Asia-Eurasia, Homages ISKCON Centers, VP2026
Our dearest Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept our most humble obeisances at your divine lotus feet. All glories to Your Divine Grace.
On this most auspicious occasion of your 130th Vyāsa-pūjā, we, your insignificant servants at ISKCON Pandharpur, gather with hearts filled with gratitude to offer our humble homage unto your lotus feet. By your causeless mercy, we are able to engage in your divine mission, and it is only by your inspiration that even our smallest efforts bear fruit.
With great joy and humility, we present a brief report of your mission’s progress in the holy land of Śrī Pandharpur Dhāma.
Transcendental book distribution: During this year’s marathon, your dedicated devotees distributed 18,259 transcendental books, along with two complete sets of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Your vāṇī continues to transform lives, illuminating countless hearts with Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Bhūvaikuṇṭha temple construction: The construction of the grand ISKCON Bhūvaikuṇṭha Pandharpur temple is steadily progressing by your blessings. We are pleased to report that the ground floor has now been completed, marking a significant milestone in manifesting this divine project. For the promotion of Śrīdhāma Pandharpur, and especially the Bhūvaikuṇṭha temple project, we hosted a convention of press reporters from Maharashtra State – counting around 1,200 reporters.
Bhūvaikuṇṭha Sevā Nidhi (BSN): To expand participation in your mission, we have launched the Bhūvaikuṇṭha Sevā Nidhi scheme, encouraging mass involvement through small hundi collections, allowing everyone to render service according to their capacity.
Chandrabhaga guest house development: By your mercy, this facility has expanded significantly and now accommodates 110 rooms, along with enhanced service quality, offering devotees a peaceful and spiritually uplifting stay. Also, we were successful in getting drainage and the road sanctioned by the government, and the work is now almost completed.
Jagannath mandir guest house: Additional rooms have been added, bringing the total to eleven rooms, further supporting the growing number of visiting devotees.
A flourishing brahmacārī ashram: Our ashram is now home to more than fifty sincere brahmacārīs, who are dedicated to a life of discipline, study, and devotional service, strengthening the spiritual backbone of the temple.
Daily harināma-saṅkīrtana: Devotees go out for harināma-saṅkīrtana daily at various places to distribute the choicest gift of hari-nāma to countless souls. Also, all brahmacārīs come together and read your books.
New bhakta training: We are blessed to have six new devotees undergoing structured training, preparing them for a life of committed devotional service under your shelter.
Youth preaching expansion: Along with ongoing youth initiatives, we have now started preaching at MIT Alandi, reaching new young minds and inspiring them in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Congregation preaching growth: To bring devotees closer to the temple and enhance their engagement, several new nāma-haṭṭa (satsang) centers have been established in nearby areas, including Degaon, Bhose, Takali, Manisha Nagar, and Akluj, strengthening the local devotional community.
These offerings are but a tiny attempt to serve your unlimited mission, Śrīla Prabhupāda. Every step forward is a reflection of your mercy and vision, and we remain ever dependent on your guidance.
On this sacred day of your Vyāsa-pūjā, we sincerely pray that we may continue to serve your instructions with sincerity, unity, and determination. May we always remain instruments in your hands, dedicated to spreading the holy names and teachings of Śrī Kṛṣṇa to every town and village. Jaya Śrīla Prabhupāda!
Your insignificant servants at ISKCON Pandharpur
Asia-Eurasia, Homages ISKCON Centers, VP2026
Most worshipable Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept our most humble obeisances unto the dust of your divine lotus feet.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, your divine vision and prediction about Panihati are gradually manifesting before our eyes. You mercifully said that the ISKCON center in Panihati would become a very important center, because it is connected to the waterways. Today, we are witnessing how your words are proving true by your causeless mercy.
Devotees from all parts of India and many countries across the world are coming to Panihati to receive the blessings of this sacred dhāma. As the glories of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Lord Nityānanda Prabhu’s transcendental pastimes in Panihati are spreading everywhere, more and more devotees are becoming attracted to visit this holy place.
Many exalted GBC gurus and ISKCON sannyāsīs are frequently visiting Panihati and showering their blessings upon the temple and its devotees. Their presence further inspires devotees of ISKCON Panihati temple to increase their service mood and deepen their commitment to your instructions.
To facilitate this growing service, arrangements are being made for proper accommodation for visiting devotees and senior Vaiṣṇavas. Land is being acquired and flats are being purchased so that devotees coming from around the world may stay comfortably and engage in devotional service. At the same time, devotees who desire to reside near ISKCON Panihati temple and dedicate their lives to serving the exalted visiting Vaiṣṇavas are also being given opportunities to stay close to the temple and assist in your mission.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, you would also be overjoyed to know that many young devotees are now determined to dedicate their lives fully to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and are preparing to join the ISKCON Panihati temple as new brahmacārīs. These enthusiastic young devotees are eager to surrender their lives in your service.
You will also be pleased to know, Śrīla Prabhupāda, that during the Bhadra Pūrṇimā campaign, the devotees of ISKCON Panihati distributed 495 sets of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. During the recent Gaura-Pūrṇimā festival in 2026, many sets of Caitanya-caritāmṛta were also distributed. Your books are entering countless homes and hearts, carrying your transcendental message and transforming lives. The devotees of ISKCON Panihati are determined to keep the mercy of Lord Caitanya flowing continuously and to widen the smile on your divine face by sincerely serving your mission.
Our book, The Glories of Panihati, is also steadily gaining wide appreciation and heartfelt admiration throughout the ISKCON community and even beyond. Devotees and seekers alike are becoming deeply inspired by the sublime pastimes of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Lord Nityānanda Prabhu revealed in this sacred place. To expand its reach and spread the glories of Panihati on an even grander scale, the book is now being published through Golden Age Media Publishers so that this transcendental message may enter more homes, hearts, and lives across the world.
After being translated into Bengali and Hindi, the book is also now translated into Tamil, and very soon it will be rendered into more languages. With the ambitious desire to carry the glories of Panihati Dhāma to every nook and corner of the world, this humble effort seeks to ensure that the mercy of Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityānanda reaches hearts across all borders, languages, and cultures.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, whatever little service is taking place here is only by your causeless mercy, your blessings, and your divine arrangement. We have no qualification of our own; we are simply trying to become instruments in fulfilling your desire.
Please continue to guide, protect, and bless ISKCON Panihati so that this center may flourish more and more as a powerful center of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, distributing the mercy of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Lord Nityānanda Prabhu to the entire world. We pray that we may always remain united in your service, faithful to your instructions, and engaged in widening your smile by sincerely serving your mission life after life.
Begging for a particle of dust from your lotus feet,
Your insignificant servants,
The devotees of ISKCON Panihati
Asia-Eurasia, Homages ISKCON Centers, VP2026
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāminn iti nāmine
namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe
nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe
Please accept our humble obeisances at your lotus feet. All glories to Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Veṇimādhava. All glories to Śrī Śrī Jagannātha, Baladeva, and Subhadrā. All glories to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu. All glories to Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī Prabhupāda. All glories to Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda. All glories to the Śrī Brahma-Madhva-Gauḍīya guru-śiṣya sampradāya. All glories to Śrī Gaṅgā-mayī, Śrī Yamunā-mayī, and Śrī Sarasvatī-mayī.
Our dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, we are fortunate to receive an opportunity to serve in the holy land of Prayagraj, the place of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī. This is also the place where you received initiation from Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura and served his mission for many years.
This year has been a mix of a lot of challenges, learning, innovation, and difficulties that helped us remain united, growing, and committed. We also got some good results for the Prayagraj temple and even ISKCON as a whole, by Your mercy. Your words and immense example for the same has been a great force helping us to forge ahead during these times.
Amidst the current war situation in the world, when all technological and scientific advancement is itself proving lethal to people, your words about “simple living and high thinking” are clearly showing your farsightedness. You are like the gardener who sees the forest by seeing a single seed. You could see that the future could only be sustained by living according to these principles. Your words in your books are the guiding light for the misdirected civilization, and thus many people are getting freed from this danger. Seeing such a situation in the world, many times we are reminded of your word in the preface to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: “[T]his movement will go down in history for saving the world in the darkest hour.”
In 2025, we had Mahā Kumbh, so we had the challenge of developing a big facility for serving Vaiṣṇavas. This year was challenging in terms of managing, maintaining, and refining that big facility.
Here are some highlights from last year:
Prabhupāda Ghat – a shelter for culture, festivals, and joy
By your grace, we were able to collaborate with the tourism department in Uttar Pradesh, where they offered us a ghat next to our temple. This ghat is named after Your Divine Grace as Prabhupāda Ghat and served as an opportunity to start a grand Yamunā ārati in the evenings to attract people to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We also have a special Yamunā ārati on Sundays, which includes cultural performances, soothing kirtans, and engages the youth and families. We conducted a Snāna-yātrā festival, a beautiful Deva Deepavali, Vijay Dashami, graceful kirtan-melās, and through all that, Prabhupāda Ghat attracted thousands of people over the variety of festivals.
ISKCON’s hospitality in Prayagraj – staying along the Yamunā’s bank
By the hard work of His Grace Alok Nimāi Prabhu and Dhawal Prabhu, along with the devotees assisting them in fundraising, we have a high-class guesthouse facility on the bank of the Yamunā and within the temple campus. This helped us to facilitate and serve many Vaiṣṇavas and pilgrims. By this we are also able to generate major funds for temple expenses.
Your teachings entering mainstream education
Three of our brahmacārīs, His Grace Acyuta Mohan Prabhu, His Grace Satya Saṅkarṣaṇa Prabhu, and His Grace Prema Rūpa Prabhu got to offer credit courses based on the Bhagavad-gītā in IIIT A Prayagraj and MNNIT Prayagraj, which are two of the prominent engineering colleges in the country. The students were thrilled to get this wonderful knowledge of the Bhagavad-gītā. By your grace, many of the students even came with us to Delhi for UDGAR, a national ISKCON youth festival, and many of them came to attend our kirtan-melā and our Holi festival at the Prayagraj temple. The knowledge and the culture you gave us, Śrīla Prabhupāda, is the need for every jīva to experience pure joy.
Advancing devotees, growing community, and expanding service
This year, many devotees got hari-nāma dīkṣā. Some got brāhmaṇa initiation, and a few brahmacārīs accepted saffron. More than fifteen devotees are doing Bhakti Vaibhava, and many more are doing Bhakti Śāstrī courses. Many devotees are learning about the wisdom of the Bhagavad-gītā through temple programs. By the means of new preaching programs, many sections of society are getting connected. His Grace Rohiṇī-suta Prabhu is leading efforts to connect hundreds of kids. A good number of youths are getting connected to the temple through Sunday programs and online preaching programs as well.
Social media outreach – an innovative way to bring people to the temple
After Kumbh Melā, we experimented with how to connect with people. Instagram and other social media platforms gave us very good responses, through which hundreds of new people came to know about the temple activities. The temple footprint increased multifold in spite of our difficult-to-reach location.
We started promoting Yamunā ārati, and it clicked well. Later, many more events, like Snāna-yātrā and Jagannātha Ratha-yātrā became lively, attracting thousands of participants and volunteers, and became huge successes. This year’s Janmāṣṭamī celebrations attracted thousands of visitors. The majority of the credit for that goes to social media. Later festivals like Deva Deepawali, the Lord’s boat festival, kirtan-melā, New Year’s celebrations, and more, were promoted simply through social media. Recently, a grand flower Holi festival, with more than 1,200 paid registrations, was fully campaigned simply through social media. His Grace Śiva Kumāra Kṛṣṇa Prabhu put sincere and intelligent efforts into bringing the online reach and promotion to this level.
Many more initiatives, like a new goshala project for our more than fifty cows, and a Magh melā camp for Kalpavāsīs, were carried out. This year onward we extended our support in IIT Madras youth preaching for ISKCON Madras by sending our team there. Two devotees learned to do Pañcarātra yajñas from Govardhan Eco Village and are thus performing grand and elaborate yajñas. We have also been serving many traveling Vaiṣṇavas by supplying them with journey prasādam.
There are many more things we wish to do in your service in the upcoming years, and we earnestly seek your blessings and empowerment to accomplish them for your pleasure:
- Making a grand temple for the pleasure of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Veṇimādhava.
- Increasing the congregation of devotees in and around Prayagraj.
- Completing the hospitality facilities and a Govinda’s.
- Developing a beautiful, green campus.
- Getting solar energy set up for the temple.
- Preaching to youths coming to the temple and encouraging them to chant
the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra.
- Creating leadership succession.
- Developing a plan to get more devotees to join the ashram.
We wish to especially thank you, Śrīla Prabhupāda, for having sent your loyal and able devotee His Grace Acyuta Mohan Prabhu as the spiritual mentor and exemplary leader for our community here. Under his guidance, our united team had been able to face many challenges.
Kindly bless all the devotees and especially the devotees taking the lead in various services here. Kindly bless all our endeavors and efforts and the projects we are taking up for your pleasure. May they be pleasing to you and your representatives.
Truly speaking, we feel extremely humble and unqualified to render this responsible service to Your Divine Grace at such a divine place, but your mercy and empowerment has been our true strength and saving grace. We apologize for the shortcomings in our personal practice as well as our service rendered, but at the same time, we are fully confident of bringing transformation through promotion of your teachings here in Prayagraj on the strength of sincerity and unity of our team and the inconceivable power of your desire and grace. Thank you very much.
Your servant,
Satya Saṅkarṣaṇa Dāsa, vice-president
On behalf of all the leaders and devotees of ISKCON Prayagraj
Asia-Eurasia, Homages ISKCON Centers, VP2026
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
We offer our respects and gratitude at your lotus feet on the occasion of your most auspicious 130th Vyāsa-pūjā festival. In hindsight, your appearance in this world is one of the most historic events for humanity in modern times. The majority of the 7 billion people on this planet had forgotten Kṛṣṇa or had no detailed conception of God. The depth of your love for Kṛṣṇa, manifesting as compassion for all living entities, reignited Kṛṣṇa consciousness in countless souls. As a tattva-darśi, a seer of the truth, you cut through the illusions of māyā that entangle conditioned souls in false conceptions of life.
“Life doesn’t come from matter. Life comes from life.” This single phrase dismantled the foundation of civilizational ignorance. In your role as guru you dispelled the darkness of ignorance with the torchlight of knowledge.
As the servant of your spiritual master, Oṁ Viṣṇupāda Paramahaṁsa Parivrājakācārya Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, you made his instructions and desires the sole purpose of your life. The Bhagavad-gītā (2.41) states:
vyavasāyātmikā buddhir ekeha kuru-nandana
bahu-śākhā hy anantāś ca buddhayo ’vyavasāyinām
Those who are on this path are resolute in purpose and their aim is one. O beloved child of the Kurus, the intelligence of the irresolute is many-branched.
While reading Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura’s commentary on this verse, you became firmly resolved to fulfill your spiritual master’s instruction. In that service, you founded the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) and the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT). You traveled around the world fourteen times in just twelve years, even in your advanced age and failing health. You wrote more than fifty books, opened over a hundred temples, farm communities, and gurukulas, initiated thousands of disciples, organized Ratha-yātrās, delivered thousands of lectures, and wrote countless letters guiding your disciples and well-wishers – all with the singular purpose of helping living entities turn to Kṛṣṇa. You established the Governing Body Commission (GBC) as the ultimate managing authority of ISKCON, ensuring that the society would continue to expand even after your departure. You never allowed failures or setbacks to discourage you permanently; rather, you remained determined in the face of all challenges to push this movement forward.
The city of Delhi was of strategic importance to you, and by your efforts, Kṛṣṇa consciousness has steadily grown here. You established your first official office in Chippiwara. You published Back to Godhead magazine and the First Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (in three volumes) in Delhi. After leaving your family life, you stayed at the maṭhas of your godbrothers and struggled alone. There was a time when you did not even have a proper dhoti-kurta for preaching, no money, and no permanent place to stay, yet you constantly thought of how others could take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
After the setback with the League of Devotees in Jhansi, you moved to Delhi. In a letter to government officials written on 25 December 1955, you expressed your vision for establishing the movement here:
My associates were therefore disbursed & I came to Delhi to give it a new life. Delhi is the only center wherefrom this cultural movement could immediately be given effect because it is the center of international, political, social, educational, and cultural movements. What I want to do immediately is as follows:—
(1) To hold consecutive meetings at different Mohallus & houses of Delhi for impressing the ideas of the mission.
(2) To give training to at least 7 to 10 educated young men in the ‘parampara lessons of Bhagavad-gita’ and then to ‘Brahma Sutra,’ Bhagavata and Caitanya Caritamrta.
(3) To publish an English monthly paper to sell specially to the English knowing heads of the society and to get printed some relative literatures.
Similarly, in a letter to Tamal Krishna Goswami dated 20 August 1971, you wrote:
Delhi is the most important city in India because the capital is established there. Mostly the population is educated. Many foreigners are there also and embassies of different countries. So from the cultural point of view Delhi is the most important city. Many cultural centers are there also, many libraries, many schools, colleges, varieties of mercantile offices and different presses. So if you can influence them it will be a great propaganda center. I think in Delhi also you should hold one festival pandal meeting like in Calcutta and Bombay. There is a big ground open near Connaught place.
Because of your pure devotional service in Delhi, there are now more than twenty-two beautiful Kṛṣṇa temples in Delhi-NCR, with over seventy centers and thousands of devotees. Your disciples – such as Guru Dāsa, Yamunā Devī Dāsī, Bhānu Swami, and Kṣīrodakaśāyī – began expanding the movement in Delhi under your guidance. Your dear disciple Gopal Krishna Goswami, in the same spirit of service, led the preaching mission in Delhi for five decades, resulting in the opening of eighteen temples, the distribution of millions of books, the cultivation of leaders, the initiation of thousands into devotional service, and countless souls receiving Kṛṣṇa’s mercy.
The ISKCON Punjabi Bagh community, home of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Rādhikāramaṇa and Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma, is a recipient of the mercy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu through you. Many centers have expanded from this base, especially after the installation of the Deities in 2007. Currently, temple expansion is progressing steadily, and Kṛṣṇa’s reciprocation is being experienced throughout the project. Recently, land was acquired in Rewari, and a bhūmi-pūjā scheduled for the new temple. The community ranked first globally in the book distribution marathon for 2025 (mid-size temple category). Four devotees joined the full-time Vaiṣṇava Training Program, and your servant Rukmiṇī Kṛṣṇa Dāsa accepted sannyāsa to expand the preaching mission. Programs for children, youth, and congregational members continue to grow through weekly engagements, yātrās to holy places, festivals, and Deity service.
The past year has been marked by global unrest, with conflicts arising over resources like petroleum. Waves of godlessness and sinful activities – animal slaughter, intoxication, gambling, and illicit relationships – are widespread. Modern leadership remains largely unaware of the laws of nature, and people suffer under the threefold miseries. In such times, the message of Lord Caitanya and your purports stand as the true hope for peace and happiness.
We stand in awe and reverence for the priceless gifts you gave the world – Kṛṣṇa’s holy name, His form, His philosophy, kirtan, temples, books, prasādam, communities, holy places, gurukulas, your letters, audio and video recordings, sacred art, culture – and above all, your legacy of love.
We offer our deepest respects and gratitude and pray for the strength and empowerment to share your gifts with others.
Your servants at ISKCON Punjabi Bagh
Asia-Eurasia, Homages ISKCON Centers, VP2026
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāminn iti nāmine
namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe
nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe
Please accept my humble and respectful obeisances. All glories to your lotus feet.
Last year for your Vyāsa-pūjā, I mentioned Kṛṣṇa-kathā Deśa yātrā, taking responsibility for constructing a temple at Birnagar to honor your desire and glorify the birthplace of Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. Now I wish to inform you that the project is taking shape nicely, with the blessings of His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja.
Last year, in the month of September, I went to Kanhaiya Deśa yātrā to promote the Birnagar Temple Construction Project. We got very good support from all the congregational devotees there. I would like to make a special mention of the Bengali-speaking devotees in Kanhaiya Deśa yātrā. They were very eager to support and participate in the project.
Under the guidance of Vaikuṇṭhapati Prabhu, we have begun the process of constructing a “Wall of Legacy,” where donors’ names will be inscribed. The minimum contribution for inscription is INR. 1,000, and donors may contribute in multiples of INR. 1,000 if they wish to give more.
As Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, yāre dekha, tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa, the devotees of Kṛṣṇa-kathā Deśa are going and meeting people to promote the contribution campaign for the inscription on the “Wall of Legacy.” The motto followed by the devotees of Kṛṣṇa-kathā Deśa is “yāre dekha, tāre kaha, contribute for the inscription.” This way we can reach a greater number of devotees to participate in the construction of the temple.
Very soon, we will also acquire the land adjacent to the birthplace of Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. This plot is located on the opposite side of the land ISKCON acquired last year.
With your mercy, the desire to construct a beautiful temple for Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura is beginning to take shape. Please bless all the devotees involved in this project.
Hare Kṛṣṇa!
Your humble servant,
Aniruddha Gopāla Dāsa
on behalf of Kṛṣṇa-kathā Deśa
Asia-Eurasia, Homages ISKCON Centers, VP2026
Our dear grandfather, Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Your Divine Grace.
On this most auspicious appearance day of Your Divine Grace, we, the insignificant servants at ISKCON Raichur, fall at your lotus feet and attempt to offer our heartfelt homage. Words are inadequate to glorify you, yet speaking about your mercy is our only shelter.
You came alone to the West at an advanced age, carrying not wealth, not institutional backing, but only the order of your spiritual master and unshakable faith in the holy name. You wrote in your diary upon arriving in America: “I do not know why You have brought me here.… But I guess You have some business here, otherwise why would You bring me to this terrible place?” (Jaladuta Diary, “Mārkine Bhāgavata-dharma,” at Boston Harbor, September 18, 1965)
From that apparent uncertainty emerged a spiritual revolution that transformed the world. You fearlessly established Kṛṣṇa consciousness across continents – temples, farms, gurukulas, and books that continue to illuminate humanity.
Your mission was not without deep pain. You faced not only external opposition but also internal disturbances – even from those who once took shelter of you. Some disciples misunderstood your instructions, deviated from the principles, or even opposed your authority. Still, your compassion never diminished. You once indicated with grave concern that if there was an opportunity, the senses will deviate and falldown is inevitable from there.
And yet, despite such challenges, you did not withdraw your mercy. Rather, you intensified your efforts to protect the movement through books, systems, and clear instructions. You emphasized repeatedly: “Your love for me will be shown by how much you cooperate to keep this institution together after I am gone.” (Śrīla Prabhupāda-līlāmṛta, chapter 52)
Śrīla Prabhupāda, this instruction pierces our hearts. It is both a warning and a guiding light. You demonstrated what it means to be a true ācārya – not merely one who teaches, but one who tolerates, uplifts, and continues giving despite setbacks. Your life exemplifies the verse tṛṇād api su-nīcena … (Śikṣāṣṭakam 3).
You tolerated dishonor, betrayal, and immense pressure, yet remained fixed in your service to Śrī Kṛṣṇa and your Guru Mahārāja. Your steadiness under such trials is one of your greatest teachings.
At ISKCON Raichur, we are trying – very imperfectly – to serve your mission. By your mercy:
- A few devotees have successfully completed the Śrīla Prabhupāda Introductory Course (SPIC), taking initial steps in understanding your teachings.
- The ground floor of our ecofriendly temple construction has been completed, and we are preparing to begin the first-floor construction.
- Our gośālā, with around fifty protected cows and bulls, is being maintained with care, and we are producing dhūpa sticks and cow-dung cakes, attempting to implement simple living and high thinking.
- Weekly nāma-saṅkīrtana (nagara-kīrtana) is organized in different parts of the city, distributing temple invitation flyers and spreading the holy name.
- We conduct a monthly twelve-hour kirtan every fourth Sunday, creating a spiritual oasis for the community.
- A monthly Narasiṁha-homa is performed on every Svātī nakṣatra, seeking protection and purification.
- By your mercy, we have distributed over seventy sets of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in the past year.
These are small offerings, Śrīla Prabhupāda – tiny attempts by struggling souls. Still, we place them at your lotus feet, knowing that only your mercy gives them any value.
We are also aware of our shortcomings. We see how easily the mind becomes distracted, how subtle ego creeps in, how cooperation becomes difficult, and how steadiness fluctuates. When we read about the challenges you faced with your own disciples, we become sober. If those who personally served you could struggle, then what to speak of us, who are so far removed?
Therefore, we pray not for comfort or recognition, but for strength, humility, and stability. Strength to continue despite obstacles. Humility to remain servants and not controllers. Stability to follow your instructions without deviation.
You told us, “Everything is there in my books.” If we ready your books carefully, everything will be clear
Please give us the intelligence to take full shelter of your books. Let us not become sentimental or superficial, but deeply rooted in śāstra and sādhana. Let us not repeat the mistakes of the past; let us instead learn from them. Let us build not only structures but character; not only congregations, but conviction; and not simply perform activities but surrender.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, you once said you had given us everything and encouraged us to develop it. We tremble at this responsibility. Yet, with your blessings, even the impossible becomes possible.
Please allow us to remain instruments in your mission. Please protect us from pride and disunity. Please engage us in meaningful service. Please help us cooperate as a family of devotees. And most importantly: please never let us forget you.
On this sacred Vyāsa-pūjā day, we bow again and again at your lotus feet, begging for your causeless mercy.
With deep gratitude and love,
Your humble servant,
Sarāthi Shyāma Dāsa,
On behalf of ISKCON Raichur
Page 1 of 812345...»Last »
