Dear to-our-hearts Śrīla Prabhupāda!
Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Your Divine Grace!
My name is Gaura-siṁha Dāsa. I serve as president of the ISKCON temple in Krasnodar, in the South Russia Region. My wife, Dāmodara Rati Devī Dāsī, serves as the main pūjarī at this temple. Today, on the auspicious day of your Vyāsa-pūjā, allow us to address you on behalf of ourselves and all the devotees of our temple of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Śyāma and Śrī Gaurāṅga with respectful and grateful words.
By Your Divine Grace, the true reason for which remains a mystery to us, a very special idea one day entered our minds and hearts – to try to invite Śrī Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa into our lives and the spiritual life of our city, to build a beautiful, comfortable, and bright temple for Them, and to cultivate a beautiful garden with numerous kuñjas for Their pleasure. This inspiration came to us, as you know, from you personally in 2014 at the Krishna-Balaram temple in Vrindavan. It was then, standing before you in your Samādhi Mandir that we felt your blessing for this special service.
Undoubtedly, we made some efforts and performed certain austerities within our bodies and minds, as much as we could in this age of spiritual degradation, a time of discord and conflict. But the true driving force behind this internal and external process of building the temple was, of course, you, dear Śrīla Prabhupāda. It is precisely by the power of your grace and blessings, as well as the blessings of your disciples, that this truly miraculous establishment of the temple can be attributed. Thus, on April 10, 2022, on the sacred day of Rāmanavamī, the beautiful Deities of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Śyāma and Śrī Gaurāṅga were installed in this new temple.
Furthermore, it was only by your grace and blessings that we were given the opportunity to serve in this temple, despite lacking the necessary qualifications, having been born and raised in families with heavy karma, and especially in this age of Kali – an age of degradation and strife. This service at the temple has been going on for four years now, and each year it becomes more and more splendid. The atmosphere in the temple becomes increasingly spiritual and attracts many devotees and new people. We never cease to be amazed by this.
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, we feel that you have been with us all this time. We constantly feel your presence both in the temple’s altar room, where you are constantly present in the form of your deity, and in your books, which we regularly read and draw great inspiration from. We sense your presence through the love and cooperation of devotees, and we sense your presence when we reflect on the example of your life and all the incomprehensibly difficult obstacles you overcame in your desire to give people throughout the world this priceless gift of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
A few months after the opening of the temple, on the sacred day of your appearance, your deity was installed in the temple directly opposite Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Śyāma and Śrī Gaurāṅga. On that day, as I offered you words of glorification, I felt inspired to offer you our entire service and our lives as devoted servants of this temple. Then, completely unexpectedly, these words burst from my mouth. As it turns out, this same desire was in the hearts of many devotees serving in the temple, and from that time this offering has been repeated every day since: all the devotees in the temple pray to be instruments in your hands, offering you their service and lives. Thus, we can feel that you direct all service in the temple. Every day, we feel your mercy, your blessings, your love, and your acceptance of us into your spiritual family.
We sincerely thank you, dear Srila Prabhupada, for everything we see, hear, and feel. We thank you for this opportunity to be part of your spiritual family, for this opportunity to participate in this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, for the opportunity for spiritual development and service.
Please accept our service, our inspiration, our creativity, and our lives as an offering to you, and please bless us to reach true, pure, and unalloyed devotion in this life. Bless us to chant the mahā-mantra purely: Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare / Hare Rāma Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma Hare Hare. Bless us to understand the science of devotional service that You have given us in Your transcendental books. And bless us to render selfless and devoted service to Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Śyāma and Śrī Gaurāṅga!
Your humble servants,
Gaura-siṁha Dāsa, Dāmodara Rati Devī Dāsī,
and all the devotees of ISKCON Krasnodar