Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
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
Please accept our most humble obeisances in the dust of your lotus feet.
In a 1974 letter to Hridayananda dāsa Goswami you wrote: “Please print as many books as pos-
sible, this is my real pleasure. By printing these books of our Krishna Conscious philosophy in so
many different languages we can actually inject our movement into the masses of persons all over
the world, especially there in the western countries, and we can literally turn whole nations into
Krishna Conscious nations.”
In another letter in 1974 you wrote: “Actually these books are the foundation stone of our
movement. Whatever we are is resting on these books. Read them and distribute them. This
should be our motto.”
By your insistence, in your manifest presence hundreds of thousands of books were printed
and distributed. In the form of those books, your incalculable mercy on the masses of people all
over the world continues to have an indelible impact.
Despite your obvious personal effort to translate and publish these transcendental books, you
gave all credit to your spiritual master. In the purport to Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi 12.8 you wrote:
We took up the mission of Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura and Bhaktivinoda
Ṭhākura to preach the cult of Caitanya Mahāprabhu all over the world, under the
protection of all the predecessor ācāryas, and we find that our humble attempt has
been successful. We followed the principles especially explained by Śrīla Viśvanātha
Cakravartī Ṭhākura in his commentary on the Bhagavad-gītā verse beginning
vyavasāyātmikā buddhir ekeha kuru-nandana. According to this instruction of Viśvanātha
Cakravartī Ṭhākura, it is the duty of a disciple to follow strictly the orders of his spiri-
tual master. The secret of success in advancement in spiritual life is the firm faith of the
disciple in the orders of his spiritual master.
In the same purport you wrote: “Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura wanted to print as
many books as possible and distribute them all over the world. We have tried our best in this
connection, and we are getting results beyond our expectations.”
On this occasion we pray that you bless us so that our efforts to keep your book distributors
in North America amply supplied with your books may be successful and pleasing to Your Divine
Grace.
Your servants at the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust offices in North America