Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept our humble obeisances at your lotus feet.
nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāminn iti nāmine
namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe
nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe
kali-kālera dharma — kṛṣṇa-nāma-saṅkīrtana
kṛṣṇa-śakti vinā nahe tāra pravartana
The fundamental religious system in the Age of Kali is the chanting of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa. Unless empowered by Kṛṣṇa, one cannot propagate the saṅkīrtana movement.
This verse is a direct reference to you, Śrīla Prabhupāda, for being the kṛṣṇa-śakti, a saktyavesa- avatāra, the nāma-saṅkīrtana ācārya. For who else has spread Lord Caitanya’s saṅkīrtana movement far and wide?
We can just imagine the reactions of your godbrothers and others when they found out that you had gone to America to preach. So many things must have crossed their minds. They surely had concerns for the perils and challenges associated with such an undertaking.
At 69, people retire. Hardly anyone would start anything at that age – especially not a worldwide movement like ISKCON.
Traveling to America with only 40 rupees (which was around 8 US dollars at the time) is unheard of. This journey on the Jaladuta, a cargo ship, was not an overnight flight; it would take 37 days to reach Boston from India. Although you did not know anyone in America, Kṛṣṇa arranged for you to meet Mr. Prasad Agarwal from Agra. Since his son was living in Butler, Pennsylvania, at the time, Mr. Agarwal requested him to send you a letter of sponsorship to assist you in your preaching mission.
Where would you live? The Agarwal’s had limited space in their home with a family of four. Being in a foreign land, alone, what could you attempt to accomplish? Would there be anyone to claim your body if you suddenly passed away?
In the early ’30s, efforts were made to preach in England, with little if any result. Therefore, few of your godbrothers made attempts to preach outside India. Besides, not one Englishmen had shown any interest for Kṛṣṇa consciousness in two hundred years of British presence in India. Why would Americans be any different?
Sumati Morarji, director of the biggest cargo shipping company in India, was apprehensive. To allow your passage on the Jaladuta would be a voyage to death. She did not want this on her conscience. Your conviction was paramount in changing her mind.
It was a difficult journey. We cannot imagine what it was like for you to experience, both the seasickness and the two heart attacks. You wrote in your diary: “I do not know how I was saved. Struggling between life and death.”
During the height of your health crisis, you had a vision of Lord Kṛṣṇa rowing the boat, which gave you the strength to continue. In New York, a third heart attack and some paralysis forced you to return to India. Your young students were shocked, not knowing if you would ever be able to come back. Somehow, in India, your health improved. Time was not on your side, however, making your mission more pressing to fulfill. Reflecting on all this we understand how your determination and the compassion for us was always so much greater than any personal physical considerations.
ya idaṁ paramaṁ guhyaṁ mad-bhakteṣv abhidhāsyati
bhaktiṁ mayi parāṁ kṛtvā mām evaiṣyaty asaṁśayaḥ
For one who explains this supreme secret to the devotees, pure devotional service is guaranteed, and at the end he will come back to Me.
na ca tasmān manuṣyeṣu kaścin me priya-kṛttamaḥ
bhavitā na ca me tasmād anyaḥ priya-taro bhuvi
There is no servant in this world more dear to Me than he, nor will there ever be one more dear.
As Bali Mahārāja became one of the mahājanas by surrendering everything to Vāmanadeva, so the risks you took, Śrīla Prabhupāda, leaving Vrindaban, India, to preach on the Bowery – skid row of New York City at the time – is quite astonishing. To travel the globe fourteen times over, making thousands of devotees, we have to declare you to be the thirteenth mahājana, (mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ) for you have shown the path of kṛṣṇa-bhakti for all the world to follow.
In the Gītā there is a statement by Arjuna to Lord Kṛṣṇa that we feel also applies to you, Śrīla Prabhupāda, since you are the living Bhāgavatam:
arjuna uvāca
sthāne hṛṣīkeśa tava prakīrtyā jagat prahṛṣyaty anurajyate ca
rakṣāṁsi bhītāni diśo drainait sarve namasyanti ca siddha-saṅghāḥ
Arjuna said: O master of the senses, the world becomes joyful upon hearing Your name, and thus everyone becomes attached to You. Although the perfected beings offer You their respectful homage, the demons are afraid, and they flee here and there. All this is rightly done.
We are lost for words to express our deepest gratitude for your gift of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. On this most auspicious day of your appearance, we pray to get a glance of your mercy, for that is all we are begging for.
Your servants at the Montreal temple
(written by Lakṣmīnātha Dāsa)