Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to you.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, you accomplished the magnificent task of delivering the nectar of Kṛṣṇa
consciousness in a remarkably short period to a humanity engulfed in darkness. You showed
the world the simple path of kṛṣṇa-bhakti. Through your conduct, you taught the lessons of
kṛṣṇa-bhakti.
We see the fulfillment of the prophecy made by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu through Your Divine
Grace. India, a land sanctified by the thoughts of saints, witnessed numerous invasions that led
to the decline of the culture and faith of the common people. The country was under foreign rule
when, by the will of God, you were born in India.
Initially, various paths to attain God were being preached in India and the world, excluding
kṛṣṇa-bhakti. However, the message of God was not reaching the common people in its pure form.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, you conveyed this pure message of God to the world and triggered a massive
spiritual revolution.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, you were nurtured in kṛṣṇa-bhakti from a young age. Your father desired for
you to become a devotee of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, so he taught you the lessons of kṛṣṇa-bhakti from
an early age. Similarly, Śrīla Prabhupāda, you established gurukulas to impart kṛṣṇa-bhakti to chil-
dren from a young age. Today, thousands of gurukulas worldwide are sowing the seeds of Kṛṣṇa
consciousness in young minds.
Initially Śrīla Prabhupāda, you wanted to participate in the Indian freedom struggle to free
India from foreign rule. You were influenced by Mahatma Gandhi’s principles of nonviolence and
Satyagraha. However, after receiving your guru’s orders, you undertook the monumental task of
freeing humanity from the clutches of māyā.
The year 1922 holds immense significance in human history, as it was the year you met your
guru, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura. You were previously undefeated, but you were
vanquished by your guru’s words, and this defeat turned out to be the greatest victory for
humanity.
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura prophesied that a Vaiṣṇava would be born who would spread the name
of Caitanya Mahāprabhu worldwide and create a buzz of harināma in the Western world. We are
witnessing the fulfillment of this prophecy. Today, the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra resounds across the
globe in millions of homes, temples, streets, and public meeting places.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, your writings are the greatest treasure for humanity. Your books are like bea-
cons guiding us on the path of kṛṣṇa-bhakti. Before you, Śrīla Prabhupāda, many had attempted
to spread the message, but none had clearly stated that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of God-
head. However, you explicitly conveyed this message, and your books have been widely accepted
by people worldwide. So far, nearly 500 million books have been distributed globally.
In the initial days, Śrīla Prabhupāda, you put immense effort into book writing and distribu-
tion. Not a single day passed when you didn’t write. This year, our Baramati center distributed
more than 13,000 books. It is our highest record till now.
Your instruction that no person within a 40-km radius of a temple should go hungry has been
a significant contribution to the well-being of many. Today, millions of people receive free kṛṣṇa-
prasādam. During the COVID-19 pandemic and other natural calamities, devotees serve as many
people as possible, following your instructions.
At the age of five you began the Jagannātha Ratha-yātrā at your home. You were fascinated by
Jagannātha Purī from a young age. After starting your preaching mission in the Western world,
Śrīla Prabhupāda, you were the first to take Jagannātha, Baladeva, and Subhadrā Mahārāṇī out
of India. Today, the Ratha-yātrā is celebrated on a massive scale in many countries, and millions
have received the mercy of Lord Jagannātha. We also started holding Ratha-yātrā in Baramati,
and this has created a joyful atmosphere among the devotees. As in the verse guru-mukha-padma-
vākya, Śrīla Prabhupāda, you accomplished this task with the blessings of your guru and Lord
Kṛṣṇa.
To spread kṛṣṇa-bhakti you had to navigate extremely challenging times. You didn’t receive sig-
nificant cooperation from Indian society, the government, materialistic life, or your godbrothers.
Even before traveling to America, you faced struggles, which continued after your arrival there.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, initially you showered your mercy on those rejected by society – the hippies,
who had only one rule: break all the rules. You educated these young people, who came from the
lower rungs of society, in the scriptures.
Lord Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā that out of thousands of people, hardly one can under-
stand Him, and out of them, only one rare soul can understand Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality
of Godhead. But by your mercy, millions of people today have accepted Śrī Kṛṣṇa as their every-
thing. We repeatedly offer our humble obeisances at your lotus feet.
Your servants at ISKCON Baramati

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