I will come to your east coast Hawaii
Laksmi Nrsimhadev : In the final days before Srila Prabhupada's departure, my then GBC of New York, Adi-Keshava, wanted me to have some darshan with Srila Prabhupada. I had been moved from the New York temple and taken over the Puerto Rico temple as the new president. Adi-Keshava arranged a darshan for me and Prabhupada was very frail and very weak at that time but extremely lucid. They rolled Srila Prabhupada on the side of the bed and I sat on the side of the bed. Prabhupada asked, "So, what is your name?" I said, "Prabhupada, I am Laksmi Nrsimhadev das. I am the temple president of your temple in Puerto Rico." He said, "Oh, Puerto Rico?" I said, "Yes, Srila Prabhupada. It's a beautiful island in the Caribbean", like Prabhupada didn't know, but I went on the explain Puerto Rico. I heard that Srila Prabhupada really liked Hawaii because of the climate and fruits. I said, "Srila Prabhupada, it's very much like Hawaii but it is on the east coast." I told him that the weather is always beautiful with tropical breezes and wonderful fruits and flowers. I said, "I think it would be a very good place for you to come to recuperate." I said, "It's very quiet and the devotees will take very nice care of you." Prabhupada said, "Oh, that sounds very nice." He said, "I will come to your east coast Hawaii." (chuckles) I was literally thrilled. I didn't stay right till the end of Prabhupada's departure, however, because Puerto Rico was a new temple and I was in a bit of anxiety. I thought that Prabhupada might want me to be doing my service rather than hanging around. I think that was the biggest mistake of my life. I should have stayed. But I went back and when I got back to Puerto Rico after being with Srila Prabhupada, the devotees were doing lots of kirtan and praying for Srila Prabhupada's recovery. During that time and before Prabhupada left the planet on November 14th, 1977, I received a phone call from a devotee who was living on the west coast. He came in contact with another senior disciple of Srila Prabhupada in the San Francisco Bay area who had a murti of Srila Prabhupada. Apparently Prabhupada gave this devotee permission while he was still present on the planet, because he was having so much difficulty, to have a murti carved of Prabhupada and he told him to "Keep this murti with you." The white marble murti was maybe 8-10 inches high. So I got a call from this other devotee who said he had been to that devotee's house and he wasn't worshipping that murti at all. Worse than that he was using the murti as an incense holder. It was very painful for him to see and for me to hear. Because he knew me from New York he said, "If I get that murti somehow or other, will you take it to Puerto Rico?" I said, "Absolutely". But I said, "Is he going to give it to you?" He said, "If I have to steal it, I'll steal it." In January of 1978 I got a call from a major airlines that said, "There is a crate here for ISKCON of Puerto Rico". I went and picked up the crate, put it in the middle of the temple room, opened the crate and removed all the stuffing. That whole phone conversation about the Prabhupada murti had slipped my mind but there was this beautiful murti of Srila Prabhupada. At that time I remembered the words of Srila Prabhupada, "I will come to your east coast Hawaii". I realized that Prabhupada through his manifestation of his murti form had kept his promise and there he was. And to this day that beautiful murti of Srila Prabhupada is being worshipped in Puerto Rico.
Reference: Memories Anecdotes of a Modern Day Saint - Volume 4 by Siddhanta Dasa
Recently Added
Trending Today