Krsnacandra Dasa – Vrndavan: On Friday 16th of July 2010 at around 10.30 pm, my dearest friend Aindra prabhu left his body. I would like to say some words about him and his passing.

Aindra was a rare soul who understood very well the concept of dedicated selfless service unto the pure devotee, Srila Prabhupada, Lord Krsna and the devotional community at large. To that end he dedicated his life to establishing and maintaining the 24 hour kirtan program and the Vrndavan devotional community.

Even though ISKCON is comprised of many various guru related groups, he was never sectarian and his kirtan touched the heart and gave spiritual shelter to many thousands of devotees all over the world. Based in the home of his guru Srila Prabhupada and the Holiest of Holy Dhams Sri Vrndavan Dham, his kirtan was a nectarian beacon which held thousands of devotee’s hearts and minds and brought them closer to Srila Prabhupada, Krsna and Vrndavan.

Aindra knew that the prime purpose in life was served by congregationally chanting the Holy Names of the Lord and he inspired us all and ISKCON is now blessed with many nice devotees who have been trained up by Aindra prabhu and are now sharing their kirtan throughout the world.

Aindra prabhu is very much loved and respected by many thousands of well wishers and dedicated followers all around the world. He lived the life of a renunciant, chanted 64 round per day, slept only a few hours in the day and ate once a day at night. He was the head pujari for RadhaSyamasundar and set the standard of dress for the ISKCON Deity worship along with his friend Mukunda prabhu the head pujari of the Temple.

Even leading this life he was not impersonal of nature. Aindra prabhu will be dearly missed by his many dear friends that lived in Vrndavan and shared his life.

He will also be dearly missed by his present and past 24 hour kirtan party ‘boys’. Aindra prabhu deeply loved and cared for all the members of his 24 hour kirtan party boys and I know that they are now at such a loss for their leader, their inspiration and their dearly beloved friend.

I had the pleasure of his friendship for many years now, and he would regularly come to my home and we would take prasadam, converse and laugh well into the small hours of the morning. He of course, being a soul who hardly slept, always went back to his room on the back of my son Kesava’s motorbike, to finish looking after his Deities and to finish his rounds and I to bed.

 

Of late he was always requesting prasadam preps that he remembered having when he was younger, in America, and we would do our best to prepare for him what his heart desired. Of course he was easy to please.

 

His most favorite heart’s desire was to have simply wonderfuls, which we all know, were just one of Srila Prabhupada’s gifts to us. Cintamani would make them to perfection and he would eat his fill until he could eat no more. He called them “Krsna’s Kisses”. So slowly over the many months he exhausted his desire to relive his Sunday Feast days and his favorite Prasad. In retrospect I wonder if he was finishing his pastimes in some small way…

 

I also knew that it pained him that the ISKCON institution was in such a state. He was also very aware of the management politics of the Temple over the many years that he was serving in Sri Vrndavan Dham.

His lifelong service to Srila Prabhupada found him wanting to put his realizations into a book format so that others would have a chance to hear them. Yet when he grew close to having it published many of the ISKCON GBC’s spoke up threatening him directly to have him kicked out of the Temple and ISKCON if he published his book. This caused him the most amount of heartache as he could not understand why anyone would be threatened by his life’s work and his realizations on Krsna Consciousness. He was also so attached to his seva and Sri Sri RadhaSyamasundar that to be kicked out of the Temple would have broken his heart.

So when I come to try and come to terms with his passing in such a manner and at such a young age, I think that maybe Krsna was preparing him for this and sparing him from any future undue suffering when his book is published. He and I discussed how, when his book was eventually published, we were going to have the presentation to the devotees in my home followed by regular book readings and kirtan for those who wanted to share in his realizations and so I know how much he desired to have his book published.

Of course the circumstances surrounding his passing are difficult to understand. Yet they did happen and so how are we to understand this?

I know many of you are wondering how it is possible that this could happen to such a soul. Especially one that tirelessly went with his ever willing and able kirtan party, to each and every devotees home who was leaving there body and yet he left his body alone with only his Deities to bear witness. I wonder too.

The gas bottle was newly purchased. All we can assume is that as Aindra prabhu went to light his burner to cook for his Deities and there was an explosion. The blast, redden the skin of his face arms and chest. The percussion would have rendered him concussed and perhaps damaged his vision. He would have been disorientated and would have tried to find an exit, however, found himself behind his Gauranitai Deities, away from the door breathing a mixture of smoke and gas and near to being overcome.

Where most of us would be concussed and in shock, he somehow had the presence of mind to offer his obeisances and that was how they found him the next morning, offering his last obeisances to his beloved Deities.

Aindra prabhu was my dearest friend and only intimate confidant. He knew my heart, my struggle and my mind and I knew his. I am very happy and fortunate to have known him and been his friend for the last fourteen years that I have lived in Vrdavan. His most valuable gift that he has given so many was his love and enthusiasm for kirtan. He touched everyone’s heart in many different ways and he will be most dearly missed. I for one don’t know what I shall do with the rest of my life without him…

Krsnacandra Dasa,

Sri Vrndavan Dham