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by B.A. Paramadvaiti Swami http://www.vrindavan.org
 
The spiritual master who Krishna has sent in our life to save us, they are so extremely humble. What to speak of their associates like for example Srila Prabhupada’s sister Pisima. She was such a wonderful person. She was a disciple of Srila Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaja. Initially, she had first initiation from Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur, and she approached Srila Sridhar Maharaja for second initiation. But Srila Sridhar Maharaja told her: “You are living in Calcutta, very close to the temple of Goswami Maharja, so you should go and take initiation from him. Then you can always serve your Guru as well.”
So, in this way, he sent her there and she took initiation from Goswami Maharaja. And Prabhavati didi, her godsister, who was very dear to her, lived in Vrindavan in Imlitala. There is a whole story in this connection as well.
Pisima would serve her spiritual master and all the other acharyas who used to come and visit him. So, she was very intimately connected. And when Prabhupada came, she was so careful about her brother’s welfare. She would cook for him, she would make sure that he would get what he needs.
So, after Srila Prabhupada took sannyasa, she was very scared that he would not get anything good to eat anymore. So, she asked Prabhavati didi who was living in Imlitala, to always look and see whether she could cook something for Prabhupada or help him. Hence she would go every day to Prabhupada’s kitchen to see if everything was there. Sometimes she would cook something for him.
Thus, Prabhupada’s sister, godsister and physical sister, was looking after him in this way after he had taken sannyas and was living in the Radha Damodar temple under very austere conditions. This type of loving relationship was there.
And when Prabhupada would come back from the West with his western followers, sometimes Pisima would come and she would give encouragement to all of Prabhupada’s disciples with her extreme loving realizations. I also had the chance to meet her in Mayapur. Since her face distinctively also resembled the face of our gurudeva Srila Prabhupada, it was very wonderful to be so close to such pure devotees.
How surprised I was many years later to find a picture of her hanging in the brahmacari ashram in Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math. Because when the pure devotees surrender to Krishna, all the thinks like gender, distinction or anything totally loosed importance. Like in the case of Srila Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar Maharaja, there were some didis, they were so surrendered, such pure devotees.
(26 Jan 2003): They're very merciful vaisnavis. Pradyumna prabhu lived for two years in Prabhupada's room after Prabhupada's departure, and Prabhavati also cooked for him. I went to visit her yesterday with him, that was wonderful! After 20 years she saw him again. she danced and cried, that's when I took this picture of her.
- Swami B.A. Paramadvaiti
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