Europe & Russia, Homages ISKCON Centers, VP2026
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda!
Please accept our obeisances and immense gratitude for the opportunity to experience the teachings of Lord Caitanya that you brought to the most remote corners of the Western countries!
Because of you, in Ryazan, people were given the opportunity not only to hear the holy name but also to serve the Lord and rejoice in that service with all their hearts. The spiritual revolution you brought to the hearts of your followers not only brought no harm, unlike revolutions in the material world, but, on the contrary, enabled them to experience true happiness and realize their spiritual nature!
Through your mercy and followers, who became spiritual teachers, we were able to join this movement, join the disciplic succession, and receive the opportunity and hope of returning home, back to Godhead. Yes, we are full of faults, our minds are restless, and our hearts are torn by material desires, but the practices you gave us, the books you wrote for us and which your sincere followers distribute throughout the world – all of these purify us and prepare our hearts for the seed of bhakti to grow within.
By your mercy, a temple has been built in our city, Deities have come to us, preachers have come, including your disciples, and people come to serve and receive your mercy.
Your servants at ISKCON Ryazan
Homages ISKCON Centers, VP2025
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept our most humble obeisances. All glories to Your Divine Grace!
As you resided at Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Dāmodara temple in Vrindavan, your heart was wholly
absorbed in the divine order of your spiritual master, eager to fulfill the sacred mission of Śrī
Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Filled with boundless compassion, you embarked on an arduous jour-
ney to the Western world, enduring immense hardships to deliver the matchless gift of Kṛṣṇa
consciousness.
We, the aspiring followers of your beloved servants here in Sacramento, are struggling to
imbibe even a drop of that compassion with which you selflessly preached. In our small capac-
ity, we seek to serve the people of this land, who remain unaware of the supreme joy of Kṛṣṇa
consciousness.
On this most auspicious occasion of your Vyāsa-pūjā, we offer our heartfelt prayers at your
lotus feet. Kindly bless us so we may rise above our selfish concerns and dedicate our lives sin-
cerely to assisting you and your loyal servants. May we serve in such a way that this glorious
legacy of Kṛṣṇa consciousness continues to illuminate the world for generations to come. Thank
you very much.
Servants of your humble servants at ISKCON Sacramento
(written by Śaṅkarānanda Dāsa)
Asia-Eurasia, Homages ISKCON Centers, VP2026
Dearest 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 most humble obeisances at your divine lotus feet.
Although feeling as insignificant and small as a spark trying to glorify the blazing sun, still, for the purification of our hearts and to remember your unparalleled glories, we are attempting this impossible task.
In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.8.4) it is said:
mahad-vicalanaṁ nṝṇāṁ gṛhiṇāṁ dīna-cetasām
niḥśreyasāya bhagavan kalpate nānyathā kvacit
O my Lord, O great devotee, persons like you move from one place to another not for their own interests but for the sake of poor-hearted gṛhasthas. Otherwise, they have no interest in going from one place to another.
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, you are the very personification of this verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Not only this verse, but the whole Bhāgavatam, Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, and all Vedic literature glorifies you – yet still fall short of words.
The compassion you possess in your heart for the poor conditioned souls is boundless. Therefore, you happily faced all the challenges the Supreme Lord gave you on your journey, accepting them as opportunities to glorify Him.
Whether it was struggling alone in the streets of Delhi to distribute Back to Godhead magazines – sometimes fainting due to the severe heat – or experiencing intense seasickness and two heart attacks during your voyage to the West aboard the Jaladuta, or the many struggles you faced in America while establishing this movement – your determination never wavered.
Even after establishing your society, it was not at all easy to manage hundreds of centers, thousands of neophyte American and European disciples, translating scriptures, writing books, establishing gurukulas and farm communities, organizing the BBT and GBC, and envisioning the future of the society.
And the list is unending, Śrīla Prabhupāda. You accomplished all of this while constantly traveling across the world, adjusting to different time zones.
You are Lord Caitanya’s commander in chief, about whom it is predicted in the Caitanya-maṅgala:
ebe nāma-saṅkīrtana tīkṣṇa-khadga lañā
antara asura jīvera pheliba kāṭiyā
yadi pāpī chāḍi’ dharma dūra-deśe yāya
mora senāpati-bhakta yāibe tathāya
Taking the sharp sword of the congregational chanting of the holy name, I will root out and destroy the demoniac mentality in the hearts of conditioned souls. If some sinful people give up religious principles and go to far-off countries, then My commander in chief (senāpati-bhakta) will go there and deliver them.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, it is only you who can penetrate the deep ignorance in the hearts of conditioned souls like us through your simple but profound presentation of the highest philosophy of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. If you had not come, who could have saved us from falling into the deep, dark well of material existence?
Śrīla Prabhupāda, you always meditated on and executed the instructions of your spiritual master, His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda:
- To preach the teachings of Bhagavad-gītā in English to the Western world
- “Whenever you get money, print books”
- To establish a Governing Body Commission of qualified disciples to lead the movement
We beg at your lotus feet for the mercy to be able to execute your instructions and to always follow your mood, without deviating even an inch from your divine will.
Here at ISKCON Sagar, we are trying to serve you by
- distributing your transcendental literatures and performing harināma-saṅkīrtana
- focusing on youth preaching to develop the future leadership of this movement
- building a strong community of well-trained devotees
- constructing a beautiful temple on a hill, also known as Govardhana Hill, in Main Pani, Sagar
- planning to establish a goshala to serve and protect Kṛṣṇa’s cows
- aspiring to open a gurukula, as per your desire
As insignificant as we are, our endeavors are also insignificant and full of shortcomings. Still, like small children completely dependent on the mercy of their mother, we beg for your divine grace, Śrīla Prabhupāda.
A disciple who thinks he can repay the debt to his spiritual master is called a vinoda-pātra – a fool. We can never even imagine repaying what you have done for all of us, Your Divine Grace. But if, by our small efforts, you become even slightly pleased, then our lives will be successful.
Eternally indebted and forever grateful,
Your humble, insignificant servants,
The devotees at ISKCON Sagar
Homages ISKCON Centers, VP2025
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
We offer our daṇḍavats to the topmost empowered ācārya, predicted even by Kṛṣṇa himself,
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda! Śrī Kṛṣṇa says in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
(10.80.32, 41):
sa vai sat-karmaṇāṁ sākṣād
dvijāter iha sambhavaḥ
ādyo ’ṅga yatrāśramiṇāṁ
yathāhaṁ jñāna-do guruḥ
My dear friend, he who gives a person his physical birth is his first spiritual master,
and he who initiates him as a twice-born brāhmaṇa and engages him in religious duties
is indeed more directly his spiritual master. But the person who bestows transcenden-
tal knowledge upon the members of all the spiritual orders of society is one’s ultimate
spiritual master. Indeed, he is as good as My own self.
etad eva hi sac-chiṣyaiḥ
kartavyaṁ guru-niṣkṛtam
yad vai viśuddha-bhāvena
sarvārthātmārpaṇaṁ gurau
This indeed is the duty of all true disciples: to repay the debt to their spiritual master
by offering him, with pure hearts, their wealth, and even their very lives.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.33.31: īśvarāṇāṁ vacaḥ satyam – “The statements of the Lord’s empowered
servants are always true.”
Nārada-bhakti-sūtra 69: sac-chāstrī-kurvanti śāstrāṇi – “[Great pure devotees] make scriptures
authoritative.”
tatra vaiduṣe ca vipratipatti-bhramādi-nṛ-doṣa-rāhityāt, śabdasyāpi tan-mūlatvāc ca
About the perceptions of the wise there is no disagreement, because these percep-
tions are devoid of the human weaknesses, such as faulty judgment. Moreover, the
perceptions of the wise are the basis of even verbal testimony [śabda-pramāṇa]. (Tattva-
sandarbha, Sarva-saṁvādinī commentary, anuccheda 9, by Jīva Gosvāmī)
The statements of Thakura Bhaktivinoda are as good as scriptures because he is a
liberated person. Generally the spiritual master comes from the group of such eternal
associates of the Lord. (Letter to Janārdana Dāsa, New York, April 26, 1968)
bhrama, pramāda, vipralipsā, karaṇāpāṭava
ārṣa-vijña-vākye nāhi doṣa ei saba
Mistakes, illusions, cheating, and defective perception do not occur in the sayings of
the authoritative sages. (Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādī-līlā 2.86).
So a disciple is always in deficiency before his spiritual master. Just like Caitanya
Mahāprabhu says, guru more murkha dekhi karila śāśana: “My spiritual master saw Me a
fool number one. Therefore he has chastised Me.” So disciple should be always ready
to be chastised. He should not think that he has become perfect. That is perfection.
So long he thinks that he is not perfect – he’s to be chastised – then he’s perfect. And
as soon as he thinks that he has become perfect, he’s nonsense immediately, nonsense
number one. [break] … always to be chastised by the spiritual master for perfec-
tion. And if he thinks that now he has become perfect, then he’s a foolish. Caitanya
Mahāprabhu said, guru more murkha dekhi: “My spiritual master saw Me a fool number
one.” Was He fool number one? He’s God Himself. But that is the position. He should
remain always a fool number one, ready to be chastised. Then he’s perfect. (Morning
walk, April 8, 1975, in Māyāpur)
And from a lecture in Vrindavan, given on November 6, 1976:
Yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādo yasya.… This is the injunction of the ācārya, Viśvanātha
Cakravartī Ṭhākura. He has described very nicely vyavasāyātmikā buddhir ekeha kuru
nandana. The order of guru should be the life and soul of the disciple, without caring
for his personal salvation. This is the qualification of śiṣya. Śiṣyas te ’ham śādhi māṁ pra-
pannam, fully surrendered.
So please bless us, Śrīla Prabhupāda, to be your full followers, without any deviation. In that way
we can be successful in the preaching of your sacred mission in Lord Caitanya’s movement.
Your servants at Rādhā-Govinda Mandir, ISKCON Saltillo
Homages ISKCON Centers, Latin America, VP2026
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept our boundless daṇḍavats at your lotus feet. All glories to you.
sakhyena saṁsthira-dhiyādhama-sāthako ’pi
seveya te parama-vismaya-bhakta-saṁgham
cikroḍa-vṛndam iva rāghava-divya-setuṁ
vande suvismaya-karaṁ prabhupāda-devam
O Śrīla Prabhupāda! Although I am a fallen sādhaka, a humble practitioner of bhakti according to the teachings of Your Divine Grace, I beg for the privilege of serving the wonderful society of devotees you have created. I pray that this service may be rendered in a spirit of friendly cooperation with other devotees and with firm intelligence. However, my small attempt to serve your mission is similar to the service that squirrels rendered to Lord Rāma in the construction of the enormous bridge over the ocean. Śrīla Prabhupāda, with profound gratitude, I offer my humble obeisances to you who performed the most wondrous deeds. (Śrīla Prabhupāda Vismayopahāra Daśakam 11)
On this glorious day, we celebrate your divine appearance in this world. We pray that your divine grace will be poured out upon the hearts and minds of all your followers.
Kali-yuga and māyā are so powerful that even almost fifty years after your physical departure, great obstacles and challenges have arisen that threaten the stability of your sacred ISKCON mission. The scriptures, the ācāryas, and even Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself, as in His form of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, have established that the founder-ācārya is the ultimate authority in his movement and must be followed exactly as he taught, without changes, dilution, or deviation from his commands. ISKCON’s dharma was established by you, as the empowered founder-ācārya of the ISKCON Vaiṣṇava saṅga, and no one has the right to change anything or circumvent your authority through social experiments. You established all the standards for leadership, whether at the level of GBC, sannyāsī, guru, temple president, pujārī, etc., and we must all simply follow them – no compromises, dilutions, or experiments. No one should believe they can be stricter than you or more liberal than how you taught us. Please, in your mercy, heal the evil influences of Kali-yuga and māyā in your sacred ISKCON saṅga. Please allow us to be your servants eternally, obeying you without deviation, simply following you “as it is.” May peace and harmony reign among your followers. So be it, by your divine grace.
Your servants at the Rādhā-Govinda Mandir, Saltillo
Homages ISKCON Centers, VP2025
nama om viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhūtale
śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāmin iti nāmine
namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe
nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe
I pray to Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Giridhārī, who mercifully cast Their loving smiles on the devotees here at
New Govardhana Dhāma, so that I may write something worthwhile in appreciation of Their glo-
rious servant, Śrīla Prabhupāda.
I pray to the Six Gosvāmīs – Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī, Śrīla Raghunātha
Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī, Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, and Śrīla Gopāla Bhaṭṭa
Gosvāmī – that I can complete this task on behalf of everyone at New Govardhana and express
some of what we all feel.
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept my most respectful obeisances. All glories to you!
In writing a glorification of you, I really don’t know where to start. I wouldn’t even have
known of the existence of Kṛṣṇa consciousness if not for you and all the trouble you took to bring
it to the West. And now I’m going to write something about you, as if I could even slightly begin
to understand what you went through to save us and how difficult it was? As if I have any idea
how much you always depend on Kṛṣṇa, how much you simply want us all to surrender so we can
be blissful in Kṛṣṇa consciousness? I don’t even have a clue.
Then again, I’m complicating things, as is my tendency as a fallen, conditioned soul. Really, it
isn’t that complicated. The essence of what you gave us has always been to “Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa
and be happy,” though it isn’t that we don’t have to do anything else. Our uncultured Western
ways have filled our lives with impurities that we would never have recognized if you hadn’t
shown us another way. The four regulative principles are just the beginning of living a human life,
and we struggle even with that. And still, you never let us off the hook. To have said that we could
“Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and be happy” while still eating meat, gambling, taking intoxication, and
engaging in illicit sex would have been to cheat us, and you love us too much for that.
Instead, you tell us, as Kṛṣṇa teaches in the Bhagavad-gītā, to simply give up everything else
and surrender to Him. That’s all we have to do. But it’s exactly what we don’t want to do. We
want to be in charge, and everything in the culture that surrounds us tells us that we should be in
charge. We should control and we should enjoy. This is especially the mood in Southern Califor-
nia, where the weather is so beautiful that people come from around the world just to gratify their
senses (with no regard for how that affects anyone else).
An uncomplicated process is difficult for us, but you worked to make it so much easier. You
gave us prasādam so delicious that we would forget all about food not offered to Kṛṣṇa. You gave
us kīrtana, where we can use our musical talents to directly connect with Kṛṣṇa instead of falling
further into ignorance. You gave us Deity worship, where we can use our artistic talents to care
for the beautiful forms of the Deities and share that beauty with everyone who visits Their temple.
And you also gave us your books, volumes upon volumes of instruction on how to live spiritually
and how to interact with one another and the world around us in such a way that we and every-
one we meet can advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. All these gifts are practical examples of how
everything in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is lovelier and more joyful than anything outside it.
So now we must spread your gifts as far as we can. We clean and maintain Kṛṣṇa’s temple, a
Vaikuṇṭha realm on the beach, as a haven where some devotees live and serve full-time and others
come regularly for service and spiritual upliftment. Both temple residents and nonresidents dis-
tribute your books in parks (and parking lots) almost every day. Those fortunate enough to take a
book might then visit a Krishna Lounge program, which we hold multiple times a week at several
locations in San Diego, giving the people of this city an introduction to your teachings through
kīrtana, prasādam, basic lectures on Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and, of course, your books. We also
hold weekly Sunday Feast programs and major temple festivals, where we invite all for kīrtana, a
lecture, and sumptuous prasādam, giving old-timers and newcomers alike a taste of Kṛṣṇa’s mercy.
All of this activity is blissful, but to the extent that we have not yet fully surrendered, we are
still struggling in the material world. As we contend with circumstances and with our own minds,
we can derive great inspiration by remembering how you yourself sacrificed so much to give us
a chance to practice Kṛṣṇa consciousness. You left your beloved Vṛndāvana and came to the
benighted USA just to give us this once-in-many-lifetimes chance to “Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and be
happy.”
We can barely comprehend our good fortune. We can never repay our debt to you, Śrīla
Prabhupāda, and yet you want us to try by giving up all our bad habits so that we can fully
experience the joy of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and give others a chance to experience it too. So we
willingly accept difficulties in the service of you and Kṛṣṇa, and there is so much sweetness to our
efforts. We ever find encouragement by remembering your sacrifices and your promise that if we
follow your instructions we will “Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and be happy.”
Praying daily for your mercy so that we may continue on the blessed path you showed us.
Your servants at New Govardhana Dhāma
(written by Jalatalā Devī Dāsī)
