If my arithmetic is correct, this marks the 57th annual Vyāsa-pūjā book for Śrīla Prabhupāda! If memory serves, the very first edition featured an honorable total of just seventeen temple homages.
This year, we have received almost 300 offerings, including contributions from such diverse locations as Abidjan, Brunei, Kumasi, Ouagadougou, Yerevan, Taichung, and Maputo. Contrast this with 1969, when Hamburg and London were the only centers that sent offerings outside of North America.
This expansion clearly demonstrates the glorious success of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s ISKCON. I am confident that as long as we remain faithful to his instructions, ISKCON – and this Vyāsa-pūjā book – will continue to grow exponentially. While that growth brings challenges, it also offers inspiring opportunities. To meet this demand, we are working toward accepting offerings in all major languages and further developing the online edition of the book.
Despite decades of growth, we have still only scratched the surface. We must wonder: When will the day come when all eight billion people on earth present an annual homage to His Divine Grace? Beyond written homages, when will we see monuments to Śrīla Prabhupāda in every city of every country?
As stated in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Ādi 10.56):
bhakte kṛpā karena prabhu e-tina svarūpe
‘sākṣāt,’ ‘āveśa’ āra ‘āvirbhāva’-rūpe
Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu bestows His causeless mercy upon His devotees in three features: His own direct appearance [sākṣāt], His prowess within someone He empowers [āveśa], and His manifestation [āvirbhāva].
We owe our ever-increasing gratitude to Lord Caitanya for empowering Śrīla Prabhupāda (āveśa) with His divine prowess to bring about a revolution in the impious life of a misdirected civilization. Serving under our senāpati bhakta, we remain dedicated to reaching every soul possible. When we finally succeed, we will gladly face the “problem” of how to share millions – nay, billions – of homages to His Divine Grace.
Your servants on this year’s Vyāsa-pūjā book team,
Ānanda Tīrtha Dāsa
Kaiśorī Devī Dāsī
Praghoṣa Dāsa