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<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t take me to the hospital\u201d
\nSrila Prabhupada did not like to be experimented on by drug giving doctors and in one story it was Gargamuni and Brahmananda that he got to take him out of the hospital, prematurely, in the eyes of the doctors.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe doctors, or more often their aides, took blood, gave injections, and investigated. Their diagnosis wasn\u2019t conclusive: they had plans for experiments. Then suddenly a doctor came in and announced their next move: a spinal tap. Prabhup\u0101da was too weak to discuss the pros and cons of a spinal tap. He had put himself in the care of his disciples and K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a.<\/p>\n
The doctor didn\u2019t want to be impeded. He explained why a spinal tap was necessary, but he wasn\u2019t asking for consultation or permission. Everyone-except for K\u012brtan\u0101nanda, who insisted on staying-had to leave the room while the doctor performed the spinal tap. Neither Prabhup\u0101da, who was too weak, nor his boys, who were uncertain how to act on his behalf, opposed the doctor. The devotees filed out of Prabhup\u0101da\u2019s room while the doctor readied the largest, most frightening needle they had ever seen.<\/p>\n
When they were allowed back, one disciple asked cautiously, “Did it hurt, Swamiji?\u201d \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da, his golden-skinned form wrapped in white hospital garments and lying between the white sheets, turned slightly and said, \u201cWe are tolerant.\u201d<\/p>\n
R\u016bp\u0101nuga: When Swamiji was first admitted to the hospital, it was very hard for me. I didn\u2019t know how I should act. I didn\u2019t have much experience with this kind of emergency. I was very uncertain as to what service to do for Swamiji. It was a frightening experience.<\/p>\n
Swamiji\u2019s life was at stake, yet his disciples didn\u2019t know what to do to save him. He lay on the bed as if at their mercy. But the hospital staff considered him their property-an old man with heart trouble, a subject of investigation. And for Swamiji\u2019s disciples this was a hundred times worse than dealing with Mr. Price and company. Now it was not just a matter of risking money but of risking Swamiji! Should they allow the EEG? What was an EEG? Was an operation necessary? An operation! But Swamiji had said that he should never even be brought to a hospital. \u201cGive me massage,\u201d was all he had said, and \u201cChant Hare K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a.\u201d<\/p>\n
When \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da mentioned his preference for the \u0100yur Vedic medical treatments available in India, some of the devotees suggested they bring a doctor from India. After considering the expense, Prabhup\u0101da decided to send a letter first. Unable to sit up or write, he slowly dictated a letter to Sri Krishna Pandit, who had given him quarters for several years in his temple in Delhi. Satsvar\u016bpa read it back to Prabhup\u0101da and then typed it right there in Prabhup\u0101da\u2019s hospital room.<\/p>\n
I am writing this letter from the hospital. All of a sudden I have developed some headache, as well as throbbing of the chest. When I rub my chest I feel some sensation in my left hand and when I rub my left hand I feel sensation in my chest. My left hand no more works independently. I therefore ask you if there is any good Vedic physician in Mathura who can send me some medicines, that is, you purchase and send them by air mail to our temple: ISKCON, 26 2nd Ave., New York, N. Y. The symptom is predominantly when I get severe pain within my head. And the trembling of the left hand is coming every ten or fifteen minutes. I am afraid if this is not a disease like Lakhya; the boys are taking utmost care of me, there is no scarcity of care. But still after all, this body is subject to death. I came here with a great mission to execute my Spiritual Master\u2019s order but my heart is stabbing me. Of course, I\u2019m not afraid of Maya, I know Maya cannot touch me, but still if I die in this condition, my mission will remain unfulfilled. Please therefore pray to Prabhu Lord Chaitanya and Vrindaban Bihar, to rescue me this time, my mission is still not finished. I wish to live for a few more days. They\u2019re prepared to call an experienced Ayur Vedic physician who treats such diseases but I\u2019ve not allowed the boys. But if necessary, if you can give me an expert physician who can travel here we can send necessary money for his coming here or arrange for air ticket. You can consult the man in charge of Dacca Shakti.<\/p>\n
At last I may inform you that I am inclined toward Ayur Vedic treatment. You can consult the Ayur Vedic physician in Vrindaban who is a Goudiya Vaishnava. He knows me very well. He sells my books also.<\/p>\n
Two things are to be done if it is possible; to send me proper medicines and directions, that will be nice. But if I require to return that also I can do. Please try to reply as soon as possible in English because my students cannot read Hindi. So long as I\u2019m in bed it\u2019s not possible to read letters. You can treat this letter very urgently. Consult necessary physicians and let me know what I am to do. In Mathura there are undoubtedly many Ayur Vedic physicians and many quacks also. Try to avoid the quacks. I would have returned to India immediately but the doctors say it is risky. If need be, I shall return as soon as I get strength to take the strain of the journey.<\/p>\n
I repeat my symptoms so that you can take necessary care. All of a sudden I developed some throbbing between the heart and stomach about 4 days ago. I was so exhaustive, it was like fainting-then I consulted a doctor who came and gave me medicine but it was of no good effect therefore my students at once transferred me to the hospital where they\u2019re spending more or less 400 rupees daily. There is no question of neglect. All scientific treatment is going on. But I think Ayur Vedic medicine will be proper. Therefore I request you to take immediate steps and reply me.<\/p>\n
I hope this letter will convince you the actual position. While reading this letter you may consult some friend who knows English very well so that he\u2019ll read it correctly and reply correctly. There is no scope for corresponding in Bengali or in Hindi.<\/p>\n
By K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a\u2019s grace, on the afternoon of \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da\u2019s second day in the hospital he showed slight improvement. His heart was still causing him pain, his facial expression remained grave, with never a smile, but he was a bit stronger. The interns, nurses, and doctors came and went on schedule, treating him-impersonally. One doctor did seem a little interested in what Prabhup\u0101da was all about, and at Prabhup\u0101da\u2019s request, K\u012brtan\u0101nanda played a taped lecture for the doctor. He listened politely, but then said, \u201cIt doesn\u2019t ring a bell.\u201d<\/p>\n
The doctor said that he wanted to run a few more tests and that Swamiji might be able to leave after a few weeks-if all went well. \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da tried speaking to the doctor, wanting to explain about K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a. Jadur\u0101\u1e47\u012b had brought two of her paintings to the hospital room- one of R\u0101dh\u0101 and K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a and the other of the fierce half-lion, half-man incarnation, Lord N\u1e5bsi\u1e41ha, tearing apart the demon Hira\u1e47yaka\u015bipu. Speaking in a very low voice, Prabhup\u0101da said that these two pictures show how God is many-sided: \u201cHere He is in His loving exchange, and here also we see that anger comes from K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a, or God.\u201d<\/p>\n
The doctor politely said that he had his own philosophy and that Swamiji shouldn\u2019t be preaching while in such weak health; he should rest. Advising the disciples not to allow their guru to speak, the doctor excused himself and continued his rounds.<\/p>\n
\u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da, with his slight improvement, expressed more disapproval of being in the hands of the hospital personnel. They weren\u2019t able to do anything, he said. K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a was in control: \u201cIf K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a wants to kill you, then no one can save you. But if K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a wants to save you, then no one can kill you.\u201d<\/p>\n
D\u0101modara: I was there when a doctor came in to check his reflexes. There was the usual tapping with a little rubber hammer on his knee-that kind of thing. Swamiji was visibly annoyed with this man\u2019s coming in and tapping him all over. He was capable of diagnosing and giving the prescription for the cure, and it annoyed him that these men, who obviously didn\u2019t know what they were doing, were coming in and interfering with the process of recuperation.<\/p>\n
Acyut\u0101nanda: The nurse would always let the door slam, and every time it slammed Swamiji would wince. He said, \u201cTell her not to slam the door\u201d. She would say, \u201cOkay,\u201d and then she would let it slam again.<\/p>\n
\u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da began sitting up in bed and taking pras\u0101dam from the temple, supplemented by some of the vegetarian items on the hospital menu. He would say a prayer and offer the hospital food to the picture of his spiritual master. The devotees would sit at his feet, watching him as he then mixed with his right hand the carrots, peas, and mashed potatoes. And he would always distribute some of his food into the hands of his disciples.<\/p>\n
Jadur\u0101\u1e47\u012b: We brought him many different kinds of fruit. We told him we had brought apples, but he was so tired he only said, \u201cOh\u201d and seemed disinterested. We told him we had brought oranges, but again- \u201cOh.\u201d He gave so many tired \u201cOh”s he seemed disinterested. Finally I said, “We brought you watermelons,\u201d and immediately his face lit up- \u201cOhhh !\u201d<\/p>\n
Rotating in four-hour shifts, two devotees at a time were always with Prabhup\u0101da. Although awake, he would remain silent for long intervals; but massaging always continued, except when he was asleep. Gradually, the paralysis on his left side went away.<\/p>\n
\u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da was eager to leave the hospital. For several days he had wanted to go. \u201cThey are simply sticking needles,\u201d he complained. And each day was putting his Society into further debt. The devotees had rented a small seaside house in Long Branch, New Jersey, where Prabhup\u0101da could go to recuperate. K\u012brtan\u0101nanda, they decided, would be Prabhup\u0101da\u2019s cook, and Gaurasundara and his wife, Govinda d\u0101s\u012b, were arriving from San Francisco to do the housekeeping and help. But the doctor wanted Prabhup\u0101da to stay for another brain wave test and more observation.<\/p>\n
One day while Brahm\u0101nanda and Gargamuni were visiting Prabhup\u0101da, the doctor entered and announced that the Swami would have to go downstairs for an X ray.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo needle?\u201d Prabhup\u0101da asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d the doctor replied, \u201cit\u2019s all right.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the nurse brought in a bed on wheels, Prabhup\u0101da said he wanted Gargamuni to push it. He then sat on it cross-legged and put his hand in his bead bag, and Gargamuni, following the nurse, wheeled him out the door, down the hall, and onto the elevator. They went down to the third floor and entered a room. The nurse left them alone. Gargamuni could sense Prabhup\u0101da\u2019s uneasiness. He was also nervous. It was such an unlikely place for him to be with his spiritual master. Then a different nurse entered, with a needle: \u201cTime to give the Swami a little injection.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d Prabhup\u0101da shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d Gargamuni said flatly. \u201cWe\u2019re not going to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The nurse was exasperated but smiled: \u201cIt won\u2019t hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTake me back,\u201d Prabhup\u0101da ordered Gargamuni. When the nurse insisted, Gargamuni acted rashly-his usual tendency-and stepped between the nurse and \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m ready to fight if I have to, Gargamuni thought. \u201cI won\u2019t let you do it,\u201d he said and wheeled the bed out of the room, leaving the nurse behind.<\/p>\n
Gargamuni was lost. He was somewhere on the third or fourth floor, faced with corridors and doors. And Prabhup\u0101da\u2019s room was on the sixth floor. Unsure where he was going, Gargamuni wheeled through the corridors with Prabhup\u0101da sitting cross-legged, chanting on his beads.<\/p>\n
Brahm\u0101nanda arrived at the X-ray lab seconds after Gargamuni\u2019s escape. The nurse and an intern complained to him about what had happened.<\/p>\n
Brahm\u0101nanda: They considered this a theft. Swamiji was their property. As long as he was in the hospital, he was theirs to do whatever they pleased with. Gargamuni had stolen Swamiji away from them.<\/p>\n
Gargamuni got to the elevator. He had difficulty maneuvering the bed and in his haste bumped into the wall. He forgot what floor Swamiji was on. He only knew that he was protecting Swamiji, who wanted to be taken away.<\/p>\n
When Gargamuni finally reached Prabhup\u0101da\u2019s room, 607, an intern was there and spoke angrily. \u201cI don\u2019t care,\u201d Gargamuni said. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t want any more needles or tests. We want to leave.\u201d Brahm\u0101nanda arrived, calmed his younger brother, and helped Prabhup\u0101da back into bed.<\/p>\n
Prabhup\u0101da said he wanted to leave. When the doctor came in, Prabhup\u0101da sat up and spoke decisively. \u201cDoctor, I am all right. I can go.\u201d And he shook the doctor\u2019s hand to show him he was hale and hearty. The doctor chuckled. He said that although Swamiji was getting stronger, he would have to stay a few more days. He was by no means out of danger vet. He required careful medical surveillance. They needed to run another electroencephalogram.<\/p>\n
\u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da still had pains around his heart, but he told the doctor his boys had a place for him to rest by the seaside. This was very good, the doctor said, but he couldn\u2019t let his patient go just yet.<\/p>\n
But Prabhup\u0101da had made up his mind. Brahm\u0101nanda and Gargamuni arranged for a rented car. They gathered Prabhup\u0101da\u2019s things and helped him dress. As they escorted him out of his room and the hospital staff saw that the boys were actually taking the old man away, some of the doctors and nurses tried to stop them. Brahm\u0101nanda told them not to worry: Swamiji was very dear to them, and they would take good care of him. He would get regular massages and plenty of rest, and they would get him whatever medicines the doctors prescribed. After a rest by the seaside he could come back for a checkup.<\/p>\n
Brahm\u0101nanda: Then the doctors became fed up. They threatened us: \u201cThis man is going to die.\u201d They really scared us. They said, \u201cThis man is going to die, and it is going to be your fault.\u201d Even as we left they said, \u201cThis man is condemned to death.\u201d It was horrible.<\/p>\n
At ten A.M. on June 8 they left the hospital. Prabhup\u0101da wanted to stop briefly at the temple at 26 Second Avenue before going to the house in Long Branch. Entering the storefront, walking shakily, he came before the portraits of his spiritual master, Bhaktisiddh\u0101nta Sarasvat\u012b, and his spiritual master\u2019s father, Bhaktivinoda \u1e6ch\u0101kura. For the first time, Prabhup\u0101da\u2019s disciples saw him offer fully prostrated obeisances. As he prostrated himself before his Guru Mah\u0101r\u0101ja, his disciples also paid obeisances and felt their devotion increase.<\/p>\n
When Prabhup\u0101da arrived at his cottage in Long Branch at one o’clock, he had K\u012brtan\u0101nanda immediately begin cooking lunch. It would be Prabhup\u0101da\u2019s first regular hot meal-rice, d\u0101l, cap\u0101t\u012bs, sabj\u012b-since his stroke nine days ago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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<\/p>\n
“Don’t take me to the hospital”
\nSrila Prabhupada did not like to be experimented on by drug giving doctors and in one story it was Gargamuni and Brahmananda that he got to take him out of the hospital, prematurely, in the eyes of the doctors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10650,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[118],"tags":[152],"class_list":["post-71031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-recent-media","tag-nectar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71031","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\/10650"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=71031"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71031\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71033,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71031\/revisions\/71033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=71031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=71031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=71031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}