By Lokavarnotamma dasa
No less than 45 devotees contributed eulogies for our beloved Godbrother Mukta Kesa. Those articles are now not appearing here on this page, but are archived. As more eulogies and remembrances are sent to me, I would like to submit them for others to read. Hare Krsna.
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Hare Krishna Prabhu,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
Thanks for sending the letter of Radhanatha Swami. His words were very moving.
I just got back from traveling and wanted to send this out. It is late, but never too late to say a few nice words about your dear brother and my old time friend.
The quality that struck me most about Mukta was his unflinching faith in Prabhupada and Krsna. Even though he was often going through a million mental changes and ups and downs, he was always very positive and never lost this faith. Because of that he was always a great inspiration to those who knew him.
Although I have had little contact with Mukta over the last 30 years, when we did talk it was always as if we had never been separated, because the bond that we formed in the early days was so strong. I will always feel that bond and lament very much that we won’t be serving Prabhupada together in our final years. I am very happy, however, that his passing was mostly free of suffering. I am sure he will never give up struggling to be Krsna conscious until he finally reaches the lotus feet of the Lord.
All glories to Muktakesha Prabhu, and all glories to you for always looking out for him, sticking up for him, taking care of him, and never giving up on him.
Your servant,
Gunagrahi das Goswami
———————————– New Vrndavan, USA : To My Godbrother Muktakesa by Mudakari dasi
In Buffalo, cold New York State, Your spiritual journey did begin. You met your transcendental fate And learned to wheedle, bluff, and pin.
With incense, flowers, stickers, books, The infamous citation line, You brazed the laughter, scornful looks, The “No Solicitation” fine.
From strip mall, street, and stadium, From parking lot to prison cell, You served as via medium To life beyond material hell.
As son, as husband, father, friend?€? In all the roles that you had played, Your faith continued to the end, Though Maya many traps had laid.
In my mind’s eye I still can see Your big frame pacing endlessly Across the polished parquet floor, A warrior with a winning score . . . “Um, Mukta? Krishna’s at the door.”
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Ashes To Ashes Posted by Madhava Gosh under News, Ramblings or Whatever No Comments I went to part of Mukta’s cremation yesterday. Due to immune system issues, I am supposed to avoid crowds and there definitely was one there, so I stayed for an hour and then slipped away during a transition in speakers.
Open air cremations are not socially acceptable in West Virginia, so it was off to Grisell’s Funeral Home in Moundsville. All the chairs filled up as a bhajan was going on, and then the funeral staff had to start bringing in folding chairs as devotees just kept coming.
Varsana spoke first, about how gold in the form of ore is dull but after it goes through the fire and becomes purified you can see your self in it. Naturally, I am missing all the philosophy and realizations and stuff but that image stuck in my mind as being especially appropriate for a cremation.
Apparently after I left, there were a lot of stories told. When we noticed some significant traffic going by towards the temple, we went there for the feast. On the way by the Palace, Varshana was standing in the parking area talking to Chaitanya Bhagavat. We pulled over because I hadn’t seen him in a while and I needed to talk to him about some trees.
Right where you turn into his place before you get to the Palace, there used to be a large welcoming sign. The sign is gone but the frame is still there, albeit grown over by some pine trees. There are three pine trees that are dying that need to be removed but I wanted to talk to him about them first.
As we were talking, he told me a story Mukta’s sister had told at the ceremony. Bear in mind that Loka and Mukta were twins.
As a very young girl one day there was a lot of excitement down the block, so she went running to see what was happening. There was like 6 police cars, some fire engines and ambulances all with sirens and flashing lights arriving one after the other.
There in the center of it all was Mukta, with his leg in fresh concrete that had set up so it was a drama getting him extracted. Naturally, this created some difficulties getting him out, and especially for his father who had to smooth the whole thing over with all the various authorities.
On the way home, Mukta turned to Loka and said, “Tomorrow it’s your turn.”
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Wake UP Sleeping Soul!
Bhaktin Alysia
Death is such an amazing lesson. Yesterday was the funeral of a dear New Vrindaban community member, Mukta Kesha Prabhu, who left his body on Good Friday last week after a sudden illness and botched operation. It was crazy emotional because Mukta Kesha was a father figure to me. He was one of the first Srila Prabhupada disciple’s who took an interest in my spiritual life. He would say something like this to me everyday.
“Mata, we’re gonna read the Bhagavad Gita everyday together, OK? Sound good, mata? Bhakta class for me and you. Everyday for an hour. Now don’t fall asleep on me, mata. By reading the Gita everyday, reading Srila Prabhupada’s purports, you will become an expert preacher. Sound good, mata? This process works. OK, now get out of here.”
And sure enough. For two months, we met everyday and read the Bhagavad Gita together for one hour. I looked forward to it everyday. He’d be transcendentally furious if I was even one minute late. He would administer quizzes and tests which I never did. He kept some sort of grade sheet on his computer and I’d give him made up scores. He’d share his realizations on Prabhupada’s purports and we’d get into arguments about the position and standing of women in society. His last argument was, “Mata, in Kali Yuga, women are men and men are women so it doesn’t make any difference.” His philosophical understanding was solid. It was obvious he had taught hundreds of new bhaktas if not thousands before me.
Mukta’s service at the temple was prison ministry. He kept correspondence with something like 1600 prisoners, the most fallen souls within our society. His causeless mercy had touched the lives of so many people.
At first I thought Mukta was a little much. He used to come into the men’s ashram everyday at 4am and pound on every door. ” Jiv jago!,” he would call out ( English translation: “wake up sleeping soul!”). He was fierce and I could hear him from the adjacent hallway. During the morning program he would play a small tambourine and do the Mukta shuffle back and forth, putting weight on one leg then the other real quick-like. During group japa meditation, he would storm into the room and chant con bravo. But in no time at all these eccentricities made me love him even more.
Muktakesha was from Buffalo so immediately we had a connection. I loved him because he was rough and tough, but humble and genuine. He said what was on his mind and he said it loud and clear. But because he was all heart and was dutifully carrying out Prabhupada’s mission, he was a sincere well- wisher of all of humanity. Even when he said something seemingly offensive, it would only make me shake my head and laugh.
During the ceremony I questioned if I could ever pull it together to be as focused and sincere as he was. I wondered if I too could touch so many peoples lives in such a spiritually profound way.
“As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change.” – Bhagavad Gita, As It Is (2.13)
The awesome thing about Krishna consciousness is that is fully prepares one for death. The Gita gives instruction on how we can perfect our life in order to perfect our death and how we can perfect our death by perfecting our life. Srila Prabhupada says, “The body is born and is destined to be vanquished today or tomorrow; therefore the body is not as important as the soul.” Our body serves only as a vehicle for the precious goods inside. In a human body, we have a unique opportunity to understand this and make proper adjustments and lifestyle changes that will help determine the nature of your next birth (could be in hell, back on earth, bacteria, grass, tree, dog, pig, man, woman, heavenly planets, impersonal Brahmajoti, spiritual sky, Goloka!). This is the ultimate in investment and long-term planning. Please take responsibility for yourself and invest in your soul.
Mukta Kesha took it upon himself to engage me in thoroughly studying the Bhagavad Gita-As It Is. The least I can do for him now is to honor his example and share his inspiration. Please repeat, “I am not this body!” But as long as I’m stuck with it, may as well maximize its potential and encourage others to do the same.