I received a text from a friend inviting me to visit a family whose father was on the verge of passing away. I knew the family from before; they had been connected with the devotees for many years and occasionally visited the temple.
Two days later, we went to their home. The elderly lady opened the door and welcomed us inside. She immediately led us to the room where her husband was. An 80-year-old man, struggling to breathe and afflicted with late-stage dementia, lay on a hospital bed at the end of the room, next to the window.
The devotees who accompanied me didn’t hesitate. They pulled out a harmonium, mridanga, and kartals from the car and began singing kirtan. As we sang, other family members arrived, and the elderly wife of the dying man sat next to his bed, ensuring he was warm and comfortable.
After 30 minutes of kirtan, I shared a verse from the Bhagavad Gita where Krishna explains to Arjuna that he is not this body but the soul:
Bhagavat Gita 2.13: As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change.
As I spoke, we could see the man in the bed coughing and struggling to breathe. The philosophy came alive!
“Don’t waste your time,” I said firmly and with conviction. “Soon, some of us will be in the same position. Visit the temple, associate with the devotees, and begin chanting holy names.”
I noticed tears in the eyes of a few elderly people in the audience. They could connect the dots. The message I had shared resonated deeply with them.
“Will you begin your spiritual practice?” I asked.
They all nodded in agreement.
After the prasadam, before leaving, I walked next to the dying person, chanted maha mantra loudly into his ear, and assured him of Krishna’s protection.
On my way back to the temple, stuck in traffic, I reflected on this man’s good fortune.
Thousands of people are dying every moment, but how many are so fortunate to have devotees coming to their homes to remind them of Krishna?
“It is a special gift from Krishna,” I thought, looking at the long line of cars in front of us, waiting for the green traffic light to turn on.
A few days later, I was informed that the man had left his body. I remembered the verse that Srila Prabhupada would often quote;
Mahabharata, Vana-parva 313.116: Hundreds and thousands of living entities meet death at every moment, but a foolish living being nonetheless thinks himself deathless and does not prepare for death. This is the most wonderful thing in this world.
Ananta Gopal Das
02.03.2025
Bhakti Wisdom 