My dear Janaki-devi Däsi,

 

May Sréla Prabhupäda shower his blessings on you. All glories to His Divine Grace.

 

I will never forget the day Bhägavata Asraya Prabhu and I were at your flat for lunch and you played the just-finished final mix of “Above and Beyond” for us. You turned up the volume and, as we became absorbed in your loving devotion for the Lord of your life, tears poured from our eyes—real, cool tears. And when the music stopped, we were so moved that it took some time for us to be able to speak.

 

I had known from the time of our first meeting in 1990 at the Q&A session upstairs in Rädhä-Londonisvara’s temple that you were a specially gifted person—a star that needed to shine. But at the time I couldn’t imagine that you would become extremely serious about your spiritual life. At least externally your way of life and “cheeky” personality seemed incongruent in many ways with the disciplined life Çréla Prabhupäda taught was needed to truly connect with Lord Krishna. It was only many years later that I learned that our first meeting had made a strong impression on you, so strong that you were to “carry a spiritual torch” for me with the hopes that one day I would initiate you into the Brahmä Madhva Gauòéya sampradäya. And I wasn’t even initiating at the time of our first meeting; in fact, I had made up my mind not to initiate in this lifetime.

 

But as I was to find out, your devotion for Lord Krishna was the “real deal.” When we met again many, many years later and you “popped the question,” asking me for initiation, a journey began in which you were to surrender more and more until you were a transformed person—still cheeky, but spiritually serious. In that seriousness you were able to give up one bad habit after another, even some long-held cherished ones that had stopped you from making tangible spiritual advancement and fulfilling your devotional desires. Your undying positive energy supported you and eventually it was clear to me that your emotions were becoming more and more elevated. You were ready. The journey led to your entering Lord Caitanya’s family officially on Rädhäñöamé in 2010 at New Vraja Dhäma.

 

Looking back on this journey, now I see that “Above and Beyond” was a kind of magnum opus for you. Especially in the last track, when you spontaneously decided to put aside the arrangements and instruments and just pour your heart out to Govinda through your voice and lyrics (with only a piano in the background), you must have attracted Krishna’s attention! So sincere was your entreaty to Krishna that He must have wanted you to come back to Him. I don’t remember exactly how long it was after that day we heard you call out to Govinda in your London flat that you were diagnosed with stomach cancer, but now it seems obvious that Krishna almost at once arranged for you to get sick—then to get better, well enough to make the arrangements alone to move to Radhadesh where you had developed wonderful spiritual relationships and finally could live in a devotional community.

 

But Krishna wanted you back. And so the rest is history. I’ll let the others who were with you tell that part of the story—the actual beginning of your love story, when you returned to be with Rädhä and Krishna in the spiritual world.

 

Sréla Prabhupäda made a stunning comment in his purport to a verse describing the ascent of Dhruva Mahäräja and his mother: “The Krsna consciousness movement is spreading now all over the world, and sometimes I think that even though I am crippled in many ways, if one of my disciples becomes as strong as Dhruva Mahäräja, then he will be able to carry me with him to Vaikunthaloka.” (Bhägavatam 4.12.33, purport)

 

Hare Krishna, Janaki-devi Dasi!

 

As always yours in service to Srila Prabhupäda,

Kesava Bhärati Däsa Goswami

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