"No, no! Don't come here! No room at the inn!"

Go Die Somewhere Else!

The latest kick in your face from ISKCON: "Go die somewhere else. Thank you very much for your life-long service to ISKCON and Srila Prabhupada and Krishna, but go die somewhere else." No shelter for the devotees? No kirtan, no prasadam, not even water? What is the temple for if not for the devotees first and foremost, especially those who have dedicated their lives? ISKCON devotees give their lives, in some cases large sums of money, but now they're told: "Don't come here to die, not on our property", without any consideration. Even karmis have it figured out that they are going to get old and one day die, and they have made so many arrangements to deal with it. Devotees—even Devamrita, Dhananjaya, Ganapati—are growing older and everyone will die. What is all the high talk about varnashram dharma and cow protection? Others erect dharmashalas and ashrams in holy places for the fortunate souls who go there to make their journey out of this material world once and for all, but ISKCON shoos devotees away—"No, no! Don't come here! No room at the inn!" This is yet another directive that should never have been issued. It flies in the face of Vedic principles, against everything Srila Prabhupada taught and set up. — Das devi dasi

Vrindavan - Land of Krsna and His Devotees

In case you were thinking Vrindavan was the place you wanted to leave your body you had better think again.

Naturally, if you have had your birthday converted to an appearance day, then all facility will be given to you.

I like the part that says you will damage ISKCON's public image if you die irresponsibly.

No food or water???

HARE KRSNA HARE KRSNA
KRSNA KRSNA HARE HARE
HARE RAMA HARE RAMA
RAMA RAMA HARE HARE

Krsna das

ISKCON Official Notice

RE: DYING IN VRINDAVAN-BE FULLY INFORMED BEFORE YOU MAKE YOUR CHOICE
TO ALL GBC, TP, SANYASIS AND PRABHUS

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

It has come to our attention that some temples are sending devotees to Vrindavan with terminal diseases for the purpose of leaving their bodies in the Holy Dham, expecting support, facility and cooperation.

We are sorry to inform everyone that at this time ISKCON Vrindavan has NO Hospice facility or funds for this nor is there any medical personnel or support group to assist such terminally ill persons. We have encountered serious difficulties while attempting to accommodate dying devotees without the proper arrangements, and therefore we have decided not to accept any more terminally ill persons on our ISKCON properties until proper arrangements are secured.

If a person decides he/she wishes to come to Vrindavan to die they will have to take full responsibility themselves and do so on private property. For your information, please keep in mind the following:

1. Any visitor to India who enters the country with a reportable contagious disease such as HIV, AIDS, TB or venereal diseases is liable to be deported by the Government of India. At our ISKCON Vrindavan properties we are legally obligated to report such persons to the local authorities, as are all public guest facilities in Vrindavan.
2. Medical facilities and doctors in Vrindavan are not at all up to western standard and are often insufficient for handling the problems that terminally ill persons have. The nearest adequate hospitals are 3 hours away.
3. Staying in Vrindavan during a terminal illness may not be as expensive as in the west, but everyone who has come here in the past with dying devotees have faced stress or difficulties meeting their expenses. Our temple cannot assist dying devotees financially. The care of the dying person, food/water and accommodations, maintainnance of support persons, doctor visits, transportation, communications, needed supplies and all the legalities and procedures must be paid for by those persons accompanying the dying person.
4. There are multifarious legal complications that must be dealt with before and after the death. The individual or temple sponsoring the devotee must be prepared to pay for these and should bring a person whose sole job it will be to process these formalities. Our temple is not able to process the legalities nor provide persons to arrange for them or the posthumous formalities such as embassy and police notification, obtaining the death certificates, the do-it-yourself cremation, etc.
5. Persons who arrive in Vrindavan without their legal documents, medical reports, Doctors' prognosis/orders, living wills, property wills, power of attorney and who have not already notified the next of kin/closest relatives and have not filed with their Embassy will not receive permission for a cremation in Vrindavan and will encounter difficulties with the embassy and police.
6. Dying persons who are not accompanied by a licensed caregiver or trained relative to administer the appropriate care are risking possible legal difficulties here and at home.
7. Persons who decide to come to Vrindavan to die must fully understand that they are coming into a third-world situation where western facility is practically not available and ANYTHING could happen and that they may have to endure the very same sufferings as all the dying sadhus here.
8. No terminally ill person should arrive here unprepared and expect help from ISKCON. This kind of irresponsibility in the past has made many difficulties for us with local and international officials and our public image.

Persons coming to Vrindavan to die should do so responsibly, not whimsically or illegally. Further information on requirements is available from: ISKCON Vrindavan Community Services email: iskconvrncs@yahoo.co.in.

Your servant,
Dhanajaya das, MVT, Ganapati das, KB Guesthouse,
Devamrita das, KBM TP