Dear and infinitely merciful Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept our humble obeisances from every member of the Chelyabinsk yātrā.
You are the perfect servant of the servant of the servant of Kṛṣṇa. You are not an abstract ideal, but a real example of a Vaiṣṇava who, with every breath, in every line, and in every decision has fulfilled the will of his gurudeva, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, the will of the paramparā, and the will of the Supreme Lord Himself. You never followed a formula. In your letters, meetings, and teachings you had a keen sense of timing, place, and circumstance. You found the unique key to each person’s heart, supporting one with gentle words, awakening another with strict guidance, and guiding a third through the patient repetition of the same truth.
But beneath this remarkable flexibility and personal warmth, there was an unwavering, diamondlike loyalty to your spiritual teacher’s mission. You showed us that true leadership is not about personal power but about spiritually powerful, selfless, impeccable service. We see in you not just a great ācārya but an ideal example of a Vaiṣṇava who has transformed his life into a bridge between the will of gurudeva and the real conditions of the material world.
In this year, 2026, we offer you the fruits of our humble service and our inner work on ourselves, fully aware that you are their true owner and inspiration. By your grace, our yātrā is gradually flourishing. We are raising the standards of Deity worship, and we are learning to treat arcana not as a ritual but as a living experience. Slowly but surely, we are transforming from a small community into a well-coordinated spiritual society, where every aspect is working in harmony. Daily worship is a regular occurrence, and every Wednesday devotees gather to sing kirtans that fill the city with the sound of the holy names. There are ongoing training courses, a Sunday program, and harināmas have become a regular occurrence not only in our city but also throughout the region.
We are doing a lot of work to interact with the city administration. We receive monthly visits from guests and preachers from other regions, enriching our understanding of the śāstras and our mood of service. Every day we read Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam together, and this joint immersion in the transcendental pastimes of the Lord helps to develop our unity. The number of devotees is growing, and the responsibility and inner maturity of each one is increasing. New young, active leaders and preachers are emerging.
We have started building our own temple and are setting up a dairy farm. But we look at all this without pride. It is not our merit. It is your energy flowing through our hands, your will clothed in our capabilities. There were moments when resources, both financial and human, were running out, when fatigue accumulated and our hands literally fell. Several times there was a temptation to stop, to curtail activity, to say: “We have done everything we could.” But in those moments, we remembered how, alone in a foreign country, with no resources or support, you carried the weight of a global mission on your shoulders, relying only on the guidance of your gurudeva. This memory became our oxygen. It transformed our fatigue into determination and our doubts into humble faith. We understand that everything that has grown over the past year is rightfully yours. We are merely the tools, and you have allowed us to be used.
Please accept our deepest gratitude from the very depths of our hearts. You guide us not only through books and lectures but through the very heartbeat of our daily ministry. In moments of acute resource scarcity, when it seemed that the next step was impossible, you provided an invisible shoulder to lean on, guiding the right people, opening up unexpected opportunities, or simply granting an inner silence that made it clear: “Keep going.”
You protected us from the hidden pride that can grow even on spiritual soil, provided us with the wisdom to prioritize, and taught us to see each obstacle as a lesson rather than a punishment. We look into the darkest and brightest corners of our minds and find one constant truth: you are always there for us. Your presence does not depend on distance or communication format. You do not require us to perform superhuman feats or provide flawless reports. What brings you true joy is our growth. It is not the external glamor that matters, but the inner maturity. It is not the number of programs we have completed but the quality of our spirits. It is our sincerity, both when we fall and when we rise. Our honest work on ourselves comes when we admit our weaknesses but do not allow them to break our desire to serve. You rejoice when we learn to listen to one another, when we put the care of the devotees and faith in the holy name above all else, when we can take a hit, when we cooperate based on your wisdom rather than our own calculations. For this, we are eternally grateful.
You have created a perfect home for the entire world, where anyone can enter, but only by serving the Lord and cooperating. You left us clear instructions: “Your love for me will manifest itself in how you will cooperate with one another.” We will actively attract new people, honestly prioritize based on real opportunities, protect and increase the faith of the devotees. We will begin to build transparent self-government mechanisms, develop leadership skills, delegate authority, and teach one another to trust.
May we be blessed to develop the ability to see the will of Kṛṣṇa in every event – success and failure, open door and closed door, support and challenge. Give us the strength to truly cooperate, without fighting or envying others’ successes, with the single intention of serving your mission. Help us gain spiritual purity, maturity, and the unwavering faith with which you yourself set foot on the land of the West. Please strengthen our desire to serve, making it deeper and more resilient to external circumstances. Give us the wisdom to distinguish between inspiration and vanity, and between diligence and fussiness. Let our sādhana become a solid foundation for our service rather than an accessory to it.
And we, your humble servants, dare to offer you a wish that can only come from the position of a disciple who knows his place at the feet of his master: may your mission expand not in spite of our weaknesses but through them, transforming our frailty into an instrument of your mercy. May every devotee in our yātrā become a worthy blade of grass in the path of your service, ready to bear any burden for the sake of the glory of the holy names. May your instructions be conveyed without distortion through our lips, and may our hands be a natural extension of your will. Grant us eternal, unwavering shelter at your lotus feet so that we may serve Kṛṣṇa by serving you and your representatives. May we never stray from the path you have paved for us. May our yātrā grow not only in quantity but also in the quality of our devotion. May your Vyāsa-pūjā become for us not just a date on the calendar but an annual renewal of our vow to serve in the paramparā, humbly and joyfully, always.
Please accept our obeisances in the dust of your lotus feet,
Your śikṣā disciples at ISKCON Chelyabinsk