Monday, December 25, 2006

HH Niranjana Swami Remembers HH Sridhar Swami, Part 5

One night after I finished kirtan, we chanted for about two hours and Maharaja was extremely tired. But still during the kirtan, while lying in the bad, he would always put his arms up, and move them like this, like he was dancing. Of course, he couldn't get up and dance, but he would put his arms like this. And then just at the end of the kirtan, Maharaja just sat up and the room was filled with about 50-60 devotees. Maharaja then gave the most brilliant, sharp, clear lecture. He spoke for quite some time, how we are not these bodies. His consciousness was so crystal clear. And his lecture was powerful. How many times have we heard that we are not these bodies? But Maharaja spoke with such realization that everybody was just sitting there with their mouths open, as Maharaja was showing not only by his words, but by his actions on how to be detached from the body. His body was looking very frail. His face was a bit emaciated. But he spoke like a lion. And, again, I was appreciating his example.

And the other point that Maharaja displayed was that he really showed unconditional love for his godbrothers. It didn't make any difference what time of the day, who it was, if a godbrother walked in the door, no matter how tired he was, how sick he was, he immediately stood up, he would throw his arms in embrace around his godbrother, and he wouldn't let go. And then he would start glorifying. He did this with every single godbrother, and in Mayapura, during this Gaura Purnima Festival, there was a lot of godbrothers-- probably no less than 100 throughout the festival. And everyone who came in, he would immediately throw his arms around him and just start glorifying him.

So then, two weeks ago, one godbrother, his name is Tridandi Prabhu, he knew this doctor down in Kerala, South India. And this doctor had been very successful in curing cancer patients. So he asked Sridhar Maharaja, "If we can get some kind of treatment for you, would you be willing to take it?" And Maharaja said, "Well, if there's any reason for me to stay, I'll stay." But to tell you the truth, I came here to leave my body. Do you think that there is anything to this doctor? But Tridandi tried to convince him that he was a good doctor. The doctor was trained in America as an oncologist. He was also an Ayurvedic doctor, and also a botanist. So he had many qualifications. So Sridhar Maharaja said, "OK if you think that he can do something then let him come." So then the devotee arranged for this doctor to come within a few days. The doctor examined him and said to him, "I can cure you. This is not irreversible. You just simply have to follow this diet and take this medicine and in three weeks you will see some results.