Tota Gopinatha das Remembers Srila Prabhupada

Following Srila Prabhupada

Interview DVD 11

Tota Gopinatha: Early ’77 in Vancouver, we were going out on sankirtan and I was with Kripanidhi das. We loaded up a van full of books, and I told Kripanidhi for some reason that day I was going to go alone. And by the end of the day, it was 640 Srimad-Bhagavatams and Caitanya-caritamrtas. Then later on in the year I was in Berkeley, and Radhaballabha had approached me. He was on the train with Prabhupada going to Kumbha Mela at the time, and he said that Prabhupada was very ill. He was lying down and they showed him the newsletter of all the devotees and the temples around the world that would distribute books, and the biggest distributor would get his name underneath your temple. And Radhaballabha said that Prabhupada sat up and he pointed to my name and he said, “This is what gives me life, when I see my disciples distributing my books like this,” and he pointed to my name, Tota Gopinatha. Every time I go to tell the story, even now it makes me cry, I get tears in my eyes. That’s the one thing that’s kept me a devotee. It’s for that one second, special moment when Prabhupada points to your name like that and recognizes you.