Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept my humble obeisances in the dust of your lotus feet. All glories to Your Divine Grace!
oṁ ajñāna-timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākayā
cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ
I was born in the darkest ignorance, and my spiritual master opened my eyes with the torch of knowledge. I offer my respectful obeisances unto him.
This well-known statement from the śāstras directly applies to me, because simply reading your books Śrī Īśopaniṣad and Bhagavad-gītā As It Is completely changed my life. Simply by receiving your association and reading these transcendental books, I gained an understanding of the supreme meaning of human life, and an irresistible desire to spread this knowledge to everyone arose in my heart. Such is the amazing influence of your words. And your desire to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness to all people continues to greatly inspire me. Thank you very much for the opportunity to participate in this wonderful movement!
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, during these thirty-six years of my involvement with your Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, I have always felt your boundless love and care for everyone. You said that ISKCON is your body. Thus, you always remain with us and continue to bestow your divine mercy on everyone. During these years of my involvement with ISKCON I have seen many people whose lives were radically transformed by their contact with this wonderful movement and who became wonderful devotees. All these devotees are eternally grateful to you, as they feel your transcendental presence in their lives. Thank you very much for this opportunity to witness your divine līlās and for the opportunity to participate in them.
Perhaps your most astonishing quality is your ability to always see the best in everyone and engage them in your mission. Reading stories from your life, one can see countless examples of how you entrusted so much responsibility to your inexperienced and undertrained disciples. And this trust of yours greatly inspired thousands of devotees to surrender their lives to you. And most astonishingly, this can be observed even today in the lives of thousands of devotees around the world. I also constantly feel this in my spiritual life: although I lack the necessary qualifications, you, acting through the senior members of our society, entrust me with more and more responsibility. Please bless me to be worthy of your trust and to be an instrument of your divine grace.
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, this year in Russia we celebrate fifty-five years since your first and only visit to our country. That brief visit changed the lives of many thousands of people. Every year, the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement grows in our country. The number of devotees is growing, new preaching centers and ISKCON temples are opening, and more and more educated and spiritually mature devotees are taking responsibility for the development of your mission in Russia. There is no doubt that all of this is happening solely by your grace, Śrīla Prabhupāda.
We still have much to do in Russia to put your vision into practice. We still need to work on establishing the systematic training and education of devotees, especially the leaders. We need to create cohesive communities of devotees, including agricultural communities. We need to expand the distribution of your transcendental books and organize educational programs for the general public, continuing to seek new and innovative methods for spreading Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Please bless us to carry out this service to the best of our ability.
We are now experiencing a crucial period of development, when your direct disciples, who have been our leaders for many years, are passing on their authority to the next generation of devotees. Please bless us so that we can preserve all that they have taught us and further develop the mission in accordance with your vision and desire.
Your insignificant servant,
Bhakti Bhāgavatāmṛta Keśava Swami