Dearest 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 our most humble obeisances at your divine lotus feet.
Although feeling as insignificant and small as a spark trying to glorify the blazing sun, still, for the purification of our hearts and to remember your unparalleled glories, we are attempting this impossible task.
In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.8.4) it is said:
mahad-vicalanaṁ nṝṇāṁ gṛhiṇāṁ dīna-cetasām
niḥśreyasāya bhagavan kalpate nānyathā kvacit
O my Lord, O great devotee, persons like you move from one place to another not for their own interests but for the sake of poor-hearted gṛhasthas. Otherwise, they have no interest in going from one place to another.
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, you are the very personification of this verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Not only this verse, but the whole Bhāgavatam, Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, and all Vedic literature glorifies you – yet still fall short of words.
The compassion you possess in your heart for the poor conditioned souls is boundless. Therefore, you happily faced all the challenges the Supreme Lord gave you on your journey, accepting them as opportunities to glorify Him.
Whether it was struggling alone in the streets of Delhi to distribute Back to Godhead magazines – sometimes fainting due to the severe heat – or experiencing intense seasickness and two heart attacks during your voyage to the West aboard the Jaladuta, or the many struggles you faced in America while establishing this movement – your determination never wavered.
Even after establishing your society, it was not at all easy to manage hundreds of centers, thousands of neophyte American and European disciples, translating scriptures, writing books, establishing gurukulas and farm communities, organizing the BBT and GBC, and envisioning the future of the society.
And the list is unending, Śrīla Prabhupāda. You accomplished all of this while constantly traveling across the world, adjusting to different time zones.
You are Lord Caitanya’s commander in chief, about whom it is predicted in the Caitanya-maṅgala:
ebe nāma-saṅkīrtana tīkṣṇa-khadga lañā
antara asura jīvera pheliba kāṭiyā
yadi pāpī chāḍi’ dharma dūra-deśe yāya
mora senāpati-bhakta yāibe tathāya
Taking the sharp sword of the congregational chanting of the holy name, I will root out and destroy the demoniac mentality in the hearts of conditioned souls. If some sinful people give up religious principles and go to far-off countries, then My commander in chief (senāpati-bhakta) will go there and deliver them.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, it is only you who can penetrate the deep ignorance in the hearts of conditioned souls like us through your simple but profound presentation of the highest philosophy of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. If you had not come, who could have saved us from falling into the deep, dark well of material existence?
Śrīla Prabhupāda, you always meditated on and executed the instructions of your spiritual master, His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda:
- To preach the teachings of Bhagavad-gītā in English to the Western world
- “Whenever you get money, print books”
- To establish a Governing Body Commission of qualified disciples to lead the movement
We beg at your lotus feet for the mercy to be able to execute your instructions and to always follow your mood, without deviating even an inch from your divine will.
Here at ISKCON Sagar, we are trying to serve you by
- distributing your transcendental literatures and performing harināma-saṅkīrtana
- focusing on youth preaching to develop the future leadership of this movement
- building a strong community of well-trained devotees
- constructing a beautiful temple on a hill, also known as Govardhana Hill, in Main Pani, Sagar
- planning to establish a goshala to serve and protect Kṛṣṇa’s cows
- aspiring to open a gurukula, as per your desire
As insignificant as we are, our endeavors are also insignificant and full of shortcomings. Still, like small children completely dependent on the mercy of their mother, we beg for your divine grace, Śrīla Prabhupāda.
A disciple who thinks he can repay the debt to his spiritual master is called a vinoda-pātra – a fool. We can never even imagine repaying what you have done for all of us, Your Divine Grace. But if, by our small efforts, you become even slightly pleased, then our lives will be successful.
Eternally indebted and forever grateful,
Your humble, insignificant servants,
The devotees at ISKCON Sagar