Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept our most humble obeisances at your divine lotus feet. All glories to you, the
representative of Śrīla Vyāsadeva, who fulfilled the divine mission of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu
with unparalleled compassion, determination, and purity.
On this most sacred occasion of your Vyāsa-pūjā, we, the devotees of ISKCON of Silicon
Valley, offer you our heartfelt homage and gratitude. By your mercy, we have been drawn into
your saṅkīrtana movement – a movement not of compulsion or fear, but of love, voluntary service,
and deep inspiration. You have created something that kings and emperors only dream of. Mon-
archs build empires, but as Shakespeare wisely wrote, “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.”
Power without peace is a torment. Wealth without wisdom is a burden. But Śrīla Prabhupāda, you
gave us something far greater: a heartfelt life of service, perfectly placed devotion, and a spiritual
family bonded not by ambition but by love for Kṛṣṇa. That is the kingdom the world is searching
for.
In Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya 1.169, the king of Bengal, as the imperial authority, witnesses
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s movement swelling with tens of thousands of followers and is struck
with awe. In a rare moment of humility, the king mentions Mahāprabhu’s superiority, observing
that while monarchs command loyalty through fear or payment, Mahāprabhu, a barefoot monk,
inspires total surrender without material incentive. People serve Him with no thought of remu-
neration – only love. The king says: “Such a person, who is followed by so many people without
giving them charity must be a prophet. I can surely understand this fact.”
This is the miracle of Lord Caitanya’s movement: it is a movement sustained by voluntary
devotion.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, you manifested this miracle in the modern age, an age of cynicism, where,
especially in the West, people are wary of giving voluntary service to a master.
You set out on your mission armed only with the instruction of your spiritual master. From
your pure intention to fulfill that instruction alone, a global movement arose – one in which devo-
tees serve not out of obligation, but out of love and inspiration.
Here in Silicon Valley, we are surrounded by some of the world’s most powerful and profitable
corporations. People work long hours, devoting their lives to products and deadlines, often sac-
rificing their health, relationships, and peace of mind. Yet even the leaders of these organizations
recognize a deeper truth: that beyond profit, people yearn for purpose. That is why, increasingly,
corporations invite spiritual speakers and influencers to share messages about higher motivation –
about service, compassion, and mindfulness. Even those steeped in the culture of achievement
and material success understand that working solely for profit is drudgery and, ultimately, hollow.
No matter how much a person earns, if their heart remains unfulfilled, there is no real happiness.
Abraham Maslow articulated this in what is commonly known as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
At the base are physical and emotional necessities – food, shelter, security. But once those are
met, and even as a person works to attain these, they yearn for more. Humans have a higher
need: a need for meaning, for contribution, for selfless service. The secret you not only taught but
exemplified is that our thirst for wholeness and happiness can be fulfilled only by pure devotional
service – the soul’s true calling.
In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.2.8 you confirm this in your purport:
The need of the spirit soul is that he wants to get out of the limited sphere of material
bondage and fulfill his desire for complete freedom. He wants to get out of the cov-
ered walls of the greater universe. He wants to see the free light and the spirit. That
complete freedom is achieved when he meets the complete spirit, the Personality of
Godhead. There is a dormant affection for God within everyone; spiritual existence
is manifested through the gross body and mind in the form of perverted affection for
gross and subtle matter. Therefore, we must engage ourselves in occupational engage-
ments that will evoke our divine consciousness.
Silicon Valley is full of wealth, yet we see that people still hanker for meaning. There is no short-
age of innovation, but there is a scarcity of satisfaction. Śrīla Prabhupāda, you have shown us the
real wealth of life: the joy of cooperating together in devotional service to a pure devotee. You’ve
given us the ultimate formula for fulfillment – not tit-for-tat exchanges or transactional relation-
ships, but the mood of selfless giving, free from ego and ambition.
You taught us that cooperation among devotees is not merely a strategy for organizational
success – it is the very symptom of spiritual advancement. In a world torn by division, the abil-
ity of devotees to serve together in harmony is nothing short of miraculous. At ISKCON of
Silicon Valley, we witness this miracle every day. Devotees come together not only to distribute
your books, but to cook and serve prasādam with devotion; to dress and worship the Deities with
care and attention; to clean the temple joyfully, as an offering to you; to chant the holy names
together; to teach and nurture the children of our community in Kṛṣṇa consciousness; and to give
newcomers a chance to catch hold of your mood and method of serving Kṛṣṇa. Each of these ser-
vices is powerful on its own, but when we perform them without a sense of entitlement, or desire
for recognition, but rather execute them in the mood of cooperation, for the sake of maintaining
unity and purity of purpose in service to your mission, they become transcendental expressions of
love. Obstacles dissolve. Spiritual joy increases. The power of sādhu-saṅga becomes tangible.
In a letter to gurukula teachers, you wrote:
We are persons and Krishna is a person, and our relationship with Krishna is always
open as a voluntary agreement. That voluntary attitude – “Yes, Krishna, I shall gladly
cooperate. Whatever You say.” – that ready willingness to obey is only possible if there
is love. Forcing will not make me agree. But if there is love, oh, I shall gladly do it.
That is bhakti. That is Krishna consciousness.
A medicine tablet, which contains fillers, is effective only because it contains an active ingredient.
The active ingredient of your movement is voluntary service, based on love, stimulated by loving
exchanges in the process of hearing and chanting about Kṛṣṇa. In you, Śrīla Prabhupāda, we find
no filler. Even a small dose of your vāṇī, therefore, can cure the disease of material life. You have
given us the most precious gift: the knowledge that real happiness comes not from consumption
but from contribution, not from income but from surrender, not from being served but from
serving.
That clarity of purpose – śuddha-bhakti – shines like a jewel amid the refuselike distractions
and entanglements of this world. And it is this essence that unites and inspires our community at
ISKCON of Silicon Valley to continue your mission with enthusiasm and conviction.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, we pray to imbibe even a fraction of your selfless spirit. Please bless us with
the humility to put service before recognition, to put unity before individual ambition, and to put
your pleasure before our own comforts. Let ISKCON of Silicon Valley always remain a beacon of
cooperation in your service, a family that mirrors the miracle you began.
On behalf of your grateful servants at ISKCON of Silicon Valley,
Your servant,
Vaiśeṣika Dāsa (temple president)

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