Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept our humble obeisances at your lotus feet! All glories to your Divine Grace.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, on this glorious and auspicious day of your divine appearance, we wish to
express our deepest gratitude to you for what has become the foundation, substance, and ultimate
goal of our lives – the opportunity to study, explore, discuss, and distribute your books.
In the Bhagavad-gītā (4.38), Kṛṣṇa says: “In this world, there is nothing so sublime and pure
as transcendental knowledge.” Śrīla Prabhupāda, you transformed the spiritual sound of the
paramparā into the printed word, making it easily accessible to us. Reading your purports on the
Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Śrī Īśopaniṣad, and more than sixty other
books inspires and strengthens our faith.
By illuminating our lives with the light of knowledge, your books embody your mercy and
magnanimity. Out of deep compassion you wrote these books at night, when no one was with you
except Kṛṣṇa and His most intimate associates. You became the eastern horizon where the sun of
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam has risen, dispelling the darkness of Kali-yuga.
Your books are filled with the love that Lord Caitanya has brought, and they also embody the
desire of your spiritual master. Just as Śrīla Vyāsadeva compiled the Purāṇas to attract people
from all walks of life to transcendental knowledge, your books attract everyone, making the deep-
est, most elevated truths accessible. For every verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam you provide an exact
Sanskrit word-for-word translation, a literary translation, and illuminating purports which, like a
lens, focus and clarify the message of the previous paramparā teachers.
Your purports are tīrthas, sacred places where the streams of the highest philosophical teach-
ings converge, allowing us to bathe daily in transcendental wisdom. Your books are bhava-
auṣadha – the medicine to cure material existence – and the catalyst for renouncing futile material
ambitions. They offer shelter and support. They are a mirror reflecting the state of our own hearts.
They are not merely representations of the ideal of life but also a source of joyful, invigorating
strength that help us move toward that ideal.
Just as the Kumāras were drawn by the fragrance of tulasī leaves from the Lord’s feet, so the
liberating fragrance of knowledge from your books gives relief from the burning miseries that
surround us. Furthermore, the pain of separation from you, as well as the suffering of material
existence, is soothed by the experience of your presence in your books.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, we pray to you to develop a deep appreciation for your books, which are our
true friend, teacher, refuge, companion, treasure, salvation, good fortune, and solace.
In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.16), Sūta Gosvāmī declares:
śuśrūṣoḥ śraddadhānasya
vāsudeva-kathā-ruciḥ
syān mahat-sevayā viprāḥ
puṇya-tīrtha-niṣevaṇāt
We humbly hope that by serving you, a resident of the transcendental world free from any sin,
we may develop a taste for hearing the message of Vāsudeva. Your books extinguish the fever of
material life, halt the relentless march of time, and serve as both the ultimate goal and the very
essence of life itself. There is no greater joy than simply studying your books in the association of
your followers.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, you mercifully outlined a structured program for studying your books, guid-
ing us toward the highest perfection of life. In your letter to Aniruddha on February 4, 1969, you
wrote: “Our theological school will regularly teach our published books, such as Bhagavad-gita As
It Is, Srimad-Bhagavatam, Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Nectar of Devotion…. We wish to hold examina-
tions and award titles such as Bhakti-sastri, Bhakti-vaibhava, and Bhaktivedanta. The whole program
will continue for seven years.”
Following your desire, we have organized a course in our Academy for studying your books
according to the plan you approved. We are also actively engaged in translating your books into
Ukrainian. In your letter to Brahmānanda Dāsa on December 12, 1967, you wrote: “When one
book is published I think I have conquered an empire.”
Śrīla Prabhupāda, you are the true emperor, and we aspire to be your devoted assistants in your
most important service to your spiritual master, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī. The publication
of each book, each volume of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, is an eagerly awaited event not only for the
devotees of ISKCON but also for people from various backgrounds in Ukraine who long to meet
you through the pages of your books.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, your books are our true wealth. They are the treasure of our hearts, the light
of our lives, our ornaments, the source of transcendental taste, and the fulfillment of all desires.
They are the essence of all teachings, and they are so potent that they awaken devotion and allow
us to see things as they truly are. Your books are, in fact, the only true shelter.
With deep gratitude,
Your servants, the devotees of the New Navadvīpa community,
Kyiv, Ukraine

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