Appreciations and Memories of Mother Isa devi dasi

By Syamarupa dasa

Dear Devotees,
It is with sadness that I inform you all that our dear Mother Isa devi dasi has departed from this world. I am currently trying to confirm details, but have been told that she left her body on Thursday March 28, 2013, the day after Gaura Purnima, Festival of Jagannath Misra.

By the desire of Niranjana Swami and the devotees, we have begun the process of planning a wonderful festival honoring Srimati Isa devi dasi.

The plan is to have the festival the afternoon and evening of Saturday May 4 at the Boston ISKCON Temple. Events will include a Maha-Harinama throughout Boston and, of course, devotees sharing their appreciations and memories of Mother Isa. More details to come, but please save the date, and please also let others know.

For those who would like to share their memories. Please send them to Shyamarupa@mac.com. If these are larger audio or video files which have been posted to YouTube, etc., please send me a link to that same address.

Hare Krsna
your servant
Syamarupa dasa
—————

Niranjana Swami: It is with deep regret that I wish to inform devotees that my dear godsister, Isa devi dasi, has left this world. I was just notified today that she departed some time last week. I am greatly lamenting her loss. She was such an amazing soul and a great source of inspiration for me.

We did not find out until today because, as I’ve mentioned before, the nursing home where Mother Isa was being taken care of was not obliged to contact us with any updates about her. By law, only her legal guardian was entitled to get information about her. Therefore devotees had to regularly call the nursing home to get information about her. Syamarupa dasa was told today by an employee at the nursing home that Mother Isa mostlikely departed on March 28th, although that is still unconfirmed. Devotees will need to wait until Monday before they can get the final confirmation.

Meanwhile, we should all remember this great soul. I have requested the devotees in Boston to hold a festival in her honor and will be encouraging as many devotees as possible to go there to share their memories of her.

I am reposting the transcription of the lecture I gave in Moscow last year about Mother Isa here. And below you will find the video which Syamarupa dasa took last year of Mother Isa chanting.

All glories to Mother Isa, Srila Prabhupada’s very dear disciple who perfected her life in his service!!!

September 9, 2012 – Moscow Sunday Feast – About Mother Isa

Thank you all for coming today for our Sunday feast program. Do we have any guest that we are welcoming today for the first time? I see, there are few of you. Welcome. I am very happy that you were able to come today. I am very happy to be here. I am happy that I was able to come today too. Today I am going to speak on a different topic. Actually, it’s not a different topic, but a different type of presentation. As you can see, there is a screen here. We are going to show something towards the end of our presentation. It will be about ten minutes long, and will be related to the topic about which I am going to speak.

Generally, when Vaishnavas depart from this world, it is quite commonplace for devotees to assemble to hear about the activities the departed Vaishnava performed in this world. But, as I said, today it’s a little bit different, because today we are going to speak about a Vaishnava who has not yet departed. And we don’t know when this Vaishnavi will depart. But one thing is for sure: her life is in Krsna’s hands. This devotee lived in the Boston area for many years. The devotees in Boston want to be prepared, for when this Vaishnavi departs from the world, they want to have as many Vaishnavas throughout the world to share their memories about her. She is truly a very unique soul, as you will hear about her tonight. And I have to be honest and admit that actually this woman is one of my siksa-gurus. I have spoken about her many times, because I often times think about her. I find that the more I think about her, the more I meditate on her life and her example, the more my heart becomes free from lust, envy, and greed. And that’s the type of impact that this Vaishnavi has upon me and has upon many. So obviously, if that experience is there, then there must be something very pure about this person.

And purity is a state of being that we all, at least those who are practitioners of Krsna consciousness, are aspiring for. We have been speaking a lot on this topic, about the necessity to become more pure in heart, to become free from all the bad qualities that are manifested in those conditioned by the laws of nature. Especially we have been speaking a lot about envy and the need to overcome the influence of envy in our lives and in our dealings with others.

In fact, just this morning we were reading from a commentary by Srila Prabhupada in which he was describing two types of envious beings. He said that one envious being is a snake. And he said that a snake could be pacified by mantras or herbs. But he added that when a person is envious, there is nothing that can pacify him. That is the nature of a person whose heart is filled with envy. Of course, we went on to explain that although there is nothing material that can pacify an envious person, it is certain that purity and the association of a devotee of the Lord – especially the association of a devotee whose heart is pure – can eradicate envy even in the heart of the most envious person.

We were reading from a verse by Prahlada Maharaja in which he was praying to Lord Nrsimhadeva, “Let all envious persons in this world become pacified by engaging in the process of bhakti-yoga.” And he said, “Because only then one will be able to genuinely think of the welfare of others.” So this was the prayer of Prahlada Maharaja, praying for all living beings in this world, for their hearts to become pure and to become pacified, free from envy, so that they can think of the welfare of others.

As long as there is any trace of envy within the heart, then there are unfulfilled desires. And it is very difficult to think of what is completely beneficial for someone else while one is still thinking about what is beneficial for himself. The whole life of a practitioner of bhakti-yoga is therefore aimed at purification of the heart. The more the heart becomes clean, the more the heart becomes pure, then one becomes satisfied. And a self-satisfied person can actually think of the welfare of others. We oftentimes offer this prayer to Vaishnavas:

vancha-kalpatarubhyas ca
krpa-sindhubhya eva ca
patitanam pavanebhyo
vaisnavebhyo namo namah

“We offer our respectful obeisances unto all the Vaishnava devotees of the Lord. They can fulfill the desires of everyone, just like desire trees, and they are full of compassion for the fallen souls.”

When I think of this Vaishnavi and just meditate on her activities, her life, and her example, I feel that my heart becomes free from unwanted things. There are many other people who have a similar experience of her, not only today but as they knew her many, many years ago. Therefore, for my own purification, I would like to speak about her glories. I hope that by so doing it will attract you also to this devotee and make you aspire for what she has achieved in this life by her own purity. An ordinary materialistic person may look at what she has achieved, which I am going to tell you about tonight, and they may not see anything. They may not be able to understand. Although, I am sure even they would appreciate her simplicity.

I should probably tell you a little bit more about this person, so that you can have a better understanding of why I am speaking about her. She is my God-sister, an initiated disciple of His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada. Her name is Isa Devi Dasi. Isa is presently ninety-five years old. She joined the Krsna consciousness movement when she was fifty-five. At that time in the early 1970s most people who joined the Krsna consciousness movement were less than half her age. It was very rare for a person her age to join the movement, move into the temple, and engage in full-time devotional service. What to speak of how extraordinary it was for her to live with young people – to associate with and serve with them. She was like a mother to everybody. It was not easy for her to live under those circumstances. She didn’t have to live in a temple. But she wanted to live in the temple, because she wanted to dedicate her whole life to the service of Srila Prabhupada.

In the early 1970s she was living in our New York temple. At that time the BBT, the Bhaktivedanta book Trust, was not yet actually established. It used to be called ISKCON Press. Everything was right there in New York – all the pre-press work, even the printing, the storage for Prabhupada’s books – everything was right there in New York.

Isa’s service was transcription. She would get Prabhupada’s translations and commentaries on tape, and she would be the first person to listen to them and transcribe them. In fact there was a picture of her in our “Back to Godhead” magazine in 1974. She is sitting with her usual bright effulgent smile, and she has huge headphones on, and she is typing as she is listening to Prabhupada’s words. That was her service for some time. But then a little bit later ISKCON Press moved out to Los Angeles. Everything moved and became the “Bhaktivedanta Book Trust,” but Isa didn’t go.

For some time she was sent to India, where she was serving in our Bombay temple, taking care of Tulasi-devi. I didn’t know Mother Isa at this time. She had been in New York, when I was in Boston. And then, when she went to India…Our paths just didn’t cross. But I finally got to know her when I was the temple president in Boston. I became temple president in 1979. At that time she no longer actually lived in the temple. She lived about a 100 kilometers south of Boston.

It was difficult for her to live in the temple. Her body was getting older. The temple couldn’t provide for her personal needs. Because she had a place to live south of Boston, she decided to move there, where she lived alone. She had been previously married to a man who was actually a well-known professor of mathematics in one of the universities in Massachusetts. But he had already died and they had no children. And she was living alone for the latter part of her life. But she would very frequently come to the temple – as much as she possibly could. She would come and do service in the temple. As I said, I was temple president at that time. She would oftentimes come to the temple and she would report to me. She would tell me about what she was doing at home, and she would tell me about her preaching.

One thing Mother Isa always did, and this is the most wonderful quality about her, she wouldn’t speak about anything except Krsna and Prabhupada. I never heard her speak a word of nonsense. I never heard her speak about others in a critical way. Actually, one time she did say something to me about someone else. She said, “I am concerned; he seems to be in maya.” But that was the only thing I ever heard her say about somebody else. She used to come to my office quite frequently. Whenever she would come to Boston, she reported to me. As soon as she entered the temple, if any guests were there, she would immediately start preaching to them. Her preaching was very simple – very simple, but very pure.

She would always carry Hare Krsna mantra cards in her pockets. Whenever she met anybody, she would immediately say, “Can you sing this with me?” She was an elderly woman, so she commanded some respect. So, she did that in the temple, but as I later found out, she did it wherever she was living, wherever she went. She was always carrying some books, some pamphlets, some mantra cards, and she was always approaching people, saying, “Please, sing this with me.” And then: Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Then she would look at them and say, “Can you sing it yourself?” People were just so disarmed. They could not say anything…just “Hare Krsna…” They would just chant.

She especially used to come on Sunday, when all the guests come. If she were here right now, she would probably come to each of you who are here for the first time. She would hand you a card and say, “Chant with me.” Whoever she approached, everybody chanted. That is the way she was.

She didn’t have any time to talk about anything else. Her preaching was always very, very simple – but profound. She would say, “Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He can do anything, because He is the Supreme Lord. If you take shelter of Him, He can do anything. Whatever you need, He can take care of.” She was speaking from her own realization. It was not pretentious. This was her realization because it was very difficult for her to live alone. She did not have much money; she lived very, very simply. She went through many difficulties in her life. She lost many family members.

She had one brother, who was older than her. She used to have to take care of him, and he was very antagonistic. She used to come to the temple and tell me, “That brother of mine, he won’t chant Hare Krsna.” That was her problem: her brother wouldn’t chant Hare Krsna. She also had a niece that was very antagonistic. But she never wanted to accept any help from her family members. She wanted to depend on Krsna.

She was living in a city called Hyannis on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. She was effectively the main preacher there. She would always go introducing people to Prabhupada’s books. Everywhere she went she had Prabhupada’s books. She would ride around town on a bicycle. That is how she got everywhere. Whenever she would go into a store to buy something, she would always have some of Prabhupada’s books and some mantra cards. And everyone she met she would always give them books and preach to them. Gradually some people became attracted to her and they wanted to learn more about Prabhupada and Krsna. Whenever there was a group of people that she had been introducing to Krsna consciousness, she would invite me, “Please come down and give a lecture to these people.”

So I used to go down; not that regularly, but once every few months we would go down and have a program. Isa would introduce to me all the people she had met in the course of her travels. Her preaching was just always the same. “Krsna is God. Krsna can do anything. Just take shelter of Him and chant these names.” It was not very complicated. She did not give lectures or anything like that. She just spoke, and then exemplified what she said. That was her life. That is all I know of her life. It was her life just to take shelter of the holy name, to preach the glories of the holy name, and to preach the glories of Prabhupada. She definitely was very much attracted to always speaking about Prabhupada.

Her life went on like this for quite a few years. And she continued to come to the temple very regularly – every Sunday. She oftentimes would sew. She liked to sew, so she would sew things for devotees and for the Deities. She liked to make Prabhupada’s hats, because she always saw these hats on Prabhupada in his pictures. When she saw Prabhupada in person, he was wearing his famous “Prabhupada hat” that he would tie under his chin. Every week she came, she would always bring these hats for the brahmacaris and the other devotees in the temple. And bead bags – she liked to make bead bags. Nobody could refuse. Everybody was wearing Prabhupada hats in the temple. She was the kind of woman you just can’t refuse. If she asked you to take a hat, you had to take it and immediately put it on. She would just immediately smile; it made her so happy. She was so happy, because she was so grateful she could do some service for the devotees. That was her life – just doing some service according to her means. She wanted to serve the devotees and to serve Radha-Gopivallabha, the Radha-Krsna Deities in Boston.

As soon as she came into the temple, She would report to me, telling me about her preaching. Then she would immediately go to shower, put on clean clothes, and go down to the pujari room to iron all the Deities’ clothes. She would iron handkerchiefs, and she would iron the Deity’s cadars and clothes. She would stay in the pujari room until the Sunday feast program was about to start, and then she would go out and preach to the guests. She would preach to the guests all the time during the Sunday program. She would only take a little prasada; she never ate the feast, because she was so busy preaching. She would just honor a little maha-prasada, because she wanted to serve to her full capacity while she was in the temple. Then she would go home. She would take a bus 100 km home late at night every Sunday.

From time to time, she would come during the week, but mostly she came on Sundays. She just continued doing this for so many years. She never complained. I never heard a complaint from this woman’s mouth. She was so happy just to have Prabhupada and Krsna, to be able to associate with the devotees. It was her life. Sometimes people think that when you live away from the devotees, it is very difficult to stay in Krsna consciousness: so many distractions, so many allurements. Sometimes people lament that, “I need to live closer to the devotees.” But she was self-satisfied, and she went on like that for many years. I started travelling on this side of the world many years ago, and so I didn‘t see her so often. But I always used to inquire about her. Because I knew her, I knew she was living far away.

As the years went by, not many devotees in the temple knew her, especially when it became too difficult for her to come to the temple. But I didn’t want anybody to forget that she exists. So I would always either send an email or call, or whenever I came I would say, “Where is Mother Isa? How is she doing?” And I would hear, “Oh, Mother Isa? We haven’t seen her for a long time.” She was already in her eighties at that time. I would say, “What do you mean you haven’t seen her for a long time? What kind of an answer is that? That’s not an answer. I haven’t seen her for a long time. Do you know why you haven’t seen her for a long time?” I always had the biggest fear in my heart that this woman might leave the planet and nobody would know about it. It was always a fear in my heart. It would be a travesty: such an exalted Vaishnavi leaves and nobody knows. So I used to make the devotees find out where was Mother Isa. And they did.

She was getting too old to make the bus trip to Boston. But she was still doing whatever she could. She was no longer on a bicycle, but she was still going places, meeting people and introducing them to Krsna consciousness. Actually, it got to the point where it was very difficult for her even to do her basic shopping. She had met one woman in a health food store. Isa was preaching to this woman because she worked in a health food store that Isa would go to quite regularly. Isa would always give her books and preach to her. So, the woman wanted to find out more about Isa, because she was very attracted to Isa. She gradually found out that Isa was living alone, that she was a devotee, a disciple of Srila Prabhupada, and that all she would talk about was Krsna and Prabhupada. This woman began to feel like she wanted to do some service for Mother Isa. She started buying Mother Isa’s food, so that she would not have to go out. This woman was taking care of all Isa’s personal needs. She was so drawn to Isa that she couldn’t help but serve her. I didn’t know about this. But I found out about it in 2006. In 2006 this woman – she is probably now in her late thirties, maybe forty years old – she called the Boston temple and left a message on the answering machine. She said, “I don’t know if this is the right number to call or not, but I wanted to tell you that there is a woman here in Hyannis, her name is Isa Devi Dasi. She just had a stroke, and she is in a hospital. I thought you may be interested to hear this.” That was the message. She also left her name and phone number.

Unfortunately, at that time nobody in the temple knew who Isa was. But, fortunately, I was in America at the same time, so I called the temple, and somebody in the temple said, “Somebody left a message about some Isa Devi Dasi who just had a stroke.” I said, “Isa had a stroke? What’s wrong? Where is she? What happened?” – “We don’t know anything about it.” Immediately, I said, “Did they leave a number?” – “Yes, they left the number.” So, I immediately called, and Sandy – she introduced herself – told me about everything that had happened. She said that Isa had had a stroke and was in the hospital. Sandy had found Isa at the bottom of the stairs, where she was lying unconscious. She said that Isa was currently in the hospital, that she was not conscious, but that the doctors were hopeful she would regain consciousness soon.

As it turned out, she did regain consciousness very soon. But the result of having had the stroke was that the doctors found out that was one of many strokes she had had. The doctors said that Isa must have had at least five or six strokes before that one. That particular stroke completely took away her memory. She didn‘t know who she was; she didn‘t know her name; she didn‘t know where she lived; she didn‘t remember anybody; though, Sandy said, she claimed she remembered me. She also remembered one other devotee – his name was Damodara – who also used to serve together with her in the Boston temple. I asked Sandy, “Where is she? Can I come and see her?” She said, “It will be better to come see her when she is brought to the rehabilitation hospital. She will be transferred there in two days.”

So, in two days I called to see if Sandy was there and if I could meet her and see Isa. Sandy was right there in the room with Isa at that time. She answered the phone. I introduced myself, and she said to Isa, “Isa, it’s Niranjana Swami. Do you remember Niranjana Swami?” Isa didn’t really respond. She gave the phone to Isa and said, “Isa, say something to Niranjana Swami.”

“Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna, Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!” That’s what she said. And then she handed the phone back to Sandy. She was singing just like that, in that melody, and with great enthusiasm. I said to Sandy, “It sounds like she hasn’t lost all her memory.” But Sandy said, “It seems to be that’s all she remembers.” So I said, “It can’t be all that bad.”

I went that day to visit her with another devotee. She was there at a rehabilitation hospital, and the doctors were teaching her how to eat – because she forgot how to eat – teaching her how to dress, how to walk – she forgot how to walk. She couldn’t remember any of these things. She had no memory of anything. We waited for some time while she was in therapy. And then finally she was wheeled into the room where we were waiting for her. She had this very intense stare; she was looking at me. I started talking to Mother Isa, “Hare Krsna. How are you?” She couldn’t say much.

At one point we were sitting and talking to her, we were trying to bring back her memory. One of the nurses came over to Isa, because when you forget, one of the things to do is to try to stimulate a person‘s memory. So she sat down in front of Isa – her name is Edith – and she said, “Edith, where do you live? Where is your home, Edith?” And Isa says, “My home? In a very slow, deliberate, but innocent way, she said the word, “Vrindavan.” The nurse couldn‘t understand. She said something like, “I think she said Chicago.” Isa said, “No. Vrindavan is my home.” That was one thing that really caught my attention.

Then we were sitting and talking to Isa. She wasn‘t really responding so much. Sandy was sitting at the table and we were mostly talking to Sandy, because Isa wasn‘t responding so much. Sandy was telling us the story about how she got to know Isa. She told us how Isa came and preached to her in the health food store, how she started serving Isa, and how she was in a conflict with her husband because she was serving Isa more than she was serving the family. I said, “You’re doing a lot of service. You must be a devotee.” She said, “A devotee? I don‘t know what a devotee is. All I know is she talks about Krsna.” And she said, “All I know is, I love Isa. And if loving Isa means I am a devotee, then I am a devotee.”

I could see that this woman’s heart was really being transformed by associating with Isa. She was just so dedicated to serving her. She was already making plans, how they could add on to her home so that when Isa got out from the rehabilitation hospital Isa could move in with them so that she could take care of her. They weren‘t a very wealthy family, but she was ready to do anything for Isa. Still, the husband he was a little reluctant. And it turned out that the husband started putting up some resistance…

The best part is yet to come. This is leading up to the best part. Do you want me to end? Ok, I‘ll continue. And I‘ll try to not keep you too long from your feast. But don‘t forget, Mother Isa would fast. She wouldn‘t be so much concerned about the feast. She only wanted to hear and chant about Krsna.

So, it was a problem. The husband didn‘t want Isa to move into their home. Sandy was explaining all this to us. All of a sudden another nurse walked over to the table, and Isa looked up and she sternly asked, “Are you a vegetarian?” And Sandy started clapping, “That‘s the Isa I know.” She was so happy. Immediately she said, “Isa is coming back. That‘s the Isa I know. She is always preaching.” Meanwhile, the nurse was just startled. She didn‘t know what to say. She said, “Well, I try not to eat red meat.” Isa wasn‘t satisfied. She just gave a dirty look, but she didn‘t say anything more. Damodara had to explain to her about the benefits of being vegetarian. The woman left, saying, “Well, I am going to think seriously about becoming vegetarian now.”

So, we went back into Isa‘s room, and there was another devotee…Actually, this was another visit, not the same visit. Isa was already in the room when I came with another devotee. Isa was staring at this devotee as he was chanting japa; she was staring at his bead bag. I asked Sandy, “Where are her beads? Does she have beads?” Sandy said, “Actually, no. Her beads broke when she fell down the stairs during her stroke. She has no beads.” She said, “But my husband is restringing them for her.” But Mother Isa was still looking at the bead bag. Although we were trying to get her to communicate, she just wouldn‘t take her eyes away from the bead bag. So the devotee, Yamuna Jivana, gave his bead bag to Isa. Isa looked like a little child who had just received a Christmas present she had been waiting for all year. She put her hand into the bead bag immediately and just started chanting, “Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna…” She didn‘t notice anything else that was going on in the room. She just stayed that way for the whole rest of the visit, just chanting japa, as if she had been waiting such a long time for those beads.

Unfortunately, that was the last time I saw Isa until just two weeks ago. But I arranged for a whole group of devotees to rotate and go visit her from time to time. After a while I found out they were becoming a little negligent, and nobody was visiting her. So, just on my last trip to the United States I took two other devotees with me, and we went down to the nursing home where she is now. We tried very hard to find a way that Mother Isa could live with devotees, so that devotees could take care of her. But it was very, very difficult. I knew that Mother Isa had some funds, because one time she called me and asked for my name – she wanted to put my name into her will so that all her money would be given to me when she died.

So, I asked Sandy, because Sandy took responsibility for her accounts also, how much money was available? Maybe we could build a house in one of the farm communities, and the devotees could take care of her. Unfortunately, it wasn‘t very much. But, even worse, her niece refused to let her be taken away. Her niece had full custody of Isa, because she was the only living relative. They wouldn‘t let us take her to any place far from where she had been living.

We went to the nursing home. I hadn‘t seen Mother Isa for five or six years. She was wheeled into the room. I could see that she was a lot older. When I talked to her she was a lot less responsive. Her memory was practically completely gone. When I would talk to her, I would say, “Isa, tell me something about Prabhupada. Tell me something about Krsna.” She would just look at me very intensely – in the eyes – but she couldn‘t say anything. So, I decided to go to the nurses’ station to ask them if they could tell me about her current state. I told them who I was and how I had known her for almost forty years. I was told at the nurses’ station that actually the morning is a very bad time of day to get her to respond because she is very, very tired. The nurse said, “But if you come during the day, she‘ll sing the Krsna song for you.” I said, “Oh, really?” Immediately I became enlivened, because I knew she was still chanting. I couldn‘t imagine Mother Isa not chanting Hare Krsna. So, I went back into the room again and I reached out for her hand, and she immediately grabbed my hand very tightly.

I said, “Mother Isa, Hare Krsna.” And she looked at me and said, “Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna…” She chanted the whole mantra all the way through. She did this for several minutes. But we couldn‘t get her to say anything else but the maha-mantra. That‘s all she could say. We could see that she was very tired, so we decided after forty-five minutes that we would leave and try to come back some time in the afternoon.

As we were leaving the nursing home, one of the nurses saw me out of the corner of her eye – I was dressed in my robes – she was helping a group of elderly people to get into a van. She came over to me and said, “Who are you here to see?” So I said, “I am here to see Edith Graves.” She said, “I knew it. I love that woman. Everybody in this whole building loves that woman. She‘s the most peaceful person, so self contented. She never complains. Every Friday we get together and we sing patriotic songs together. And she leads everybody in a Krsna song.” The whole group of people, she just starts leading them in kirtana. She just chants Hare Krsna, and everybody just follows along and chants with her.

There was another elderly woman in a wheelchair. She was being wheeled onto the van. She immediately put her hand out and she said, “Very nice to meet you. My name is Kay. I love that woman too. That woman is a real live wire. When she starts chanting that Krsna song with such enthusiasm, everybody just has to chant. Everybody has to sing with her. Tell me, how old is she? Nobody knows how old she is.” I said, “She is ninety-five years old.” She said, “Oh.” Maybe she became very reverential when she heard that Isa was ninety-five years old. She begged us, “Please come back again.” And the other nurse said, “Please come back. You have to come and see her. Nobody has been visiting her.” So I thanked them profusely, and I told them, “Thank you for sharing these stories about Isa with me. It means so much to me. We‘ll definitely come back.”

So the devotee that came with me, it just so happened that he had to be near there on that Friday afternoon. So I told him, “You have to take a camera. I want you to take a video of Mother Isa chanting. Then you should interview everybody and ask them what they think about her.” As it turned out, there was a strict policy in the nursing home not to allow events to be videotaped. They obviously don’t allow anybody to go around and interview people on video. But this devotee took some video clips of Mother Isa chanting. She can‘t say anything from memory, except the Hare Krsna mantra. Sometimes she may repeat a word or two, but it‘s just repetition. But as soon she starts with the Hare Krsna mantra, it just comes out with such enthusiasm, with such devotion – it‘s profound.

I’m thinking that Krsna has taken away everything, but she has everything she needs for a perfect life. She doesn‘t have to think about her body, she doesn‘t complain about anything, she doesn‘t have to think about anything, because the only thing she can think about is the holy name. It‘s the only thing that comes out of her mouth. I tried to get something else, but nothing else would come, just the Holy name. So, I’m thinking that Krsna, who is in the heart, has actually rewarded her for a life of only speaking about Krsna.

I wrote the story and I put it on the internet, and devotees are writing back and leaving little comments. Sivarama Maharaja says, “If having a stroke means that all I’ll be able to say is Hare Krsna, then maybe I should have a stroke.” Other devotees are writing things like this, “Wonderful! It‘s amazing! All glories to Prabhupada! This is shocking!”

Now we are going to show this video. It‘s ten minutes. But I want you to take note what she does when the woman who is with her tries to get her to chant. When she chants, the woman and Syamarupa both say, “That‘s wonderful, Mother Isa.” Watch the expression on her face when they say, “That‘s wonderful, Mother Isa.” It‘s the same expression she would always show when everybody would try to glorify her. Because she never wanted glorification. She would always think nothing of it. She didn’t want to hear it. So when you hear, “That’s wonderful,” watch her expression. The other thing…towards the end you‘ll see such an effulgent smile. It will melt your heart. For me, it brings tears to my eyes, because she is my siksa-guru. She has always been an object of my meditation.

So, I’d like to introduce you to Mother Isa. Hare Krsna.