Official announcement regarding the disappearance of Srimati Gauri
dasi, Yamunangi dasi and Sri Hari dasa.

 With great regret the Mayapur management wishes to inform the
community of devotees about the disappearance of Srimati Gauri dasi, the
granddaughter of Srila Prabhupada, her three years old daughter Yamunangi,
and her brother-in-law, Sriman Sri Hari dasa.

 Gauri dasi leaves behind her husband, Sriman Sujitendriya dasa, a
Mayapur gurukula graduate who has lived in the ISKCON Mayapur community his
whole life, and her youngest daughter, Bhagirathi aged ten months.

 These three devotees were tragically drowned in a boating accident
in Sri Mayapur dhama at sometime in the early afternoon on Wednesday 27
September, 2006.

 The tragedy occurred on a flooded stretch of road on the way to the
Yoga-pitha, nearby where Sujitendriya and his brother Sri Hari were building
a house.

 Because of the floods Gauri had rung her father Sriman Vrindavan
Candra De, and he advised her to come to their family home in Kolkata until
it receded. Thus, Sujitendriya, Gauri and their two daughters, Sri Hari and
several others were waiting for a boat to leave Mayapur. Instead of the boat
they expected, a smaller one came and offered to take them so everyone,
about twelve or fourteen persons, agreed to use it.

 Their route followed the flooded road leading to the Yoga-pitha. The
current was running strong at ninety degrees to the road, so about six of
the men got out to push and guide the boat along from the front and back.
Gauri and the two children, along with their maid, were sitting in the boat
with six others, plus the two boatmen.

 Due to the powerful current somehow the boat got out of control and
it sank into the water pitching the occupants into the flood. Gauri couldn"t
swim and Sujitendriya grabbed her and their daughter Yamunangi, but both
were going under. To save all of them from being swept away Sujitendriya
grabbed hold of a banana tree with one hand. With the other he was hanging
on to his wife Gauri in a desperate attempt to save her. But by this time
she was fully submerged and unconscious.

  They were pulled out onto the bank and an Australian devotee, Shanti
 Parayana prabhu, attempted to revive Gauri with CPR. After some time
 however it was clear the attempt was not successful. Yamunangi had also
 expired in the arms of her father.

  Sri Hari prabhu went to save the youngest daughter Bhagirathi and
the maid. He succeeded in doing this but in the attempt, although he was a
good swimmer, he was also dragged under and drowned. He died a hero, saving
others while giving his own life.

 Out of all the passengers three died; Gauri, Yamunangi and Sri
Hari--Sujitendriya prabhu"s wife, daughter and brother.

 The bodies were taken in the afternoon to Krsnanagar and offically
declared dead and laid in the morgue to await postmortem. Sujitendriya
prabhu was brought back to Mayapur, almost dead himself from ceaseless
lamentation. I cannot give the details here of the trauma Sujitendriya
prabhu was suffering. It was a very heart rending experience. Every few
moments he would break down and beat his head or chest with his hands and
cry in anguish. Kurma Caitanya, one of our Mayapur pujaris, was a great
help, staying with him the whole night to help comfort him.

 The following day, Thursday 28 September, Dayaram prabhu,
Naru-gopala prabhu, Ramadevi dasi, and a team of devotees went with
Sujitendriya prabhu to Krsnanagar by large motorized boat along the Jalangi
since it is the only way out of Mayapur at the moment. It took nearly 21/2
hours to get there.

 Because of all the arrangements that needed to be made with the
Krsnanagar morgue for the post-mortem and reception of the bodies for
peforming the cremation, it was not possible to leave Mayapur until about 11
AM.  We got there about 1.30 PM.

 Gauri"s family, Vrindavan Candra De and his wife and son, had
traveled late at night from Kolkata and reached Krsnanagar about midnight.
They were hosted by a local devotee in Krsnanagar but were not informed of
all the details when they arrived. At that point they had only heard that
their daughter was in hospital. We wanted to be personally present when they
heard the full details of the tragic event so that we could help them deal
with the shock and grief.

 Myself, Dayaram and Ramadevi had the task of informing Vrindavan
Candra and his wife and son of what had happened. It is without a doubt one
of the most difficult things one has to do in life. Vrindavan Candra was
stunned almost speechless, his wife and son both broke down sobbing and
crying. Meanwhile Sujitendriya had come to another room in the house and
after some time Vrindavan Candra and the son met with him. Needless to say
it was an inconsolable scene as Sujitendriya told them what had happened, in
between repeatedly breaking down himself.

 After some time we had to get to the practical business of viewing
and receiving the bodies. It was getting late, the postmortem was only done
in mid-afternoon and we were told we couldn"t get the bodies until 3.15 PM.
This being India that meant sometime later.

 Thus about 4.00 PM we had to go and pick up the bodies from the
morgue. We only took Vrndavan Candra and family with us to view the bodies.
Initially the mother didn"t want to see the bodies but finally decided to
come along.

 We thought the viewing of the bodies would be in a private room but
it seems that in rural India, or at least Krsnanagar, such things are an
unobtainable luxury. We had to stand around outside the broken down building
that passes off as the morgue as three cheap wooden beds were set outside.
About twenty people were milling around curious to see the event. Finally
the bodies were brought out and placed on the beds. Thankfully they were at
least wrapped nicely and kept in clean, white, fine muslin bags.

 The pathos when Gauri and Yamunangi"s bodies were unwrapped for her
parents to see, is undescribable. The mother was fully distraught. The body
of Sujitendriya"s brother, Sri Hari prabhu was also lying there and his was
identified by the devotees.

 Vrindavan Candra and family then returned directly back to Kolkata.
The thought of coming to Mayapur for the cremation was simply too much for
them to bear.

 By this time it was about 4.45 PM and we still had to get the bodies
back to Mayapur for cremation. The flood makes everything difficult. The
Navadvipa crematoriom isn"t working right now, the Krsnanagar one is also
temporarily out of service and we were unsure about where to do it on our
land. We considered a spot near the Gauranga Setu, the big bridge running
into Navadvip, but in the end it was settled by Sujitendriya prabhu
informing us that his wife had once made him promise that she would be
cremated in ISKCON Mayapur.

 The devotees at the goshalla are expert with organizing this and
they assured us that we could get in by boat from the Jalangi and do the
burning on some higher ground there. From Krsnanagar we were able to drive
to the house of Bhaktivinoda Thakur where there is a small ghat, not far
upstream and opposite from our goshalla. The bodies were sent ahead by truck
while we picked up Sujitendriya prabhu. Our boat was waiting at the ghat for
us and the bodies were loaded onto the deck.

 About 20 devotees were on board as we set off downstream in the
failing light to find a suitable spot to breach the flooded banks of the
Jalangi and sail into the goshalla. We achieved that within a few minutes
and started chugging across fields towards the buildings in the near dark.

 Suddenly some low-lying telegraph lines were upon us. We had to dive
for cover on the deck as they scrapped over the boat. Devotees sitting on
the roof of the cabin, including Dayaram and Naru-gopala prabhus, were
almost swept off by the wires; one wire snagged across the deck cabin and
snapped, the rest of the wires got caught on the wheel house and the whole
lot ripped out of the pole. Luckily noone was hurt or electrocuted.
Proceeding cautiously the devotees thence expertly brought the boat into the
goshalla area, between the buildings, over fences and the road, to dock
right at the main cow shelter.

 Then over the next two hours the bodies were washed, clothed in new
garments and all the Vaisnava pujas were done for the departed souls. They
were then burnt.

 Now we have the task to look after Sujitendriya prabhu and his
remaining daughter, 10 months old Bhagirathi. Sujitendriya and Gauri were
also looking after the widows and children of two other of his brothers who
expired in the last couple of years. Now there are three with the widow of
Sri Hari prabhu. It will take a while to help him and them sort their lives
out but we are confident he will get all the support he needs from the
families here in Sri Mayapur dhama. We ask all devotees to please pray for
the well-being of these devotees.

 Tragic as it is, at the same time these departed souls have to be
seen as most fortunate. Gauri dasi was Srila Prabhupada"s granddaughter.
That in itself would have been enough to gaurantee her liberated status.
However, she was a devotee not just by birth, but by choice also. She was
serious about her spiritual life and loved to live in Mayapur despite not
having very opulent circumstances. She was well liked by all the devotees
here. She was married to a young man who has practically lived his whole
life in Mayapur, going through the whole gurukula and then running a
business in conjunction with the Deity dept. selling beautiful photos and
laminations of the Deities here.

 Yamunangi took her birth in the most auspicious place, in the most
auspicious family line, and she left her body in the same holy dhama. Srila
Prabhupada once said that when a devotee child leaves early, it means that
that soul was an advanced devotee in their last life who had some small
residue of material desire or reaction to burn off by taking another birth,
and having done so, they return back to Krsna.

 Sri Hari prabhu was the President of ISKCON Chittagoan in
Bangladesh. He joined ISKCON in 1978 and was the senior-most devotee in
Bangladesh. He fully dedicated his life to Srila Prabhupada"s preaching
mission. It is said that if one even thinks of living in the holy dhama,
Krsna reserves a place for that person, so Sri Hari prabhu has now by the
mercy of the Lord attained the supreme abode.

 While we lament the loss of the association of these devotees, there
can be no inauspiciousness for them. They fulfilled their life"s purpose and
left their bodies in the heart of Sri Mayapur dhama in the bosom of Mother
Ganges. Most certainly they all three went home back to Godhead. What more
can one desire?

 According to Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura"s Navadvipa-dhama Mahatmya:

"O brother! One who resides in the land of Navadv…pa is greatly fortunate,
for he obtains pure love for Krsna. Whosoever goes at any time to visit
Navadvipa becomes freed from all offenses. Whatever a pilgrim obtains by
wandering to all the holy places is obtained simply by remembering Sri
Navadvipa. This all the scriptures sing.

"A person who simply sees Navadvipa gets the great fortune of love for Krsna
birth after birth. Even one who practices karma - or buddhi-yoga never again
takes birth if he goes to Navadvipa.

"If a person wanders in Navadvipa, at every step he obtains the result of
ten million horse sacrifices. That too is stated in all the scriptures.

"If anyone resides there and chants his given mantra, that mantra becomes
Lord Caitanya, and so he is easily delivered.

"What yogis obtain in other holy places after ten years of practice is
obtained in Navadvipa by practicing for only three nights.

"The liberation obtained in other holy places by knowledge of Brahman is
obtained simply by bathing in the Bhagirathi in Sridhama Navadvipa. The five
types of liberation—achieving the same planet as the Lord, getting a form
similar to that of the Lord, obtaining opulence equal to that of the Lord,
getting direct association with the Lord, and merging into the Brahman
effulgence—can be obtained in Navadvipa, even without one"s knowledge, by
those who desire such liberation."

 We request all the devotees to give their blessings and prayers for
the departed Vaisnavas, and also their support to Sujitendriya prabhu so
that he can overcome his loss, raise his daughter Bhagirathi nicely in Krsna
consciousness, and continue to progress in his devotional life as a resident
of Sridhama Mayapur.

        On behalf of ISKCON Mayapur,
        Your humble servant,
        Hari-sauri dasa