Sravananda's Departure + Last Wish

From: Graham M. Schweig‎ (Garuda Das)

Sravanananda ji's last words were to me were about preserving Srila Prabhupada’s vāni. Sravanananda ji called me and said, “I’m dying, Garuda. I’m ready to go, but I just wanted to thank you so much for your valuable work preserving Srila Prabhupada’s books. Blood is coming out of my mouth and they’re taking me away . . .” 

I said to him, “I love you, Srav. Krishna is taking care of you.”

While blood was beginning to flow from Sravanananda’s mouth, he managed to thank me for all that I’m doing to preserve Prabhupada’s books. This is the only thing on his mind while he’s suffering the effects of tumors bursting in his body.
I’m sorry for the upsetting imagery, but when I see a devotee such as Sravanananda ji using his last breaths to reach out to me right before he becomes completely incapacitated, holding on to the hopes that one day Srila Prabhupada’s books will be respected and preserved according to his instructions, for me it only sharpens how important this exigent matter is and how Srila Prabhupada speaks through the hearts of devotees, even in their last words.

Sravanananda ji left this world, after 50 some years of devotional service, last night, on Balarama Jayanti. All glories to Srila Prabhupada’s most loving and dedicated servants.

Daso ‘smi premni,
Garuda Das

[PADA: Wow that is powerful testimony. It means that preserving the books is the only issue some folks think about. Very nice. We are glad to be on the right side of this history. Changing the books is "worse than any other crime the GBC has done" say some folks to us. Agreed. At the same time, its self evident that the changed books are causing a lot of grief and suffering to the dedicated servants of Srila Prabhupada. For that reason alone the GBC should clear a path for those who want to see the originals. ys pd]