Mother Arca Vigraha’s Memorial in Mumbai

Giriraj Swami: There are two kinds of institutions: hard institutions and soft institutions. An example of a hard institution would be a temple structure for example and an example of a soft institution would be a book. And he said that traditionally Gaudiya Vaishnavism has been preserved and spread mainly through the soft institution of its literature. So, I am seeing Mother Arca Vigraha gave us some institutions. Of course in terms of hard institutions, she gave us the Bhaktivedanta Hospice in Vrindavan. BH was really, it exists today because of her. It was her desire. She herself lived in Vrindavan and she loved Vrindavan and she left in Vrindavan. And she wanted other devotees to have the same opportunity that she had to spend their last days in Vrindavan. But when she was leaving her body in Vrindavan, there was very little good medical treatment available. So she wanted devotees to have the opportunity to leave in Vrindavan but with better medical care. And so BH is a response to her dying with you could say.

Another hard institution is her house in Vrindavan which is now known as my house. She was very far-sighted. She was practically the first devotee to buy land in Vrindavan near the Krishna-Balarama temple and to build a house. She was an artist so she kept the downstairs for herself as a residence and an art studio and she built another story on top to be my residence, bhajana-kutira. So that is still there, very much, and we get to use it when we go to Vrindavan and we also use it to host devotees, many PR disciples that have stayed there, and that’s another you could say hard institution.

Then her artwork itself continues. She did artwork for the Krishna-Balarama temple for the samadhi and she did the painting of Srila KKG that is at his bhajana-kutira at Radha-kunda and she did the painting of Srila Jiva Gosvami, that’s at his bhajana-kutira at Radha-kunda. For a long time and maybe even still now, the bābājīs at Radha-kunda, they didn’t really accept westerners and further or more so women, so Mother AV was asked to do these paintings but it was kept a secret that she was the one who did them for fear that the bābājīs would be upset because she is a foreigner and a woman. And so she was there—I was also there—the day when the renovated bhajana-kutira for KKG was opened at Radha-kunda with her painting of him, but no one knew that she was the artist. And then later she was requested to paint Jiva Gosvami and we thought that that was also a secret but it turns out that that bābājīs somehow found out that she was the artist and so when again the renovation opened there with the new painting, he became very emotional. He said that, “This foreign has come and she has so much devotion and she has given up her old life fully to Krishna.” And he really praised her.

And then there is also her example of how to leave the body in KC. Not only did she express her desire that other devotees should have the same opportunity but she also set a wonderful example of how to leave your body in Vrindavan. Much has been said about that, you can read about it in Many Moons and Life’s Final Exam, but because of her KC, she was not in the bodily concept at all and therefore she could relate to anyone and pretty much any devotee could relate to her. She welcomed everyone, encouraged everyone. 

And so different devotees came forth to assist her in different ways. Some would have assisted. . . it would be like if they knew massage and different techniques like that, they would assist physically. And then so many senior devotees would come and support her spiritually by speaking with her. BP would come faithfully every day at about five in the afternoon and speak with her and read to her. And so many senior devotees who spent time in Vrindavan. Of course the main one to help her was BB Govinda Maharaja who was just her next door neighbor and he would always come and help her. After he did his puja in the morning he would bring his deities and set Them on her altar, on her table in the main room which was where the bed was kept. And SRS, TKG, so many devotees would come and read to her. Sometimes we would read dramas like Rupa Gosvami’s Lalita-Madhava and different of these senior devotees would take different roles in the drama and dramatically read the parts of the different characters in the drama. 

I am thinking now of one incident from Lalita-Madhava, it was like a. . . you should all should read in CC Rupa Gosvami reads some of his drama to SCM and the devotees—it is a beautiful drama. And many of them stayed longer in Vrindavan just to be with her at the end. Of course some had to leave but Govinda Maharaja was there, BP was there. So many devotees stayed. I also stayed of course.

So, she left her example which was very inspiring and practical. There is nothing that she did that we can’t do. And one point that was very instructive was that she was in a lot of pain, tremendous pain, and the only thing that could really relieve her pain was absorbing her mind in Krishna. So her pain which ordinarily we would think of as a bad thing became a good thing because it was an impetus for her to absorb herself in KC and if her mind did not remain focused on Krishna then the pain was there. So it was really a wonderful thing she did. She had great faith in the Vaishnavas. The Vaishnavas told her this is the only solution and she had faith in their words and she took it up as the only solution. 

So she really has left a great legacy and of course so many devotees have their own personal remembrances of her, their activities with her. It is amazing how many devotees she touched, how many devotees’ lives and how many devotees’ hearts she touched. It was all over the world but I think especially in Vrindavan and in SA. Of course she went to Mauritius, she did service there. She did service in many places. Went she visited Israel, but she has really left an indelible imprint in the hearts of many devotees and in the KC movement.

Hare Krishna. Srimati AV devi dasi ki jaya!

So, I think I’ve shared a little and it would be very purifying for others of you to speak as well. Of course Siddhi lalasa is a very senior devotee and I also remember when HP came to Vrindavan and she really took the opportunity to serve Mother Arca Vigraha. I remember seeing her come and fan her. And she did spend some time in Bombay also. I am sure many of the devotees there did have some association with her and even otherwise just by hearing about her you might have impressions that you could share.

HP dasi: Hare Krishna. My humble obeisances at Guru Maharaja’s lotus feet.