Amul: Samadhi Ceremony of HH Bhakti Svarupa Damodar Swami Maharaj

Events of 10.3 - 10.5.06

man, what a past few days....

Let me start with last night. Maharaj's body was brought to KB mandir around 9 pm in an ambulence. The body was taken around KB mandir three times, and then was placed opposite Srila Prabhupada's samadhi so all the devotees could offer their respects and have darsan. It was so emotional. Many devotees were crying. Many senior sannyasi's arrived with the Maharaj's body. Also some sannyasi's i've never seen before.
After Darsan arati and Gurupuja (which was led by Guru Kripa Prabhu, yes, the Guru Kripa!) the next morning (yesterday), Sripad Maharaj's body was taken to Radha Kunda at around 8 am. Me, Chai, and Vishal didnt have a ride, so we got on a tempo. I grabbed the video camera and a change of clothes, and we left. It was an experience, it wasn't so crowded, but it was loud and slow. When we arrived in Radha Kunda, we went to Sripad Maharaj's temple (The local Iskcon temple), and Bhakti Charu Swami was singing "Je Anilo". This was taking place in the backyard of the temple, where Sripad Maharaj was to be put into samadhi. Bhakti Charu Swami added the line, "Kaha mora Svarupa Damodar...Patita Pavana". It was more emotional than the night before, many disciples from Manipur had come, they had traveled all night. It reminded me of the "final pastimes" video of Srila Prabhupada, when Narayana Maharaj sang "je anilo" for Srila Prabhupada. Everyone got a turn to offer Sripad Maharaj flowers, take darsan, and touch his wooden shoes.

Then it was time to take Maharaj for parikrama of Radha Kunda and Syama Kunda. That's when you could really tell how many devotees there were. I'm not good at estimations but i would say around 500+. While we were going around, i saw a familiar face - - Mahatma prabhu! I said 'haribol' to him but i don't think he recognized me, i would see him later anyways. I found out that he had flow in from San Diego as soon as he heard about his Gurumaharaj's

passing.

After the parikrama, it was time to place Maharaj's body in the grave(?) they had dug. They had a curtain around this, but I presume they bathed, applied tilak, and newly clothed Maharaj, and then brought him down into the grave. When they were bringing him down, everyone noticed how Maharaj looked as if he was just sleeping. It had been 3 days, but his body was still very flexible and his face was effulgent. I was very suprised. Bhakti Charu swami later mentioned thats a sign of a pure devotee, his body is not material anymore, but it becomes spiritual, even in this life. Srila Prabhupada was the same.

At this time, i had pushed my way inside crowed that had assembled around the grave. Took out our video camera and started shooting. I took a lot of still photographs with it as well, those are the ones im sharing with you all. Then they started to throw in the dirt that would fill the grave. But first they had to cover Maharaj's body in salt, then they started putting the dirt in. We got a chance to throw some dirt in too.

Then, it was time for prasadam. Rupanuga prabhu was in charge of the serve out to the general devotees, so he asked me to help. Even though i had not eaten the whole day, i thought it would be a great time to get some mercy. So I went to the kitchen, expecting to bring prasadam to the general devotees, but this prabhu asked me to bring rice where the senior devotees were eating. I didn't think much of it because i was just dropping it off, but when i got there, the prabhu in charge asked me if i wanted to serve the senior devotees! In my mind i was like "hell yea bro!", but really i said, "Oh, thank you for giving me this oppurtunity prabhu, sure i would love to." haha...I wonder when my mind and my words will express themselves in similar ways. My mind speaks new jersey slang and my speech is insincerely polite... So I helped serve different sannyasis, both from iskcon and gaudiya math, Prabhupada disciples, management, etc. It was amazing!

After i had taken paneer subji, rice, dal, chappatis, sweet rice, butter milk, and other preps, to my full satisfaction, i went back to the samadhi. I had remembered seeing Aindra prabhu and his crew arrive, so i wanted to see if they were still doing kirtan. They were, and i video taped a good portion of it.

We then took bath in Radha Kunda and left back to KB temple. This time we got lucky, and caught a ride with some devotees in a jeep.

These past few days have been very emotional, and very tense because we would get so many different types of news at different times. We didn't know what was going to happen when.

I have fond memories of Sripad Maharaj. He came to Spain for a week during the UK Pandava Sena trip. There he would hang out with us, even though he was a sannyasi and we were just some kids. I remember he did archery with us, and he was really good at it too. No one got the bullseye, but then Maharaj tried last, and he got it.

I also met him in Towaco a few months back when he came to visit. I talked to him with my parents right in front of the temple giftshop, i told him what i was doing in Vrindavan, and for his blessings. He was happy.

Maharaj was sweet, kind, intelligent, and a great singer. His kirtan style was different, but it was amazing.

Somehow a puffed-up kid like me was fortunate to be able to attend this wonderful ceremony, I pray that i never forget this.

dasdasanudasa bh. amul