In appreciation of Mother Yamuna’s biography

Yamuna devi : A LIFE OF UNALLOYED DEVOTION

Preparing an offering of love

DINATARINI DEVI

Aditya Varna d d

“Someone once asked me what characteristic of Yamuna I found the most extraordinary or unique. I unhesitatingly replied that she was the most non-envious person I had ever met in this life”¹

Dear Yamuna devi,

Please accept my humble obeisances All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Once in India Srila Prabhupada said to you “Yamuna you will become as famous as the river Yamuna.” In the mood of a pilgrim at the banks of a sacred river offering drops back to the river in the hope of receiving its blessings, so I offer to you words from your own life of devotion in the hope that this fallen soul may receive your mercy . The above prophetic words were spoken by Srila Prabhupada after a gentleman in India had just shown him a glowing newspaper article about the success of Sri Sri Radha Londonisvari with pictures of the Deities. It was largely down to your high standards as a pujari, and your expertise in organisation which he praised you for. He turned to you and uttered these words , and then he laughed and laughed and laughed.² You made him laugh.

You listened with rapt attention: “One of my first impressions of seeing Yamuna prabhu was when she heard Srila Prabhupada give class, she would focus on him and his words entered her ears like rivers entering the ocean, when those rivers entered her ears and came to the ocean of her heart ,unlike the material ocean her heart overflowed and tears would come down from her eyes recalls your godsister Visahaka …I had never seen anything like that before and just seeing her hearing Srila Prabhupada, aroused in me also a desire to hear Srila Prabhupada to try to hear what she was hearing because the effect was so extraordinary. So from the very beginning she was a siksha guru for me” ³

The great sage Sukadava Goswami recited Bhagavatam there (in the presence of Emperor Pariksit), I heard him with rapt attention and thus, by his mercy, I learned the Bhagavatam from that great and powerful sage. Now I shall make you hear the very same thing as I learned it from him and as I realised it. S .B. 1:3:44

You fed Srila Prabhupada with sumptuous prasadam and he often called on you to cook for him. Your godbrother Srutakirti recalls one occasion when Srila Prabhupada arrived back and was hungry. He requested prasadam and asked you to quickly prepare a dish; ..in what seemed like minutes Yamuna had made a prasadam-tomato soup, a moist potato vegetable dish and a large paratha He was very pleased with the result and showered her with praise. With virtually nothing to work with she had made an exquisite meal for Srila Prabhupada in less than fifteen minutes. He used to sometimes say she cooked liked Radharani who never made the same dish twice.⁴ “After tasting Yamuna devi’s cooking I realised I had never taken prasadam. Yamuna Devi was an empowered devotee of the Lord, sent to sumptuously feed Srila Prabhupada.⁵

That is Vedic civilisation-cleanliness, Cleanliness is next to godliness so the first business is cleanliness . Everything should remain clean.” (Bhagavata gita lecture Hawaii Feb. 1975. )

You impressed your dear godbrother Giriraja Swami with your high standard of cleanliness as he recalls; “A thing about Yamuna devi which struck me as amazing was how she would stay back and clean ‘ we were staying in Akash Ganga, a high rise apartment building in an affluent part of central Bombay. She would clean the whole place for hours, and while cleaning she would sing in a very ecstatic mood.. she put her heart into it”⁶

You made Srila Prabhupada cry

Mukunda dasa Goswami recalls the occasion of recording the Govindam prayers in London; “I was in England and Yamuna was in England and we sent the recording of the ‘Govindam to the devotees in Los Angeles to show how we were really preaching big time. The devotees didn’t want Prabhupada to hear because they thought it was very strange that a woman’s voice would be leading…Prabhupada requested the recording to be played and as the Deity curtains opened Prabhupada was sitting on his vyasasana, he listened with his eyes closed and the devotees got to see streams of tears coming down his cheeks. And that day Prabhupada ordered that the song be played in temples all over the World” ⁷ He reasons ill who tells that Vaishnavas die, When thou art living still in sound. The Vaishnava’s die to live and living try to spread the Holy name around. Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur

You made him proud. “And this morning, Srila Prabhupada announced, my disciple Yamuna devi will give a lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam. ‘I began my favourite verse and verbatim purport from the first canto sixth sloka of Srimad Bhagavatam, which I had previously memorised. Prabhupada asked me to give class in India in front of a large gathering of Lawyers, barristers and around two hundred other professionals. Of course he had not given me any warning, all the barristers and professionals clapped enthusiastically and Srila Prabhupada just beamed. He was so proud”. ⁸

Srila Prabhupada bestowed his mercy on you and gave you the good fortune of sending you to Vrindavan. He gave you the key to the ‘hub of the Spiritual universe’ on your first pilgrimage there. You recall the day the package arrived to your small group; “The large iron key , sent by registered post, fell heavily on to the sandstone of the Delhi dharmashala. Ten hands darted to retrieve it. We passed it around respectfully, knowing that it was our passport to Vrindavan, Lord Krishna’s eternal abode. Srila Prabhupada had sent a small group to travel there to clean his quarters in the Radha Damodara Temple compound. ⁹ We reached the holy Temple of Radha Damodara. This was where Srila Prabhupada compiled the first three volumes of Srimad Bhagavatam it is the Temple housing the Deities of Jiva Goswami…we entered the Temple into another dimension- one where you could feel the bliss and mercy of the entire lineage of Vaisnava Acharyas…I instinctively knew that I was here because of their kindness and the kindness of Srila Prabhupada. We took out the enormous key and opened the wooden door… the scene was like a still life from a previous century. Srila Prabhupada would honour prasadam while looking out over Rupa Goswamis samadhi.

“Your nature, existence, fame and benevolence cannot but attract me. Hoping against hope I have come to You and I have only one solace, that I am the real object of your mercy” . Srila Rupa goswami.¹⁰ Krishna and his guru maharaja had situated him in the most auspicious place on the planet, in preparation for writing his books and preaching in the West, it was just so evident to see .¹¹ How can I understand the great mercy and the good fortune that Srila Prabhupada bestowed upon you? “We shall always try to remain servant of the servant of the servant…Hundred times servant. Then it will be alright. The more you become humble , meek, the more you advance. That is real advancement. S B Lecture. (Birabhadra Initiation)

You understood the secret of success in spiritual life was to follow the order of your spiritual master and you passed on this perfect secret to us .“Under the merciful instructions of the Spiritual Master and in a living way we’re supposed to help each other go back to godhead. That’s a glorious thing to explore because there is no end to it. As long as we’re breathing, there is no end to it. The potential of helping each other become Krishna Consciousness in every minute of our existence by following the instruction of our Spiritual Master. ¹² Please help me to follow your instruction.

“Yamuna , you are cent percent devotee.” ¹³ Srila Prabhupada

Unalloyed adj. :pure

Synonyms: absolute, fine,neat, straight, unadulterated

Echoing the prayer of Srutikirti prabhu: “I pray to be given the ability to serve my spiritual master with the expertise of a surrendered soul such as Yamuna Devi dasi.”¹⁴

Begging for some mercy,

Y s

Aditya Varna d d

---

¹ Yamuna devi A Life of Unalloyed Devotion p.32

² Ibid p317

³ Ibid p374

⁴ What is the difficulty. P38

⁵ Ibid p.34

⁶ Yamuna Devi p.376

⁷ Ibid p.242

⁸ Ibid p.288

⁹ Ibid p.299

¹⁰ Srila Rupa Goswami B R S 1;2;152

¹¹ Yamuna Devi .p. 30

Sruti kirti What is the Difficulty. p35

¹² A Bond of Love Srila Prabhupada

and his Daughters p563

xiii srilaprabhupadalila.org

BIBLIOGRAPHY

DINATARINI DEVI. Yamuna devi : A LIFE OF UNALLOYED DEVOTION ;Preparing an offering of love

SRUTAKIRTI ,What Is The Difficulty. Dharma publication

A Bond of Love Srila Prabhupada and his Daughters.