– on his 3rd death anniversary
TODAY marks the third death anniversary of Shri Prakash Gossai, who had once said that his “gift of music is a blessing from God”, unearned by him. However, Prakashji’s gift extended beyond the global parameters of music to encompass, harness, and then propagate the quintessence of the divine philosophies of the Ramayan and Bhagwat Gita, which he translated and interpreted within human constructs and experiences, and demonstrating through his highly motivational and educational sermons that Hindu religious texts have solutions and answers to every situation in the human condition.
In the words of his cousin, Atma Gossai, he used the Hindu texts as both learning and religious tools.
Prakashji’s facility for imbibing knowledge and translating it to the level of the ordinary person was demonstrated even as a schoolboy who topped his classes; and as a medical student at the University of Guyana.  He was driven by an ardent motivation to serve humanity the best way he could, and he chose the medical field to help mankind.
However, the Lord had greater plans for him; and mother Saraswattie’s gift of music was the facilitating mechanism used for expanding the landscape of Prakashji’s aptitude to harness a gravitational pull factor to his charismatic personality.
Despite achieving the status of a worldwide iconic spiritual leader, Prakashji yet remained simple and humble, effortlessly morphing from the worldstage of millions to the simple platform of a village or family puja, giving equal importance to all.
I was first introduced to Prakashji by Butch Parmanand at a satsang organised at the Countrypride Building to celebrate Butch’s 50th birthday. He riveted me then, and he continued to do so until the day I die, because his mellifluous voice would resonate down the corridors of history, long after I have turned to dust. Through his teachings and his music, Prakashji would forever be alive.
I told him once that if I had a choice I would follow him everywhere he sang, just as Meera followed Krishna’s flute everywhere, because his music is so enthralling and so uplifting to the spirit.
Prakashji’s philosophies embraced mankind. He said that communion with the Supreme Lord is a privilege of every man, whatever wrongs he may have committed, and can be done anywhere – not necessarily in a house of worship.
While he adjured his audiences to strive to adhere to the laws of the land, he also said that the ultimate judge of man’s actions is the Lord, and no one can escape the laws of Karma, because the Karmic dispensation prevails over every justice system devised by man.
He also explained that the life-force    present in man is the same that exists within every life form on earth, but that what differentiates man from other forms of life is the atma – the soul, which has existed in the spiritual plane before manifesting in our human bodies.  According to prakashji, the latter is merely the vehicle that takes the soul in the quest for ultimate union with God on the journey through and beyond the material world.
During one of his kathas, he informed his enthralled listeners that every person is given three gifts from God to help them along this journey. One is the human body, which serves as the boat to take us across the ocean of our existence on the human plane. Another is the engine – the propelling force, which is the ability to think and to feel; and the last and most important is the guru – the guide, who is Lord Ram, to show us the practical way to attain this goal through the philosophies as expounded in the sacred teachings of the Ramayan and other religious texts.
Prakashji, quoting the Gita: “I am the same to all – equally accessible”, said that everyone should learn the art of divine introspection and that they should pause and reflect on their actions. If they are troubled then they should direct their thoughts to the Lord, which would assist their mind-management. This will go a far way to minimising incidents of depression, suicide, and other destructive and anti-social tendencies.
According to the learned pandit, the Karmic phenomenon is applicable to all religions, and divine retribution and divine justice are inescapable within the framework of mankind’s existence. He said that all of us are given the gift of God’s power invested in our beings, which provides us equal opportunities to do well in, and with our lives.
And Prakashji has demonstrated this by optimising his God-given potentials in order to serve mankind, and in so doing has been rewarded by an overflowing ocean of love throughout the world, made sacrosanct because the conduit of that love is the sublime messages of the Lord enshrined in his scriptures, which Prakashji has encapsulated within global parameters, then flung in scintillating melodies to embrace and bedazzle galaxies and constellations of stars that irradiates the soul of the earth (Dharti Ma) with melodious recitations of divine beauty.
How can our Guyana not be blessed when she produces such sons?

Revered and having attained the status of a religious and musical icon, this legendary Bhajan singer was simple, modest, humble, gracious, soft-spoken, peaceful peace-loving, respectable and respectful to all –even those who hurt him with unkind words and actions.
This God-man (Phillip Moore created this description of persons who have attained god-like status in the human world), who loved to use Lord Rama’s texts to contextualise mankind’s roles in human situations, defined good governance as that practised by the Supreme Lord, who said to his subjects: “Don’t invest lordliness in me to listen to me – not out of fear. What you think right, that is what you should practice” is no more on this earth, but has joined his Lord in his eternal abode of peace, because he has always practised what he thought right, and has taught others to also walk that path that was prescribed by the Supreme Lord.
Former President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, was shocked by the sudden passing of his friend and community services advisor.
Describing Prakashji as “irreplaceable”, the former President said that he has to live with the regret that, when he called New York to enquire about the health of his special advisor, he was informed that he was moving around without discomfort, so he moved on to his busy schedule, realising in hindsight that he should have spent some more time with Prakashji; but he had no inkling that our nation would be facing such a sad loss of a relatively young, but very giving person, who lived his religion in his service to mankind, which is an integral and essential component of Hindu scriptures; until Dr. Gopaul called him on Monday a.m. with the sad news of Prakashji’s passing.
Prakashji had invited me to the  Gandhi Bhawan mere weeks before his passing to perform a puja for my birthday.  On the day that he took ill he had promised to attend a puja at my home and I kept looking out for him because he was not prone to breaking his given word.  I had no inkling that he was fighting for his life then.
During a satsangh to which he had invited me at Ruimzeight, Prakashji riveted my attention when he said: “A country’s richest treasures lie in its burial grounds,” but his explanation proved absolutely enlightening, as it always did. According to Prakashji, persons are buried with a treasure trove of talent, knowledge, memories and intelligence that are forever lost to posterity.
In Guyana’s figurative burial ground (because he was cremated) lies wealth unmatched, because this national treasure was lost to the millions of persons worldwide whose lives he had enriched in one way or another.
During his lifetime and posthumously Prakashji received many accolades throughout the world; especially in the homeland of his birth and heart – Guyana; and his adopted homeland, the USA.
Prakashji’s wife, Leila, said that her late husband was an ordinary man who achieved extraordinarily in the pursuit and propagation of religious knowledge.