Canada & USA, Homages ISKCON Centers, VP2026
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept our humble obeisances at your lotus feet.
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
kali-kālera dharma — kṛṣṇa-nāma-saṅkīrtana
kṛṣṇa-śakti vinā nahe tāra pravartana
The fundamental religious system in the Age of Kali is the chanting of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa. Unless empowered by Kṛṣṇa, one cannot propagate the saṅkīrtana movement.
This verse is a direct reference to you, Śrīla Prabhupāda, for being the kṛṣṇa-śakti, a saktyavesa- avatāra, the nāma-saṅkīrtana ācārya. For who else has spread Lord Caitanya’s saṅkīrtana movement far and wide?
We can just imagine the reactions of your godbrothers and others when they found out that you had gone to America to preach. So many things must have crossed their minds. They surely had concerns for the perils and challenges associated with such an undertaking.
At 69, people retire. Hardly anyone would start anything at that age – especially not a worldwide movement like ISKCON.
Traveling to America with only 40 rupees (which was around 8 US dollars at the time) is unheard of. This journey on the Jaladuta, a cargo ship, was not an overnight flight; it would take 37 days to reach Boston from India. Although you did not know anyone in America, Kṛṣṇa arranged for you to meet Mr. Prasad Agarwal from Agra. Since his son was living in Butler, Pennsylvania, at the time, Mr. Agarwal requested him to send you a letter of sponsorship to assist you in your preaching mission.
Where would you live? The Agarwal’s had limited space in their home with a family of four. Being in a foreign land, alone, what could you attempt to accomplish? Would there be anyone to claim your body if you suddenly passed away?
In the early ’30s, efforts were made to preach in England, with little if any result. Therefore, few of your godbrothers made attempts to preach outside India. Besides, not one Englishmen had shown any interest for Kṛṣṇa consciousness in two hundred years of British presence in India. Why would Americans be any different?
Sumati Morarji, director of the biggest cargo shipping company in India, was apprehensive. To allow your passage on the Jaladuta would be a voyage to death. She did not want this on her conscience. Your conviction was paramount in changing her mind.
It was a difficult journey. We cannot imagine what it was like for you to experience, both the seasickness and the two heart attacks. You wrote in your diary: “I do not know how I was saved. Struggling between life and death.”
During the height of your health crisis, you had a vision of Lord Kṛṣṇa rowing the boat, which gave you the strength to continue. In New York, a third heart attack and some paralysis forced you to return to India. Your young students were shocked, not knowing if you would ever be able to come back. Somehow, in India, your health improved. Time was not on your side, however, making your mission more pressing to fulfill. Reflecting on all this we understand how your determination and the compassion for us was always so much greater than any personal physical considerations.
ya idaṁ paramaṁ guhyaṁ mad-bhakteṣv abhidhāsyati
bhaktiṁ mayi parāṁ kṛtvā mām evaiṣyaty asaṁśayaḥ
For one who explains this supreme secret to the devotees, pure devotional service is guaranteed, and at the end he will come back to Me.
na ca tasmān manuṣyeṣu kaścin me priya-kṛttamaḥ
bhavitā na ca me tasmād anyaḥ priya-taro bhuvi
There is no servant in this world more dear to Me than he, nor will there ever be one more dear.
As Bali Mahārāja became one of the mahājanas by surrendering everything to Vāmanadeva, so the risks you took, Śrīla Prabhupāda, leaving Vrindaban, India, to preach on the Bowery – skid row of New York City at the time – is quite astonishing. To travel the globe fourteen times over, making thousands of devotees, we have to declare you to be the thirteenth mahājana, (mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ) for you have shown the path of kṛṣṇa-bhakti for all the world to follow.
In the Gītā there is a statement by Arjuna to Lord Kṛṣṇa that we feel also applies to you, Śrīla Prabhupāda, since you are the living Bhāgavatam:
arjuna uvāca
sthāne hṛṣīkeśa tava prakīrtyā jagat prahṛṣyaty anurajyate ca
rakṣāṁsi bhītāni diśo drainait sarve namasyanti ca siddha-saṅghāḥ
Arjuna said: O master of the senses, the world becomes joyful upon hearing Your name, and thus everyone becomes attached to You. Although the perfected beings offer You their respectful homage, the demons are afraid, and they flee here and there. All this is rightly done.
We are lost for words to express our deepest gratitude for your gift of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. On this most auspicious day of your appearance, we pray to get a glance of your mercy, for that is all we are begging for.
Your servants at the Montreal temple
(written by Lakṣmīnātha Dāsa)
Canada & USA, Homages ISKCON Centers, VP2026
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept my most sincere humble obeisances. All glories unto you. By the inconceivable mercy and grace of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, I somehow found the way to your lotus feet. You have inspired all of us, both individually and collectively, to find ways to serve your ISKCON mission.
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, when we see where we came from spiritually and where we are today, it is all because of your mercy, passed on to us by your ambassadors and followers. Our sincere, humble, and heartfelt desire is to pass on the same love, care, and protection that we and our families have received from you through the preaching activities at ISKCON Muskoka. It is a great credit to your teaching that we are able to perform a service through preaching under the shelter of ISKCON Muskoka.
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, as far as the preaching is concerned, we are performing a number of activities to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness through your teachings and the teachings of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu – activities such as celebrating a Sunday feast program, holding yoga programs, celebrating all the festivals, including Ratha-yātrā, Gaura-Pūrṇimā, Janmāṣṭamī, Rādhāṣṭamī, Govardhana-pūjā, and many more. We preach, hold kirtans, cook prasādam, perform dhāma-sevā, and educate our next generation in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, you are my life and soul. Please allow us to serve your lotus feet, and keep us in the service of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Muskoka Īśvara.
Your insignificant servant,
Vyāsa Āchārya Dāsa
and the devotees of ISKCON Muskoka
Canada & USA, 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
Śrīla Prabhupāda, on this auspicious day of your appearance, we meditate on your unusual achievement of establishing Kṛṣṇa consciousness on such a wide scale to such a wide spectrum of individuals.
Just as Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī is honored as śrī-gaura-karuṇa-vigraha, “the personified energy of Sri Caitanya’s mercy,” you have inherited that divine quality, which rescues fallen souls from the great dream of being independent enjoyers in this world. When they become attracted by your loving compassion, they awaken their eternal relationship with Kṛṣṇa.
Guru means heavy. You are carrying the heaviest manifestation of the Lord’s internal potency, comprised of love and compassion. This gaura-śakti, which propelled you in your mission, was quite evident by your great determination to distribute the holy names to whomever you met. And because your chanting of the holy names was imbued with prema, it penetrated the hearts of all listeners, making you immediately successful.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, we have a dire need for your mercy that we may also be recipients of this gaura-karuṇa-śakti and thus enabled to distribute the holy name and teachings of Lord Caitanya to the conditioned souls. Most importantly, we need your mercy in order to be able to show sincere love and respect for our fellow devotees. Land, buildings, corporate organization, philosophy, and even beautiful Deities are not enough to unite a group of diverse personalities into a community or society of loving devotees. Without such an example of loving devotees, how can we attract others to the sublime culture of Kṛṣṇa consciousness?
You are our source for this divine mercy which eradicates all contamination in the heart and establishes transcendental love of God.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, we bow down at your lotus feet with all the humility and sincerity at our command, ready to serve you and please you in any way.
Your humble servants at New Tālavana farm, in southern Mississippi
(written by Pṛthuśravā Dāsa)
Canada & USA, Homages ISKCON Centers, VP2026
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Your Divine Grace.
To fulfill the order of your spiritual master, sixty years ago you came to America to teach the ancient science of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and to share the message of Lord Caitanya through the harināma-saṅkīrtana movement.
I offer my prostrated obeisances unto you as your servant and disciple.
Upon departing this mortal world, you graciously left us your transcendental presence to carry on your mission – your example of a life of devotion, the ISKCON movement you established, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and all your books, initiation into our Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava lineage, your many instructions, and the association of your dedicated followers.
These gifts flow from your mercy, compassion, wisdom, and sacrifice. You are our only qualification. You are the wealth we have to give.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, we happily and gratefully distribute your gifts.
Touched by your compassion for all conditioned souls, our hearts awaken with the desire to love Kṛṣṇa. In that awakening, our darkness is dispelled, and we naturally want to share this gift with others.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, you have touched so many hearts, and with gratitude we offer this service.
To live in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, we cultivate a service attitude for Kṛṣṇa. You have taught us to become strong and empowered through bhakti-yoga – a process by which we develop a loving relationship with God. When love arises from the spiritual platform, it transcends all material considerations. In this way, bhakti connects the heart and soul, unified by the grace of Kṛṣṇa.
You have instructed us to ground our devotional life in sādhana, the daily practices of bhakti-yoga. We seek Kṛṣṇa while trying to please Your Divine Grace – chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and your other books, participating in kirtan, taking darshan of the Deities, preparing and honoring prasādam, and serving with devotees. By maintaining these practices, by your grace, we become strengthened in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, we pray for the focus and association needed to cultivate the desire to please you.
From your example we have learned that Kṛṣṇa always helps the sincere. Whoever we are, wherever we come from, whatever we have done or not done, Kṛṣṇa responds to sincerity. As we approach Him, “He preserves what we have and carries what we lack.” Even when His help comes in unexpected ways, we trust it as an opportunity for purification and growth in bhakti.
We pray to receive Kṛṣṇa’s mercy and to help share the message that He always protects His devotees.
Through your books, we understand that Kṛṣṇa resides within the heart, even if we cannot yet perceive him. By following your instructions – serving the servants of your devotees and chanting Kṛṣṇa’s holy names – His beauty, grace, and mercy awaken within us. He removes our anarthas and grants liberation even in this life.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, you blessed the world by coming to the forests of West Virginia to establish the sacred New Vrindaban pilgrimage project. After naming this place New Vrindaban Dhāma, you returned many times to sanctify it as a community rooted in simple living and high thinking. You instructed us to recite Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam daily, care for the land, protect the cows, and welcome pilgrims who come for association and darshan of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Vṛndāvana Candra. For this, we remain deeply grateful.
With this spirit, we strive to embrace your teachings. Please bless us to reflect even a small measure of the urgency with which you traveled the world, sharing compassion for all conditioned souls and setting the example for us to follow.
Although I am unqualified to be part of your mission, you have accepted me nonetheless. I pray for your mercy to pass the tests required to serve and assist you.
Your servant,
Sudhanu Dāsa
On behalf of the New Vrindaban community
Canada & USA, 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 obeisance unto your lotus feet. All glories to you on this auspicious day of your Vyāsa-pūjā.
Regardless of our situation, we are protected by the power of the divine name, which, by your great efforts and mercy, has grown to fill more than eight hundred centers worldwide and will keep on increasing. ISKCON Niagara is one of these centers. Though I lack the knowledge and ability to properly glorify you, still, by your unconditional mercy, you have blessed us beyond what we deserve.
oṁ ajñāna-timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākayā
cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ
As you stated, you are still dissipating the darkness of ignorance in the world of māyā through your books. If not for these words that are available to us via the technological medium, those of us who have not seen you physically would not have an opportunity to hear and chant with you.
We at Niagara present the knowledge through your books to all the new devotees visiting our center for the first time. Our book distribution team has been placing smart boxes in various retail outlets in order to pass out the transcendental treasure of knowledge to all.
Inspired by your childhood Ratha-yātrā, we at Niagara, as a growing center, by your mercy have taken steps to organize a children’s Ratha-yātrā. It was a great event, by your blessings. This year we intend to perform it again so that kids get connected to the Lord with a smile. In the future, we aspire to hold a massive Ratha-yātrā along Niagara Falls.
Our Sunday school teachers are making sure that our little devotees grow up to be happy, intelligent, self-disciplined, and absorbed in a spirit of devotion to Kṛṣṇa. Śrīla Prabhupāda, you taught us how childhood education determines the future of both the individual and the society. Please bless us so that we may train the children properly. We want that they become the strongest hope for a spiritually progressive society.
Our cultural team has been delivering the pastimes of the Supreme through dramas and classical dance performances. In this way they reach those who neither read nor hear about the Supreme and His love for His devotees.
What would have happened if you, Śrīla Prabhupāda, had not come? This line holds so true in our lives. If you had not been there, then the life of fallen souls like us would have been wasted without Kṛṣṇa consciousness. You have truly been a senāpati-bhakta, as mentioned by Caitanya Mahāprabhu. You have saved so many souls and are still doing so by training them to fight against māyā by handing them the word of hari-nāma, especially for jīvas like us, who are far away from the holy dhāma.
yadi pāpi chāḍi dharma dūre deśe yāya
mora senāpati-bhakta yāibe tathāya
(Śrī Caitanya-maṅgala)
We have been organizing our annual retreats, where we visit other ISKCON centers. These visits have been loved by the devotees, as they get a chance to glorify the Lord with other devotees and even improve their sādhana while they are away from their regular duties.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, you established ISKCON by engaging the youth. We at ISKCON Niagara have been working on our youth by involving them in various services. An exclusive bhakti-vṛkṣa is being conducted for them so they can be trained in the line of devotional service. It gives me immense pleasure to share with you that the youth of Niagara are leading kirtans, doing book distribution, performing saṅkīrtana, and decorating for festivals.
Our prasādam team has been serving everyone enthusiastically during the regular programs, festivals, and events. Our team firmly believes consuming prasādam becomes a vehicle for the soul’s purification and a way of receiving Kṛṣṇa’s mercy.
The merciful month of Dāmodara is celebrated with great enthusiasm at Niagara by reaching out to new families and organizing deepdan at their homes. By your blessings, we have reached out to many new souls.
Not to forget our Vaiṣṇavi Saṅga, where our mātājīs get together to share and learn about gṛhastha rules and upbringing of our little bhaktas into great devotees. Various arts and crafts activities are conducted, which are used for service at our center.
How fortunate are we to have you as our eternal father! Let us, as your spiritual children, boldly prove to the world that you are truly the Lord’s senāpati, a merciful rain cloud who came to extinguish the blazing fire of birth and death that engulfs the material world. Please let the desire to set an example and serve your mission awaken deeply in our hearts. Bless us to learn and follow the time management skills so we execute our spiritual duties efficiently and build a beautiful temple at Niagara that will serve the society on both sides of the river.
Your aspiring fallen servant,
Rajeshwari Devī Dāsī
On behalf of ISKCON Niagara
Canada & USA, Homages ISKCON Centers, VP2026
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept our most humble obeisances at your divine lotus feet. All glories to Your Divine Grace.
On this sacred day of your appearance, we, the devotees of ISKCON Oakville, offer our heartfelt gratitude for your causeless mercy. It is only by your compassion that a small community like ours has any connection at all to Kṛṣṇa, His holy name, and His service.
This past year has been one of steady and meaningful progress. By your blessings, our weekly Sunday gatherings continue with consistency, bringing together a sincere group of devotees eager to hear, chant, and serve. While the numbers may appear modest, the depth of commitment is growing, and this gives us great hope. We are especially encouraged to see more devotees taking up the serious practice of chanting sixteen rounds, gradually shaping their lives around your instructions.
By your divine arrangement, we were most fortunate to welcome a beautiful twelve-inch pañca-dhātu Lord Narasiṁha Deity at our center. His presence has deepened the devotional mood of our community, reminding us daily of the shelter and protection available to those who take refuge in the Lord. We pray to serve Him in a way that pleases you, knowing that without your mercy, we have no qualification.
We are also preparing for our third annual Ratha-yātrā at Bronte Lakeshore Park. It will be held on July 4. What began as a hopeful attempt has now become a growing offering to your mission. We humbly pray for your blessings that this year’s festival may be successful – not in material terms, but in its ability to touch hearts, awaken devotion, and connect souls to Kṛṣṇa through the chanting of His holy names.
Our Sunday programs, youth engagement, and festival celebrations continue steadily, sustained by your teachings and the association of devotees. We see more individuals moving from casual participation to genuine commitment, and we recognize this transformation as your direct mercy working through your instructions and books.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, we are deeply aware of our shortcomings – our lack of purity, consistency, and realization. Yet, we take shelter in your assurance that even a small, sincere effort in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is never lost. Please continue to guide us from within and without, so that we may remain steady, humble, and united in your service.
Kindly bless us that ISKCON Oakville may always remain an instrument of your compassion – a place where your teachings are lived, where the holy name is chanted sincerely, and where conditioned souls find a path back to Kṛṣṇa.
We pray for the strength to serve you cooperatively, without pride or distraction, and to contribute, however insignificantly, to your grand mission.
With deep gratitude and devotion,
Your aspiring servants,
The devotees of ISKCON Oakville
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