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Initiated
By: Hridayananda Dasa Goswami Cause
of Death: Hepatic Failure Sri Rama dasa (son)
Vrindavan Isvara dasi (daughter) |
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Memorial by His Holiness Hridayananda Dasa Goswami |
He was always a sincere devotee, a gentleman, and a faithful disciple. I am sure that Srila Prabhupada and Lord Krishna are with him and will take him to a very pleasing, spiritual destination.
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Memorial by Ramanya Dasa |
Dear Devotees,
Please accept our humble
obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
On Sayana Ekadasi Day, July 2,
2001, Rupa Manohara Prabhu left this world, in Gainesville, Florida. He was
survived by his wife, son and daughter: Mother Draupadi, Sri Rama and
Vrindavaneswari.
Rupa Manohara prabhu joined ISKCON in 1977 in Guatemala City, Guatemala, in Central America. And both him and his wife, Mother Draupadi became duly initiated on 06/01/79. He had a very pious family, as his sister also became initiated. He served Srila Prabhupada's movement by engaging in book distribution, harinama-sankirtana and as a pujari throughout Central America and Mexico. However, he was well known for his culinary skills and thus cooked for many Deities. In Guatemala he served Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai. In El Salvador he also served Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai. In Mexico City he served Sri Sri Radha-Madana Gopal. In Guadalajara (Mexico) he served Sri Jaganatha, Sri Baladeva and Srimati Subhadra Devi. In Monterrey he served Sri Sri Gaura Nitai. In Houston (Texas) he served Sri Sri Radha Nila-Madhava and in Dallas (Texas) he served Sri Sri Radha-Kalachandi. He also served Sri Sri Radha Vrajabhihari in Miami, Florida and eventually he and his family settled here in Alachua, Florida.
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Memorial by wife Draupadi and son Sri Rama |
Draupadi met her husband Rupa
Manohar in their native Guatemala after she finished high school in 1973. They
were not devotees at that time. Several pleasant and adventurous years passed.
Then, in 1977 Rupa suddenly announced that he was going to live with monks in a
temple. Without Draupadi's knowledge, he had met the devotees and become
intensely interested in Krishna consciousness. Rupa's grandmother angrily told
Draupadi, "Let him just stay there and not give us any more trouble."
Draupadi stayed away from the temple, but soon Rupa sent a message inviting her
to visit. Shortly after she met Rupa at the temple, some zealous devotees
interrupted their talk. They encouraged Rupa to stay as a Bramachari and not
associate with Draupadi. Rupa consented.
A few months later, Rupa decided to
move out of the temple, but Draupadi found him a changed man. He was always
talking about Krishna. Draupadi would try to change the subject, but Rupa
returned to Krishna, Krishna. By then Draupadi was herself a vegetarian and
following the four principles. The couple regularly attended Sunday feasts.
Later the couple journeyed to the
first Rathayatra in Guadalajara, Mexico. When they returned, Rupa shaved his
head and resolved move back into the temple. He asked Draupadi to also move
into the temple, but she observed that they would first have to get married.
Rupa agreed. Donning a wig, he went to meet Draupadi's parents. Six months
later Rupa and Draupadi were initiated together. Their service was distributing
Srila Prabhupada's books. Boarding buses, they used hand-held megaphones to
address the passengers and persuade them to buy books.
From the beginning of his spiritual
career, Rupa showed an inclination toward cooking for Krishna. However, he
continued to distribute books and manage the Guatemala temple's traveling
Sankirtan party. As a mature and responsible grhastha, he took good care of the
younger book distributors. Two years later the government in Guatemala closed
the temple. Rupa and Draupadi migrated to Mexico, rotating among the fledgling
Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterey temples as a cook and pujari team. Four
years later, Sri Rama was born. Rupa, who felt strongly committed to care for
his family in the best way, decided to investigate opportunities for serving in
more established ISKCON temples in America.
Rupa was soon able to immigrate to
the US and began to serve as one of the main cooks for Sri Sri
Radha-Kalachandji in ISKCON Dallas. His family followed him in 1985. In 1987,
he agreed to manage the kitchen in the rapidly developing ISKCON Houston
temple. Rupa oversaw the transition of the Lord's kitchen to a new temple
building and continued cooking for the newly installed Sri Sri Radha-Nila
Madhava.
During his days in Houston, Rupa
delighted the temple devotees and guests with consistently wonderful prasadam.
His offerings were prompt and well prepared. The temple had very modest means,
and, like the other temple grhasthas, Rupa maintained his family on room and
board and $25 per week.
Despite his simple means, Rupa
served steadily and cheerfully. In 1989, to the regret of the devotees in
Texas, Rupa and Draupadi accepted an invitation to cook for and worship Sri Sri
Radha-Brajabihari in ISKCON Miami. Unfortunately, the temple became involved in
a protracted struggle to relocate from Miami Beach to Coconut Grove. Rupa
always maintained his service, even when the Deities and the devotees were
temporarily scattered in different locations.
During this time, Vrindavan Isvara
dasi was born to Rupa and Draupadi. Rupa's steadiness characterized his career
as an ISKCON cook. Often the steadiness of the temples in which he served did
not match his own. Once in Miami, while Draupadi was pregnant, there was a
change in temple management. The new temple president abruptly told Rupa he was
no longer needed.
Draupadi was upset, but Rupa
assured her that everything would be all right. Sure enough, Rupa's replacement
proved unsteady, and before long the new TP humbly asked Rupa to come back.
Draupadi urged Rupa to decline, but he accepted the offer and returned.
"It's my service," he explained. Rupa realized very deeply that he
was cooking for Krishna and that, ultimately, the Lord alone dictated his
service. In March of 1996, Rupa began having serious health problems. A Miami
doctor diagnosed him with cirrhosis of the liver and estimated his life span to
be three years. Rupa refused to accept that conclusion and resolved to fight
his ailment. Seeking a better environment for his health and his family, he
moved to Alachua in 1997.
During his years in Alachua, Rupa's
health problems prohibited him from cooking for the Deities or performing other
direct Deity service. To support his family, he delivered newspapers early each
morning, which was somewhat easier for him physically. Some younger devotees -
Ananda Murti, Lalita, and Krishna Caitanya - at times worked side by side with
Rupa during these years. At his funeral, Lalita and Krishna praised Rupa's
quiet, steady and stoic manner. They watched with respect as Rupa worked
through debilitating pain to maintain his family.
Although Rupa had joined ISKCON
shortly after Srila Prabhupada's physical departure, he always felt close to
Srila Prabhupada as his siksa guru. He felt that Srila Prabhupada had lifted
him from maya and ignorance, and he constantly referred to Srila Prabhupada's
teachings in his daily life. Once a devotee invited Rupa to go to a lecture
presented in Alachua by a visiting Gaudiya Math sannyasi. When he returned,
Draupadi asked for his impressions. "He's a nice devotee," said Rupa,
pointing to a picture on the wall, "but look at Srila Prabhupada's face. I
didn't feel the same way looking at the other sannyasi. I just want to read
Srila Prabhupada's books. I don't need anything else."
Rupa struggled on and sought to
live so he could care for his family, but his health continued to weaken. He
took treatment from allopathic and natural healers, but on July 2, 2001,
Krishna called him back. Draupadi was by his side. She comments, "I feel
satisfied that I was serving him to the last moment. He was always Krishna
conscious and responsible to his family. I thank Krishna for bringing me a nice
husband, friend, and guru."
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Memorial by Yugala Kishor dasa |
I met Rupa Manohara Prabhu in 1978. Then I joined ISKCON in September of the same year and ever since, we met and serve in different occasions and different temples. Besides being a dedicated servant in ISKCON, Rupaji was an exemplary grhastha. Although he was dedicated to raising two children, he was also very much realized in terms of spiritual matters. He was also a very mature person regarding matters of this world. Rupaji was indeed a true friend to me, for during my hardest times in life (divorce and loss of children), he was there for me either with a phone call or by opening his doors to me. I spent a month and a half with him, prior to his traveling to Brazil, and two months before departing from this world. At that time, we talked a lot. He had very personal and unique realizations about Srila Prabhupada and Lord Krishna. I am so grateful that he shared them with me, for such insights have also enriched my life. In the end, I was also there at his bedside, witnessing his departure. During my last 24 years I have numerously read, and heard (and preached it myself) the classical preaching line “We are not the body”. Nevertheless, my witnessing of Rupa Manohara Prabhu’s departure was the final touch in my realizations about it. It also made me understand that differences of opinion, fights, disagreements, resentments, hatred and grudges become wholly meaningless, pointless and utterly useless. Then I realized that if all of this stuff is so meaningless during death, why should they be meaningful during life? As Srila Prabhupada wrote it so succinctly: “The whole materialistic advancement of human civilization is like the decoration of a dead body. Everyone is a dead body flapping only for a few days, and yet all the energy of human life is being wasted in the decoration of this dead body”. Thanks to Rupa Manohara Prabhu’s vivid example, I now fully understand that indeed I am not the body, but rather a servant of the servants of Srila Prabhupada's mission. Finally I need to state that I will not be able to forget his cooking and am not ashamed to declare that his malpura sweets brought me ISKCON.
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Memorial by Ramanya dasa |
It was an honor to have had his
association for many years. I was impressed by his brahminical standard in his
cooking and his steadiness and punctuality. I think he was a very faithful
follower of Srila Prabhupada, based on what I observed and what he personally
told me in many occasions. He stated to me that Prabhupada gave us everything
in his books. And that is something I will always remember. During his final
days, HH Indradyumna Swami visited Alachua and lectured at the temple. In the lecture,
Maharaja narrated that Srila Prabhupada once padded him in the back and said, “You
are going through so much trouble serving me. But in the end, it will be nice
and sublime when you go back to Krishna”. Rupa Manohara told me that such
statement uttered by Srila Prabhupada made a deep impression in his heart.
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Memorial by Yadu dasa |
I have arrived in the City of
Rajahmundry, coming from small town known as Kovvur; and while crossing the
bridge, I offered my prayers to Mother Ganges, humbly requesting her to make
Rupa's journey, an auspicious one. I was overcome by a deep sorrow, when I
remember that a month ago, June 2nd, the day of Nirjala Ekadasi, I was about to
write a letter to Rupa, but was unable to do so. I think it was Paramatma who
was inspiring me to write some words to Rupa. That's why I feel deeply aggrieved.
My prayers are with Rupa during these sensitive days of the departed soul. I
dedicate to him all my vratas and studies during this period, and pray to the
Supreme Lord Vishnu that He may grant him the next stage of life, full of love.
I also pray to my Sri Sri Radha-Krishna Deities so that They mercifully show
him once again all Their glorious and enchanting Archa-vigraha forms."
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Memorial by |
The above is courtesy of www.iskcon.net/fnb/Newsletter/Obits/obit10.htm