By Indradyumna Swami
Three days ago I flew to Australia to pay my final respects and say goodbye to my godbrother, Venu Gopal dasa, who is dying of cancer. A senior disciple of Srila Prabhupada, Venu Gopal prabhu has been instrumental in pioneering the Krsna conscious movement in Australia since the early 1970’s. Each day a steady stream of devotees visit his home, situated near the beautiful New Govardhana farming community, to show their love and appreciation for this most wonderful devotee. Everyone remarks how fearless he is in the face of death and how jovial he remains despite the fact that he has only a couple of weeks to live. He is setting such a wonderful example for all of us. I brought him a very special gift from Vrindavan; a beautifully carved Tulasi necklace with numerous transcendental items contained in a box attached to it, including: the 700 verses of Bhagavad Gita, water from 1,108 kunds in Vrindavan, dust from many holy places in Vrindavan, the names of many great devotees of the Lord, remnants of clothes from the dresses of Radharani from all the prominent temples in Vrindavan, maha prasadam from Lord Jagannatha in Puri, clothes from Lord Jagannatha in Puri, the Chatur-slokas of Srimad Bhagavatam, dust from the forest of Naimisaranya and prayers in glorification of Srimati Radharani. The necklace was made by a famous devotee of the Lord who lives at Varsana. Venu Gopal prabhu was so happy to receive the gift. Venu, we’ll all miss you more than you’ll ever know ….
More photos: http://www.iskcondesiretree.com/photo/albums/venu-gopal-das-left-for-spiritual-journey
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