Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāminn iti nāmine
namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe
nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe
Please accept my most humble and prostrated obeisances in the dust of your lotus feet. All glories to Your Divine Grace.
In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā, Chapter 7, texts 18–19, we find a profound indication of your exalted identity as an internal devotee and eternal associate of the Lord:
yāṅ-sabā lañā prabhura nitya vihara
yāṅ-sabā lañā prabhura kīrtana-pracāra
yāṅ-sabā lañā karena prema āsvādana
yāṅ-sabā lañā dāna kare prema-dhana
“The internal devotees or potencies are all eternal associates in the pastimes of the Lord. Only in their company does the Lord descend to propagate the saṅkīrtana movement; only with them does He relish the mellows of divine love; and only with them does He freely distribute that same love of God to all living beings.”
The position of such exalted devotees is further illuminated in subsequent verses of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, where it is revealed that personalities like yourself assist the Pañca-tattva in breaking open the long-sealed storehouse of love of God. You did not pause to calculate who was qualified or unqualified; nor did you restrict the flow of mercy. Rather, you extended Lord Kṛṣṇa’s grace and Śrī Caitanya’s boundless compassion without discrimination, without hesitation, and without limit.
You firmly rejected those who sought to obstruct this divine outpouring, declaring: “These foolish arguments are sometimes raised by envious rascals, but Kṛṣṇa conscious devotees do not care about them. We strictly follow the principles set down by the Pañca-tattva.” (Ādi 7.23, purport)
Your divine ingenuity in devising ever-fresh strategies to distribute the contents of that storehouse of love of Godhead unmistakably establishes you as a great ācārya in the line of Lord Caitanya. This is affirmed in Ādi 7.31–32, wherein Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu reveals His compassionate resolve:
“Seeing that the Māyāvādīs and others were fleeing, Lord Caitanya thought, ‘I wanted everyone to be immersed in this inundation of love of Godhead, but some have escaped. Therefore, I shall devise a trick to drown them also.’”
In the word-for-word meanings to this verse, we perceive Śrī Caitanya’s solemn determination – that all living beings be submerged in divine love. Yet, perceiving the possibility that some might evade this mercy, He resolves to employ transcendental “tricks,” divine strategies, to fulfill His promise.
In your purport, you reveal that this dynamic adaptability is the very hallmark of a true ācārya: “This is the symptom of an ācārya. An ācārya who comes for the service of the Lord cannot be expected to conform to a stereotype, for he must find the ways and means by which Kṛṣṇa consciousness may be spread.”
You further explain that your own presentation of Kṛṣṇa consciousness – perfectly aligned with time, place, and circumstance – faithfully follows in the footsteps of the Pañca-tattva: “Therefore, what we are doing is perfect by the grace of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, for it is He who proposed to invent a way to capture those who strayed from Kṛṣṇa consciousness.” (Ādi 7.31–32)
Fully cognizant of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s innermost intention, you remained undisturbed by the criticisms of those attached to rigid and stereotyped modes of presentation. Instead, you carried forward His mission with boldness, creativity, and unwavering fidelity.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, I beg for your causeless mercy – that life after life I may remain engaged as an instrument in your divine mission of delivering the conditioned souls. Kindly allow me to assist, in however small a way, in the ongoing work of opening that storehouse of love of Godhead for the benefit of all.
Thank you, Śrīla Prabhupāda.
Your eternal servant,
Bir Krishna dāsa Goswami