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"To
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Goloka Prabhu Leaves Body Posted March 28, 2004 Dear Matajis, dear Prabhus, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. With great sadness and sorrow in my heart, I wish to announce that Goloka Prabhu— the head pujari at Goloka Dham, Abentheuer, Germany— passed away from this material world on Wednesday, March 24, 2004, around 9:00 PM (European Standard Time). On the way back from the doctor's, he had a terrible car accident very close to Goloka Dham and passed away right on the spot. A car coming from the opposite direction crashed into his car and demolished it completely. It was a frontal jolt. There was a fire yajna held on Thursday March 25 right where his body was being kept. Devotees from Goloka Dham were praying for Him the whole night and day, singing bhajans.
Goloka Prabhu was a very dear servant of Sri Sri Radha-Madanmohan, the presiding Deities of Goloka Dham, for the past eight years. He was dear not only to the Deities but also to all the devotees there. His care for the other devotees was unique. He was like a loving father to others, showing a very nice example of how to deal with devotees. I never saw him yelling or screaming at others. He was very gentle and kind to others. I saw him many, many times after big festival, the whole day on the altar, He would clean things, and in the mornings he would cook prasadam for the devotees whenever needed. He would always make sure that the devotees were satisfied. At the same time he himself, together with His beloved wife Manjuali Mataji, was doing lots and lots of service. He would spend hours and hours taking care of Radha-Madanmohan. The Deities were his life and soul. He always tried to increase the standard of Deity worship and tried to please the Deities as much as possible. He was really dedicated to those Deities. He liked very much to do the Sila puja every morning. Even when he had some health troubles he would still do it.
There are a few things that are pretty interesting to mention. Not long before this terrible thing happened, Goloka Prabhu became very much opened to the other devotees, spending more time with them than usual. He also though of many plans for improving the Deity worship. He was also making lots of plans for what he wanted to learn. His wife says that she couldn't understand what had happened to him. She also recalls the time before He left for the doctor's. She says he returned four times to say "Hari bol" to her. And the last time, he said he might not return anymore. At first his wife took it as a joke, but at one point she realized he would not return. It was clear. All of these incidents seem to show that he might have known he would go away. My family and I had the good fortune to have some nice association with Goloka Prabhu. And we could see that his life was just saturated with Deity worship. He would always talk about how he wanted to do this and that to make the Deities happy. Even though his standard was very high, he would always inspire us and give us the mercy to worship Sri Sri Radha-Madanmohan. We had the mercy of cooking for Them, dressing Them, offering arati, etc., even though we made lots of mistakes. He was so merciful that he would let us do all these things even though he knew we were not perfect. He would just encourage us to try our best. He was a very merciful person, and I personally think that Goloka Dham will not be the same without Goloka Prabhu. We all miss you, Goloka Prabhu. You were and are the inspiration and example for us. Thank you for everything. Sri Sri Radha-Madanmohan Ki Jai! Your servant, © dipika.org March 28, 2004 |
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