Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept my respectful obeisances! All glories to Your Divine Grace!
On this very auspicious day of Śrī Nṛsiṁha Caturdāśi, I’m praying so that I am able to write some words worthy of your glorification.
mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
By the mercy of the guru, even a dumb man can become the greatest orator, and even a lame man can cross mountains. (Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya 17.80)
Nowadays more often than not, I’m thinking about whether I do enough for your movement, whether I do enough to please you, or whether I do enough to please my spiritual master and my śikṣā-guru. Then, as I see my calendar, this initial thought changes and turns into “Am I doing the right things?” It’s one thing to be engaged 24/7, and another thing to do the right thing that makes a difference and makes others’ lives better and more Kṛṣṇa conscious.
Seeing your life and reading about your wonderful pastimes shows you always worked for the betterment of every human being on earth. Your calendar was full, and it was full with the right things. You did not spend unnecessary time on meetings about the same issues; you did not waste time stalling things to get back to them later. You were decisive and moved forward. There were many obstacles in your way, but your unwavering faith in Kṛṣṇa and your spiritual master, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, helped you overcome all of them with triumph.
That triumph is not a small feat. It is the greatest thing anyone could do. You did not only make devotees, but you also created a worldwide community that sometimes is described as “He created a house in which the whole world can live.” I can see that in this house there are many rooms, and devotees in the different rooms might do things slightly differently, but the foundation is the same: your lectures, your books, your letters, your example. There are common rooms in the house where all devotees can come together and chant the holy names of Lord Kṛṣṇa or eat His prasādam.
I’m praying so that those common rooms get bigger and bigger and more frequently used. I’m praying so that the many rooms will always have doors to the common areas and will not become locked and stop communicating, their inhabitants no longer coming together with the other inhabitants of the house. I’m praying that by studying your teachings more thoroughly, we will be able to set aside our differences, listen to one another with care and attention, never lock our doors, and always use the common areas of your wonderfully created house.
Please give us strength to serve in cooperation with faith and determination, regardless of the obstacles we face.
Your servant,
Rādhā Kṛṣṇa Dāsa