Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept my obeisances. All glories to Your Divine Grace.
This is my small report on my service – my offering to you on the day of your appearance.
This year we are celebrating the fifty-fifth anniversary of your visit to Moscow. Your visit is an example of mercy and great compassion. You always think about the welfare of others.
śrī-devā ūcuḥ
kiṁ nu tad dustyajaṁ brahma puṁsāṁ bhūtānukampinām
bhavad-vidhānāṁ mahatāṁ puṇya-ślokeḍya-karmaṇām
The demigods replied: O exalted brāhmaṇa, pious persons like you, whose activities are praiseworthy, are very kind and affectionate to people in general. What can’t such pious souls give for the benefit of others? They can give everything, including their bodies. (Bhāgavatam 6.10.5)
After this trip to Moscow, you thought about how to make people in the USSR happy. People lacked spiritual knowledge. In 1976, you sent one of your disciples, Gopal Krishna Prabhu, to the USSR. By your mercy, he visited Moscow and Leningrad, where many prominent people ordered your books.
Active and mass book distribution began in the early ’90s. Many people, in need of spiritual life, eagerly absorbed streams of transcendental knowledge.
Last December, the Prime Minister of India presented your Bhagavad-gītā in Russian to the president of Russia. I am sure that such an event brought you deep satisfaction. You wanted the heads of state to read your books.
In your instructions, you taught leaders to develop strategic vision, identify goals, and make plans. This year, we want to focus on three goals:
- Education of leaders: We built the entire educational process on your instructions. The development of ISKCON depends on the leaders.
- Care for devotees: Once you said that the time had come to “boil the milk.” The nature of the material world is such that the spiritual goal – prema – always reduces. Devotees begin to dilute the milk of bhakti with water of karma, jñāna, and the desire to gain mystical experience. It is important that there are more mature devotees who are bearers of bhakti in their hearts. Therefore, it is important to create an atmosphere so that devotees enthusiastically want to practice bhakti-yoga. And here we rely on your instructions and letters.
- Competent management of the organization: You said that you write books, give lectures, but do not forget to check the bank accounts. Especially in modern times, it is important that all legal affairs of the organization are at the highest standard. Communication is also necessary here.
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, I really appreciate the opportunity you gave me. Despite the difficulties, I continue to participate in the development of your movement, in the mission of Lord Caitanya.
Also, this year I began to communicate more closely with ISKCON leaders in India. I participate in the educational programs of the Mayapur Institute. Your books are always the basis for us. You created a movement that benefits all humanity.
An insignificant servant of your servants,
Acyutātma Dāsa