Do Devotees Die? The Death of a Myth!

By Ajit Krishna Dasa

In some corners of the devotee community, there’s an unspoken rule—or even open pressure—not to say that a devotee “dies.” It’s sometimes treated as offensive, incorrect, or even sinful. But this is not based on śāstra, nor on the example of our founder-ācārya. In fact, such social taboos often function more as subtle forms of control than as expressions of truth.

If we search the phrase “after the death of” in the Vedabase, we will find many examples:

“After the death of Maharaja Prthu …”

“After the death of Maharaja Pandu …”

“… after the death of Jatayu …”

“… even after the death of the devotee, the Deity performs the sraddha ceremony for the father.”

“… after the death of Maharaja Pariksit …”

“… after the death of Haridasa …”

“… after the death of Vallabhacarya …”

“… after the death of Abhimanyu …”

We should understand clearly: death means the soul leaves the body. But, as we all know, no soul ever truly dies as in “stop existing”. The devotee, being a spiritual soul, is eternal. As the famous line from Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura reminds us:

“He reasons ill who say that a Vaiṣṇava dies, while still living in sound! The Vaiṣṇava dies to live, and living spreads the holy name around!”

So yes, devotees leave their bodies, and that can be called death. There is no need to invent taboos or superstitions around the word. Let us follow the example of Śrīla Prabhupāda—clearly, faithfully, and without sentimentality.