Subject: Prayer Request for Lila
 

February 4, 2008

I am personally praying for this young devotee and all her family members that she will return to the Lords abode as her family's desire. I will pray to Our Shalagram Shila everyday for her. Seventeen year-old Lila lived most of her life in Vrindavan, where her life revolved around Radha-Syamasundar. Even as a toddler, she used to run into the temple and dance in front of the Deities. Her mother Subhangi describes her daughter as a "home-body" and a "natural devotee", who enjoyed going to the temple, chanting and parikrama. Subhangi switches between talking about her daughter in present and past tense, knowing that although her daughter is technically still
alive, her doctors have described her as "brain-dead", due to the three bullets that are lodged in her brain.
 
"Lila is a very good girl. People used to tell us that she's the Hindu girl in your family", continues Subhangi. She talks fondly about Lila's strong attachment to Vrindavan and that didn't want to live anywhere else. Her parents once suggested that she go back to Australia for a year to finish high school. Lila agreed, but after only a week, she was too homesick and begged to be allowed to return to her beloved Vrindavan. So her parents relented. After all, she was staying with her older brothers and her parents felt she was safe.
 
Unfortunately, everything changed a few days ago when a stalker, who was obsessed with Lila, made his way into their house and shot her before turning the gun on himself. Devotees rushed there when they heard the shots and Lila was taken to the hospital. At the time this article is being written, Lila is still alive, back in Vrindavan and on life support. She has 3 bullets lodged in her brain and has been declared brain-dead by her doctors and is expected to leave her body at any time.
 
In spite of all her pain, Subhangi wants people to know that she is not letting this horrible event change her opinion of Vrindavan. "Law and order need to be improved here", she acknowledges, "but there are also wonderful people in Vrindavan and I want them to know that I still love them and l love Vrindavan."
 
Subhangi has two wishes. "I don't want Lila to take another birth. Please ask all devotees to pray that she goes back to Godhead. Please ask Krsna that since He has to take her, He take her back to Godhead. Please grant us that boon."
 
Her second wish is to all devotees who met or knew her daughter: "Please write down your memories of Lila, so we can gather them and always remember her."

Lilavilasini devi dasi
Terni, Italy
 

Editors' notes: If you send your memories of Lila to chakraletters@gmail.com, we will forward them to Subhangi. Please also let us know if we may share them with Chakra's readers.

You may also send your memories of Lila to be posted on the Vaisnavas C.A.R.E. website. Please send them to jusaniya@vaisnavascare.com 
 
There have been some inaccuracies reported in the media, including Lila's
age (she is 17) and her relationship with her shooter. Understandably,
this has brought additional pain to her family and they want to make sure
the truth gets out: The shooter was a stalker, with whom Lila had only
minimal contact and never a relationship.
 

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Update

"We would like to thank www.dandavats.com for posting this article."

Update on Lila 
By Dylan Welch and Matt Wade in Vrindavan
February 5, 2008
Anandalila “Lila” Salter, the Australian teenager who was raped and shot by a stalker in India three days ago, has died surrounded by her family and friends in India.
She died of heart failure resulting from her injuries about 2.15am (7.45am AEDT) in the Indian holy city of Vrindavan, where she had been brought after doctors said they could not remove the bullet that had lodged in her brain.
“[The family] was hoping to find a surgeon in the world who could have removed the bullet fragments but it was hope against hope, the damage was just too extensive,” Lila’s Australian-based uncle Brian Salter, 55, said this morning.
Mr Salter received a text message from his brother, Lila’s father Ian, about half an hour after she died, which read: “Anandalila left this world in a blaze of Kirtan.” Kirtan is the communal singing of sacred Hare Krishna hymns.
Lila’s body would now be cremated during a traditional ceremony on the banks of a nearby river, Mr Salter said.
Mr Salter also said the family had asked that their thanks be expressed to all the Australians who had offered their support during the last few days.
Last night the family organised an ambulance fitted with life-support equipment to bring Lila back to a guesthouse in Vrindavan, where she was surrounded by family and members of the Vrindavan Hare Krishna community.
The trip came after doctors at the hospital in New Delhi where Lila had lain since the shooting said they were unable to remove the bullet that had lodged in her brain.
Police yesterday announced they would drop the investigation into the shooting.
Lila’s attacker, 28-year-old Saurav Singh, the nephew of a former cabinet minister in Uttar Pradesh, shot her three times with his pistol, then shot himself dead.
“He is already dead so no further action in this case is possible. There is nothing more to investigate,” an Indian police spokesman said yesterday.
But the family is understood to be angry with police inaction in the lead-up to the shooting. Lila’s mother, Susan Manning, was quoted previously as saying that the family had warned police about the “psychopath” stalker, but nothing had been done.
“Can you imagine in Australia if somebody raped your daughter? They’d be rounded up straight away,” Mr Salter said.
“But unfortunately India is a little bit of a wild west and that just didn’t happen,” he said.
The family now hoped some action would taken in Delhi over the local police inaction, he said.
“They would like the situation [changed] where they felt powerless to get help from the police because of the extent of corruption that was there [in Vrindavan],” Mr Salter said.
“It was really that loss of proper judicial intervention that was responsible for this and they would hope that culture could be changed.”
 

Audio slideshow:
Matt Wade reports from the Krishna cremation ceremony for Lila Salter.

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Dearest Sri Sri Prahlad Narsimhadeva,
 
I humbly beg unto Your most divine lotus feet if it be Your supreme will to
please give residence to Lila under the shelter of Your most divine lotus
feet in the spiritual world.
 
I really pray for the family of Lila and would like them to know we as a
family of Srila Prabhupada are with them in this most difficult time.
Please my dear Lord if it is Your supreme will please, please protect her
grieving mother.
 
Your servant
Sacitanuja Das

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February 12, 2008

Dear Radha Shyamsundara,
 
Please give this pure soul shelter at Your lotus feet. Please also give
mother Subhangi, Jamal Arjuna Das Prabhu and Lila's brother's and sisters
strength and comfort during this difficult time.

Your Humble Servant,
Santosh Arora
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (US)

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February 9, 2008
 

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February 9, 2008

Dear Sri Sri Radha Shyamsundar ji,
 
I humbly beg at Your merciful lotus feet to bring an end to the suffering
of Your sweet, loving child, Lila. May this resident of Vrndavan dham
attain an eternal residency in Your abode, Vaikuntha. Lord, this innocent
devotee has been a victim of a heinous crime. Please embrace Lila in Your
arms and carry her back to Your abode and keep her under the shade of Your
love and mercies. Lord Hari ! Please be merciful upon Lila's family giving
them comfort, spiritual strength to bear this suffering.
 
Your servant
Sriji dasi
Winston Salem, North Carolina (U.S.)

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February 9, 2008

Dear Lord Krsna,

Please keep this special soul, Lila, at Your lotus feet eternally. Please
give comfort to her family who must be feeling so much separation at this
time.

Your humble servant,
Vamanadeva dasa
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (U.S.)

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February 9, 2008

Dear Sri Sri Nitai Gauransundara,
 
Please shower Your mercy, strength and solace to the family and friends of
Lila. For reasons beyond our understanding this tragic act of violence
took away their beloved daughter, sister and friend, Lila, in the Holy land
of Vrindavan. I pray that she may stay eternally in Vrindavan now,
assisting in Lord Krishna's pastimes, happy and blissful. Her mother
Subhangi devi has been very strong and I pray that she and her family
will continue finding solace during this difficult time.

Kalindi devi dasi
Houston, Texas, USA

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February 9, 2008

My dear Vrajendranandana,
 
Your devotees know that not a blade of grass moves without Your approval.
Within Your holy dham, Sri Vrndavan, this is especially true. Please, oh
sweet Lord, give young Lila Your merciful embrace and bring her to Your
world of endless love, where Your pastimes are never tainted with mundane
anxiety or perversion. She is undoubtedly a special soul to have received
Your mercy in so many ways by the age of 17. I pray that You give her
permanent shelter at Your lotus feet, thus ending her involvement with
everything material. Please Radhe Shyam hear my prayer.
 
your servant,
Nitai das

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February 5, 2008

Our dear Sri Sri Radha Radha-Kanta,

Please accept our most humble obeisances. This heart-felt prayer comes to You for Lila, this young flower of a devotee who is hovering between life and death- all of us plead for her well-being. Please let her come back to You, Krsna. She is Your very own devotee who loves Vrndavan with all her heart. All her young life she has loved only You. She has only You in her heart, so please let her come back to Your very own Abode-Goloka Vrndavan. Please comfort her dear mother, Subhangi, who in this moment of grief is still transcendental and loves the people of Vrndavan. Please give strength to her and all the devotees who knew and loved Lila. Who can understand Your Ways? Please shower Your special Mercy on Lila and her family.

Your humble servants,
Sridevi dasi and Nanda Suta das
New Talavan, Mississippi (U.S.)

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February 5, 2008

Dear Lord Krsna,

Kindly take Your devotee, Lila, back to Godhead with You. Please give her
family strength to go through such a difficult situation. Please give them
guidance and the knowledge that You, my dear Lord, are keeping Lila at
Your lotus feet forever.
 
Your humble servant,
Rajani
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (U.S.)

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February 5, 2008

My dear Lord Krsna,

I am humbly begging at Your lotus feet that You please take Your dear
servant, Lila, back home where she can serve Your Lordships eternally.
Please help her family members and dear friends to tolerate this horrible
act of violence and to continue to keep their strong faith in the holy
dhama as they have stated. You, our dear Lord, know why such a thing would happen in the dhama. Please give comfort to those who knew Lila and cared for her and help them to see the spiritual purpose in such a seemingly senseless act. Please give them all courage and faith.

Your humble servant,
Sangita devi dasi
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (U.S.)

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February 5, 2008

Dear Lord Krsna,

I am praying at Your lotus feet with mother's tears in my eyes that You
will take this sweet young girl with You back to Godhead.
 
Sitting in the Delhi airport, I saw a young girl holding her Gopi doll and
I knew that there was something special about her. I knew she was a
special devotee. We had the good fortune to fly with her and her family
from India to Thailand. Sitting with Lila and her mother on the plane, I
could immediately tell that her mother was a wonderful parent and they
were a special loving family devoted to the Deities and Krsna
consciousness. I pray to Srila Prabhupada and to You, my Lord, to stay
with this family and guide them through this difficult ordeal.
 
Srila Prabhupada taught us that "The eyes are the windows to the soul,"
and looking into Lila's eyes, I could tell she was a sweet and special
Vaisnavi whom I will never forget.
 
I will keep Lila and her dear ones in my thoughts and prayers.
 
Your humble servant,
Madana-sundari devi dasi
Honolulu, Hawaii (U.S.)

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February 4, 2008

My Dear Sri Sri Radha-Syamasundar,

Please shower Your unlimited mercies upon this dear devotee who has loved You and the Holy Dham her whole life.  Please bring her into the protective shadow of Your divine lotus feet and allow her to always remain in Your loving service.  Please also give strength and peace to this grieving mother, Subhangi, Your sincere devotee, at this most difficult time.

Your humble servant,
Jusaniya devi dasi
Phoenix, Arizona (U.S.)

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