Kaliyaphani Das Passes Away After A Life of Service
Kaliyaphani Das, an English disciple of Srila Prabhupada known for being multi-talented and always ready to serve – as an actor/director, book distributor, kirtan leader, and groundskeeper to name but a few – passed away in a motorcycle accident on January 3rd, 2019 in Alachua, Florida. He was sixty-five.
Although he had serious health problems for many years, he never complained or even talked about his struggle with disease; nor did he give up.
After years of battling with cancer, on Saturday early morning Gunagrahi das Goswami left his body in Vrindavan, in the midst of loving devotees chanting the Holy Names of Krishna.
Most people know him as being a maverick in the political arena, but he was also a friend of ISKCON devotees.
On July 31st, Gopal Agarwal, husband of Sally and father of two daughters, Srila Prabhupada’s first sponsor in the West, left his body due to old age afflictions.
He was 69 years old, and was BTG’s longest-running servant, having worked with Srila Prabhupada’s beloved magazine for 42 years. Yamaraja spent his final days meeting with devotees, hearing how they came to Krishna consciousness and speaking about service to the Lord. He also shared his own heartfelt realizations about how Srila Prabhupada “gave us the real deal.”
Vrindavan Chandra had been the only family member present when Srila Prabhupada boarded the Jaladuta to leave for the U.S. on August 13th, 1965. He related the experience when he attended the 50thanniversary celebration of Prabhupada’s historical journey at Netaji Stadium in 2015.
Braja Vallabhi Dasi, a beloved second-generation devotee who helped organize many youth and outreach programs, passed away in a tragic car accident while on her way to attend a seminar at Govardhana Hill in Vrindavan, India, on November 11th. She was just twenty-three years old.
Radha Damodar Das, One of the First Devotees in the Soviet Union passed away on September 3rd evening succumbing to lung cancer. ISKCON Communications Director Anuttama Dasa remembers: "Radha Damodara prabhu was a true, humble and dedicated servant of his guru maharaja and Srila Prabhupada. Despite the dangers and troubles of being a Krishna devotee in the early years in Russia, Radha Damodara was fully committed to Lord Caitanya's mission."
ISKCON-sannyasi Gaur Krishna Das Goswami has left his body on 17th of November 2015 in Vrindavan. Born on 22nd January, 1964 in Bihar, India, Gaur Krishna Das Goswami had recently got sanyyasa (renounced monk) initiation on May 14th, 2015 at Haridwar on the banks of holy river Ganga from Radha Govinda Swami.
Kaulini Devi Dasi, a much-loved disciple of Srila Prabhupada known for her simplicity, surrender and purity, and for her many years of dedicated service at Gita Nagari, passed away on September 3rd. She was 69. Born and raised in Northern California, her life changed when she received Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita in 1972 while on a trip to Mexico.
Srila Prabhupada disciple Surabhir Abhipalayantam Das, who was the design coordinator for ISKCON’s flagship Indian temples in Vrindavana, U.P. and Juhu, Mumbai in the 1970s, has passed away. He left due to liver cancer on July 30th in the sacred land of Vrindavana, surrounded by devotees. All were chanting along to a recording of Srila Prabhupada’s kirtan.
On June 28th, 2015, at 8.45 AM on the auspicious Padmini ekadasi in the greatly auspicious month of Purushottoma, amongst the sacred cows in the holy land of Vrindavan, Mathura, Kurma-rupa Das left his body surrounded by devotees, Vrajavasis, and uplifting Hare Krishna kirtan, with sacred tulasi on his tongue and head and his salagram-sila on his chest.
Brahmananda Das, one of Srila Prabhupada’s very first disciples, passed away at his residence in the holy land of Vrindavana, India, at 3:31pm local time on June 7th, the auspicious day of Vakresvara Pandit’s disappearance. He was 71 years old. Devotees all over the world are mourning the loss of the ISKCON legend, while at the same time rejoicing that “Prabhupada’s son” is surely back with his father now.
World-renowned yoga guru and founder of the Iyengar School of Yoga B K S Iyengar passed away in Pune on August 20th following illness.
On August 5th, 2014, one of Srila Prabhupada's earliest disciples, Madhudvisa Das, passed away at the age of 67. He took his initiations in 1968; the first in San Francisco, and the second in Los Angeles. Srila Prabhupada once described him as the "Emperor of Kirtan." When Srila Prabhupada himself was departing this world he said, "bring my son Madhuvisa here."
Vishvamitra Das (Vladimir Kritsky) joined the Krishna Consciousness movement in 1979. In the beginning of the 80's he was arrested for his faith and has spent six years in prison.
Ananta Shanti das (Anatoli Pinyaev), the firs Russian disciple of Srila Prabhupada, has left his body on June 3rd, 2013, as a result of a stroke.
Although ISKCON guru Tamal Krishna Goswami passed away in 2002 at the age of fifty six, his mother Lore Garrick—affectionately known to devotees as “Mother Lore” or to TKG disciples as “Grandma”—outlived him by eleven years. Her life was a fascinating one.
Yamuna Devi, a pioneer and influential early western convert of the Hare Krishna movement, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), passed away early on the morning of December 20th in Melbourne Beach, Florida.
On Sunday, October 23, Kirtanananda Swami, a controversial former leader in the Hare Krishna society who was excommunicated by the parent organization for serious legal and moral transgressions, passed away in India.
It’s no surprise that Gopiparanadhana should have such an auspicious passing, for his devotion and service in the Hare Krishna movement was truly exemplary.
Indian guru Sri Sathya Sai Baba died Sunday in a hospital in southern India. He was 86.
His Holiness B.V. Narayana Maharaja, a prominent Vaishnava leader, passed away at 3:00am on the morning of December 29th in the holy city of Jagannath Puri, India.
On the 4th of November, 22:25 PM Moscow time Purnacandra Goswami passed away. It is a great loss for the entire ISKCON community.
