By Indradyumna Swami
Tuesday October 22
This morning when checking the telephone-answering service, I found a message from Kartikeya that Hari Bhadra had left her body at midnight. It came as no surprise, but I wanted to know the details of her departure, so I asked Uttama Sloka to call Kartikeya and find out under what conditions she had left.
I waited anxiously as Uttama Sloka tried all day to get through to Moscow. It wasn’t until late that evening that he spoke to Kartikeya’s wife. The report we received was satisfying. The devotees saw an emphatic change in Hari Bhadra after my visit. She had fixed her mind on my instructions and had absorbed herself in hearing and chanting about Krsna. An hour before she passed away, she lapsed into unconsciousness, but by Krsna’s mercy she awoke several minutes before she left her body.
In full consciousness, she looked intensely at a picture of Radha and Krsna, then accepted a tulasé leaf on her tongue. While devotees poured Ganges water on her head and had a tumultuous kirtana, Hari Bhadra left for that place upon achieving which one never returns to this world of birth and death.
Uttama Sloka asked me if I was sad. He was a bit surprised by my smiling reply. “No, I’m not,” I said. “I’m very happy for her. I’m also very satisfied because I’ve done my duty. I’ve helped her achieve Krsna’s lotus feet.”
I was satisfied. By Srila Prabhupada’s mercy I felt I’d accomplished something by helping my disciple achieve a glorious destination.