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 my most humble and respectful obeisances in the dust emanating from your lotus
feet. All glories to you! All glories to your beloved guru, the lion among Vaiṣṇava sannyāsīs!
In this year, 2025 of the Christian era, I am trying to write a few words of gratitude for your
incredible time on this planet.
Here, in the southern cone zone of the world, in the countries most distant from Vrindaban,
your glories are sung and will undoubtedly continue to be sung. It is unthinkable that at your
advanced age you could have done what you did. You gave to this sad and desolate world the
most valuable gift that could have been given in its entire seemingly timeless existence: you gave
humanity the maximum benefit, and you gave it for nothing. Our limited efforts to spread your
message clearly show us that your service was not an ordinary preaching activity. No.
You stated in your books that for a preacher to be successful in Lord Caitanya’s mission, he
must be empowered by Him. On the other hand, you also state that a person empowered by
Kṛṣṇa is technically known as a śaktyāveṣa-avatāra.
The years go by and your persona and mission grow. You continue to demonstrate that you are
not just another Vaiṣṇava saint. In the book Kṛṣṇa-bhajanāmṛta, by Narahari Sarkara, the posi-
tion of a Vaiṣṇava with extraordinary qualities like yours is revealed: “It is certainly true that all
Vaiṣṇavas are on the same transcendental platform. However, among Vaiṣṇavas there may be a dif-
ference in the spiritual potency they possess.” The author further states: “Although all the water of
Mother Ganges is sacred, there are waves of different sizes in it.” Furthermore, you yourself state
in your Caitany-caritāmṛta (Madhya 11.103) purport: “Even though one may celebrate himself as a
learned follower of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and even though one may attempt to preach the
holy name of the Lord all over the world, if he is not favored by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu he will
find fault with the pure devotee and will not be able to understand how a preacher is empowered
by Lord Caitanya.” And you’ve taught us that the Vaiṣṇava is devoted to the Supreme Personality
of Godhead, and therefore his words are charged with spiritual potency. Ultimately, the potency
or spiritual strength of a Vaiṣṇava lies in his ability to convert others into Vaiṣṇavas through his
words and example.
You are great, Śrīla Prabhupāda. You converted such degraded people into perfect ladies
and gentlemen, and even today you continue to do so through your books, inconceivably, even
though you are not physically present.
The words that express the science of devotional service in your books and instructions are the
greatest legacy ever given to humanity. The world’s masses are eager to have one true religion,
and you simply expounded what that true religion is: that which teaches one to love God. Incred-
ibly, each of the most secret and confidential aspects of the loving relationship of the self with the
Superself has been presented in your books in such an accessible way that even a small child can
understand it.
You are great, and your sacred person, who gives us association through your books, grows
more and more important to us every day. Your books are no different from Kṛṣṇa, no different
from you. They protect us from obstacles on the path back home. I always remember how in
1998, in Jagannatha Puri, we were visiting the Gambhira, and we heard some Vaiṣṇavas singing a
mantra that we then started to sing alongside them: śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu nityānanda hare kṛṣṇa
hare rāma śrī rādhe-govinda. Upon entering our room, we resumed our reading of the Caitanya-
caritāmṛta. Suddenly and amazingly, you instructed us in one of your purports: “Sometimes they
sing bhaja nitāi gaura rādhe śyāma hare kṛṣṇa hare rāma or śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda hare
kṛṣṇa hare rāma śrī-rādhe govinda. Actually, however, one should chant the names of the full Pañca-
tattva (śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda) and
then the sixteen words Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare / Hare Rāma, Hare
Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. But these unscrupulous, less intelligent men confuse the entire
process. Of course, since they are also devotees they can express their feelings in that way, but the
method prescribed by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s pure devotees is to first chant the full Pañca-tat-
tva mantra and then chant the mahā-mantra – Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare /
Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare.” (Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 7.4, purport)
You are alive in your divine instructions, and we are fortunate because if we follow those
instructions, we will always live with you.
I think the future of ISKCON sometimes looks a bit uncertain. Great changes have occurred
in the way your followers live the Kṛṣṇa conscious life. In some countries, preaching is extremely
successful, while in others, practitioners barely gather to glorify the holy names of the Lord. Some
worldly ideologies have entered our society to a certain extent, and this is because we, your fol-
lowers, sometimes forget to study your most important legacy in depth: your books.
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, on this new anniversary, I offer you my intention to continue spreading
the message of Śrī Caitanya and my intention to help Vaiṣṇavas live full and happy lives in Kṛṣṇa
consciousness. I am uncomfortable seeing how devotees sometimes live a life of sadness despite
having this great gift of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, I hope you take this promise to keep trying as a small demonstration of
gratitude. I am convinced that when your message is widely distributed, the world will undergo a
profound shift toward real life. There’s no way it won’t. Your words are more than true, and they will
make a profound difference in the hearts of the world when this message penetrates their hearts.
You are truly great, and your love shines, illuminating, through your instructions, the unfor-
tunate souls who find themselves in this world, where suffering is their natural condition due to
ignorance. Kalau naṣṭa-dṛśām eṣa purāṇārko ’dhunoditaḥ – “Persons who have lost their vision due
to the dense darkness of ignorance in the Age of Kali shall get light from this Purāṇa.” You turn
misfortune into auspiciousness by giving, from your heart, the light of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
You are great because pure love of God is not cheap; in fact, even the great so-called
spiritualists of this world are unaware of this message. Yet you have made it accessible to anyone
for the price of just a drop of faith.
Your write in your introduction to the Caitanya-caritāmṛta: “Strictly speaking, anyone who
accepts the existence of God is situated in devotional service. To acknowledge that God is great is
something, but not much. Lord Caitanya, preaching as an ācārya, a great teacher, taught that we can
enter into a relationship with God and actually become God’s friend, parent or lover.… Through
Lord Caitanya we can become friends with Kṛṣṇa, and there will be no limit to this friendship. We
can become friends of Kṛṣṇa not in awe or adoration but in complete freedom…. Usually God is
seen as the almighty father who supplies the demands of His sons. The great devotees, however,
sometimes treat God as a son in their execution of devotional service. The son demands, and the
father and mother supply, and in supplying Kṛṣṇa the devotee becomes like a father or mother.
Instead of taking from God, we give to God. It was in this relationship that Kṛṣṇa’s mother, Yaśodā,
told the Lord, ‘Here, eat this or You’ll die. Eat nicely.’ In this way Kṛṣṇa, although the proprietor
of everything, depends on the mercy of His devotee. This is a uniquely high level of friendship, in
which the devotee actually believes himself to be the father or mother of Kṛṣṇa.”
All the souls in this world seek solace, and you gave them much more than that – you gave
them a gift beyond compare. You are not just another saint. Sometimes we become used to living
by your instructions and fail to appreciate how great you are. Just as Śrī Kṛṣṇa covers his associ-
ates with his yogamāyā potency so that they may live without the distance that reverential love
entails, we sometimes cover ourselves and forget the majesty of your instructions. We ask your
forgiveness, Śrīla Prabhupāda, but you know of our conditioning, which is the inability to under-
stand that the greatest, incredible, and sublime mercy of Lord Caitanya is manifested through you
and by your desire to the most degraded among humankind in this Kali-yuga.
You are great, Śrīla Prabhupāda. Your determination to serve is inconceivable. Occasionally,
we give up our service due to physical ailments. However, one of your beloved sons revealed to
us that you once had a stroke, which paralyzed your left side. You kept this a secret and escaped
from the hospital to continue your service despite your condition. You are great. You are our
example. Our guide. Our inspiration.
My spiritual master explained to me that at the beginning of his spiritual life, when he first
went to India, he thought he would meet many “Śrīla Prabhupādas.” But he realized that you
were unique, someone great, even there, in that land of saints. Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, you are a
saint among saints.
You are great, Śrīla Prabhupāda, and you are our warmest and most beautiful refuge. Forgive
us if we cannot see or appreciate this properly. This sometimes embarrasses us. Let us enter that
beautiful home that Kṛṣṇa has provided for you in the spiritual world – the house into which all
your children, grandchildren, and other descendants will enter. In the same way that children
acquire their physical characteristics from their parents, and these traits identify them within the
lineage as heirs, we who follow you acquire your transcendental spiritual traits. This qualifies us to
belong to your transcendental spiritual family, in which we are protected and happy.
O Śrī Kṛṣṇa, may we never accept any master other than Śrīla Prabhupāda! There is no one
more merciful than him. He gave us absolutely everything. What more could we ask for?
I know that you, dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, await us with open arms in that beautiful home in the
spiritual world. I know that you anxiously await us, because your love is unconditional. I know
that you joyfully await us, just as a father, even late at night, awaits his son so he can embrace him
upon his return home after a long journey. Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, we prostrate before you thou-
sands and millions of times because you are worthy to receive all these many obeisances.
Your servant grandson,
Baladeva Dāsa