By Phalini Devi Dasi
As the embodied soul continually passes in this life
from boyhood to youth to old age,
the soul similarly passes into another body at death.
A self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change. (Bg 2.13)
12:30 p.m. Friday, May 1, 2015. My husband and I were home in Udupi. We were cooking a big pot of Prema Pasta. We planned to honor lunch prasadam and then pack up the left-overs for our train trip to Navi Mumbai that afternoon. Our train was due to depart at 3 p.m. Just as we stirred the salt into the Prema Pasta, the phone rang. “Kanaiji!” my husband joyfully answered the phone. But on the other end it was not Kanai’s voice. Prajapalaka, Kanai Thakur’s adopted spiritual son, was calling from Hanja, on Kanai’s phone. “Prabhuji! Kanai Thakur won’t speak to me! He is not breathing, he’s not moving, and his body is cold.” Prajapalaka hesitated to say the obvious, so my husband said the words for him: “Sounds like Kanai Thakur Prabhu has left his body.” My husband told him to stay calm and chant Hare Krsna, and that we would come there as soon as possible. We immediately canceled our train tickets and our engagements in Navi Mumbai, called several devotees and drove in a caravan out to Kanai’s place near Hanja, a remote village about two hours from Udupi.
That morning, Kanai Prabhu and Prajapalaka had finished their morning program which included a story from Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. After instructing Prajapalaka to go take care of the cows, Kanai lay down to listen to “Bhaja Hure Mana” and “Gurudeva Krpa Bindhu Diya” on his headphones. Prajapalaka came in after completing his morning go-seva, and reported to Kanai Thakur about the cows. Kanaiji didn’t respond. Prajapalaka spoke again. Again, no answer. Prajapalaka went into Kanai’s bedroom to humbly ask him if he was angry with Prajapalaka for some reason and if perhaps that was why he wasn’t speaking to him. Prajapalaka spoke again. No answer. He touched Kanai’s arm and it felt cold and lifeless. He bent down and heard no breathing. He feared that Kanai Prabhu had left his body. Prajapalaka got on the phone and started calling devotees in the Udupi area, including us.
Upon reaching Hanja, we found that several other devotees from Udupi, Brahmavara and Kapu as well as some local villagers had already arrived. We had all come to help with the last rites of our beloved Kanai Thakur. Someone called Kanai’s wife, daughter and son. Someone else made an arrangement to acquire a cold box in which to preserve the body while we waited for Kanai’s relatives to arrive from America and Jordan. People talked of hiring local Madhva brahmanas to prepare a feast after the twelfth day to be distributed to all the villagers. Someone was designated to pick up Kanai’s daughter from the Mangalore airport. Everyone pitched in to clean the entire house, inside and out. After everything was decided and planned, most of us drove to our homes for the night. We all returned the next day for the last rites.
It was the first time I had ever seen the cremation process from beginning to end. Along with other elderly ladies, I participated in the ritual bathing of the body and sprinkling of Holy Gangajal three times into Kanai’s mouth with a sprig of Tulasi. After the bath, Kanai’s body was dried, decorated with tilak, dressed in new cotton cloth and placed on a plank made of bamboo. His body was decorated with garlands. Pall bearers were chosen. In India, it is a great honor to be asked to carry the palanquin of a beloved departed soul, so the men who were chosen were grateful for the seva.
Kirtan began. The pall-bearers hoisted the palanquin up on their shoulders, and proceeded past the goshala, through the garden, and down into the meadow where the funeral pyre had been constructed by the local men. After piling on more logs in a scientific way to ensure that the body would burn thoroughly and the pyre would not collapse, the pyre was lit. The kirtan became more emotionally charged as the fire of the funeral pyre grew. It burned brightly and enthusiastically, reminding me of how it is said that during a havan, if the fire burns nicely, it means that Lord Vishnu is pleased. I remember thinking that Lord Vishnu must certainly be pleased by the many years of devotional service rendered by Kanai Thakur dasa, especially his selfless service to the Vaisnavas.
The preparations for Kanai’s last rites as well as the ceremony had covered two days, and ended Saturday, May 2, at around 5:00 pm. We drove home tired but blissful from all the purifying chanting of the holy names and rituals associated with death.
On the way home, I found myself wondering if His Holiness Varshana Swami had chosen the name Kanai Thakur for some special reason. So I looked up the name Kanai Thakur on VedaBase, just in case there might be some connection, some clue as to why Maharaja had given him that name. I found out that the original Kanai Thakur after whom our Kanaiji was named by Varshana Swami was the cowherd boy named Däma during kåñëa-lélä. “It is said that just after the birth of Känu Öhäkura, who was an associate of Lord Nityananda Prabhu, his mother, Jähnavä, died. When he was about twelve days old, Çré Nityänanda Prabhu took him to His home at Khaòadaha. It is ascertained that Känu Öhäkura was born sometime in the Bengali year 942 [A.D. 1535]. It is said that he took birth on the Ratha-yäträ day. Because he was a great devotee of Lord Kåñëa from the very beginning of his life, Çré Nityänanda Prabhu gave him the name Çiçu Kåñëadäsa. When he was five years old he went to Våndävana with Jähnavä-mätä, and the Gosvämés, upon seeing the ecstatic symptoms of Känu Öhäkura, gave him the name Känäi Öhäkura.” (CC Adi-lila 11.40 Ppt) I didn’t really get a clear idea from that passage in Caitanya-caritamrta why Maharaja named him that, other than the fact that his birth name, Kanaiyyalal, contained the name Kanai within it. But it was sweet to read that pastime, and I realized that Kanai Thakur dasa had been named after a great personality from Krsna-lila who later became an associate of Lord Nityananda. Our Kanai Thakur, in the preaching mood of Lord Nityananda’s followers, had dedicated his life wholeheartedly to purifying his heart and encouraging others to become as pure as the original Kanai Thakur.
Kanai Thakur dasa’s daughter Manju came to visit us on Wednesday, May 6th. She had flown in from Jordan where she works at the US State Department. Manju told us a little history. Kanai’s father had been part of the British Corps Army of Engineers. He was stationed in Baroda. He and his wife had four children, and they had decided that four was enough. But there was a beggar who used to come begging at their house. He used to call “Kanhaiyya! Kanhaiyya!” as he came begging. The mother used to lock the doors and ignore that beggar. But one day she finally reached into her choli and pulled out some rupees. She handed the money to the beggar and hoped that now he would leave them alone. The beggar then said, “Because you have given me something, I will now give you something. Soon your Kanhaiyya will come.” Kanai’s father was then transferred to Colombo, Sri Lanka. Nine months after the beggar had made his promise and seven years after the birth of their fourth child, Kanhaiyyalal Sadarangani was born.
Manju told us that her father discovered fairly early in his life that he wanted to find out what true happiness is. When she was a small child, she would ask him deep philosophical questions, and instead of brushing them off as childish, he would try his best to answer them. He admitted to her that he had the same questions in his heart, and would honestly tell her that he did not have the answers to her questions. But she felt satisfied that he presented to her the views of different religions so that she could at least have a universal understanding of philosophies in general.
She also said that her father became fearless and at peace after he found Krsna consciousness. He had told her, “You should do what’s right even when it’s hard. Fight for what you know is right.”
The night before he left his body, at 11:00 pm, Kanai Prabhu had been on What’sApp counseling young students as he was accustomed to do. One young man shared, “Last time I talked to Kanai Prabhuji, a week back, he instructed me to be in Vaisnava sanga wherever I am, and to be always anxious to serve Vaisnavas. To be Krsna conscious should be our first priority always. Everything else is secondary. This was his last instruction to me which I’ll always keep in mind.”
According to Kishan Sadashiv, who heads up the Bhaktivedanta Youth Services program at Bhajan Kutir for students at Manipal University, Kanai used to ride his motorcycle all the way from Hanja to Manipal, a two-hour journey. He would come into the kitchen at Bhajan Kutir and render seva for the Saturday evening feast. Kishan appreciated how even though Kanai was old and had health problems, he nonetheless took the trouble to come so far to render service to the devotees. Kishan said, “We were all concerned about Kanai living in such a remote place. If something happened to Kanai, who would take care of him?” But Kanaiji had strong faith in Krishna, and Krishna showed us all how even if you live in a remote area, He will still take care of you and even at the time of death, He will remember you and help you remember Him.
Kanai Thakur dasa was beloved by all the devotees, and a siksha guru for many. He was so popular that if someone would mention his name in a crowd, immediately there would be smiles on all the faces of those who heard his name, and even laughter would bubble up from inside their hearts. Kanaiji was so Krsna conscious and so blissful that his enthusiasm for pure Krsna consciousness was infectious.
From my own personal experience with Kanai Thakur, there is one quality I admired in him, and that was his chastity. Although he would generously give Krsna conscious advice to both men and women, toward us women he was always aloof and respectful, addressing us affectionately as “Maaaataaaa.” A friend shared with me recently that although she had met Kanai Thakur only twice, she remembers him as having been very encouraging to her in her Krsna consciousness and in her service to the Vaisnavas. Her sentiments are shared by many souls, far and wide.
The preparations for Kanai’s last rites as well as the ceremony had covered two days, and ended Saturday, May 2, at around 5:00 pm. Thirteen days later, we gathered again at Hanja to celebrate the departure of our dear friend. Sheetalanga Gauranga Prabhu of Udupi conducted a beautiful fire sacrifice—the Sudarshana-Narasimha-yajna—in honor of Kanai Thakur. Haripada dasa led a blissful kirtan. Srinatha Krsna Prabhu and other devotees from Brahmavara and surrounding areas cooked a fantastic feast, offered it to Kanai’s beloved Deities, Sri Sri Radha-Muralidhara, and then lovingly served the prasadam to all who had come. Radha-Muralidhara’s prasadam was honored enthusiastically by many villagers as well as by all the assembled devotees. As the blissful, purifying celebrations concluded, we all felt very happy and confident that our dear Lord Krsna had taken our beloved friend Kanai Thakur dasa back home, back to Godhead.