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I remember Somaka Prabhu as a humble, self-less, austere, hard-worker and honest devotee of the Lord who gave many years of his life to serve Srila Prabhupada and the community of devotees in different parts of the world.
Personally, I had the good fortune of being connected to him when he was serving Srila Prabhupada's mission in Spain at the end of the seventies and beginning of the eighties. During that period he inspired many devotees to increase the distribution of books by his preaching and personal example. He worked tirelessly to solidify the ISKCON in Spain and was instrumental to buy New Vrajamandala, the 300 Hectars farm that the movement has in Spain. During that period, he used to push the devotees in an energetic and yet compassionate way to get out of maya and grow in their Krsna consciousness.
To me he was caring and affectionate during the period of my life as a teenager. During a 3 months period, he patiently taught me personally many prayers and verses of the Scriptures and the Vaisnava Acharyas, which nourished my devotional creeper: Brahma-samhita, Siksastaka, Sad-Goswami-astaka, Bhagavad-gita verses... I'm eternally indebted to him for this.
After his service to Srila Prabhupada and the devotees in Spain, he went to South America and Italy, and I'm sure the devotees there have many good things to say about him. Sometimes I would meet him in Sridhama Mayapur and during several years he was very actively involved in the organisation of the festival. He loved to serve the devotees!.
I pray that, wherever Sri Sri Radha-Damodara and Srila Prabhupada have taken him, that, somehow or other, I can have soon his association again. I offer my most humble obeisances at his lotus feet.
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