Sriman Nitai Das, a disciple of HH Satsvarupa dasa Goswami left this world while in Vrindavana.
He had a massive cerebral hemorrhage to the right side of the brain. The devotees there got him into the hospice facility. Soon after left his body.
Swarup Das: I remembered that Nitai Das and I had some very wonderful personal exchanges using the message facility here on facebook – he wrote me the following in 2012:
“Swarup Prabhu, you said you were with ISKCON Press in Boston in those early days. It reminded me of one of my early Krsna conscious memories. I had met the devotees in LA in ‘69 with my hippie wife at the time. We were coming out of a Beatles movie in Hollywood and Visnujana Maharaja and the devotees were doing their 24 hour Harinama (it was about 2AM). We immediately began dancing with the devotees as if drawn into a world we had lost somewhere. A devotee gave us a mantra card and we began singing along with the Kirtana. Then this Mataji came up to me and showed me a copy of Krsna, The Reservoir of Pleasure and pointed to the picture on it and, with the purest look I have ever seen, she said, “This is God! His Name is Krsna, He’s blue and He plays a flute!!!” From that moment on I have never lost faith that Krsna is God. (I would love to find out who that Mother was…I have asked a lot of devotees…since you are in CA. maybe you have heard of someone like her…Then again, she may be long gone but she was my first siksa-guru and it would be nice to know who she is).
But that’s not the story I was talking about. After the kirtana settled down and we were talking to the devotees and then every time I met more devotees, that word “nice” was used over and over so I thought it was part of the devotee lingo. At any rate, i was and still am a songwriter/poet/musician and I wrote a poem about the devotees with the theme being “Nice”. I sent a copy of it to ISKCON Press in Boston hoping it would get published in BTG. I got a very nice rejection letter back from Satsvarupa Maharaja (who as you said was a householder at that time). So when you told me your story, I was thinking, Swarup was probably there when that poem came in the mail and I was wondering what the reaction was…laughter, “another hippie” or “How ‘nice!’” I know you don’t recall the exact poem but what would the mood of the devotees at that time have been? When I get back to America, I am going to look thru all my old poems and songs and see if I can find that one and even the rejection letter that I probably saved. I’m just curious what the mood would have been like tho.
I often wonder if all of us who took seriously to this mission are not bonded together from previous lives. it was just so easy for some to take to it and others no interest at all.
Hope this finds you well and blissful in Krsna consciousness…
Your servant…
Nitai das”
Nitai prabhu was initiated by Satsvarupa Maharaja shortly after Prabhupada’s disappearance. Here’s a few memories I had about him:
Last year Nitai had to return to America to renew his visa and the process took months. When I saw him last March in Vrindavan he said he hoped he never had to go back to America again. His wish was granted. He had a genuine taste and attachment for spiritual adventures like visiting sacred places in Vrindavan.
Nitai had many deities he served daily from 4 to 6 hours every morning. Among his deities was a miniature replica of Madan Mohan in the Potomac Washington, D.C. temple, Whom he had served as a pujari for several years in the 80’s. He hired a deity maker to make one like Madan Mohan by providing a photo.
While many consider Vrindavan monkeys as pests or fear them, Nitai saw them and other living entities there as residents, and developed friendly exchanges with them. One monkey saw him reaching unsuccessfully to pick flowers from a tree to offer to his deities. The monkey picked the flowers and left them at his door.
Nitai kept a low profile in Vrindavan, but he had an engaging personality and was well liked by those who knew him. I’ll certainly feel his absence on my visits there, but am very optimistic about his destination.
I was happy to read about Nitai Das, a disciple of His Holiness Satsvarupa dasa Goswami, leaving his body in Vrndavana. He seems like a sincere devotee.
However, considering that Srila Prabhupada also had a famous disciple named Nitai Das, who is obviously being conflated with the Nitai Das who recently passed away in Vrindvana, it’s important to fix the title of the article and the first sentence.
Title should read: Sriman Nitai Das, a disciple of His Holiness Satsvarupa …
First sentence should read: Sriman Nitai Das, a disciple of His Holness Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, left this world while in Vrindavana.
Thank you Dravida prabhu, it s corrected now.