One night, during my night
duty in ICU, an 65 year old man arrived with a history of fall from scooter in the
morning. Now he had severe pain in the left groin and weakness in the left arm
and leg. He had a stroke few months back and weakness in the right side. Suspecting a hip injury and a re-stroke, I
ordered the required scans and came out. His sons were sitting on a couch in
the corridor. As I crossed them, one of them called out, “Excuse me doctor!”
I turned. “Yes.”
“May I know which path you
follow?”
“Well, I follow
ISKCON…Gaudiaya Vaishnavism.”
They smiled. “We are
Goswamis of Radha Raman Temple, Vrindavan. Hope you have heard about it.”
I was floored. Here in
Amritsar, in this God-forsaken hospital, at dead of night, amidst all the chaos
of sick patients, of all people I run into Goswamis of one of the seven most
important temples of Vraj! Phew! My lucky day.
We had a long conversation
that night and many more in the coming days in which we discussed about Lord,
Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and Shri Gopal Bhatt Goswami-the founder of Radha
Raman Temple, to whom the Deity of Radha Raman ji appeared. They told me that
their service comes once every two and a half years, for ten days, during which
they give up their worldly duties and stay full-time in Vrindavan.
The next day, I again met their
father and out of reverence pressed his good leg. He lovingly protested but I
persisted. He told me that he served in the Indian Air Force. “I was posted in
Leh for some time,” he said. “it was very cold and everyone said that I would
have to drink liquor and eat meat to survive. But I said no way. I took two kg
almonds and some ayurvedic medicine to help in digestion and metabolism and
managed to live at sub-zero temperature.”
He described that his
younger brother was a full time Bhagwat Katha speaker and his uncle is the current
head Goswami of Radha Raman Temple. The most amazing thing was that he had met
Srila Prabhupada in 1962. “Face to face…Just like I am talking to you, I spoke
with Srila Prabhupada.”
My hair stood on end.
It was a wonderful experience discussing Krishna katha and associating
with a wonderful Goswami family. I am sharing a shayan darshan video of Radha
Raman ji, given to me by the family. Please hear the nectarine flute played by
their guru ji.
click here for the video:
