A Message from her Guru

Vraja Lila, Chapter 8

Days passed and her situation got worse. She started to go blind, being able to see objects only directly in front of her eyes. She was very eager to chant Hare Krsna, but her japa became increasingly difficult because of her weak voice. So she asked me to chant in her ear and she followed me by fingering her beads in her hand. Manasi Ganga phoned Srila Gurudeva again on October 9th to inform him that Vraja Lila did not have long to live. The next day we received a fax from Srila Gurudeva giving her his final instructions:
“Lord Krsna, who is like a sun rising in the darkness, like a boat to the drowning, like a sweet raincloud to those dying of thirst, like fabulous wealth to the poverty-stricken, and like an infallible physician to those afflicted with the most painful disease, has come to grant auspi¬ciousness to us.”
(Sri Vyasa quoted from Padyavali)

Wroclaw, Poland,
October 10, 1994

My Dear Vraja Lila,
Please accept my blessings. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
I have just received information from Manasi Ganga dasi that the doctors in Vrndavana say you will soon leave your body. I am praying you will go back home, back to Godhead, because you have rendered such nice service to the Lord in this lifetime.

Now, in these last moments, please fix your mind upon the eternal pastimes of the Lord. Pray to Him to remove any obstacles to pure devotion that remain within your heart and ask for the privilege of eternal service to His lotus feet. He will surely answer your prayers, as He has kindly brought you to Sri Vrndavana-dhama in the last days of your life, where He has given you the shelter of so many loving devotees.

Please know that now I am thinking of you every minute of the day, even in the midst of my busy schedule. I am constantly praying to Srila Prabhupada to watch over and guide you in this final test, your departure from your body. By his grace we can transcend the most difficult moments. You are my very dear spiritual daughter and I will feel your separation intensely. But know for sure that the spiritual master and the disciple are never separated even for a moment, because the relationship is eternal. One day all of us—the members of ISKCON—will be together again in the spiritual world, safe at the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada said we will have our ISKCON in the spiritual sky.

My prayer is that Krsna will soon take you to the shade of His lotus feet, engaging you in His eternal service. My blessings are always with you, Vraja. I will look forward to seeing you again in the not-too-distant future.

Your ever well-wisher
Indradyumna Swami

FFrom the wording of the fax we could understand that Srila Gurudeva would not be coming. We hesitated to read it to her. That evening Tamal Krishna Maharaja, Giriraja Maharaja and other devotees came and led beautiful kirtanas in Vraja Lila’s room. But Vraja was looking around anxiously and wanted to know if her Guru Maharaja was coming or not. She said she was not peaceful, despite the wonderful kirtanas. I decided to tell her the truth, hoping she might be pacified in the presence of those Vaisnavas and give up the idea to see her Guru Maharaja before her final test. So I leaned over and told her that Srila Gurudeva had sent a message: he had so many responsibilities in Poland and it was not possible for him to come. I asked her to see Guru Maharaja’s god brothers as his representatives sent to help her.


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