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The Trip to Tip

Dear Tribhuvannatha Prabhu,

Having red the offering of Ananta Sesa Naga Prabhu I feel inspired to also write a few lines. It was many years ago when you kindly invited us to participate in the Trip to Tip (Tipperary) festival in Ireland. Thank you very much for that. It was great! Devotees had a big tent and there was lots of kirtan. You were so fired up and at the same time you were always concerned about our well-being. During the day there was ample opportunity to speak with the youngsters at the festival site. Many of them were philosophically inclined. They asked so many questions and were always eager to discuss and debate Krishna Consciousness.

In the evening mother Goverdhan did a Bharata Natyam dance performance and I was involved with the kirtan. The chanting went on and on late into the night. The crowd was so supportive and eager but increasingly drunk as time went on. It was a great pleasure to see hundreds of young people chanting Hare Krishna with so much enthusiasm. Whenever the kirtan stopped they demanded more shouting ‘Haribol, Haribol’. Thank you again for inviting us and giving us the chance to do some service along with you and many other wonderful Vaishnavas such as Giridhari Prabhu. Looking back I feel honoured that you allowed us to take part in such a powerful preaching event.

I remember loosing my bead bag with my beads when the crowd was so wild that some of them came onto the stage. I later found the ripped bead bag but without my cherished beads which had been hand-strung during countless Srimad Bhagavatam classes in New Mayapur in France. It felt people took it as a maha souvenir some how or other. At one point you asked me to take rest as you could see that I was really tired. The next day you told us that later on that night the crowd stormed the tent and some climbed up onto the roof. You and some other devotees had to shake them down. I always wondered if you ever took any rest.

I also remember when you came to Leicester. It was a great programme. The Gaura arati kirtan was ecstatic. At one point you chanted the maha mantra in such quick succession ... nobody could even move their tongue so fast. Everyone was amazed.

When I met you at Srila Prabhupada's Vyasa Puja celebration at Bhaktivedanta Manor I was shocked how thin and ill you looked. I knew than that your days were counted. It was very sad, however, you were in great spirits. When you saw me you came up to me and embraced me with so much love, affection and tenderness, - the last hug.

I could not but cry at your farewell. It was very moving to see so many Vaishnavas from everywhere. You brought them all together. They spoke so nicely. Giridhari Prabhu had so much strength. No wonder, you inspired him as you have inspired countless others.

Tribhuvannatha Prabhu, you were always very kind and encouraging to me, always asking for my welfare. I never felt you were high up and unapproachable. At the same time you have been so simple and so, so Krishna conscious. You always had a great sense of humour too. One could listen for hours to your stories about the early days of Krishna consciousness.

I wish you had the opportunity to formally take sannyasa. You would have made a fine sannyasi! You never allowed yourself to be swallowed up by the institution nor were you ever tempted to become an impersonal manager. You never lost touch with the grass roots devotees; you have always been a general amongst the foot soldiers. You are a hero for the ordinary devotees and a role model for generations to come, just like Jayananda Prabhu or Vishnujana Swami. You should have your pushpa samadhi in Mayapur. You were as personal as Srila Prabhupada was and you personified the revolutionary preaching spirit of the early days of Krishna consciousness, which is forever so attractive to devotees throughout the world.

“He reasons ill who says that Vaishnavas die,
When thou art living still in sound!
The Vaishnavas die to live, and living try
To spread the holy name around.”

Your insignificant and most grateful servant,

Gauranga Sundara das

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