship with Srila Prabhupada and with all of us.

My own first indirect contact with her started on the very first day I started doing service at the Sydney temple in February 1972. I was engaged with another bhakta in renovating a small storefront next door to the temple in Glebe. For a week I would walk over to the temple in the early morning and spend the day painting and decorating. We had a small record player and one record, the Radha Krsna Temple album.

All day long we repeatedly played it, listening over and over again to music and singing that transported us to an otherworldly, mystical state  of consciousness.

Predominant was the slightly nasal, indescribably attractive Vaikuntha voice of Yamuna. I had never heard anything like it. The way she sang ‘Bhaja Mana Hure’ and ‘Govinda Jaya Jaya’ was totally captivating.

And every morning we heard her lead the Brahma-samhita prayers “Govindam adi purusham tam aham bhajami” as we greeted the newly-dressed forms of Sri Sri Radha Gopinatha

It was a great introduction to Krsna consciousness. When I asked one of the senior devotees, Baibhavi dasi, who the singer was, she replied in awed tones, “That’s Yamuna. Prabhupada said she is already on the stage of bhava.” I didn’t know what bhava was, but I could understand it was something very special from Yamuna’s singing.

The playing of the Govindam prayers each morning to greet the Deities became an ISKCON standard from the moment the recording was made. Srila Prabhupada had been sent some copies by Shyamasundara prabhu immediately after it was recorded by George Harrison:

Februrary 16 1970 – London

Dearest Prabhupada,

Please accept my most humble obeisances, though I am so unworthy even to accept crumbs from the plates of your devotees. Please find enclosed the first copy of “Govindam” which you have taught us, and which we, quite badly, have rendered for the glorification of your Guru Maharaj in the world at large.

Yamuna, myself, Mukunda and Janaki are singing, with everyone joining on the chorus. George plays guitar, Mukunda plays organ, a new boy, Hamper (an Armenian boy), plays “oud” (an Arabian stringed instrument), I play esraj, Gurudas and I play khartals and there is an orchestra of 6 violins, 6 violas, 2 double-bass, 2 tubas, 3 cellos, and one harp. Please accept this record as our humble offering unto your divine Lotus Feet.

As you can see by enclosure, we are very popular also in Yugoslavia, a communist country. Two weeks ago we were #1, now we are #5. George has received letters from young people in Yugoslavia asking him to send someone there to start a temple. I will xerox these and send them in due course to you. .

When the record is released here March 6 there will be a flurry of publicity and we shall have many occasions to mention the book [note: 'Krsna']. I will be with George all day Thursday walking on the grounds of his new monastery to asses the work he wants me to supervise and I shall discuss the foreword with him. I am pretty sure he will do it. Shall I ask him to say anything in particular?

Your idea of a small booklet is supreme, and I shall try to get that foreword from George as soon as possible. If Boston prints it, I can work out details with them (such as English spelling, English prices etc.) and begin taking orders. I may have to travel around Britain to sell Krsna book but the record publicity should make this easier. Since the record will not be released in U.S. til about first of May perhaps the U.S. centers can plan a double campaign (book and record).

I have just come from the cutting room where this record was made, it is late at night in Trafalgar Square post office so I shall write a longer letter tomorrow to clarify some points. Your servant and friend forever, Shyamasundar.”

Srila Prabhupada sent a long reply, opening with an appreciation of the record:

Letter to: Syamasundara — Los Angeles 21 February, 1970

My Dear Syamasundara,
Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 16 February, 1970, along with “Govindam” record. I have heard it played on a record player and, although the machine was not very good, still I enjoyed the transcendental vibration very much. .”

And in a subsequent letter on February 25 1970 Prabhupada commented:

“I have already acknowledged that the “Govindam” record is very nice, and I am sure it will be appreciated. Devananda also has liked it and says that the sound will be very attractive to the young people especially.
Regarding the presentation of “Govindam” as well as other mantras, the vibration is always pure. I will give the theme and if the sound is Westernized that does not matter.”

It was reported that when Srila Prabhupada heard the Govindam prayers he had tears in his eyes. And as he installed more and more Deities in his rapidly expanding ISKCON movement and standardized the sadhana and routines of temple life, the playing of the Govindam prayers at the greeting of the Deities became an integral and well-loved feature, giving transcendental pleasure to tens of thousands the world over.

Later on, just after I joined Srila Prabhupada’s party in December 1975, a letter arrived addressed to His Divine Grace from some brahmacaris in Los Angeles. They were objecting to the playing of the London recording of the Govindam prayers, and particularly the fact that a woman, Yamuna devi, was singing them:

[TD1] December 12 1975 – Vrndavana-dhama

During his massage Prabhupada heard a letter from Jayasacinandana dasa in Los Angeles written on behalf of a group of brahmacaris. In every ISKCON temple in the world the assembled devotees offer their obeisances to the Deities in the morning as the Govindam prayers loudly play. George Harrison recorded it and Yamuna dasi sings the mantras.
Disturbed by this custom, Jayasacinandana quoted Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura (as well as Srila Prabhupada) that if a brahmacari hears and is attracted to a woman singing, it is a subtle falldown. “In light of this,” he wrote, “many of the brahmacaris approached the temple president to see if it would be possible that when the Deities are greeted in the morning that instead of listening to Gurudasa Maharaja’s former wife singing the Brahma-samhita prayers, we could listen to Your Divine Grace rather than hear a woman sing. He did not want to change the tape because it had been a standard thing in ISKCON since 1970. So requested by many devotees, I am enquiring from Your Divine Grace if we could play a tape recording of you singing instead of a woman when the Deities of Rukmini-Dvarakadisa are greeted in the morning. I am sure that all the devotees would be enlivened to hear you instead of electric guitars, the London symphonic orchestra, etc. etc.”
“Srila Prabhupada was not pleased. He said that constantly changing things is “our Western disease.” His reply was short and direct. “No! You have made some discovery. All along you have been hearing the recording of Yamuna dasi, and now you want to change. It is not ordinary singing, it is concert. Many people are singing, so it is not bad. Just like sankirtana, many voices are there — men and women; so it is the same thing, sankirtana. I approve of it. Here in the Krishna-Balaram temple we are hearing the same recording every morning. So if it is good here, why not there?”

Yamuna’s transcendental rendering of the Govindam prayers continues as a firmly established ISKCON tradition, and has been heard by millions over the last forty+ years. Let us hope that it continues to inspire hundreds of millions more for the millennia to come. As long as it is played, Yamuna devi remains firmly in our midst and in our hearts.

The construction, as you can see from the photos, is progressing at an amazing rate. When I left in July on my Eurotour, the temple room floor had just been completed. Now two levels above that are done, with columns for the third and final level before the work on the main dome begins, are nearly done. Check it out!

From the north side (between the Long building and the TOVP. Its looking big:

From the temple room floor looking up at the ring beam support for the main dome

These next shots show the length from front to back; and various angles of the floors above the temple room. These floors encircle the temple room, form the base of the main dome, and will house various exhibits on three levels. Devotees will be able to look across and see the planetary chandelier hanging down from the peak of the dome 200 feet above

this is looking from where the Vyasasana will be just inside the main entrance, to where the Deity rooms will be

Apparently now in India they have started to worry about work saffety

And from the temple room floor its up the stairs we goes, up up up, up

and when we gets to the top, precious – what a view!

even at this level, with one more to go and then the main dome, its already nearly level with the top of Srila Prabhupada’s Samadhi

some serious form work here;

and here’s the view looking north, you can see the Yoga-pitha spire on the horizon

and looking south to Navadvip and west over the now receding Ganga

This stair case in the temple room floor is the pujari access to the Deity rooms

the staircase to heaven

Here’s a few views from back down on the ground:

the old and the new – the original straw hut that Srila Prabhupada declared as the headquarters of the International Society for Krsna Consciousness in 1971;

and the partially manifest TOVP that he immediately started planning at the same time

Here’s a couple of shots from the highest viewing level of the Samadhi (base of the dome)

and looking from the south towards the front entrance

and from the east looking from ground level

and across from the fourth floor of the Conch building

Notice how small the Long Building looks

Casting of the floors for Lord Nrsimhadeva’s temple will begin next month

That’s it folks! Check out the website also: www.tovp.org

Its not a  big yatra but its always a pleasure to visit. The temple is a nice rented house on the outskirts of the city with a long grassy back garden growing flowers for the Deities of Gaura Nitai as well as a few veges and grapes. The weather was sunny and it was a pleasure to sit out in the garden, take prasadam and chant a few rounds of japa.

Each evening of my three day visit a small but enthusiastic group of devotees gathered to hear about Srila Prabhupada’s transcendental pastimes

and in the mornings we drove into the city to Govinda’s restaurant. Since most of the temple devotees work and serve there it was the only practical place to give the class. The basement level facility is right on one of the main streets and is a successful preaching center

One other purpose of my trip was to meet up with Krsna-lila dasi. She holds a doctorate and was the chief of public relations for ISKCON Hungary for many years. Her special talent is film documentaries and liaisons with television companies. She has produced over twenty broadcast quality films and we met to discuss her involvement with the development of exhibits for the Mayapur Temple  of the Vedic Planetarium. I am currently the coordinator for exhibit development at the TOVP and we are now gearing up ready to start production within the next year or so. Krsnalila’s experience will make her a valuable contributor to the TOVP.

She doesn’t live in Slovakia but she is from Hungary and she and her husband Mark drove several hours from Hungary for our highly productive afternoon meeting. Mark is a professional script writer and teaches it at a college in New York. As Krsna-lila and I talked he was busy completing a script for one of the Hollywood film companies. Although not a full time devotee Mark has volunteered his services if and when we need it.

After a worthwhile visit to Bratislava I headed off on August 17 for my first visit to Espanol (or is it Espanyol?) (oh well, anyway, Spain !)

HH Bhakti Vikash Swami arrived from Croatia exactly on time to give an insightful talk on the glories of the Lord

The Lord appeared on the altar in His shila form, along with His younger brother Kanai, as well as in His arca murti. As we all chanted and had an extended darsana, the pujaris and sannyasis bathed the two Brothers

I also brought out Srila Prabhupada’s tooth for a special darsana for the devotees, placing it before the temple’s deity of Srila Prabhupada, Who was appropriately sitting just in front of Lord Balarama.

After the abhishek, the small children performed a very cute drama of the Lord’s pastimes

When I think of the childhood memories I have, compared to the ones these young Vaisnavas will have, I  can’t help but marvel at how fortunate they are.

After an excellent feast we had our closing ceremony

and then we headed out for the hour long drive to Ljubljana (that’s Yub-yana) temple

ISKCON Ljubljana have a beautiful set of Panca-tattva deities

and very good temple facilities. They have added a new greenhouse for Tulasi devi since I last visited with benches to sit on and meditate on Her transcendental form as you chant japa

and Govinda’s restaurant is still going strong. Devotees have added some nice outdoor eating areas

At least our restaurants are popular and their number and longevity is increasing. In practically every city I visit I see Govinda’s restaurants and it is very pleasing to see this fulfilment of one of Srila Prabhupada’s preaching programs:

[TD2] May 4th 1976 – Honolulu

Tamal Krishna also said that Ambarisa prabhu, faithful to Srila Prabhupada’s request, has found a first-class place just around the corner from our Boston temple where he wants to have a restaurant.
Prabhupada was happy at the news. Distribution of prasadam is one of his more important programs. "From the very beginning I was asking to open restaurant and farm. Produce ghee in the farm and send to the restaurant, and make nice samosa, kacauri preparation, and there will be no scarcity of money. And if you organize in this way, your whole country will be transferred into Krsna conscious country. Whole country."

After giving a final seminar on Srila Prabhupada the Living Bhagavatam and partaking of a pleasant breakfast with Prahladananda Maharaja, Lilasuka and Tattvavit prabhus and others

I headed out on the 14th morning for my next port of call Bratislava

I can’t tell you where exactly because noone seemed to know the name of the district. Anyway, it was about 30 kms from the border. I like Slovenia, its a green and pleasant land and our site was right in the middle of a beautiful band of farm land.

Facilities were simple but adequate. Maharaja stayed in a small cabin, Manidhara had his own travelling house

and for the first time this year the organizers provided a few small caravans for senior guests, myself included

and we even had wireless broadband

A large rented framed marquee served as the temple room and single men’s quarters

An old barn served as a temporary ashram and kitchen

and the remainder of the devotees stayed in tents. Altogether about sixty adults and kids attended. Not huge but the summer camps are a great chance for devotees to get together, have a spiritual holiday and increase their hearing and chanting.

Beautiful Gaura Nitai and Srila Prabhupada oversaw the events

Mornings were surprisingly chilly; in fact one morning it was only 5 degs. C! I was told later it was the coldest August morning for over a hundred years. But it was sunny everyday so no real hardship there

One pleasant surprise was meeting HG Kratu  prabhu whom I hadn’t seen for a few years

He was staying at a nearby home and gave a seminar on Krsna-katha

As in Lika I was asked to kick off each day’s seminars with a session of ‘Srila Prabhupada the Living Bhagavatam’ so that everyone could meditate on His Divine Grace during the day.

Prasadam was very nicely cooked and it was a pleasure to take with the Vaisnavas in the sunshine and open air. And of course, bask in the warm sunshine

The many children were kept entertained with special rides, kirtans and even a bonfire to cook fresh corn on the cob

The special event was Lord Balarama’s appearance day some photos of which are just now coming (in case anyone is wondering about the sporadic nature of my postings, I am on a pretty hectic tour schedule so its a bit hit and miss, but there’s lots coming up!)

with an efficient system of simultaneous translation to maximize the hearing time from the English language speakers

I was asked to speak first every morning immediately after the Deity greeting and Srila Prabhupada’s gurupuja so that everyone could start the day with 75 minutes meditating on His Divine Grace. I spoke on the topic of book writing, which was very well received,

especially by Bhakti Vikash Maharaja who is quite a prolific writer himself, with about twenty books under his belt

including the seminal three-part biography of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura entitled “Bhaktisiddhanta Vaibhava”. He worked on that for over 20 years and it was worth the wait.

A highlight of the festival was an evening program for the local people.

Murari Gupta and Sundari mataji are the local doctors so 50+ people who would never have dreamed of venturing into a Hare Krishna gathering turned up and had a great time.

Sundari mataji was the evening’s host to a program of bhajans and a drama, and prasadam.

All in all it was a great festival, not too big but enthusiastic with everyone chipping in to do their bit to make it a success

almost anyway

and at least one young man confirmed that he will be back for more next year (maybe,depends on the prasadam!)

We had a group photo just for the record

and then we said goodbye

A project of ISKCON Mayapur

110A Motilal Nehru Road, Kolkata 700 029, WB India

PH: 91 33 4065 2475/ 5216

Quarterly Newsletter

ISSUE #3, April – June 2011

“Mission for Manuscripts”

continued in April with a second foray into the mathas and libraries of West Bengal. All told our intrepid team of Smt. Bharati Roy and photographer Ashish visited another eight repositories and photographed a further 81 manuscripts, making a total of 200+ so far.

Here’s a few highlights:

April 5^th2011

We visited the Sripat (asrama) of Srila Rasikananda Prabhu at Gopiballabhpur in Midnapur. There is a beautiful temple with a repository of all the Goswami literatures. This place is about 400 years old.

Srila Rasikananda was one of the most prominent followers of the Six Goswamis and a contemporary of Srila Shyamananda. His Sripat has a set of his footprints, melted into the rock.

The current Mahanta there is Sri Krsna Kesava Dev Goswami, who comes in direct disciplic succession from Rasikananda.

He is very friendly and gave our team access to all their manuscripts:

1. Govinda Virudavali;  2. Harinamamrta;  3. Gitagovinda by Jayadeva;  4. Radhika Sahasranama;   5. Alamkarakaustubha by Kavi Karnapura;  6. Gopala Campu by Jiva Gosvami;  7. Govinda Lilamrta by Jiva Gosvami;  8. Uddhava sandesa by Rupa Gosvami;  9. Caitanya candramrta by Pravodhananda Sarasvati;  10. Tattva Sandarbha by Jiva Gosvami; 11. Gitavali by Rupa Gosvami;  12. Vaisnava Vandana by Daivakinandana;  13. Pramabhakticandrika by Narottama Thakura.

Apart from the digital access, an actual manuscript copy on handmade paper of Caitanya Chandramrta by Srila Prabhodananda Sarasvati was presented to the BRC.

April 8^th our team went to the Phulia Shantipur Museum where the library has11,000 books along with the works of Sri Krittivas who was the celebrated translator of the Ramayana into Bengali. He was a contemporary of Kasiram dasa who did a similar translation of the Mahabharata, and Jayadeva Goswami the famous Vaisnava poet. There we took photos of various paintings depicting the Ramayana

April 2-3^rd we visited the Krishnanagar Public library

The secretary there is Deba Babu and he gave full access to their mss library

In reciprocation Bharati returned on April 18 and presented a set of Srila Prabhupada’s books to their general library.

April 3^rd – A visit to an extensive private museum in Krishnanagar that was established by the late Sri Mohit Roy was also fruitful. Thousands of artefacts are on display

The above newspaper, Hicky’s Bengal Gazette dates back to 1780.

They also have an extensive library of manuscripts and literature. Sri Monami Roy and his mother (pictured) are the current custodians of his father’s legacy and they were happy to give us full access for digital copying.

The Sudarsanlala Mandir in Navadwip has an extensive collection of printed works by the Six Goswamis and their followers. The Mahanta there, Sri Bhagavat dasa

allowed us to photograph sixteen books, and he also presented us with a mss of the Skanda Purana which is now on display in the BRC library (seen here next to a photo of the Sudarsanlal Deity)

Other notable places visited were:

• The Dwijendra Pathagar, Krishnanagar, the place of the great poet Dwijendralal Roy who wrote “Dhana Dhanye Puspe Bhara” and “Vande Mataram” two famous songs which are used as popular anthems of India. This is an old library and the librarian Mr. Apurva Kundu allowed us to photograph 11 Mss here.
• Bally Sadharan Granthagar Howrah Dist — 7 Mss
• Chandannagar Pustakagar Hoogli Dist. — 2 Mss.
• Vasanti Durga temple, Baharampur in Murshidabad District — two books.

The house of Mahaprabhu’s teacher Gangadasa Pandit in Vidyanagar, Bardhaman, and the Sripata of Vasudeva and Mukunda Datta in Mamgachi, Bardhaman failed to yield any books or manuscripts.

Another field trip within W. Bengal is planned for the near future and then we will begin to look further afield in Bangladesh.

Membership program

We are very happy to report that response to our membership drive was quite strong, especially from the powerpoint presentations made by our Director Hari-sauri dasa on his recent tour to Malaysia and Australia. We would sincerely like to thank the following devotees who provide much needed support and encouragement from their hard earned funds:

Patron Member – $10,000.00

Sri Arjan Tuli

Arjan prabhu from Melbourne Australia is our fourth patron member.

A special mention is due here to Arjan prabhu. Even without seeing the details of the program, upon just hearing a brief two minute description, he spontaneously came forward with his cash donation. He was inspired from within by Lord Krishna to offer his support from his retirement funds and we pray to Sri Sri Radha Ballabha to bless this nice devotee and his good wife with Their eternal service and love.

Nitya Sevaks – $1 per day

Sri Ananda Jagannath Das - USA

Vijaya Krishna Reddy – Gold Coast

Yearly Membership – $501.00

Harinamcharan dasa -Brisbane

Devendra Gaudel - Melbourne (sorry no photo as yet)

Special donors

Malaysia

Ekatma Madhava dasa - $2,500.00

We are grateful to Ekatma Madhava prabhu who followed the example of his Guru Maharaja Jayapataka Swami and gave one lakh rupees.

Australia

Sakhi Rai dasa – Brisbane . $400.00

Prahlada Bhakta dasa Ireland and Northern Territory. $300.00

Govinda Mohini dasi Sydney . $270.00

Nrismhadeva dasa Murwillumbah. $200.00

Dr. Rajkumar Buyya, Radha, Soumya and Smrithi from Melbourne $1,000.00

Rasika Chandra dasa Melbourne . Rs. 25,000.00

Anonymous Melbourne . Rs. 20,000.00

Miscellaneous donations

BBT Malaysia ..$100.00

Brisbane – Gold Coast – New Govardhan — Kirtan Abhaya $50.00;  Mithun $100.00;  Shyamarani dasi $100.00;  Advaita Acarya dasa $100.00;  Vivek Gupta $100.00;  Bhusaya dasa $100.00;

Melbourne — Derrimut Bhakti Vrksa group $200.00

Perth — Bob Hornsby $100.00

My apologies to anyone who has made a contribution in the last quarter but is not mentioned here. Kindly inform me so that I can add your name to the next newsletter.

Translation program

We have a long standing aim to establish a translation division which will feed an active publishing imprint. While we are still a ways from that, we did make a start in May-June by hosting a young Sanskrit scholar, Bhakta Vinit.

Vinit has been studying at the Govardhan Sanskrit college under Sriman Gopiparanadhana prabhu, and wrote asking if he could stay at the BRC for his summer break. We were very pleased to provide a room and he worked under direction of our two academic directors Pranava and Krishna Abhisek prabhus.

He translated the Mani-manjari, an important book of the Madhva Sampradaya that Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura personally edited and published. We intend to publish this work at the end of this year. Meanwhile Vinit has returned to his studies at Govardhan and will complete his course in October. We hope then to persuade him to join our BRC team on a full time basis.

Website and Computers

After a long struggle we are nearing sight of launching our website (I haven’t given the name yet because there isn’t anything to see). We have been working diligently to fine tune the catalogues of the books and the digital manuscript images. Our webmaster is Sriman Phanisvara prabhu

He is a long term resident of Mayapur. He has just set up the server connections so that they can be operated remotely and now our big push is on to get the digital library online. I hope when the next newsletter is produced you will be able to view it online.

That’s it for the second quarter, we hope you feel as enthusiastic as we do for the BRC programs and we hope to serve you into the future.

If you or your friends wish to contribute to the BRC it would be very much appreciated. Please write to hari.sauri.acbsp@pamho.net or Janakaraja.acbsp@pamho.net for details how to become a member.

Your humble servant,

Hari-sauri dasa

Director