Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept my obeisances. All glories to Your Divine Grace!
nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāmin iti nāmine
namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe
nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe
Recently, your disciple Swarup Dāsa, posted on social media that he often asks himself how it’s
possible to express and show his gratitude for what you have given him. He wrote that you’ve
“taken me from the darkness of ignorance to the light of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, from suffering,
misery, and hopelessness to a life of joy and happiness, from bondage to freedom.” His words
struck a chord in my heart, as he had eloquently expressed exactly what I was thinking.
Swarup Prabhu goes on to say that he found his answer in your purport to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
4.22.47: “A joker’s activities simply arouse laughter, and a person who tries to repay the spiritual
master or teacher of the transcendental message of Kṛṣṇa becomes a laughingstock just like a
joker because it is not possible to repay such a debt. The best friend and benefactor of all people
is one who awakens humanity to its original Kṛṣṇa consciousness.”
Indeed! You, Śrīla Prabhupāda, are certainly that “best friend and benefactor” saving suffering
humanity. Though humanity in general has not yet understood that, and despite various attempts
of the demons to impede Lord Caitanya’s mission, your teachings continue to spread like wildfire,
and huge numbers of sincere souls continue to join!
When you were physically with us here, you seemed to me, in your lectures and purports, to
closely identify with Prahlāda Mahārāja, who famously said that he was concerned only “for the
fools and rascals who are making elaborate plans for material happiness.” (Bhāgavatam 7.9.43)
That seems to be also your only concern, and in fact, anyone who is not a devotee of Kṛṣṇa cer-
tainly is an unfortunate fool or rascal. You taught us, therefore, that our duty as Vaiṣṇavas is to try
to make the unfortunate fortunate by bringing them closer to Kṛṣṇa. Without Kṛṣṇa, there’s no
consciousness, as without the sun, there’s no shining.
Though we, your disciples and followers, are the “laughingstock” you mentioned who are
trying to repay our colossal debt to you, nonetheless we try, “hope against hope,” to do something
useful to direct the misled human beings off the highway to hell and onto the path back home,
back to Godhead.
Our tremendous thanks to you, Śrīla Prabhupāda, for giving us, unqualified though we are,
this ecstatic opportunity to try to help you. All glories to you!
Your grateful servant and disciple,
Mahādyuti Swami