Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
I bow my head in the sacred dust of your lotus feet.
Today, on the holy day of your Vyāsa-pūjā, I pray that I may please you by faithfully following
your holy teachings and serving your divine mission. You have mercifully given all of your fol-
lowers the opportunity to receive your intimate blessings by assisting you in your service to your
beloved Guru Mahārāja, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda, and the exalted
ācāryas.
Recently, I heard a recorded lecture that you had given. It deeply affected my heart. You said,
“When a devotee is so advanced that he cannot live without Kṛṣṇa for a moment – then he can see
Kṛṣṇa everywhere.”
In these simple words you shared a principle that is at the heart of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s
teachings. Lord Caitanya prayed, śūnyāyitaṁ jagat sarvaṁ govinda-viraheṇa me: “In separation from
Govinda the entire universe appears to be a dreary void.”
Śrīla Prabhupāda, you taught us that a sincere devotee strives to be absorbed in pleasing Kṛṣṇa
in both pleasant and challenging conditions, to be so deeply humble that we realize our complete
dependence on Kṛṣṇa’s mercy at every moment. The true value of whatever we do or say is accord-
ing to how Śrī Guru and Śrī Kṛṣṇa are pleased with the sincerity of our devotional service. In this
way, according to the quality of one’s surrender, Kṛṣṇa gives us the vision to see Him and serve
Him everywhere and in the hearts of all beings.
Lord Caitanya taught that even the most fallen souls can realize this highest spiritual perfec-
tion by sincerely chanting Lord Hari’s holy names and living with Vaiṣṇava character. Through
the saṅkīrtana movement He freely distributed the sweetest revelation of love of Godhead as
is exhibited by the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana. While residing in the Gambhīrā, Śrī Caitanya
Mahāprabhu revealed the treasure of His heart – expressing Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s feelings of
loving separation from Kṛṣṇa. By His example He taught how to cultivate union with Kṛṣṇa
through feelings of loving separation from Him.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, serving Lord Caitanya’s infinite love is the treasure of your heart. You so
mercifully shared this treasure with all of us. In 1965, you departed from your sacred home in
Vṛndāvana to beg all people of the world to accept this supreme treasure – kṛṣṇa-prema-dhana –
unconditional love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Alone, in your old age, you ventured into strange lands with no money or any material security.
Yet you prayed only to be an instrument of Kṛṣṇa’s compassion to bring eternal joy to people in
every town and village of the world.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, with profound urgency you pleaded with all of us to very carefully follow
the teachings and culture of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and to spread it according to our capacity. With-
out authentic sanātana-dharma, all noble efforts to do good are destined to collapse. Prema-bhakti –
pure devotional service – is the jaiva-dharma, the eternal nature of the soul. Śrīla Prabhupāda,
your total absorption in pure bhakti and your compassion for all beings reveals this highest
dharma.
In your books, lectures, and interactions, we hear the urgency in your voice as you plead with
us to be “serious and sincere” in our spiritual practice.
Your urgent plea is forever relevant, especially in the times in which we are living. The present
condition of the world is stricken by brutal wars, devastating earthquakes, and miserable diseases,
horrific fires, droughts and floods, heat waves and hurricanes. The tragedy of untimely death …
Nations are severely divided with hatred and distrust over ideological, political, social, and
economic issues. Terrorism, stockpiles of nuclear bombs, and man-induced climate change have
plagued the world with instability and robbed people’s confidence to safely raise their families.
Racism, oppression, cruelty, and slaughter are unleashed due to the ignorance of bodily designa-
tions. Arrogance, vengeance, greed, and exploitation as well as immoral vices are rampantly being
accepted as coveted characteristics of greatness – even in the name of religion.
Yet even in pleasurable times, when there is an abundance of goodness, kindness, security,
comfort, and prosperity, we tend to forget the very purpose of life in a world where suffering is
imminent: to reconnect with our true self as loving servants of the Lord. The only sustainable
solution is genuine spirituality.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, you entrusted to us this knowledge and the timeless mercy of the ācāryas.
You invested your sincere followers with a responsibility to rise above our differences and to
infuse the society with the culture of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. It is above sectarian beliefs and is
inclusive with all earnest seekers of God’s love.
Yet the path of bhakti, as taught by Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityānanda, leads us into the
sweetest, most ecstatic pastimes of the Lord, where the all-powerful Absolute Truth, the origin of
all existence and the reservoir of all love, reciprocates with His devotees’ devotion by becoming
their intimate friend, child, or lover.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, this is your gift.
We pray for your mercy that we not be depressed, distracted, or indifferent to the heartbreaks
of the world. We pray to be ever grateful for the transcendental gift you have entrusted to us. You
taught us that where there is great need, there is a great opportunity to serve.
I beg forgiveness for my shortcomings in serving you. I am fallen, unworthy, and unqualified,
yet you continue to extend your mercy. The most precious gift in my life is knowing that you have
saved me and that you have given me and all of your followers the full mercy of Lord Caitanya.
I pray to ever be absorbed in expressing my gratitude to you by faithfully serving your loving
servants.
Radhanath Swami