nama om viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhūtale
śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāmin iti nāmine
namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe
nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe
I pray to Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Giridhārī, who mercifully cast Their loving smiles on the devotees here at
New Govardhana Dhāma, so that I may write something worthwhile in appreciation of Their glo-
rious servant, Śrīla Prabhupāda.
I pray to the Six Gosvāmīs – Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī, Śrīla Raghunātha
Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī, Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, and Śrīla Gopāla Bhaṭṭa
Gosvāmī – that I can complete this task on behalf of everyone at New Govardhana and express
some of what we all feel.
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept my most respectful obeisances. All glories to you!
In writing a glorification of you, I really don’t know where to start. I wouldn’t even have
known of the existence of Kṛṣṇa consciousness if not for you and all the trouble you took to bring
it to the West. And now I’m going to write something about you, as if I could even slightly begin
to understand what you went through to save us and how difficult it was? As if I have any idea
how much you always depend on Kṛṣṇa, how much you simply want us all to surrender so we can
be blissful in Kṛṣṇa consciousness? I don’t even have a clue.
Then again, I’m complicating things, as is my tendency as a fallen, conditioned soul. Really, it
isn’t that complicated. The essence of what you gave us has always been to “Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa
and be happy,” though it isn’t that we don’t have to do anything else. Our uncultured Western
ways have filled our lives with impurities that we would never have recognized if you hadn’t
shown us another way. The four regulative principles are just the beginning of living a human life,
and we struggle even with that. And still, you never let us off the hook. To have said that we could
“Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and be happy” while still eating meat, gambling, taking intoxication, and
engaging in illicit sex would have been to cheat us, and you love us too much for that.
Instead, you tell us, as Kṛṣṇa teaches in the Bhagavad-gītā, to simply give up everything else
and surrender to Him. That’s all we have to do. But it’s exactly what we don’t want to do. We
want to be in charge, and everything in the culture that surrounds us tells us that we should be in
charge. We should control and we should enjoy. This is especially the mood in Southern Califor-
nia, where the weather is so beautiful that people come from around the world just to gratify their
senses (with no regard for how that affects anyone else).
An uncomplicated process is difficult for us, but you worked to make it so much easier. You
gave us prasādam so delicious that we would forget all about food not offered to Kṛṣṇa. You gave
us kīrtana, where we can use our musical talents to directly connect with Kṛṣṇa instead of falling
further into ignorance. You gave us Deity worship, where we can use our artistic talents to care
for the beautiful forms of the Deities and share that beauty with everyone who visits Their temple.
And you also gave us your books, volumes upon volumes of instruction on how to live spiritually
and how to interact with one another and the world around us in such a way that we and every-
one we meet can advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. All these gifts are practical examples of how
everything in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is lovelier and more joyful than anything outside it.
So now we must spread your gifts as far as we can. We clean and maintain Kṛṣṇa’s temple, a
Vaikuṇṭha realm on the beach, as a haven where some devotees live and serve full-time and others
come regularly for service and spiritual upliftment. Both temple residents and nonresidents dis-
tribute your books in parks (and parking lots) almost every day. Those fortunate enough to take a
book might then visit a Krishna Lounge program, which we hold multiple times a week at several
locations in San Diego, giving the people of this city an introduction to your teachings through
kīrtana, prasādam, basic lectures on Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and, of course, your books. We also
hold weekly Sunday Feast programs and major temple festivals, where we invite all for kīrtana, a
lecture, and sumptuous prasādam, giving old-timers and newcomers alike a taste of Kṛṣṇa’s mercy.
All of this activity is blissful, but to the extent that we have not yet fully surrendered, we are
still struggling in the material world. As we contend with circumstances and with our own minds,
we can derive great inspiration by remembering how you yourself sacrificed so much to give us
a chance to practice Kṛṣṇa consciousness. You left your beloved Vṛndāvana and came to the
benighted USA just to give us this once-in-many-lifetimes chance to “Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and be
happy.”
We can barely comprehend our good fortune. We can never repay our debt to you, Śrīla
Prabhupāda, and yet you want us to try by giving up all our bad habits so that we can fully
experience the joy of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and give others a chance to experience it too. So we
willingly accept difficulties in the service of you and Kṛṣṇa, and there is so much sweetness to our
efforts. We ever find encouragement by remembering your sacrifices and your promise that if we
follow your instructions we will “Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and be happy.”
Praying daily for your mercy so that we may continue on the blessed path you showed us.
Your servants at New Govardhana Dhāma
(written by Jalatalā Devī Dāsī)

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