Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
On the sacred day of Vyāsa-pūjā, I offer my body, mind, and life at your lotus feet in heartfelt obeisances.
Your compassion upon all beings is an emanation of your pure, ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa. The philosophy, practice, and experience of kṛṣṇa-prema is the essence of life. On behalf of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and the exalted ācāryas of our sampradāya, you are blessing us with this rarest gift of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Every soul’s search for true happiness can be realized when we come into the spiritual reality of God’s personal love. The love of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa in Vrindavan is forever the most inclusive and intimate revelation in the abode of God’s love. You have revealed to us the pathway into the eternal service of Their love. It is this treasure that you are entrusting to your sincere followers.
As the years pass, your original disciples are physically aging. More and more we must endure the heartbreak of departing Vaiṣṇavas. In the tears we may shed in separation from your beloved devotees, we may celebrate your love for them and their love for you. This appreciation among devotees is at the heart of our society.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, it is in your divine grace that we are blessed with the shelter of Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityānanda, in both the brightest and the darkest of times. Your life, teachings, and mission are our supreme fortune. With each coming day is a precious opportunity to reciprocate, to serve you and to please you. I pray that my every breath may become an offering of gratitude in your service.
In 1896, 130 years ago, you appeared in the world under a jackfruit tree in the Tollygunge section of Calcutta. In 1966, sixty years ago, you established the International Society for Krishna Consciousness in a small storefront at 26 Second Avenue in New York City. This year, in 2026, your devotees performed the groundbreaking ceremony for a memorial to be built at your birthplace under the jackfruit tree in Calcutta, and this year, along with many celebrations, was the opening of a newly renovated pilgrimage site at 26 Second Avenue, in New York.
In 1881, 145 years ago, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, along with his family, including his seven-year-old son, who later became your Guru Mahārāja, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, established their family home, temple, preaching center, and printing press at the Bhakti Bhavan in Calcutta. Here, on the rooftop, Ṭhākura Bhaktivinoda built a bhajana-kuṭira where Śrīla Jagannātha dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja would reside. This year, Śrīla Prabhupāda, as an offering of gratitude to you, the Bhakti Bhavan has been for the first time acquired, renovated, and inaugurated by your devotees and for your devotees.
It is our prayer that you may be pleased with our aspiration to become the servants of the servants of your illustrious legacy of love.
Your servant,
Radhanath Swami