{"id":11780,"date":"2013-07-29T06:21:23","date_gmt":"2013-07-29T05:21:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/?p=11780"},"modified":"2013-08-10T19:58:27","modified_gmt":"2013-08-10T18:58:27","slug":"mother-vrajavadhu%e2%80%94the-embodiment-of-prabhupada%e2%80%99s-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/?p=11780","title":{"rendered":"Mother Vrajavadhu\u2014The Embodiment of Prabhupada\u2019s Love"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n<!--\nif (screen.width <= 699) {\ndocument.location = \"http:\/\/m.dandavats.com\/?p=127\";\n}\n\/\/-->\n<\/script><br \/>\nMobile version here: <a href=\"http:\/\/m.dandavats.com\/?p=127\">http:\/\/m.dandavats.com\/?p=127<\/a><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/dandavats.com\/wp-content\/uploads2\/272013-07-29-07-1827.jpg\" width=\"600\" \/><br \/>\n<em>Today was the memorial service for Mother Vrajavadhu, Srila Prabhupada\u2019s wonderful ninty-nine-year-old disciple who passed away on July 20 in San Diego. Here is my remembrance of her.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>By Giriraj Swami<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In Mother Vrajavadhu\u2019s presence, I felt Srila Prabhupada\u2019s love very strongly\u2014his love for her and her love for him. When I once visited her in her apartment in the towers, immediately upon entering I perceived a palpable spiritual atmosphere, or presence. My experience of every activity there with her\u2014chanting the holy names, discussing Krishna consciousness, even looking at the spiritual pictures on the walls and shelves\u2014was heightened; everything was so alive and real, as if the Lord was actually with us\u2014a phenomenon I could attribute only to Srila Prabhupada\u2019s presence.<\/p>\n<p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Because Mother Vrajavadhu\u2019s memory was failing, Ladali would visit her regularly every day to make sure she was all right and help her take care of her basic needs and functions and just spend time with her in Krishna consciousness. And Ladali had posted notes all over the apartment to remind Vrajavadhu about what she should do\u2014and not do\u2014in Ladali\u2019s absence. Ladali took care of her like a daughter, but better than any ordinary daughter. Not only did she encourage Vrajavadhu spiritually, which no ordinary daughter could do, but because of her pure heart and selfless mood, she could serve her without any consideration of return, and with her clear consciousness, she could anticipate Vrajavadhu\u2019s every need\u2014and be there for her.<\/p>\n<p>\n<\/p>\n<p>I relished every moment I spent with Vrajavadhu that day, feeling Prabhupada\u2019s and Krishna\u2019s pleasure, and I did not want to leave. But eventually I had to\u2014it would have been too tiring for Mother Vrajavadhu to continue\u2014yet even then she wanted to accompany me down the elevator and to my car, parked some distance away. At the door to the elevator I insisted that she must stay back, but when I got to the bottom and exited the building, from across the street I saw her, Ladali by her side, looking affectionately down upon me, and again I did not want to leave her. But again I did not want to detain her, and so I offered my obeisances and continued on my way.<\/p>\n<p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Mother Vrajavadhu often mentioned how she would hear Prabhupada\u2019s <i>kirtana<\/i> in her mind. It sounded like his singing on the original <i>Happening<\/i> LP, she said, and it was so real to her that she thought someone was playing the record. But when she discovered that no one else was hearing the <i>kirtana<\/i>, she realized that it must have been in her mind, or heart. This was Srila Prabhupada\u2019s loving mercy upon her. <i>The Nectar of Instruction<\/i> lists six symptoms of love (<i>priti-laksana<\/i>) shared between one devotee and another, and one is <i>dadati<\/i>, \u201coffering gifts in charity.\u201d Srila Prabhupada explains, \u201cContributing or distributing the holy name of the Lord is a sublime example of contributing or giving charity (the <i>dadati<\/i> principle). By the same token, one must also follow the <i>pratigrhnati<\/i> principle and be willing and ready to receive the transcendental gift.\u201d (<i>NOI<\/i> 4 purport) Out of his causeless mercy and love, Prabhupada gave her the holy name, and out of her appreciation and love, she accepted the gift.<\/p>\n<p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Ladali\u2019s caring for Mother Vrajavadhu, too, was Srila Prabhupada\u2019s merciful arrangement; like any pure, loving reciprocation, it was beneficial for all\u2014for Ladali and for Vrajavadhu. <\/p>\n<p>\n<\/p>\n<p>At this time, we also feel the pain of separation from Mother Vrajavadhu. It reminds me of when I offered my obeisances to her while she was looking affectionately down upon me from the balcony. She is there, more than ever, with Srila Prabhupada, and she is looking down mercifully upon us, waiting for the next time we will meet.<\/p>\n<p>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n<\/p>\n<p>\u2014Giriraj Swami<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/dandavats.com\/wp-content\/uploads2\/112013-08-10-20-5811.jpg\"\/><strong>By Giriraj Swami<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Today was the memorial service for Mother Vrajavadhu, Srila Prabhupada\u2019s wonderful ninty-nine-year-old disciple who passed away on July 20 in San Diego. Here is my remembrance of her. <!--more--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-in-memoriam"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11780"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11780\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}