From a recent class of HG Patri Prabhu.
In my early days at the temple, there was a young man I knew — a fellow student at university. By Krishna’s arrangement, he eventually chose the life of a brahmachari, a celibate monk dedicated to spiritual practice. It wasn’t just my doing; it was Krishna’s mercy that drew him in. We brought him to the temple, and before long, his heart was fully in it.
But as it often happens, his father was furious when he found out. “What is this nonsense?” he demanded. His anger was intense — not an uncommon reaction from a parent watching their child walk away from material aspirations toward the renounced order of life.
I consoled the boy, telling him not to worry. I reminded him of Prahlada Maharaj’s assurance: that when one becomes a devotee of Krishna, 21 generations before and after them are delivered. “For the sake of your parents,” I told him, “you just continue your devotion sincerely.”
Time passed. One day, his father suddenly fell gravely ill and slipped into a coma for seven days. I told the boy, “Even though you’re a brahmachari, you must not neglect your duty to your parents. Go and take care of your father.”
So he sat by his father’s bedside in the hospital, chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra softly. Hours turned into days. Then, one day, his father stirred and returned to consciousness. As soon as he could speak, he urgently called out, “Give me japa mala! Give me chanting beads immediately!”
Curious, the boy asked him what had happened.
The father recounted a terrifying vision he experienced while in the coma. He said he found himself in a dark, otherworldly realm — a kind of hell. There, he saw fearsome Yamadutas (the servants of Yamaraja, the lord of death) seizing souls and throwing them into enormous fiery pits. Each soul was judged in the blink of an eye — one moment human, the next destined to be a pig, a snake, a mosquito, or a tree deep in the Amazon jungle, depending on their deeds.
The father found himself in this dreadful queue, his turn approaching. A Yamaduta grabbed him roughly, while a divine scribe, Chitragupta, examined a file with his records. Then, the eyes of Chitragupta widened, like Lord Jagannath’s enormous round eyes.
At that moment, a voice from the throne above demanded, “Wait! What is this man doing here? It’s written — his son has become a Hare Krishna devotee in ISKCON!”
Startled, the Yamadutas stopped.
The one on the throne continued, “What mistake have you made? Get him out of here at once!”
Terrified, the Yamadutas obeyed. The father, sensing his chance, shouted, “You cannot take me! I gave my beloved son to Krishna! I gave him to the Hare Krishna temple as a donation to God!”
“Is it true?” the throne-keeper asked.
“Yes,” confirmed Chitragupta, scanning the record.
“Then leave him,” ordered Yamaraja’s servant. “He is no longer subject to this fate.”
With that, the father was released — and at that precise moment, he regained consciousness in the hospital. His first words were, “Give me japa mala! I must chant Hare Krishna!”
And from that day forward, he too became a devotee.
This story reminds us that sometimes tough love and faith in Krishna’s mercy are necessary. As Srila Prabhupada often explained, the greatest shloka in all scripture is the one that emphasizes the power of devotional service and how it can liberate not just the individual, but generations of their family as well.
You can listen to Patri Prabhu narrating this story here