BHAKTIVEDANTA HOSPICE, VRINDAVAN

BHAKTIVEDANTA HOSPICE, VRINDAVANTHE BACK-TO-GODHEAD CLINIC

A helping hand in the final journey

“Devotees are the treasures of Srila Prabhupada, and they need to be taken care.”

The Bhaktivedanta Hospice offers care to terminally ill patients to enable them to die with dignity. It serves both the patients and their loved ones. The care consists of medical, medico-social, and spiritual services. Care is offered both to inpatients and to patients in their homes. And after the patient’s death, it continues in the form of bereavement care.

External view of patient rooms

Srila Prabhupada said that his disciples are the jewels who will

enlighten the world with the message of true Bhakti, and the Bhaktivedanta Hospice gives us the opportunity to

serve these rare and precious jewels.

Rear garden view

View from Parikrama Marg

Staff quarters

An ancient tree in the campus

Nursing station

“They who die in the area of Mathura and Vrindavan become perfect and attain the supreme destination. The deaf, dumb, blind, foolish, and they who have no austerity or sense control who die in Mathura go to Lord Vishnu’s palace.”-- Mathura Mahatmya by Srila Rupa Goswami.

STRUCTURE

Bhaktivedanta Hospice – The Fulfillment of the Wish of a Vaishnavi

In Vrindavan I had the good fortune of assisting Mother Archa Vigraha, a disciple of His Holiness Giriraj Swami, when she was leaving her body. Her previous name was Angel, and her name indicated her nature. Toward the end she made a specific request to Giriraj Swami, and to me, that we should create a hospice facility, which she called a “Back-to-Godhead Clinic.”

The work of the hospice is such an important thing, such a valuable gift. It is a most significant service, and I am sure that all who participate will be blessed by Srila Prabhupada and our gurus—and you will certainly be blessed by Vaishnavas everywhere—for helping devotees peacefully depart this world. And I am sure that you will receive an abundance of mercy from the angel Archa Vigraha as well.

So I thank you all very much. Hare Krishna.

—Bhakti Bhringa Govinda Swami

According to the Bhagavad-gita, our activities and thoughts at the time ofdeath determine our destination, our body, in our next life. If we can thinkof God—Krishna—at the time of death, we will not have to take birth againin the material world and be subjected repeatedly to birth, disease, oldage, and death. Rather, we will be liberated and go back home, back toGodhead.

Bhaktivedanta Hospice is unique because it will help patients think of God at the time of death, offering a permanent solution to the problems of life. It will provide the best hospice care on every level—physical, emotional, and spiritual—the best of both the material (medical) and spiritual worlds, for patients and also their loved ones.

I thank and congratulate everyone who has participated and all who will participate in this significant project.

—Giriraj Swami

MESSAGES

I am forever grateful to all the devotees who have served together to establish Bhaktivedanta Hospice in Vrindavan. It is truly an offering of love to Srila Prabhupada and Sri Sri Radha-Shyamasundar. By our taking care of Their beloved devotees, Srila Prabhupada will be most satisfied. All over the world there are devotees who have dedicated their lives in service to Srila Prabhupada’s mission. This hospice is an offering to these devotees, giving them the opportunity to be cared for in the holy land of Vrindavan at the crucial time of their inevitable departure from this world. We pray for the blessings of all the Vaishnavas, that they will empower the devotees of Bhaktivedanta Hospice to lovingly offer these services.

—Radhanath Swami

End-of-life spiritual care

Inpatient roomCorridor leading to patient rooms

Terminally ill child

Counseling

Relief of pain

Regular spiritual care

FACILITIES

Nursing care

Facilities at Bhaktivedanta Hospice

• Spread over an area of 40,000 square feet

• 8 single-patient rooms with heating and air-conditioning

• 6 double- and triple-patient rooms, air-cooled

• Massage facilities / TENS machine

• Temple and prayer hall

• Mobile temple

• Outpatient clinic

• Generator

• Garden with Vrindavan theme

Home care

Bereavement care

DETAILS OF FACILITIESFacilities in patient rooms

• Each room covers 575 sq. ft., has two windows and one French window

• Automatic patient bed

• Bathroom that accommodates entire bed

• Writing table with chair

• Small altar

• Bed for attendant

• Chairs and sofas for visitors

• Large storage area for personal belongings

• Intercom, nurse call-bell, Internet connection

• Pantry

• Reverse osmosis drinking water, softened water for other uses

• Audio system with one channel for kirtan and Srila Prabhupada lectures and one channel for live ISKCON temple classes.

Patient room

May Their Lordships Sri Sri Radha-Shyamasundar and Srila Prabhupada be pleased with this offering of the Bhaktivedanta Hospice and bless all those who have funded it and are the source of inspiration behind it. And may they bless all those who have played different roles in getting this project off the ground and ready for inauguration.

ante narayana-smrti—Lokanath Swami

Vrindavan and Mayapur are the eternal homes of the devotees. It is very nice that there is now a hospice facility in Vrindavan, inspired and supported by Giriraj Swami, where terminally ill devotees can pass their last days. Srila Prabhupada said that living and dying in the dham is the same: if you live in the dham you are in the spiritual world, and if you die in the dham you are back in the spiritual world. Many devotees would like to leave their bodies in Vrindavan, and the hospice is the right facility for them, where they can get good care. So we thank the organizers of this program, and we hope that they will get all help for devotees from around the world to come and stayin the holy dham until their last breath and go back to Godhead. —Jayapataka Swami

The human body is shattered by disease, dwindled by old age, and finally destroyed by death. Prana-prayana-samaye kapha-vata-pittaih kanthavarodhana-vidhau smaranam kutas te: “O Lord Krishna, how will it be possible for me to remember You at the time of death, when my throat will be choked up with mucus, bile, and air?” The last stretch of life’s journey is of prime importance on the way back home. These days, no one—neither the patient, nor his or her family, nor the medical staff—is trained in the art of dying with dignity. This serious shortcoming will be addressed by the Bhaktivedanta Hospice. The hospice, an ISKCON first, and that too in Vrindavan, is a most welcome venture in taking care of the devotees, from the womb to the tomb (samadhi). It will offer terminally ill patients comfort and the highest possible quality of life, through medical, physical, emotional, and spiritual care, in the serene and spiritually surcharged environment of Sri Vrindavan Dham.

APPRECIATIONS

It is stated that the Lord is most pleased when He sees one engage in the service of His devotee. Srila Narottama dasa Thakura sings, chadiya vaisnava-seva nistara payeche keba, which means that unless one serves the Vaishnavas and brahmanas, one cannot get liberation from the material clutches. Based on these principles of serving the devotees of the Lord, the Bhaktivedanta Hospital in Mumbai, under the most capable leadership and guidance of Radhanath Swami, has done tremendous service for Vaishnavas by giving them care for their spiritual, emotional, and bodily needs. Now the same care will be provided to devotees in Vrindavan dham through the Bhaktivedanta Hospice, which will be inaugurated on August 26. This hospice will serve the devotees who have dedicated their lives to Prabhupada's movement. I want to thank Giriraj Swami and the management of the Bhaktivedanta Hospital for completing this important project. As the number of devotees joining ISKCON is increasing all over the world, it would be nice if more hospices could be built in different parts of the world. —Gopal Krishna Goswami

I am happy to hear of the inauguration of the hospice in Vrindavan. It is a great achievement of many sincere devotees who have dedicated time, effort, and money to the project. Every one of us has to leave our present material body sooner or later, and it is glorious to do so in Vrindavan in Krishna consciousness. It is a great blessing to have a hospice of ISKCON devotees to help us achieve the most coveted goal of going back home, back to Lord Krishna. —Prahladananda Swami

Narmada Swami was manager of the BBT in Mumbai and offered valuable service there for many years. In his last days, in Vrindavan, he gave up food and drink, but he still had some concerns about the BBT. Our hospice doctor served him expertly and helped him resolve his issues with the BBT authorities. Then, within hours, he passed away peacefully in Vrindavan, in 2006.

Nirguna Das was a disciple of Srila Prabhupada. He developed cancer of the mediastinum and was suffering intense pain. From September 2007, our palliative-care physician stayed in Mayapur to make Nirguna’s last days as comfortable and free of pain as possible. In the presence of Hari Sauri Das, our doctor, and other devotees, he passed away in Krishna consciousness, on November 3.

Radhakunda Das joined ISKCON in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1973. He distributed Srila Prabhupada’s books on the Bhaktivedanta library party and other traveling sankirtan parties, and then served Srila Prabhupada in Mayapur and Calcutta. His services varied from being life membership director to cooking for Food for Life. For his last ten years, Radhakunda based himself in Vrindavan, where he developed a deep desire to hear and chant about Krishna. In 2005 Radhakunda discovered that he had cancer, and his friend Mahamuni Das brought him to Bhaktivedanta Hospital. From his bed there, Radhakunda said, “I am sure that Srila Prabhupada will guide me through these trying times of excruciating pain. I constantly meditate on His Divine Grace, who has undergone much more pain for all of us, showing the world what true compassion means.” When he was diagnosed to be in a terminal condition, the palliative care team brought him to Vrindavan and provided him medical and spiritual service for forty days, until he left this world amid devotees chanting holy names. Chaitanyananda Das from Finland was a young brahmachari disciple of Bhaktivikasa Swami. In 2007, at the age of 29, he developed malignant melanoma on the left side of his chest. He came to Bhaktivedanta Hospital, and when the doctors understood that he had only a few weeks to live, he was brought to Vrindavan to stay in our “Temporary Hospice,” an apartment rented and equipped by Vaisnavas CARE. A palliative-care physician and a spiritual-care assistant stayed with him for six weeks, until he passed away, absorbed in Krishna consciousness, after hearing Aindra Prabhu’s kirtan for a few hours, in July 2007. Premamayi Dasi, from the former Yugoslavia, was a disciple of Rohinisuta Prabhu. She became a devotee at the age of 55, and at the age of 57 developed ovarian cancer, which in three years spread throughout her body. Initially she received treatment at Bhaktivedanta Hospital, but based on her strong desire, devotees there took her to Vrindavan in October 2000. Aindra Das came to her room and sang the Hare Krishna maha-mantra for many hours. A devotee nurse stayed awake for two and half days taking care of her, and on the third day Premamayi passed away in her lap, chanting the holy names.

APPRECIATIONS

Nirguna Das

Chaitanyananda Das

Radhakunda Das

Narmada Swami

DEVOTEES WE HAVE HELPED

Premamayi Dasi

Opportunities to Participate!!!1. Support a Patient for a Day (medical evaluation, food, and stay) – Rs. 2,000/day* 2. Support a Patient for a Week – Rs. 14,000 3. Support a Patient for a Month – Rs. 60,000 4. Donate toward the corpus – any amount 5. Sponsor capital needs: - Patient room – Rs. 51 lacs - Temple and prayer hall – Rs. 15 lacs - Diesel generator for entire building – Rs. 12 lacs - Ambulance with basic medical equipment – Rs. 10 lacs - Hospice automatic patient beds – Rs. 1 lac each (total 25 beds) - Semi-fowler patient beds – Rs. 25,000 each - Reverse osmosis water plant – Rs. 3.5 lacs - Portable X-ray – Rs. 1.5 lacs - Multi-parameter monitor Rs. 1.5 lacs

*Medicines will be charged separately. All donations are eligible for income-tax deductions.

For further information

Bhaktivedanta HospiceParikrama Marg, Near Baraha Ghat, Vrindavan, UP 281121, India. Tel: 91-565-6454369.

Bhaktivedanta HospitalSrishti Complex, Sector-1, Mira Road(E), Thane - 401107. Maharashtra.

Tel:91-22-28458485.

Share Your Care Inc.PO Box 13353, Pittsburgh, PA15243. USA.Tel:412-567-5225

Website: www.vipc.in / www.shareyourcare.com Email: info@shareyourcare.com

From the desk of Dr. Ajay Sankhe, Director

I am indeed very happy to share with all of you the good news of the inauguration of Bhaktivedanta Hospice. For the last two years the hospice staff has been serving senior disciples of Prabhupada, other devotees, and local Brijbasis dying in Vrindavan. Under the guidance of Giriraj Swami and Radhanath Swami, we have extended care to over 400 terminally ill patients. In keeping with the original purposes of the hospice, our main service is to offer comfort to terminal patients in their last days, and to comfort their loved ones who are trying to handle their painful situations. Our team of doctors, nurses, and paramedics has worked with enthusiasm and a service attitude that has earned it immense blessings and goodwill. I am especially thankful to Dr. Avnish Panday and his assistants for giving such excellent treatment to all the patients, and I am very confident that Bhaktivedanta Hospice, under the able guidance of Srila Prabhupada's direct disciples Giriraj Swami and Radhanath Swami, will shine as a model for palliative care in India. I also wish to express my deepest gratitude and thanks to all those who have helped us directly or indirectly in our endeavor to please Sri Krishna.

THANK YOU

Photo of Srila Prabhupada courtesy of The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with permission.

Dr. Ajay Sankhe

Dr. Avnish Panday