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
Today marks the 130th anniversary of the appearance of my beloved Gurudeva, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda. I am honored to write this Vyāsa-pūjā offering for my spiritual master’s glorification. It is not possible for a disciple to repay the debt to the spiritual master, yet still the disciple tries by preaching vigorously.
The guru wishes to see that his disciples continue to follow the regulative principles that they promised to keep. In addition to keeping my promises, I am also endeavoring to encourage the worldwide distribution of my Gurudeva’s literature.
The most advantageous methods available for preaching are being used, namely writing. In particular, we are focusing on publishing books, and we have now completed a thirty-volume set of Śrī Garga-saṁhitā, with commentary, dedicated to His Divine Grace Śrīla Prabhupāda.
The first duty of a person in the renounced order of life is to contribute some literary work for the benefit of the human being in order to give him realized direction toward self-realization. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 2.2.5, purport)
Though one may ask, “Who is this Danavir and what is he doing writing commentary on the Śrī Garga-saṁhitā?” Be that as it may, I have humbly taken up this writing as an opportunity to employ what I have learned from Śrīla Prabhupāda. Why was there a need for a commentary to be written? I certainly agree that the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the topmost authority on Vedic literature, and what I’ve written is in no way an attempt to surpass or equal it. Rather – we hope – that what I’ve written augments and supplements it.
And we are trying to use the internet in a most effective way for spreading Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We have a cinematically rich series based on the Śrī Garga-saṁhitā that will present the topics in a manner that is believable, attractive, and accurate.
Śrīla Prabhupāda has given me more in every field than I could ever imagine. I could not even think of asking for such mercy, but he has given me every possible thing that I wanted in life. In a way, it is far beyond my imagination. So I thank him on this day and pray to always remain his servant and to associate with his sincere followers so that I can go on serving in whatever capacity he and Lord Caitanya feel is best for me.
In the meantime, I will stay here and continue working – preaching through different methods. All the means are available. And if I am able to assist in any way with the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium, I am available for that.
In conclusion, I commit myself to ISKCON and will continue to encourage everyone else to do so as well.
Your eternal servant,
Dānavīr Goswami