nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate jayapatāka svāmin iti nāmine
nama ācaryapādāya nitāi-kṛpā-pradāyine
gaura-kathā-dhāma-dāya nagara-grāma-tāriṇe
I offer my respectful obeisances unto His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, who is very dear to Lord Kṛṣṇa, having taken shelter at His lotus feet.
Our respectful obeisances are unto you, O spiritual master, servant of Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura. You are kindly preaching the message of Lord Caitanyadeva and delivering the Western countries, which are filled with impersonalism and voidism.
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
This year we celebrate the 150th anniversary of the appearance of Your spiritual master, Oṁ Viṣṇupāda Paramahaṁsa 108 Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, our revered spiritual grandfather and great-grandfather. Recently, I have read Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura’s essay entitled “The Ācārya’s unequalled and Unsurpassed Greatness,” published in Volume Three of Śrī Bhaktisiddhānta Vaibhava. A brilliant, well researched, comprehensive and authorized biography of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, Śrī Bhaktisiddhānta Vaibhava was compiled and edited by His Holiness Bhakti Vikāśa Swami and published in 2009 in three volumes. The Ācārya’s unequalled and Unsurpassed Greatness was originally written in Bengali and was published in 1921 in Calcutta, in the Gauḍīya magazine.
On the occasion of the 128th anniversary of the appearance of Your Divine Grace, with the kind permission of His Holiness Bhakti Vikāśa Swami and with the blessings of Your disciples, grand-disciples, and followers in the Czech Republic, for Your pleasure, and for the pleasure of all Vaiṣṇava devotees of the Lord, I herewith offer You a short excerpt:
“…Increasing enthusiasm for removing millions of thorns on the path of bhakti is always seen in the character of an ācārya. Those who are selfish, desirous of their own happiness, overcome by sloth, or afraid of adharmika people, withdraw due to the shouting of nondevotees. Or they think: when I require my own self-interest, prestige, or personal happiness, why should I have to endure various conflicts by acting for others’ benefit? What is the necessity of hearing abuse from the nondevotees? Another class of persons think that by becoming nirjana-bhajanānandīs they will suffer none of this trouble and will not have to hear the reproaches of others. But para-duḥkha-duḥkhī ācārya is not selfish, idle, or simply desirous of his personal happiness. He is not afraid of others. He says:
Even if hundreds and hundreds of people, or even godless people of the innumerable universes assemble and in one voice shout at me – I will accept it and loudly declare the absolute truth. If the topics of reality enter the ears of even a single person, among millions of people from millions of universes who are completely averse to Kṛṣṇa, and thus remove the contamination of the cheating propensity from his heart, then I will understand that I have been able to serve Mahāprabhu’s mano-bhiṣṭa… Not everyone will listen to the discussion about the truth. It is sufficient if even among a crore of jīvas we can find one who is interested in hearing the truth. That jīva can become situated in the truth and preach the truth to others. Probably this is why Ṭhākura Bhaktivinoda said: A preacher effects more benefit for the world than all those who become indifferent to preaching work because of their preferring to remain in the bliss of their own bhajana…”
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda. You are an unequalled and unsurpassed ācārya, founder-ācārya of ISKCON and a foremost preacher of the truth. From 1965 to 1977, you preached tirelessly, travelling around the world in your vapu form. In your vāṇī form, you are currently preaching through your books and through your faithful preachers – disciples and grand-disciples – who distribute your book in the millions worldwide, as well as through more than 2,000 hours of recorded lectures, conversations and morning walks available on www. Prabhupadavani.org. Through your preaching, to all of us, the truth of daivī-varṇāśrama-dharma, you have saved us from the demoniac, materialistic civilization, which caused the worst environmental crisis in recorded history. Hopefully, we understood this truth and will be able to establish daivī varṇāśrama-dharma at all our farms and Temples around the world.
We are most fortunate that Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura has empowered You to preach, making jīvas interested in hearing the truth, and empowering them to preach the truth to others.
Your humble disciples and grand disciples in the Czech Republic,
(Written by Jaya Gurudeva dāsa)