Hare Kṛṣṇa, Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept our humble obeisances in the dust of your lotus feet.
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
oṁ ajñāna-timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākayā
cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ
On this auspicious day of your Vyāsa-pūjā, we, your devotees from the city of Cherkasy, Ukraine, wish to express to you our gratitude and love.
In former times, disciples searched for the true guru in order to attain knowledge of the Absolute Truth, but modern society has become so degraded that the jagad-guru paramahaṁsa pure devotee of the Lord, such as yourself, had to cross the Atlantic Ocean of material existence in order to find all of us, the lost children of Kṛṣṇa.
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.14.58 it is said that this world is a dangerous place and that dangers await at every step. You’ve also said that at any moment, anything can happen. Now, from our own experience, we have realized the truth of your words.
Nevertheless, by your mercy, all your disciples and the disciples of your disciples continue to preach, each on their own “battlefield.” During these years, when war has overtaken our country, dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, armed with your instructions, we have begun to take shelter in the study of the sacred scriptures. Practically the entire yātrā is studying the bhakti-śāstras under the guidance of senior devotees.
A Food for Life project was launched, and people spoke very positively about the devotees, thanking them for their care and support in this difficult time. Together with the devotees, these people chanted the holy names of Kṛṣṇa and received your books.
Daily online lectures on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam were organized in the mornings (the devotees are learning how to give lectures), as well as readings of kṛṣṇa-līlā in the evenings.
We have also been conducting mantra-yoga – chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra with new people, offering them prasādam, and distributing your books to them. People very positively and gratefully shared their experience of happiness from chanting and associating with the devotees.
At present, some services have been put on pause due to military actions, but we are all together and continue to cooperate despite everything because in this way we wish to express our love for you, dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, and to follow you by carrying out your will.
Our community, the yātrā, is small, and we cannot boast of great achievements or projects. Nevertheless, as you have said, “It is time to boil the milk.” And now, together and individually, we are “boiling the milk,” deepening our relationship with you, with guru, and with Kṛṣṇa.
At present, we are absorbed in studying your books, associating with senior devotees, and chanting the holy names.
You continue to lead us, dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, blind and lame as we are, on the path of bhakti, and we, in turn, try to dedicate our lives to you and to your disciples as our guru-dākṣiṇā. You once said, “Do not be surprised when something does not go as it should; be surprised that something still goes as it should.” Therefore, despite all difficulties, hardships, and obstacles, we move forward, dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, through the darkness of Kali-yuga, because you illuminate our path, and by your mercy we are able to see the path of pure devotion.
I was born in the darkness of ignorance, but my spiritual master opened my eyes with the torch of knowledge. Therefore, I offer my most humble obeisances unto him.
All glories to your lotus feet.
The servants of your servants,
The devotees from the city of Cherkasy, Ukraine