Mandalibhadra das †
In Gedenken an unseren lieben Freund, Gottbruder und Devotee Mandalibhadra Prabhu, der uns immer eine Inspiration war im hingebungsvollen Dienst zu Krishna.
Srila Prabhupada: "I so hope at the time of your death you were remembering Krishna and as such, you have been promoted to the eternal association of Krishna. If not, if you had any tinge of material desire, you have gone to the celestial kingdom to live with the demigods for many thousands of years and enjoy the most opulent life of material existence. From there you can promote yourself to the spiritual world. But even if one fails to promote himself to the spiritual world, at that time he comes down again on the surface of this globe and takes birth in a big family like a yogis' or a brahmanas' or an aristocratic family, where there is again chance of reviving Krishna Consciousness. But as you were hearing Krishna-kirtana, I am sure that you were directly promoted to Krishna-loka. ... Krishna has done a great favour to you, not to continue your diseased body, and has given you a suitable place for your service. Thank you very much." Your ever well-wisher, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
25. Juli 2021 von Atmavidya
Ein großer Vaishnava hat diese Welt verlassen.
Ein sehr außergewöhnlicher Vaishnava Gottgeweihter hat diese Welt verlassen. Mandali Bhadra Prabhu war mein erster echter Mentor – in den Jahren 1969 und 1970/71 als ich noch ein regelmäßiger Gast der noch jungen Hare Krishna Bewegung in Deutschland war. Ich war 15 Jahre alt, als ich zu jener Zeit den Hamburger Tempel besuchte.
Es waren seine gütige, rücksichtsvolle Natur – und sein Wissen, das auf Verwirklichung beruhte – die mein Śraddhā (Glauben und Vertrauen) in maßgeblicher Weise stärkten. Niemals hat er irgend jemandem irgendetwas aufzuzwingen versucht – vielmehr bot er einfach die Worte der Schriften und der spirituellen Meister an, so dass man darüber reflektieren konnte.
In diesem kurzen Nachruf würde ich es nicht wagen, zu versuchen, seine wunderbare Persönlichkeit in ihrer Gesamtheit zu beschreiben, noch wäre ich dazu imstande. Sein Leben war ein Leben der ungeteilten Hingabe und des Dienstes zu Śrī Śrī Guru and Gauranga. Allerdings würde er das selbst nicht so sehen – denn seine Ideale von Bhakti und Seva, und sein gesundes Streben danach waren von einer sehr, sehr hohen Qualität.
Aufgrund seines Wesens war er nahezu allergisch dagegen, im Rampenlicht zu stehen. Noch fand er Gefallen an der provokativen Art des „Predigens“ – ganz zu schweigen von aggressiver und unlauterer Technik beim Verteilen von Literatur.
In späteren Jahre habe ich ihn leider nicht mehr wiedergesehen. Ich hatte jedoch indirekt Kontakt über einen alten gemeinsamen Freund. So erfuhr ich, dass Mandali Bhadra Prabhu seinen Dienst am liebsten in Zurückgezogenheit ausführt, mit der Ausnahme von der Gemeinschaft einiger gleichgesinnter Gottgeweihter. Er hatte Zuflucht bei Svami Sadananda Dasa (Ernst Georg Schulze) gesucht und gefunden – dem ersten westlichen Schüler von Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Prabhupāda, und Gottbruder unseres Prabhupāda, A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami. Mandali Bhadra Prabhu hat bis zum Ende seiner Gegenwart in dieser Welt Vaishnava Literatur und Texte übersetzt und verfasst.
Atmavidya Das,
25. Juli 2021
Die äußeren Umstände seines Scheidens aus dieser Welt:
Bei Mandali Bhadra Prabhu hatte sich ein großer Gallenstein entwickelt, der auch andere Organe beschädigt hatte. Nach einer schrecklichen Woche, in der er u.a. keine Nahrung aufnehmen konnte, wurde er in ein Krankenhaus in Stade bei Hamburg gebracht, wo man sofort mit einer Notoperation begann. Aus dieser ist er nicht wieder erwacht.
Seine Ehefrau, Haripriya Devi Dasi, sein lebenslanger Freund und spiritueller Bruder, Vasudeva Prabhu, und seine spirituelle Schwester Kalakanthi Devi Dasi (die es auf einem Foto sah), waren bezaubert und ergriffen von dem wunderschön friedlichen Gesicht und dem Lächeln Mandali Bhadra Prabhus, nachdem er diese Welt verlassen hatte.
Mein Dank aus tiefstem Herzen gilt Katrin Stamm (Kalakanthi Devi Dasi) dafür, dass sie mir die Informationen und Details hat zukommen lassen. Und für das historische Foto von Mandali Bhadra Prabhu beim Schriftsatz.
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Mandalibhadra Prabhu - Hamburg 1970
SRILA PRABHUPADAS LETTERS TO MANDALIBHADRA
72-04-02 Letter: Mandali Bhadra
I am very much pleased to hear that your German BTG distribution has gone up to 50,000 last issue, and I very much approve of your ideas for improving it more and more. In the editorial section which you plan to have for the beginning, the point should be stressing on the position of the living entities, as it is stated in Bhagavad-gita that a learned man observes everyone on the same level, that is, on spiritual understanding.
http://www.prabhupada-books.de/btg-magazin.html
http://www.prabhupada-books.de/btg-english/index.htm
Los Angeles, 28 July, 1969, 69-07-28
Letter to: Mandali Bhadra - My Dear Mandali Bhadra,
“Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter of July 18, 1969, and I have noted the contents carefully. I am pleased to know that you are making progress in having our society incorporated in Germany. This is an essential project, so please do it. By Krishna's Grace you are all five good souls there, and Krishna will give you immense strength to propagate this Krishna Consciousness Movement in your country, Germany. Please do it in the spirit as you are doing now, and success is surely for you all.”
https://prabhupadabooks.com/letters/los_angeles/july/28/1969/mandali_bhadra
LETTER, Los Angeles, California 90034, July 28, 1969
My Dear Vrindabaneshvari,
Please accept my blessings. I thank you very much for your letter dated July 18, 1969, and I have carefully noted the contents. I was very much anxious to hear from you and Mandali Bhadra since you left Vancouver, and I am very glad to learn that things are going nicely. By Krishna's Will you are all a good combination. So continue to execute Krishna Consciousness very seriously and sincerely and take care of your child, Moyuradwaja. I have a great hope for Moyuradwaja. He is very intelligent with signs of a great devotee. My special request to you is that you take care of this child very nicely, and he will be a great son to glorify his parents. I have noticed that he has all the instincts of devotional life, and it is up to the guardians to take care of him.
https://vanisource.org/wiki/690728_-_Letter_to_Vrndavanesvari_written_from_Los_Angeles
“Please try to publish Back To Godhead as soon as possible, and very soon Mandali Bhadra and his wife, Vrindabaneshvari will join you.” – “Very soon two German souls who were recently initiated, Mandali Bhadra and Vrindabaneshvari, will be starting for Hamburg to give you all sorts of translations of Back To Godhead and other literatures.” – “Please try to publish Back To Godhead as soon as possible, and very soon Mandali Bhadra and his wife, Vrindabaneshvari will join you.” – “Now Jaya Govinda is there and Mandali Bhadra and his wife are coming very soon in Germany and so you are already four and when Mandali Bhadra comes you become six. Why six? Seven. Because he has got a little boy (Moyuradwaja).” – take care of your child, Moyuradwaja. I have a great hope for Moyuradwaja. He is very intelligent with signs of a great devotee. My special request to you is that you take care of this child very nicely, and he will be a great son to glorify his parents. I have noticed that he has all the instincts of devotional life, and it is up to the guardians to take care of him.
“I am glad to learn that you have already translated the foreword of Bhagavad-gita, and you have already sent it to Hamburg. I have already informed them that when you are there you will be the chief editor, and your name should be mentioned as editor of the paper.” – “In my previous letter to Mandali Bhadra, I already informed him that he will act as the editor of the German Back To Godhead.” – “I am so glad to learn that the Gita is going on nicely. Perhaps you know that Mandali Bhadra wants to translate into German, so as you finish one chapter you may send one copy to him immediately for being translated into German.”(Letter to Hayagriva March 9, 1970)
“This program of chanting and following the rules and regulations will give you spiritual intelligence for understanding the Bhagavad gita and our other scriptures also. In this connection, I think that since you have some difficulty in reading our English edition of Bhagavad-gita As It Is, you can study more easily from the copies of Mandali Bhadra's German translations of the same. Perhaps you can assist him in some respect also by proofreading his work. So you may inquire from him in this way.” https://prabhupadabooks.com/letters/los_angeles/february/19/1970/sucandra
“I have received also news from Mandali Bhadra and Vrndavanesvari that they have already purchased their tickets and are going on the 27th of June, so when they arrive, please cooperate with them nicely. You are all sincere workers, and they also are very sincere souls. So cooperate together nicely, and I hope our Hamburg center will very soon become the important center in Europe.” (Letter to Krsna dasa -- New Vrindaban 7 June, 1969)
“I thank you very much for your letter of 18th August, 1969, and today I have arranged to go to your place as follows: We shall arrive in Hamburg this Monday, August 25th, at 6:10. We are taking Lufthansa Airlines, flight 409. We are starting from Los Angeles at 8:00 AM on 23rd August, and reaching New York sometimes in the afternoon about 4:00 o'clock New York Time. I shall take rest there for 24 hours, and then start for Hamburg on Sunday, the 24th, and then reach Hamburg on Monday, the 25th at 6:10 AM. So kindly arrange to receive me. We are both starting together, Purusottama and myself. To inform you earlier I sent you one telegram this morning reading as follows: ARRIVING HAMBURG FLIGHT 409 LUFTHANSA AUGUST 25TH AT 6:10 AM.” (Letter to Krsna dasa -- Los Angeles 21 August, 1969)
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E-Memorial - Online Vaishnava Gedenkstätte
http://www.prabhupada.de/gemeinde/e-memorial.htm