Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept the humble obeisances, deep gratitude, respect, and love from the devotees of the Kazan ISKCON community.
Thanks to you, our life has gained meaning, colors, taste, and a long-awaited joy. You came into this world and brought love and devotion to Kṛṣṇa in words, sound, and a way of life, and thus saved us, giving us new life.
Your books are like air to us. Breathing them in, we are inspired to serve. Through Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and all your other works, we have found answers to the most intimate questions, learned to think, reflect, and awaken the mind in order to live according to the laws of God. There are no analogs to these books, and it is only by your grace that we have been able to become acquainted with Kṛṣṇa, His abode, and our eternal nature as integral parts of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
You have given us a chance for meaningful, pure relationships – with guru, Kṛṣṇa, and those who follow the same path. Loneliness in the crowd was replaced by a sense of belonging to a great family of devotees, united by one goal: to return home, back to Godhead. You have shown us a taste of spiritual life, which includes joyful chanting, kirtans, prasādam, and sincere communication, and you taught us that renunciation without love is suffering, and love without rules is chaos.
We are grateful to you for being patient with our failures and for lifting us up again and again through strict but compassionate guidance. Knowing that you look at us through your books and the words of your followers, we gain the strength to continue the path, purify ourselves, become more honest, sincere, attentive, benevolent, and selfless. Thanks to you, we are learning to interact with each person as an eternal person, an inseparable part of Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
You have given us a priceless jewel – the path of happiness to Kṛṣṇa, pure devotional service, which Lord Caitanya reveals to us all by your grace. Since our contact with the Vaiṣṇavas and Kṛṣṇa consciousness, our vision of the world has completely changed: we have learned about the spiritual world, about Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, about our true position and what we really should do in this world. You have settled in our hearts, and as long as we are alive, we will remember with gratitude the precious gift that you gave us.
Thank you for the fact that every day our fears go away, even those we did not realize we had. We are no longer afraid of a lonely and empty old age because there is always service in your family – live and online, external and internal – and you can stay engaged in your mission until your last breath. Thanks to your grace, we are not living someone else’s life, but gradually learning to live the life that really leads to the lotus feet of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava.
We are eternally indebted to you, our dear teacher. To the best of our ability, we will continue to serve your mission, distribute your books, chant the holy name, support each other, and follow the path you have paved for us. We hope that by following your instructions, we will meet you and Kṛṣṇa again one day.
Your humble servants,
The devotees of ISKCON Kazan