A Place of Sandalwood & Roses

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In November 1966, Govinda dasi was in her senior year as an art student at the University of Texas at Austin when she and her soon-to-be husband went to San Francisco in search of a spiritual teacher. In January 1967, they met His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder-Acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, in a newly opened storefront temple in the Haight-Ashbury district. They immediately recognized in him a towering intellect, a purity of purpose, and a sweetness of demeanor that was impossible to resist. Govinda dasi recalls feeling that "This was the center of the universe. We had come home." They soon became initiated disciples and were married by the Swami.
From 1967 to 1969, Govinda dasi and her husband, Goursundar dasa, personally served and travelled with Srila Prabhupada, as he came to be known. Govinda dasi had the unique opportunity to be the only female disciple to serve as Srila Prabhupada's secretary and assistant. For almost a year and a half she cleaned his rooms, prepared his meals, read aloud his mail to him, took dictation, typed his letters, did his laundry, and walked him to the temple, where he gave lectures. Her husband served alongside her, taking Srila Prabhupada for his morning walks, giving him daily massage, debating philosophical points, and also studying and transliterating Sanskrit and Bengali text to assist in the publication of Srila Prabhupada's books. Govinda dasi's artistic talents were also employed to illustrate one of Srila Prabhupada's first books, Teachings of Lord Chaitanya, the Prablada slide show and children's book, and several Back to Godbead magazine covers.
In 1969, Srila Prabhupada sent the couple to open temples in Hawaii. He made many visits to the Islands, which he named "New Navadwip."
Govinda dasi is also the author and illustrator of numerous children's colouring books, including Gopal, Nimai, Jagannatha, Krishna, and Damodar. She resides in Louisiana and travels widely to speak about her time in the association of Srila Prabhupada in the early days, which she considers to be "the best years of my life."

Someone once asked me, "What was the one highlight of your association with Srila Prabhupada?" I said. "The highlight was one moment that lasted eleven years." Time does not exist in the association of a mahabhagavat paramahamsa. In this world, the past is history and the future is mystery. The present is existent but for a fraction of time and is gone. The reverse is true in Vaikuntha, where there is the eternal present. This is inconceivable to our limited consciousness. By hearing about the qualities and activities of Krishna and His devotees, we can get a glimpse, a taste of eternal life.
Not a moment passed that Prabhupada did not advance the Krishna Consciousness Movement, either on the world stage or while translating thousands of pages of literature or governing hundreds of temples. He once told me, "I cannot think anything small. That is my disease." So even his most seemingly minor instruction was full of worldwide wisdom. A temple president asked Prabhupada, "How do I manage my temple?" He replied, "You must be very strict, you must be very liberal."
In my first private meeting with Prabhupada, I asked him to teach me raja-yoga. He handed me a copy of the Bhagavad-gita and said, "Go to Ninth Chapter, second verse." As I read the verse silently, he spoke aloud its meaning: "This is the king (raja) of yoga. It is most sacred, directly experienced, and joyfully performed."
As we read Govinda dasi's memoirs, we can experience the sacred, the adventure, the drama and play of Krishna Consciousness, the king of all yoga practice.

This is my story. But, in fact, it's more than my story. It is an eternal have said. "This is like a time machine, taking me back to the '60's! I feel like I'm with Srila Prabhupada (Swamiji), seeing him through the eyes of a devotee who was there." And I guess that's how it has turned out-maybe unintentionally.
Formerly I thought this was meaningful only to me, my sentimental heartfelt memories of the time spent with my beloved Gurudeva as he became the central focus of my life. Then one day, only a few years after his departure from this mortal world, I had a stark realization.
On that day, I was sitting in Srila Prabhupada's room at the Radha Damodar Temple in Vrindaban, the sacred place where he often said "I reside eternally." The pujari had set a plate of fruit on the small table in front of his sitting place and asked me to offer it. So I sat, softly chanting Hare Krishna and meditating on the large photo of Srila Prabhupada before me. For some time, I sang in a tune that I know he loved. Gently tapping my tiny hand cymbals, tears of separation streamed down my cheeks.
Then, while chanting. I had the most extraordinary experience! It was like another world opened up and I began to see Srila Prabhupada's lifetime lila, just like a movie before my mind's eye. There was no effort on my part to remember anything. Moving pictures flashed before the screen of my mind: Srila Prabhupada landing in airports, smiling and walking with devotees; dancing devotees swooping and laughing, welcoming him on arrival: Srila Prabhupada sitting on a asasana, speaking, preaching, his expressions animated and lively; Srila Prabhupada traveling here, traveling there, walking in parks, on beaches, by rivers, in America, in Hawaii, in India; glimpses of him sitting behind his "trunk desk," talking, smiling, calling my name, "Govind-dasi..." This went on for some time. These were not "memories" in the common sense of the term. For a few precious moments, I had been invited into an alternate reality where these pastimes are going on eternally. The realization was clear: Srila Prabhupada's life is lila-eternal lila