Preface by the editor
I met and associated with my godbrother Radhakunda Dasa in Vrindavana during the years 2004-2005. He was a devotee hard not to notice due to his extremely outgoing character and his being constantly busy singing and talking about Radha Krishna. He wore a badge attached to his japamala bag that said: “Ask me about Krishna”. That was what all he wanted to do. If you tried to ask him about anything else, including a simple “How are you?”, he could answer (as I once heard it), “Don’t waste my time. Ask me about Krishna.”
His intensity was so strong that it was difficult to be near him because if you tried to talk about Krishna, he would interrupt you and start talking himself. He was also quite erudite. It was evident that he felt that his sadhana was doing kirtanam.
I was able to record videos (which I still have, and which have been posted on Youtube for years) where he talks about Srila Prabhupada and Krishna. You can appreciate his torrential style and his evident pleasure in dealing with transcendental topics.
Even though I like people who talk about Krishna, sometimes it was difficult to stay close to him for long because when he said or did questionable things, it was almost impossible to hold a conversation. Nevertheless, I enjoyed being his friend.
One day, we met in one of the narrow streets of Vrindavana, and he told me that he had a serious illness. He explained that while being at the airport, a doctor looked at his face and analyzed his eyes. The doctor then advised him to seek medical treatment immediately or he would die in a short period of time.
It was difficult to imagine that a man so vital and full of energy and enthusiasm was in the last days of his life.
In the following months, the symptoms of Radhakunda dasa’s disease became more and more evident. I used to visit him often in his room, and with the little strength he had left, he continued to talk about Radha Krishna.
One day, he told me that he had written two books. He gave them to me saved on a memory stick and told me he would like me to publish them. The first one is this short book we are publishing now, entitled “For Their Pleasure”. The second one, which is a much more voluminous one, is entitled “Premamrita”.
During those days I read them both, and soon after I went back to his asrama. I told him that for the first one I would have to think about it a bit, but that I was certainly going to publish the second one.
Many years have passed, and now the time has come to fulfill the promise I made to my brother Radhakunda Dasa to publish his book “For Their Pleasure”. Hopefully, I will soon be able to publish “Premamrita” also.
By publishing these books we, the editors, feel the duty to say that what you will find in their contents is the author’s conviction, and we do not necessarily agree on everything that has been written.
As I already said, this is the fulfillment of a promise made long ago.
I conclude by offering my most respectful obeisances to my godbrother, who loved to read and talk about Radha Krishna.
What else is better in life?
Jaya Radha Jaya Krishna
Jaya Vrindavana!
Srila Prabhupada ki Jaya!
– The editors of Bhaktivedanta Darsana
This is a section of the book “For Their Pleasure”.
To buy the complete book, click above
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