Dear Maharajas and Prabhus,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
It is with great saddness that I wish to inform you all that our dear god-brother Brahmananda Prabhu passed away this afternoon at 3:31 pm IST in his room in Vrindavan Dham.
Gargamuni Prabhu, Mahadevi Mataji along with Dr. Ashu, Saranga Thakur Das, Dharmatma Das and few other devotees were present when he passed away.
Dharmatma Das, a devotee of the ISKCON Vrindavan temple, has been taking care of Brahmananda Prabhu for the past few years. Dharmatma called me yesterday to inform that Brahmanada Prabhu’s condition was serious and a local doctor was attending to him.
I then spoke to Brahmanada Prabhu on the phone and told him that I would be sending a doctor from Delhi to examine him. Dr. Ashu, who was sent from Delhi, conducted the initial examination and felt his condition was very serious and was of the opinion that he should be moved to the Apollo hospital in New Delhi. Meanwhile, Dr. Krishna Priya from the Delhi temple had spoken to his friend who is a senior doctor in the Apollo hospital for making the necessary arrangements.
This afternoon the local devotees in Vrindavan had called the ambulance and were getting ready to bring Brahmananda Prabhu to Delhi. But he collasped before they could take him out of his room and into the ambulance.
Last night when I was on the phone with Brahmananda Prabhu, I suggested that he come to Delhi to undergo medical tests. But he was very reluctant to the idea of leavining Vrindavan.
And Krishna fulfilled his desire to leave his body in Vrindavan Dham and that to on the most auspicious day of Srila Vakresvara Pandit’s appearance day.
Saranga Thakur of the Vrindavan temple is now working on obtaning the permissions from the police and US Embassy for his last rites which would probably be performed tomorrow morning.
Your servant,
Gopal Krishna Goswami
All glories to his service! He will always be remembered as most dear to Srila Prabhuapda for being a great friend and servant to him when he needed it most. May he continue his service and glorification of His Divine Grace eternally. Hare Krishna forever.
vancha-kalpatarubhyas ca krpa-sindhubhya eva ca
patitanam pavanebhyo vaisnavebhyo namo namah
We must rejoice for our friend Brahmananda Prabhu, for he left in Vrindavana, he who was so dear to Srila Prabhupada and loved Srila Prabhupada so much.
All glories to his service
All glories to Srila Prabhupada
A Big Hari Hari Bol to Sri Brahmananda Prabhu & his service in assisting Srila Prabhupada. We lost another Srila Prabhupada disciple. May he bless us so that we too can serve Srila Prabhupada’s mission and Lord Sri Krishna to the best we can. Hare Krishna!!
An offering by Maharsi Prabhu – ACBSP
All glories to you my dear Godbrother.
When Srila Prabhupada was among us, he once told you: “Brahmananda, you have served me so much, right from the very beginning, being from the first moment with me. For that, when you leave this world, Krsna will welcome you in His kingdom”.
All glories to you my dear friend…
We will miss you so much…
I hope you have now reached the lotus feet of our dear savior, Srila Prabhupada.
Jaya Sri Radhe
Ys. Maharsi dasa
A glorious soul indeed, and a splendid and honorable life did he lead, that Shriman Brahmananda ji. May all who were fortunate enough to have had his auspicious association be gladdened by the news of his holy ascension and the indelible mark he has placed upon our souls, as in him, we did behold a true friend and loving servant of His Most Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Let us remember him…<3
In 1976 when Srila Prabhupad requested me to serve him as his personal secretary, one of the first things that he requested of me was that he not be taken to a hospital to die, as had another of his godbrothers. Sripad Brahmananda Prabhu had a similar mood and his wish was satisfied by the grace of Krishna.
Both Brahmananda and Gargamuni Swamis came to Florida in 1970, and they introduced me to Krishna consciousness. Their sincerity and dedication to Srila Prabhupad was infectious. They started the movement in Florida which has continued to grow and prosper over the years. Brahmananda Prabhu also started the mission in Kenya. It was very challenging in those days to introduce a movement to even the Indians living there at the time, and he persevered with the help of others. He is very, very dear to Srila Prabhupad without any doubt. My condolences to my old friend and godbrother, Gargamuni Prabhu, who is feeling the separation from his biological and spiritual brother. Brahmananda was introduced to Srila Prabhupad in New York City in the earliest days, and he called his brother who was in college in Colorado at the time who promptly come meet Srila Prabhupad and the rest is history.
Another senior godbrother and dear disciple of Srila Prabhupad has passed on, and we believe that our Gurudeva, Srila Prabhupad is preparing Brahmananda Prabhu for the next stage in his loving relationship with Sri Sri Radha Krishna. Jayate Sri Sri Guru Gauranga!! Jaya Sripad Brahmananda Swami Prabhu.
Pusta Krishna das
Interestingly, he left when Venus, the planet of love, was exactly in the Midheaven in Vrindavana.
Dear Devotees,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to our beloved Srila Prabhupada!
It is with great sadness that I have heard the news of our beloved Godbrother Brahmananda Prabhu. There was a sobbing message on my voicemail, from Kosha Rupa, and the rest of my day has been spent in bereavement.
Brahmananda was, is, a very great soul. He loved Srila Prabhupada dearly. He never wanted to usurp his position. He never felt he was an ideal disciple, but his love, his heartfelt love, for Srila Prabhupada was most selfless and unambitious. He never had personal ambitions to be this or that–he just wanted to serve Srila Prabhupada, to assist him in whatever way possible. And also to protect him from harm.
Amazingly, I had just yesterday stumbled upon an older BTG article that Brahmananda had written, praising the prayers of Queen Kunti. In the past couple of days, I have just begun reading his book, “Swamiji,” and relishing those memories of early New York 26 Second Avenue. It was such a special time.
My dear friend and Godsister, Kusha devi, had sent me Brahmananda’s book, “Swamiji” but I hadn’t had time to really look at it until yesterday. Then, when I opened it, I saw that Brahmananda had written me a note on the first page: In that big scrawling Brahmananda script it said, “For Govinda dasi, Where is YOUR book?” and signed, “Brahmananda dasa, 20/14/14” What a surprise! And then this news of his departure!
One Brahmin lady friend once told me that when a person dies, the soul remembers all the persons they knew, and loved, and sometimes they even bid them farewell. I would like to think that is true, for I loved Brahmananda most, of all my Godbrothers, and I still do. His mood of love for our Swamiji was very special, and I felt a similar mood. We shared a common feeling of love for Srila Prabhupada that I am unable to adequately describe.
I reflect on those sweet times in early New York, where we sat around Swamiji’s room every evening, relishing his talks about Krishna–and just about everything under the sun! I recall the times when Swamiji held up the world globe in his hands, and turning it slowly, would say, “Brahmananda, you will go to Russia, Goursundar, you will go to Japan, Rayarama, you will go to England…” Our Swamiji had big plans. And our dear Brahmananda was one of those beloved disciples who helped fulfill those plans.
Brahmananda and I shared a similar vision, that is: Swamiji’s room was the whole world, and he was all the people. He was our everything. There was never a thought of personal ambition, power, or position–none of that existed. It was simply not in the realm, that spiritual realm, that we knew as the early days of Swamiji’s Iskcon.
We will miss him. For me, Vrindaban will not be the same. Just going to visit the “brothers” was always a big “must” on every visit. Just to sit and reminisce about Srila Prabhupada, and hear those wonderful stories! I always felt Srila Prabhupada’s presence right there in the room!
Poor Gargamuni, he must be devastated.
But I also know that in some of my last visits with them, Brahmananda’s mood was one of anxiously waiting to go to be with Srila Prabhupada, and to serve him wherever he was. The separation was becoming more and more painful; Brahmananda missed him, and just wanted to be with him again!
I am very glad he was able to leave this world in the Holy Dhama. That’s what he wanted. May we all become so fortunate!
Srila Prabhupada’s disciples are leaving, one after another, and in a very few years, none of us will be here. My only hope is that in the future, the youth, the second and third generations, will step up to the plate and unravel all the knots in Srila Prabhupada’s legacy. I pray that the third generation, along with their guardians, the second generation, will find a way to reinstate the original glory of Srila Prabhupada’s Iskcon and his mood of love and trust.
To do this, they will have to look to the service mood of such great souls as Brahmananda, for he served Srila Prabhupada with loving devotion, free from the poison of pratistha and pride. And in this way, that original beauty of Krishna Consciousness that filled Srila Prabhupada’s early Iskcon will again become prominent in the minds and hearts of devotees all over the world. That will be the glorious revival of Lord Chaitanya’s movement, the saving grace of Kali Yuga.
Many years ago, when I used to live in Vrindavan and if I would see Bramhananda Prabhu in our ISKCON temple, I would loudly say Bramhananda Prabhu ki Jai, and he always lovingly called me and said, ‘NO (not my jai) Srila Prabhupad ki Jai.” His love for Prabhupad was contagious, all glories to him and to the divine master Srila Prabhupad.