Speaker: Amoghalila dasa
Source: Tamal Krishna Goswami’s and Jagannatha dasa Babaji’s Disappearance Day
I am thinking of one or two incidents I can mention, and some realizations I had from them. One was the last morning Srila Prabhupada was in Bombay, in Juhu. I was fortunate-actually by Giriraj Maharaja’s mercy-to be able to be in Srila Prabhupada’s room then. After about a month in Bombay, Srila Prabhupada was leaving that morning for Vrindavan. Madhava Prabhu and Upendra Prabhu were also there, though Upendra was in and out of the room.
Srila Prabhupada was just lying on his bed. He could hardly move. He couldn’t even sit up by himself. He was so weak he could barely speak. But then he said something. It was hard to hear what he said, so I leaned near him and asked, “What, Srila Prabhupada?” He said, “Call Tamal.” So Upendra Prabhu went out to get Tamal Krishna Maharaja. When Goswami Maharaja came into the room, Prabhupada’s bedroom, he offered dandavat-pranama (prostrated obeisances), and then he got up. Srila Prabhupada asked him about the arrangements for going to Vrindavan. Goswami Maharaja said, “Yes, Srila Prabhupada,” he offered dandavat-pranama, and he went out. A minute or two later he came back in. He offered dandavat-pranama, he got up, and then he told Srila Prabhupada the answer to Prabhupada’s question. He said something, he got something ready, and then he offered dandavat-pranama and went out. This happened at least three times: He came in and went out, he came in and went out, he came in and went out within just a few minutes-it couldn’t have been more than five minutes. Practically every minute he was coming in, offering dandavat-pranama, getting up, talking to Prabhupada for a few seconds or half a minute, offering dandavat-pranama again, and going out.
Later, after Srila Prabhupada left us, when I was Goswami Maharaja’s personal secretary, I mentioned this to him. He said, “Yes, Srila Prabhupada instructed me to do this. Srila Prabhupada said that because familiarity breeds contempt, it is very important when somebody is intimately serving the spiritual master that they keep a reverential mood.” Goswami Maharaja, of course, was such an intimate servant of Srila Prabhupada’s, yet he always maintained that deep reverence-of course love, also, but at the same time he always had such deep reverence for Srila Prabhupada. Tamal Krishna Maharaja is such an ideal example of a personal servant and disciple.