HG Rupa Sanantana das, disciple of HH Romapada Swami, left his body @ 7:40pm India time on Feb 28 2013, in the midst of 25 devotees chanting kirtan in the Back to Godhead Room within the Hospice, Vrindavan, India. His passing was glorious! His cremation took place @ 4pm on March 1. Our service at this time is prayer.

HG Rupa Sanantana das was a former temple president from ISKCON St. Louis. Presently 62 years of age, he had been admitted to Bhaktivedanta Hospice in Vrindavan with terminal cancer.

Srila Romapada Swami was in Houston from Jan 8 to 13th 2013 for the GBC meetings. As I am reminiscing about his visit and writing this article, it's been 2.5-3 weeks since Maharaja was here and he has already finished GBC meetings, visited a few cities, attended his Vyasa Puja event in Chicago and flown abroad for an International yatra! All for giving out mercy. Mercy from the Supreme Lord coming to us via Srila Prabhupada!

Hare Krishna. My sister lives in the DC/Virginia area and recently (December 2012) was invited by one of her neighbors to a home program. When she told me she was planning to go to the program, I inquired who the speaker was and she replied that she did not know. I asked her to go with an open mind and let me know of her experience. She came back with glowing praise of the speaker. She said she felt calm in his presence and his countenance was not just pleasant but effused divinity. She was satisfied with the class and the Q & A session. When she went to him after the program to ask some questions, he in turn first complimented her saying she seemed very attentive in the class. When I inquired who the speaker was, my sister replied it was HH Romapada Swami!

What can we take with us from the yatra?

HH Romapada Swami stressed three points during the final days lecture at Panihatti:
1) The eagerness to receive Krsna consciousness
2) Material detachment
3) Service attitude

The above three are present in the personalities we have heard about during this yatra, and those personalities were empowered by Caitanya Mahaprabhu in different ways. Maharaja first referred to the banyan tree under which Nityananda Prabhu was sitting near the ghat.

bhavad-vidha bhagavatas
tirtha-bhutah svayam vibho
tirthi-kurvanti tirthani
svantah-sthena gadabhrita

Srimad Bhagavatam 1.13.10: “My Lord, devotees like your good self are verily holy places personified. Because you carry the Personality of Godhead within your heart, you turn all places into places of pilgrimage.”

Being Present: An individual approached Maharaja to convey a message and Maharaja immediately asked, “Where are your shoes?” The individual was surprised because she was unaware that she did not have her shoes on and was lost in her own world while Maharaja showed by a classic example how to be present all the time!

When I looked at our BBT Vaishnava calendar for signs of auspiciousness during the week of Nov 14th, I was quite disappointed. Usually, there is always something going on, but, this week was completely barren! - There was nothing auspicious about it – no ekadasi; no appearance or disappearance days of the Supreme Lord and His avatars or that of His pure devotees or mention of any Krishna conscious events. To make things worse, a relative of mine reminded me that Nov 14th was the birth anniversary of one of India’s famous (yet corrupt and controversial) politicians – Oh well - that made things even gloomier for me! What can one achieve other than material entanglement by remembering such days or glorifying such mundane personalities.

I was at a program with Maharaja at his disciple’s home in New Rochelle, NY. As usual the kirtans (devotional singing and dancing) were ecstatic!

At last the long-awaited Texas Japa Retreat took place in Houston on September 2-4, 2011. To keep the attendees focused and away from the everyday hustle and bustle, it was arranged in the remote rural setting of the beautiful Brazos Bend State Park, which is about 70 miles south of the Houston temple. This event was attended by 125 devotees that came from various parts of the United States, Canada and India.

New York Ratha Yatra is a special occasion for many devotees all over the world. I remember His Holiness Romapada Swami Maharaja mentioning in one lecture how he had to miss the NY Ratha yatra once against his wishes, because of his having to attend the GBC (Governing Body Commission of ISKCON) meetings. It is indeed a very special event for him as he has been regularly attending it for many years!