Bonds of Love: Nagapatni Devi Dasi
Nagapatni was the only one of six children who showed any interest in her father’s academic career as a professor of theology at a Catholic University. When she was about 13 she started asking her father questions about why we were here and where we were going. And, “Why is one child born into a rich family and another born into severe poverty?”
He told her she just had to live with these types of questions. But she couldn’t. There were too many of them and a world full of misery. She started looking for answers in other traditions.
In 1968, at age eighteen, Nagapatni was working at head shop in Laguna Beach called Mystic Arts. That summer a few of her friends went to San Francisco and purchased Brijbasi prints from Costplus. They bought hundreds of beautiful prints featuring a beautiful blue boy. This enchanting figure piqued her interest. Who was he? It wasn’t until the following year, when she met a devotee, that she got a real introduction to him.
Finding the devotees a bit extreme she kept her distance. At the same time, her curiosity grew. One evening, she ventured to ask one devotee boy, “Why is there a lady chasing this beautiful blue boy with a stick in her hand?” The young brahmachari opened his mouth and poured out a stream of what sounded like memorized dogma, leaving her more annoyed and confused than edified.
A few days later, a visitor came to her home. He was an old friend of her husband’s, and was shaven and dressed like a devotee. He brought a big box of luglus. Unfortunately, her husband, who was sitting with other visiting friends, chose to ignore this kind visitor. Nagapatni felt bad that he was treated so rudely, but she noticed his pleasant, mild nature. This was Nanda Kumar, who was Srila Prabhupada’s personal servant at the time. As she and Nanda Kumar spoke, she told him she had just returned from a TM meeting, where they were charging $35 for a mantra for self-realization. She wanted something more meaningful than a hippy lifestyle. He encouraged her to visit the temple.
She went on a Sunday and found the chanting very spiritual. Although she was following a macrobiotic diet at the time, she accepted a plate of prasada. Then an amazing thing happened: although her mouth was burning from the chilies, she couldn’t stop eating the prasada. Next, the devotees encouraged her to meet their spiritual master. They had such awe and respect for him that she thought it a bit extreme. How could anyone be that special? But they encouraged her by telling her she could ask him questions. The next day, she arranged a ride with them to hear him speak at the L.A. temple.
She prepared five questions to ask after the lecture, but she became overwhelmed and shy, intimidated by the large number of zealous devotees in attendance. She was afraid she didn’t have the nerve to ask her questions. But during the lecture something mystical happen: Srila Prabhupada answered every one of the five questions in order. She cried tears of joy at how effortlessly Srila Prabhupada had cleared her mind of these troubling questions that had haunted her for years. There was no doubt in her mind now that this was her spiritual master.
This became her first lesson in vani. Srila Prabhupada’s instructions, she realized, transcended time and space.
When she started reading the Bhagavad-gita the text hit her heart like lightning. All the questions and confusion were clearing. She had read many other books, looking for answers, but here was so much more. She thought she should just learn the basics of Krishna consciousness, and go on with her life with her husband separately, but the temple commander, Shukadeva Dasa, saw right through her faulty plan and tricked her into more participation by inviting her to a cooking lesson and engaging her in devotional service. Shukadeva was engaged in kneading the dough when she heard him doing something on the stove. When she turned around, he put a lid on a pot and began preaching to her. Soon after, she and her husband joined.
Being in an all-brahmachari temple was challenging. She wanted to dress in a sari but didn’t have one. Then one day, the temple president, Durlab Dasa, brought her one. But there was no one to teach her how to put it on. The next Monday night the devotees were scheduled to travel to hear Srila Prabhupada again and she decided to try to wear the sari however she could. She wrapped it round and around herself like a mummy. When they arrived, everyone ran in, but she waddled like a penguin. Nothing got past Srila Prabhupada. As soon as Nagapatni came through the door, he told Sudama’s younger sister to take her and teach her how to put on a sari and tilaka.
Soon after the property on Watseka Ave was acquired, Nagapatni and her husband moved to L.A. It was such a sweet, special time. Each morning the devotees gathered in front of the temple to greet Srila Prabhupada as he returned from his morning walk. Each devotee would give him a flower, and he would give a flower to each of them in return. Sometimes he would pat a devotee on the head. Everyone then followed him into the temple room to greet the Deities. After the greeting, everyone would sit down for a Sri Ishopanishad class. First the devotees chanted in unison the verses they had already learned, and then Srila Prabhupada taught a new verse. This would be followed by a lecture. The atmosphere at the temple was completely transcendental. Nagapatni absorbed her full consciousness in Prabhupada’s presence, especially his words and gestures. She wanted to imprint him deeply into her consciousness.
One morning after greeting the Deities, Srila Prabhupada turned to walk from the altar to the vyasasana. However, it seemed he was walking straight toward Nagapatni. She stepped back, thinking he would turn at any moment toward his seat, but she soon found her back against the wall, with Prabhupada smiling at her. She felt a different dimension open up. Time was not relevant as he looked at her; he saw her past and future. She knew no one had or ever would love her more than Srila Prabhupada and that she was experiencing real love.
There could be one of two reasons why Srila Prabhupada gave her the name Nagapatni. Once, while chanting and walking around the temple room she found herself wondering what service she would have in the spiritual sky. She stopped at the painting of Krishna subduing Kaliya. Not knowing the pastime, she thought the Nagapatnis were surfing. She thought, “This is something I can do! I use to surf!” Or perhaps its was because her husband kept delaying his request for initiation. At one point he said he didn’t want to do it. She told him fine, “but I’m going to take initiation, and you will feel foolish having a wife who is more advanced.”
A week before the San Francisco Ratha-yatra, the L.A. devotees would go up to help. Nagapatni was expecting her first child within a month, and Srila Prabhupada told her for the well-being of her child that she shouldn’t travel after seven months of pregnancy or offer her obeisances after five. Only seven devotees stayed in L.A. to take care of things.
One warm evening, she was the only one attending the arati. The back doors of the temple were open and someone threw a cherry bomb into the temple. It made a very loud noise. Srila Prabhupada was very concerned. The next morning he came to greet the Deities as usual, and the seven devotees sat around him in a semicircle. He asked each of them how they were doing. Nagapatni was overwhelmed by his fatherly compassion. Tears filled her eyes, and as her emotions increased, she became afraid that she wouldn’t be able to answer him without sobbing uncontrollably. He saw her discomfort and gave her a knowing smile.
Srila Prabhupada then passed out a paper with two verses written on it – a prayer to Lord Nrisimhadeva – and proceeded to teach them the prayer. He instructed them to chant it every day after arati and said that Krishna would protect them. Nagapatni was struck with awe at how Srila Prabhupada was making them fearless not only from material dangers but the danger of taking another material body.
Nagapatni never tried to come too close to Srila Prabhupada because she didn’t want to interfere with his important translation work. She started the first nursery school program in ISKCON at the L.A. temple. A few women would take the now large number of children out to a park or beach. Then some would distribute books and the rest would watch the children. Once, a devotee who was married to a member of the GBC came to L.A. and wanted to dissolve the program. She thought the children could simply be kept in one room and given coloring books. Nagapatni was distressed. She felt the children needed healthy exercise and fresh air, but she was nobody compared to this devotee. The next day in Srimad-Bhagavatam class, Srila Prabhupada talked about Krishna and Balarama and how They would go to the Yamuna every day with Their friends. Then he said, “Like you have a beach here the children can play there.” Srila Prabhupada’s connection was greater than material designations, greater than time and space.
Somehow or other, Srila Prabhupada has remained Nagapatni’s dearest father. Her body has grown old and troublesome, but she begs to remain in his service until her last breath.