‘Wasn’t that strange?’ A cow racing alongside our speeding car at dangerously close proximity!
This happened as we traveled towards the Himalayan pilgrimage of Badrinath. Fifty-odd devotees had gone ahead by bus, and way behind were the four of us riding in a white Ambassador with Radhanath Swami. Read more …
I was rummaging through the car’s interior for Prasad, sanctified food, frantically. Meanwhile the street urchin who stood outside in the blazing sun grew in desperation and began to gesticulate wildly: he wanted Prasad. He was convinced we Hare Krishna’s carried it wherever we travelled. If not for the car’s glass window that separated us, he would have surely shoved me to accentuate his demand. Read more …
I darted over to Radhanath Swami’s room. There he was sitting, conversing with another devotee. I prostrated myself at Radhanath Swami’s feet and asked for his blessings to leave. “I am going. Now onwards I will come only on very special occasions,” I said. Radhanath shook his head in approval. Next moment, I was out of the room. Read more …
Radhanath Swami lay on the hospital bed before me, semiconscious. His body burnt at 104 degree Fahrenheit and writhed in discomfort. He mumbled something to the backdrop of silence. What was he saying? I crept closer till I could hear him distinctly. “Vrishabhanu Nandini. Vrishabhanu Nandini….” In deep love he called the names of the divine mother Radharani, the feminine counterpart of Lord Krishna.
Gloom lurked in the silence between us, as Radhanath Swami and I sat facing each other, pondering, “What action to take?” His student, whom I also knew well, had grossly blundered, adversely affecting many lives. Now we expected her here, at any moment. In fixing an appointment with Radhanath Swami, either she was daring, or she had no qualms about her blunder. Read more …