Dear respected Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept our humble obeisances at your divine lotus feet. All glories to you.
In a lecture given in Los Angeles by Your Divine Grace on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 2.3.25, dated
June 23, 1972, you mentioned, “You cannot pay by returning the value which is taught by the
spiritual master. That is not possible. Therefore it is called sevā. Dedicate your life for his service.
You cannot pay. What you have got to pay to a spiritual master?”
In your purport to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.22.47 you write, “Vinoda-pātram, which means ‘joker.’
A joker’s activities simply arouse laughter, and a person who tries to repay the spiritual master or
teacher of the transcendental message of Kṛṣṇa becomes a laughingstock just like a joker because
it is not possible to repay such a debt.”
Hence in no way we can repay you for all the things you gave us. On this very auspicious occa-
sion of your Vyāsa-pūjā, we, the devotees at the ISKCON Cultural Centre in South Bengaluru,
would like to offer the results of our services at your divine lotus feet and seek your blessings so
that we may continue assisting you:
• Book distribution: Between April 2024 and March 2025, devotees from our temple distributed
the following numbers of books for your pleasure: 1,180 full sets of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam;
11,500 Bhagavad-gītās; 50 sets of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta; 760 copies of the Kṛṣṇa book; and
our temple stood first in the Bhadra Pūrṇimā Bhāgavatam set distribution under the small
temple category.
• Formation of the Śrīla Prabhupāda Bhagavata Vidyalaya (SPBV): To systematically study and
teach your books, we formed an institute for śāstric study that will teach Bhakti-śāstrī,
Bhakti-vaibhava, the ISKCON Disciple Course, and other courses. These will help devotees
go deep into their understanding of the scripture. Currently two batches of Bhakti-śāstrī
classes are going on.
• Preaching – Bhakti Sadana: We are focusing on reaching more souls to bring them to the
lotus feet of Their Lordships by inspiring our congregation to start new home programs we
are calling Bhakti Sadana. Around thirty devotees have come forward to offer their houses
or lead these programs, and by next year we will be able to offer you good results. We
seek your blessings for the success of this program. Currently, about 75 families live in the
vicinity of the temple and take part in the temple activities.
• Revival of our devotee care system: Although we started a devotee care system in 2019, we
wanted to restructure it and make it more active. Starting in January 2025, we began work-
ing on it. We currently have around twenty-two caregivers and assistant caregivers, who
serve the devotees and facilitate them in their spiritual lives.
• Construction: We are a cultural center, so we hold cultural programs to attract the public
to come to the temple and get connected. Therefore we are remodeling our previous
temple hall, turning it into a mini auditorium. We have named it the Bhaktivedanta Mini
Auditorium.
• Kitchen development: We are also trying to improve the quality of prasādam we serve the
devotees as well as our cleanliness, so we are remodeling our devotee kitchen with newer
equipment and a better infrastructure.
• Festivals: This year for the first time, we tried to invite more visitors to attend Gaura-Pūrṇimā.
Around 800 devotees and 700 visitors came and got the mercy of Lord Caitanya
Mahāprabhu.
We are grateful for all that you have given us, and we pray at your lotus feet that we may never
deviate from the way you wanted us to live and serve while assisting you in your service to your
spiritual master.
Your servants,
The devotees at the ISKCON Cultural Centre in South Bengaluru