Installation of the samadhi

On the 15^th of August 2010, 30 days after the passing-away of Sripad Aindra Prabhu, the installation of his samadhi took place in his room which got renovated and covered with fresh cow dung. All the Deities were moved back in and a small ceremony was held establishing his samadhi. Some of his God-brothers were present and they glorified his services and activities. Gopal Prabhu - on behalf of the devotees of the 24-hour kirtana department - placed Aindra Prabhu's sacred ashes into samadhi and also took part in performing the various final rites led by the head-pujari Mukunda Datta Prabhu. Besides his ashes, Aindra Prabhu's japa-mala, his glasses and other personal belongings were put into the samadhi-pinda. After that, a fire sacrifice was held in which 108 maha-mantras were chanted and thereafter, a Vaishnava-homa was performed. After the rites were completed, all the devotees present proceeded down to Mukunda Datta Prabhu's house where a bhoga-offering took place and the maha-prasadam got distributed.

Room No. 89

Soon after arriving in Vrindavan in the 1980’s, Sripad Aindra Prabhu moved into room No. 89 of the brahmacari-ashram and continued to stay there for 24 years. His room depicts the Vrindavan mood: Cow dung art (gobbar) decorates the walls (personally done by him), the floor is covered with clay from the Yamuna and the remnants of the original Tamal tree from the temple courtyard are placed in its centre. Aindra Prabhu would only leave his room to come down for his kirtana services, Deity dressing services, to purchase bhoga for his Deities, for going to the bathroom and very rarely for other purposes. Most of his time, he spent in his room chanting many rounds, writing on his book, studying Srila Prabhupada’s books and the Goswami literatures as well as performing his personal Deity worship. It was Aindra Prabhu's desire that his samadhi be placed nearby his Deities and that the worship of over 2'000 saligrama-silas, his Nitai-Sacisuta and all his other Deities go on as he was doing.

“My room is nitya-Navadvipa!”

In one room conversation, Aindra Prabhu is mentioning how his room is in fact non-different from Navadvipa due to the direct presence of Nitai-Sacisuta. He is saying:

“My room is Navadvipa! My room is non-different from nitya-Navadvipa in the spiritual world. (…) Navadvipa means in Goloka. My room is Goloka. And anyone who doubts it is a fool! Non-different from Goloka. My room is non-    different from Navadvipa-dhama. Gaura-Nitai are really there. They are real!   They are the Lords of nitya-Navadvipa. Try to understand! As much as Navadvipa is non-different from Vrindavan, so Vrindavana is non-different from Navadvipa. It’s a question of the position of the heart. You’re performing sankirtana-yajña for the pleasure of Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityananda in  Vrindavan-dhama, you’ll be remembering Navadvipa.”

“There’s the Krishna-pita and there’s the Gaura-pita. So in the Gaura-pita, there’s a special mercy aspect of that dhama which you may not find in Vrindavana unless you’re in tune with the Navadvipa mood. If you’re in tune with the mercy aspect of Lord Caitanya’s sankirtana mission in Vrindavan, then it’s   as good as being in the Gaura-pita! I’m in the Gaura-pita! I’m in the Gaura-pita and I’m also in the Krishna-pita. I have two transcendental bodies. Yes, I have a transcendental body which is fitting the service of Lord Gaura and I have a transcendental body fitting the service of Radha and Krishna.”

The future of the samadhi

In another interview, Aindra Prabhu is saying about his Nitai-Sacisuta that They're “the life and soul of the 24-hour kirtana”. However, he was aware that the Gurukula building will not last forever and that it probably won't be possible “to make an Aindra's bhajan-kutir”.

The main problem with the Gurukula building is that it hasn't been constructed with the best kind of steel and due to the harsh climate of Vraja, it becomes more and more dangerous to reside there, so much so that the entire building will have to be pulled down in the year 2019. This means that his room (which is currently also his samadhi) has to be shifted to another place by April 2019 at latest in order to properly carry on the worship.

Aindra Prabhu was aware of this fact and he expressed the desire to have a place somewhere close to the ISKCON temple, i.e. in Raman Reti. In one conversation in spring 2010, five months before he passed away, this subject matter was brought up in a discussion. You can read the transcription of this conversation HERE.

Besides his expressed desire for a place close to the temple, there are other reasons which speak for the shifting of his samadhi in due course of time.

According to the Vaishnava tradition, the pinda (the samadhi-hill) should be placed directly into the dust of the respective dhama. In other words, a samadhi on the 2nd floor of a building is shastrically not approved of.

Another problem which is being faced is that his present samadhi is located in an area which is generally only accessible for souls in a male body (the brahmacari-ashram). Ladies were initially allowed to take darshan of Aindra Prabhu's samadhi twice a year, but the darshan-timings for ladies have unfortunately been abolished two years after his departure. This is not to be seen with any other samadhi in Vaishnava history, since the nature of each and every samadhi is that it's open to everyone, no matter in what body that soul comes to offer respects and prayers!

In our guru-parampara, samadhis have been previously shifted in emergency cases. As an example serves Gaura Kishora Dasa Babaji Maharaja's kevala-samadhi which had to be moved from one side of the Ganges to the other (Mayapur) due to a severe flood. 

So taking all these points into consideration, we're hoping to be able to fulfill Aindra Prabhu's desire sooner or later.

If you feel inspired from the heart to help – in some way or another - make his desire become true, then please don't hesitate to approach us (CONTACT). Hare Krishna!