Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept my humble obeisances in the dust of your lotus feet.
oṁ ajñāna-timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākayā
cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ
It is always difficult not only to find words but also to keep the mind calm and focused in sincere
remembrance of you. It is often appropriate, when remembering you, to reflect on what would
have happened to this world if you had not graciously appeared and traveled from India to
America.
In the light of the ideas of your teachings, the daily efforts of those who want to enjoy this
world with the dogma of a concept of human happiness focused only on the duration of one
human life are a sad demonstration of their perverted values.
Every intelligent person who understands the value of your message, which you brought like
a gem to a market of ordinary stones, must immediately consider, if not glow with joy, that there
is a much better world and way of thinking, thanks to which we are not forced to suffer under
the pressure of the threefold miseries of ādhidaivika, ādhyātmikā, and ādhibhautika (Bhāgavatam
5.14.25). No one escapes this suffering, and each of us has to bear it day by day, without knowing
how much we will suffer. The temples you established and the disciples you initiated are like oases
of peace, tranquility, and transcendental happiness.
The more I identify, after years of devotional service, with the teachings you left us, the more
I realize how important the change is that must take place in each of us so that we can at least,
to some extent, teach others who are still searching and do not have the answers to their life’s
problems.
This change is important also so that we can fulfill among ourselves the vision you carefully
instilled in ISKCON. The vision is clear only when we fully understand it, and this can only be
achieved by sincerely following your teachings.
The power of taking refuge at your lotus feet also allows sufferers to see their suffering in a dif-
ferent context and sequence of events. You have always been there for all who have questions and
are searching in this lost world, and you have had the incredible understanding and patience of a
loving father who endlessly explains to his children so that they understand and mature.
We want to be happy, but if we do not surrender to what you have taught us, what hope is
there? Surrender means constantly realizing that our desires and actions are not independent.
Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura writes in one of his songs in Śaraṇāgati:
mānasa, deha, geha, yo kichu mora
arpiluṅ tuyā pade nanda-kiśora!
If we are serious about Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then we must surrender, as you taught us by your
own example. We must surrender with everything we have – mind, body, home, and everything
else.
Now, as I conclude this description of celebrating your grace, I realize how easy it is to lose the
right direction by the right example when we are not fully determined and prepared. If we forget
you, we are lost.
An insignificant servant of your servants,
Īśvara Candra Dāsa, on behalf of ISKCON Goloka
Bratislava, Slovakia