Dearest Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Your Divine Grace on this most auspicious day of your divine appearance.
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
I offer my respectful obeisances unto His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, who is very dear to Lord Kṛṣṇa on this earth, having taken shelter at His lotus feet. Our respectful obeisances are unto you, O spiritual master, servant of Sarasvatī Gosvāmī. You are kindly preaching the message of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu and delivering the Western countries, which are filled with impersonalism and voidism.
Your Divine Grace came to the Western world in order to preach the message of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and deliver the conditioned souls from impersonalism and voidism especially, as it is stated in the second stanza of your praṇām-mantra. Out of your causeless mercy, you also came to Switzerland and personally blessed this country with your divine presence in several places. Just recently we celebrated the fiftieth jubilee anniversary of your transcendental visit and were able to once again delve into the personal memories and recollections of devotees who witnessed you planting the seed for spreading the saṅkīrtana movement of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu in Switzerland.
golokera prema-dhana, hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana
This saṅkīrtana movement is coming directly from Goloka Vrindavan, the topmost region of the spiritual world, as confirmed by Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura. We actually don’t know what an intimate associate of the Supreme Personality of Godhead you are, dearest Śrīla Prabhupāda. Once, when asked about revealing your spiritual identity, you simply answered, “If I tell you, you will faint.”
When we are too close to a mountain, it is very difficult to fully grasp its real greatness. The more we try to understand your superexcellent position, the more we are actually progressing toward understanding the Absolute Truth. As Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself states, ācāryaṁ māṁ vijānīyān navamanyeta karhicit (Bhāgavatam 11.17.27): one should understand the ācārya as the Lord Himself, as the summum bonum, and never disrespect him. In this way we will positively invoke the mercy of the Lord and will be able to progress on the path of devotional service.
yam evaiṣa vṛṇute tena labhyas tasyaiṣa ātmā vivṛṇute tanūṁ svām
“He [the Summum Bonum] is obtained only by one whom He Himself chooses. To such a person He manifests His own form.” (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 1.2.23). As it is said, to invoke the favor of a rich, powerful person, the simplest and most efficient way is to please his favorite child. So, our success is in pleasing Your Divine Grace. By doing so with full faith, all the imports of Vedic knowledge will be revealed automatically: tasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥ prakāśante mahātmanaḥ (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.23).
In this regard Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja gives practical advice: dharmasya tattvaṁ nihitaṁ guhāyāṁ mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ: “The solid truth of religious principles is hidden in the heart of an unadulterated, self-realized person. Consequently, as the śāstras confirm, one should accept whatever progressive path the mahājanas advocate.” (Mahābhārata, Vana-parva 313.117).
To push on Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s saṅkīrtana movement in a most effective way, you gave us four beautifully succinct guidelines:
Books are the basis
Purity is the force
Preaching is the essence
Utility is the principle
Furthermore, Your Divine Grace made a very important personal request to all sincere followers regarding how these transcendental foundational maxims will be implemented in a most beautiful manner: “Your love for me will be shown by how you cooperate with one another.” This is the transcendental key for success, as the strength of cooperative efforts multiplies exponentially.
We are very grateful and eternally indebted to you, dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, for blessing the world, and especially Switzerland, with your divine presence, enabling us to be the recipients of your causeless mercy and giving us the chance to render some menial service to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s saṅkīrtana movement.
ānandāmbudhi-vardhanaṁ prati-padaṁ pūrṇāmṛtāsvādanaṁ
sarvātma-snapanaṁ paraṁ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanam
Please give us the shade of your lotus feet so we may never leave ISKCON and always faithfully follow your divine instructions and thus become worthy of entering the blissful ocean of transcendental life, which has a cooling, soothing effect and enables us to taste full nectar at every step.
Your humble servant,
Govinda Dāsa,
On behalf of the devotees at New Jagannātha Purī