Radha Kund (ACBSP) Dying in India, Trying to find his son in Denver Options

[0violeta0]

I wouldn't want to see his name smeared either, but I understand the impulse to mention his abandoned family in response to the mostly positive publicity over his death. There does seem to be a tendency in ISKCON or other Vaishnava obits to whitewash the past and make it seem like the deceased had punched their ticket back to  Godhead with some certainty. Perhaps it is meant to inspire those left behind, I don't know. I saw one such obit about someone I had known quite well, someone who had clearly neglected her children and had otherwise mistreated others. Perhaps she did get herself together in light of her impending death, I don't know, but to read the obit one got a picture of an entire life lived with absorption in Krsna and Guru.

I wouldn't want someone to whitewash my life in that way. I am who I am, warts and all.

I find most people tend to do that. My father's cousin was a total asshole when he was alive but now they talk about him like he was a saint. I don't know if it is denial or just that people don't think they should talk bad about the dead.

I am not saying that Radha kunda was bad or good...it's just people tend to only think about the good of someone when they are gone...maybe it is a way to make peace with the past.

[0advaitadas0]

Generally, its 'nothing but good about the dead' . Though that does depend on the bad of the dead. Look at Yeltsin. He got a mixed review to say the least...

[Tapati]

I think some of these narratives go beyond only speaking good to the point of trying to qualify the deceased for sainthood. Perhaps devotees are dealing with their fears about whether their consciousness will be "good enough" to go back to Godhead at death by telling these stories about how this or that devotee managed to chant right up until the bitter, painful end. No stories about how they felt fear or had a bad mood near the end to disrupt the blissful narrative, no mention of estranged family members to remind us that they weren't necessarily "pure" devotees. Nothing to get in the way of that glorious picture so that we can imagine the devotee being carried straight to Krsnaloka.

[Prisni]

There does seem to be a tendency in ISKCON or other Vaishnava obits to whitewash the past and make it seem like the deceased had punched their ticket back to  Godhead with some certainty. Perhaps it is meant to inspire those left behind, I don't know.

Maybe it is, but unfortunately it also "inspires" those left behind that they can do the same thing and get away with it. The unfortunate thing is that you can't. No amount of whitewashing can make anyone get away with such a thing. The only way you possibly can get away with it if is the mistreated part also leaves this world. Otherwise s/he will force you to come back and take another material birth. Even more scary is that so many of the neo-Gaudiya Vaisnavas appears to fail to understand that, which means that they don't understand the material world, (as a Vaisnava), and that will also lead to rebirth.

You can recognize a person really leaving this world, by that s/he does not leave things behind. No unfinished business, no attachments. That is the sign of disentangling yourself from this world. A person might even become so non-involved and transparent that you don't see and recognize him/her.

Now, of course, a person who have made a lot of spiritual progress up to practically speaking liberation, and still takes rebirth, will probably be a very "serious" devotee in the next life, and carefully finish up his/her business and disappear. There is no loss.

[angrezi]

what makes me sad is the pure devotees who bloop and therefore not properly eulogized because their buddies and family aren't told there is an invisible flower airplane picking up the deceased, etc

[Prisni]

what makes me sad is the pure devotees who bloop and therefore not properly eulogized because their buddies and family aren't told there is an invisible  flower airplane picking  up the deceased, etc

You are right there. So I guess it is better to assume that everyone are picked up by a flower airplane, so that the relatives can feel good about it. After all, they are never going to know if it was really a flower airplane to Vaikuntha, or a more humble transportation to some another place. Here we can imagine something worse than a motor-riksa in a Delhi traffic jam, if we can.

[Tapati]

I really am losing memories, because although I lived in LA during the times that both Tapati and Jijaji talk about, I can't place a Radha Kunda. But from the descriptions of him, it would seem likely that he wouldn't be someone you'd easily forget. Can someone give me some "mundane" details of him so that I can figure out who he was -- like where did he live, what did he do, etc? Thanks, I think it's the early onset Alzheimer's kicking in!!!

Here's a pic of Nita and his son.

 NitaiNGauranga.jpg ( 447.11K ) Number of downloads: 0


and his sister-in-law, Nita's twin (Nan/Sri Prada)

 SriPradaK.jpg ( 427.88K ) Number of downloads: 0


When she lived across the street from me on Durango. She was with Kavi, her second husband.