Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda!
In the blessed jubilee year of your divine appearance in this material world, please accept our humble obeisances in the dust of your gentle, wonderfully cooling lotus feet! All glories to Your Divine Grace!
We, your followers, have a unique opportunity to communicate with you through our attempts at devotional service through your vāṇī, making an effort to fulfill the spiritual instructions you’ve given in your books, numerous lectures, meetings, and walks with devotees.
Your humility and complete devotion to your spiritual master, your compassion and love for all living entities, as well as your infinite mercy allow us to try to develop the qualities necessary for cultivating true devotion to guru and Kṛṣṇa!
Inspiring the devotees through your example, you tirelessly spread the teachings of Lord Caitanya throughout the world in every city and village. Your every step frees this world from the consequences of billions of sins!
You have opened the practice of bhakti to the whole world, opening your heart and in an incomprehensible way, transmitting the bliss of your enlightened mind. When you saw the Western world, you turned to Kṛṣṇa and said, “You’ve brought me here and now I’m your marionette, so pull the strings. I will dance however You wish.” It was an amazing, fearless decision.
But you didn’t just say it – you did it. You’d been doing it throughout the years. You were a perfect instrument. Preaching intensively, going through the great pressure of writing books at night, you practically didn’t live for the body but were constantly in service to the mission.
You opened temples of Kṛṣṇa in many cities of many countries, including those where there was not a single devotee before you came. These temples are still embassies of the spiritual world.
Here in Kursk, we follow your instructions and continue the tradition of worshiping the Lord in our temple, holding Sunday programs and celebrating festivals. We invite guests for darshan of the Deities, chant the holy names together, and eat prasādam. All this is possible only because we know how important it was for you, dear Śrīla Prabhupāda! Let us always stay at your lotus feet, holding onto the hem of your dhoti and realizing our helplessness!
We ask for blessings to open our hearts so that they become as pure and beautiful as your huge heart, overflowing with the elixir of divine love in which each of us has found a place. Forever bound to you with bonds of love, we are eternally indebted to you!
We will always pray to cling to your lotus feet so that Kṛṣṇa may be pleased with our spiritual family!
Aspiring to become devotees, the eternal servants of your servants,
The devotees of ISKCON Kursk, Russia