Hare Kṛṣṇa, dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāmin iti nāmine
I offer my respectful obeisances unto His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Prabhupāda, who is very dear to Lord Kṛṣṇa on this earth, having taken shelter at His
lotus feet.
namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe
nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe
Our respectful obeisances are unto you, O spiritual master, servant of Sarasvatī
Gosvāmī. You are kindly preaching the message of Lord Caitanyadeva and delivering
the Western countries, which are filled with impersonalism and voidism.
In your purport to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.1.8, you mention that “The secret of success in spiritual
life is in satisfying the spiritual master and thereby getting his sincere blessings.” This is a won-
derful transcendental secret that you mercifully revealed to we fallen conditioned souls who are
trying to revive our love for Kṛṣṇa. This secret would be useless unless we get the opportunity,
by Kṛṣṇa’s mercy, to find a bona fide spiritual master. Fully aware of our hopeless condition, you
founded ISKCON so that we would have a real and practical opportunity to find a bona fide spir-
itual master in disciplic succession and surrender unto him. You have opened this magnanimous
window of mercy built on the principles taught by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His saṅkīrtana
movement.
Thank you, Śrīla Prabhupāda, for this wonderful matchless gift of ISKCON, from where we
can find our way back home, back to Godhead in the holy association of Kṛṣṇa’s devotees. Kindly
bless us so that our humble, insignificant efforts to maintain, preserve, and expand your beloved
ISKCON are a complete success.
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Thank you very much,
Your eternally grateful and aspiring servants at New Govardhan Hill