Homages Non-GBC Sannyasis, VP2026
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
I take this occasion to again celebrate your blessed appearance in our midst as an opportunity to offer prostrated, heartfelt obeisance to your lotuslike feet, and to submit this reflective attempt to offer you praise.
While reading your purport to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 2.9.36 – the last of the four verses on “the mystery of all inquiries” identified by our ācāryas as the catuḥ-ślokī Bhāgavatam, or Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in four verses, I appreciate your clarity in identifying the core motivation of worldly life, namely “sense gratification.” English language historians tell us that the word “gratify” in earlier times had the positive sense of showing grace or favor on someone, suggesting a spirit of goodwill toward that person, whereas now, since the eighteenth century, it indicates personal satisfaction or indulgence of one’s own desires. Your intended meaning of “gratification” is surely associated with the word’s later usage, characterized by the “me first” mentality. You have written,
The whole material existence has sprung up because of sense gratification, desires based principally on the sex desire, and the result is that in spite of all advancement of knowledge, the final goal of all the activities of the living entities is sense gratification.
By this simple analysis you, in effect, deconstruct and dismantle the entire edifice of “modern” and “postmodern” philosophical thought. More strongly put, you have gutted the edifice by your encompassing frame of “the whole material existence.”
The intellectual world – mainly in the decades following your presence among us – has seen the rise to prominence of ideas bundled as “postmodernity.” J. A. J. Storm explains that five themes are typically bundled together under the term “postmodernism”:
(1) Antirealism; (2) an emphasis on endings, which have often included disciplinary autocritique; (3) an extreme version of the linguistic turn that characterizes the world in terms of texts; (4) a broad climate of skepticism; and (5) ethical relativism (sometimes called “ethical nihilism”).
You, Śrīla Prabhupāda, have anticipated and challenged all five of these features of postmodernism in the course of your writings and talks, but in your purport to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 2.9.36 you hint at addressing the second feature, namely the emphasis on endings, as you note that,
[A]ll advancement of knowledge in the present context of things is being misused by cats and dogs fighting with one another for sense gratification, and all acquisition of knowledge in science, philosophy, fine arts, nationalism, economic development, religion and great activities are being spoiled by being used as dresses for dead men.
To describe “all acquisition of knowledge” as “being used as dresses for dead men” is an expression in your characteristically rhetorical style of condemnation and dismissal of any and all philosophical ventures as so many dead ends, so long as they fall short of minimally acknowledging the existence of a supreme being.
I find another striking example of your rhetorical style two verses previous (2.9.34). In your purport you use the word “sane” five times: The “sane man” is “enlightened in the disciplic succession”; “the sane man … accepts this statement of the Lord [ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo …]”; “[t]he sane man … knows [that the “Lord is the original source of all emanations …”]; “… the sane person knows clearly that the Lord can act, even from far, far beyond our vision …”; and “… the sane person knows prakṛti as the illusory energy of the Lord.”
A critic would likely insist that your use of the word sane implies censure of all persons who don’t fit your criteria of sanity as necessarily “insane.” They would accuse you of implying – if not directly making – ad hominem arguments, a type of logical fallacy that works rhetorically by the social force of shaming.
To this I would reply that your aim is not to gain points in the halls of the logicians; rather, your aim is clearly to open minds to a most radical proposition, namely, as you write in your purport to the first of these four essential verses (2.9.33), “… one should aspire for personal realization of the Lord …” Here is the full context of this last exhortation by you:
Even in the impersonal existence of the Lord, as it is in the material creation, one should aspire for personal realization of the Lord, and that is the meaning of paścād ahaṁ yad etac ca yo ’vaśiṣyeta so ’smy aham.
My prayer to you is that I may fully imbibe this – your thoroughly deconstructive vision of this world as the product of sense gratification, and your striking reconstruction of this world’s apparent impersonhood – as an opportunity to have personal realization of the Lord. May I, by the power of your words and the profound care they carry, cherish the vision you offer through apparent rhetorical flourish. And may I thus be able to reach beyond the manifold worldly insanity that passes as “modern” or “postmodern” reasoning to deepen my aspiration for personal realization of the Lord, under your able and challenging guidance.
Always your servant,
Kṛṣṇa Kṣetra Swami
Homages Non-GBC Sannyasis, VP2025
My dearest and beloved Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept my most humble obeisances at your divine lotus feet. All glories to Your Divine
Grace!
On this auspicious and momentous occasion of your 129th Vyāsa-pūjā, as I bow before your
exalted presence, I am filled with profound gratitude, awe, and reverence for the immeasurable
mercy you have bestowed upon this world. You, the divine senāpati-bhakta of Lord Caitanya
Mahāprabhu, descended into this material world to fulfill His divine mission, to awaken the souls
of the world to their eternal, loving relationship with Śrī Śrī Radha-Kṛṣṇa. As I reflect upon the
countless blessings of this past year, I am filled with immense joy and eagerness to share with
you, Śrīla Prabhupāda, the inspiring progress that we have achieved in your mission, especially in
India.
The 2024 December book marathon was historic – both in India and worldwide. Especially in
India, it has reached a new global benchmark and can be considered an unparalleled achievement
in the history of ISKCON. Together, we, your devoted followers of ISKCON in India, distributed
a staggering 6,676,509 books, setting a new global standard in sharing the transcendental knowl-
edge you so mercifully gave us. Śrīla Prabhupāda, from the very inception of ISKCON, book
distribution has been at the core of your mission. This monumental accomplishment is a direct
offering of love and devotion to you. The credit and inspiration for this year’s book distribution
goes largely to His Holiness Gopal Krishna Goswami Mahārāja, a lifetime trustee of the interna-
tional BBT. Mahārāja was a steadfast pillar of support and guidance, and a tireless distributor of
your books. It is a fulfillment of your instruction, “The success of your preaching will be substan-
tiated by how many books are sold. If we just depend on temple collections, that will not be very
satisfactory. We should make our program so strong that book-selling alone will maintain our
economic situation.” (Letter to Rameśvara, Los Angeles, December 9, 1974)
I vividly recall the December 10, 2018 disciple retreat at Sri Krishna Goshala, in Durban, South
Africa. There, amidst a gathering of dedicated devotees, we brainstormed new ways to enhance
our collective chanting and increase the reach of the holy name in different ways. It was in that
moment that the idea of a virtual conference platform for global chanting emerged, which ulti-
mately led to the creation of the “Zoom Temple.” What began as a simple idea with ten devotees
blossomed into a revolutionary initiative, quickly uniting more than two thousand devotees daily
from around the world. Six years later, in July 2024, the World Book of Records, London, offi-
cially recognized our “Zoom Temple” for its unprecedented contribution to spiritual outreach.
The “Zoom Temple” now connects over two thousand login locations globally, reaching more
than five thousand devotees, and inspiring one of the most innovative and far-reaching initiatives
in online spiritual engagement: chanting together and concluding with a japa talk.
When you were with us, ISKCON had under ten temples in India, and your vision of a thriving
Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement in the land of Bharata (India) was still unfolding. Today, Śrīla
Prabhupāda, that vision has been realized in the most magnificent manner. ISKCON India has
expanded to over three hundred ISKCON centers, including outposts, extension centers, preach-
ing centers, and full-fledged temples. The growth is staggering.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, I remember a striking conversation we had back in 1973 at Mr. Mahadevia’s
home. You asked me how many visitors attended our evening ārati and kīrtana at Hare Kṛṣṇa
Land in Juhu. I humbly answered, “Fifty to sixty visitors, Prabhupāda.” You exclaimed with
great satisfaction, “Oh, so many!” Śrīla Prabhupāda, I knew how concerned you were when you
observed that the Indian population was slow to embrace Kṛṣṇa consciousness in those early
years. At one point you said to me, “We need more men like you.” And now full-time brahmacārīs
are filling ISKCON ashrams, and countless congregational devotees are daily visiting temples in
India. The participation of the youth and congregational members has surpassed all expectations.
Thousands of young men and women are embracing Kṛṣṇa consciousness with fervor, dedicat-
ing themselves to chanting, studying your books, distributing literature, serving in temples, and
joining padayātrā, especially the one-day padayātrās. ISKCON’s youth groups, Bhakti-vriksha
programs, and nāma-haṭṭa initiatives are flourishing, with millions participating in congregational
activities all over India. I feel a deep sense of reassurance that the Lord is fulfilling your wish
and sending sincere souls who are eager to serve in your mission. This exponential growth is
proof to the causeless mercy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and the power of your divine mission:
paraṁ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanam. India has awoken, Śrīla Prabhupāda! Your Kṛṣṇa conscious-
ness movement has taken deep root in its homeland, and the wave of devotion continues to rise,
unstoppable and ever-expanding. Good will continues to grow, and our relationship with the
government has reached new heights – evident from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s participa-
tion in the recent inauguration of the Navi Mumbai temple.
As I reflect on the most recently concluded Māyāpur festival, a moment of great significance
comes to mind. During the flag-hoisting ceremony, I was reminded of your words in New York
when, as you were passing by the United Nations, you asked, “If the United Nations truly stands
for unity, why are there so many separate flags?” But in Māyāpur, the transcendental headquarters
of your movement, we witnessed true unity. Devotees from over fifty nations stood together under
one spiritual flag, united not by artificial borders but by the shared mission of love and devotion
to Lord Kṛṣṇa. Śrīla Prabhupāda, your words resonate so powerfully: “We are creating the real
United Nations on the basis of spiritual understanding.” In Māyāpur, that vision is being realized.
We raise the flag of Lord Caitanya’s mercy, the flag of His saṅkīrtana movement. That flag, soaring
high, has become the symbol of your vision. Devotees from fifty nations celebrated the festival
together, chanted and danced together in ecstatic joy, walked side by side on the Navadvīpa
maṇḍala parikrama. We honored prasādam together, sharing love, laughter, and spiritual camara-
derie like a true united family. In the spirit of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (One world, One family),
we stood together as servants of the Lord, bound by the eternal bonds of bhakti.
This year, on April 6, we celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma temple. It
is not just a milestone, Śrīla Prabhupāda, but also a testament to the unbeatable strength and
endurance of your divine mission. In the sacred land of Vrindavan, you inaugurated a magnificent
temple. For half a century this temple has been a lighthouse of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This temple
is your heart. On that auspicious day of Rāma-navamī, you personally offered the very first ārati
to Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma, inaugurating Their glorious temple. The temple was overflowing with devo-
tees. I found myself standing right at the altar’s edge, witnessing this historic moment, meditating
on Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma and Your Divine Grace. I distinctly remember the divine smile on your face
as you offered ārati. It was an expression of pure devotion, fulfillment, and boundless joy. That
moment remains etched in my memory forever. It is this memory that reminds me of December 6,
1975, in the very same Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma courtyard, that you awarded Śrīdhara Swami, Pṛthu-putra
Swami and myself sannyāsa, instructing us to become traveling preachers. This year is also my fif-
tieth sannyāsa anniversary. You emphasized the importance of spreading Kṛṣṇa consciousness far
and wide, reminding us of the paramparā tradition of great traveling preachers: “A sannyāsī’s duty
is to travel and preach Kṛṣṇa consciousness. He should never remain stagnant, but must move
from place to place, distributing the mercy of Lord Caitanya.”
Little did I know that this instruction would lead me to many years of traveling by bullock cart
padayātrā, bringing Lord Caitanya’s movement to every town and village. One year after receiving
sannyāsa, in the autumn of 1976, again in Vrindavan, you inaugurated our first padayātrā bull-
ock cart traveling party, which would cover the pioneer route from Vrindavan to Māyāpur. You
instructed: “The basic principle is this: induce them to chant and take prasada. You’ll be success-
ful … Yes, go village to village. It is a very noble attempt.” You further instructed me in a letter
dated December 23, 1976: “Prasada distribution and chanting and book distribution is sufficient
for your program.”
Last year on Rādhāṣṭamī, in Jagannātha Purī, we joyfully celebrated forty glorious years of
the All-India Padayātrā – the mother of all padayātrās, which commenced in 1984. Traversing the
length and breadth of India nearly six times, it has brought Kṛṣṇa consciousness to countless vil-
lages, towns, and cities. The All-India Padayātrā, and padayātrās in one hundred countries, includ-
ing the one-day padayātrās and so many other occasional walking festivals – put together we have
covered an astonishing 300,000+ kilometers – the equivalent of circling the earth close to eight
times.
You said, “Kumbha Mela is the largest spiritual gathering in the world, and we must be there
to preach Krishna consciousness. This is the duty of ISKCON devotees, to bring the message
of Lord Caitanya to the seekers who come searching for spiritual truth.” ISKCON has a steady
presence at every Kumbha Mela, distributing prasādam, books, and the holy names. Initially, we
were not recognized. We had no official place and no standing. Despite these challenges, your
disciples endured the harsh conditions to distribute your books and spread the holy names
among the millions of pilgrims attending this momentous gathering. However, everything has
changed. Your ISKCON has been formally recognized and honored with a prestigious position
within the Kumbha Mela setup. ISKCON has now been officially acknowledged as a legitimate
and respected spiritual organization within the vast network of traditional akhaḍas and religious
groups. Śrīla Prabhupāda, on February 10, 2025, during the Maha Kumbha Mela in Prayagraj,
the Akhila Bharatiya Akhara Parishad bestowed the prestigious Vishwa Guru title on Your Divine
Grace, marking the first and only time this recognition has been bestowed upon anyone in history
(India Currents, February 18, 2025). ISKCON is now inseparable from the great spiritual traditions
of India. They are embracing ISKCON and honoring your legacy. This is the ultimate victory, a
truly glorious moment Śrīla Prabhupāda!
Close to ISKCON Pandharpur we have established a Prabhupāda Ghata on the banks of the
Chandrabhaga River. It has become a major attraction, drawing hundreds of thousands of pil-
grims. It stands as a spiritual landmark in Pandharpur Dhāma, glorifying Your Divine Grace.
The new Bhūvaikuṇṭha temple project is progressing steadily, guided by your vision, instruc-
tion, and desire.
In your letter to me, dated July 30, 1977, you wrote: “The whole of India, and specifically your
Maharashtra, are enthused with Krishna. Now you have to revive their Krishna consciousness.
This is Tukaram’s country, but now they are becoming bad politicians. So revive them by the pro-
cess of the sankirtana movement. I am very glad that you are preaching village to village and will
cover all of Maharashtra. You should train one farmer from your native village so that he can actu-
ally become an ISKCON representative there. I am especially pleased to see how you are pushing
forward the book distribution … Now you are also doing this all over India. Organize very solidly
and thus increase the number of books distributed, the number of devotees made, and develop
centers of Krishna consciousness everywhere.”
Inspired by this instruction, we continue to revive Kṛṣṇa consciousness through the process of
devotional service. The Bhūvaikuṇṭha project, conceived under this vision, is making remarkable
progress. With construction advancing steadily, it stands as a significant step in fulfilling this mis-
sion, providing a sacred space where people can awaken their devotion.
Alongside all this progress, there is also one observation of concern. As I reflect on the eter-
nal glory of your ISKCON and your instructions about unity, we must remain vigilant against
internal discord (infighting, groupism, politicking). I remember a particularly distressing inci-
dent from the early days at Hare Kṛṣṇa Land, when a devotee in a moment of intense agitation
pursued the temple president with a tree branch, determined to strike him. The scene was deeply
unsettling, and I found myself overwhelmed with sorrow as I sat before your vyāsāsana. With tears
in my eyes I was mentally appealing to you. Where have you brought me? Is this the Vaikuṇṭha
world? This was the last thing I was expecting to happen in your spiritual movement. So, now I
lovingly appeal that differences be amicably resolved to keep your institution together. We must
remember your instructions more than ever and address disputes with humility and love, remem-
bering your call for unity in diversity. You wrote to Kīrtanānanda on October 18, 1973: “The
materialist without being able to adjust the varieties and the disagreements makes everything zero.
They cannot come into agreement with varieties, but if we keep Krsna in the center, then there will
be agreement in varieties. This is called unity in diversity.”
My godbrothers and godsisters are leaving us behind to join Your Divine Grace and Gaurāṅga.
It is your gain and our loss. I miss them all deeply. I especially wish to remember Gopal Krishna
Goswami Mahārāja, your “right-hand man,” who recently departed. His departure weighs on my
mind. I was fortunate to be with him during his final moments. His dedication to you and his
guidance were a constant source of inspiration and support for me. This year would also have
marked fifty years of us serving shoulder to shoulder in your mission. Now I once again turn to
you, Śrīla Prabhupāda, and to the memory of His Holiness Gopal Krishna Goswami Mahārāja,
seeking your divine strength and blessings. May I continue my service to you with the same reso-
lute dedication that he so tirelessly exemplified throughout his life.
Whatever I have done and continue to do is simply a manifestation of your will. I again offer
everything – my body, mind, and soul – at your divine lotus feet on this most sacred day of your
appearance. May I continue to serve you with sincerity and dedication. May I carry forward your
mission with the same relentless spirit of perseverance and devotion that you instilled in us all.
The legacy you bestowed upon us is not just for today but for countless generations to come.
You are my eternal master, Śrīla Prabhupāda, and I will always remain your eternal servant.
Your insignificant servant,
Lokanath Swami
Homages Non-GBC Sannyasis, VP2026
My Dearest Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept my most humble obeisances again and again at your lotus feet. All glories to Your Divine Grace.
During a recent gathering in Pandharpur with my senior disciples, managers, and leaders we reflected deeply on the various instructions you gave me throughout my life, including how I endeavored to execute them, what still remains unfinished, and how many services, departments, projects, and preaching initiatives developed from those instructions. A major focus of our deliberations was the future: how these services and responsibilities would continue after my physical departure, and how they could be preserved, expanded, and carried forward into future generations.
From these reflections emerged a clearer understanding of the legacy projects and initiatives that, by your mercy, have been established and brought to maturity as direct offerings of service to your instructions. This reflection on the legacy created in your service forms the essence of this Vyāsa-pūjā offering. I humbly pray that my followers, particularly those entrusted with leadership and managerial responsibilities, will protect, nurture, and perpetuate these legacy services, for your continued pleasure.
The single most inspiring instruction of my life began on Rādhāṣṭamī, during a room conversation, on 1 September 1976, at Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Pārthasārathi Mandir in ISKCON Delhi: “You don’t need to travel on the bus in India. You can go by bullock cart.” You mercifully instructed me to begin the bullock cart saṅkīrtana preaching program (Padayātrā). Later, during the inaugural gathering in Vrindavan on 12 September 1976, you again instructed me, concluding with the words: “Yāre dekha tāre kaha ‘hare kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa.”
I always felt this was a personal and custom-made instruction for me. Ordinarily, the phrase is kṛṣṇa-upadeśa, but you specifically said hare kṛṣṇa-upadeśa. I understood from this that you were directing me to dedicate my life to propagating the holy name everywhere through Padayātrā.
These instructions, repeated through correspondence and personal encounters, became the sole direction and purpose of my life. You encouraged me: “Yes. Go from village to village. It is a very noble attempt. And if you sincerely preach, Kṛṣṇa will … buddhi-yogaṁ dadāmi taṁ yena mām upayānti te. There is no doubt.” (Vrindavan, September 12, 1976) What began as a single bullock cart gradually expanded into a worldwide movement of harināma-saṅkīrtana. On 16 March 1977 you wrote, “We can introduce many millions of such carts all over the world.”
In 1991, the ISKCON GBC formally recognized Padayātrā’s global mission: “To bring the congregational chanting of the holy name to every town and village of the world through organized Padayātrā festivals.”
Your desire continues to unfold. During your Centennial celebrations, Śrīla Prabhupāda, Padayātrās were conducted in more than one hundred countries. Collectively, they have now traveled over 400,000 kilometers, equivalent to circumambulating the earth sixteen times.
“Prasada distribution and chanting and book distribution is sufficient for your program.” (Letter, 23 December 1976)
Eight Indian states now conduct their own Padayātrās, which continues to be a leading contributor to book distribution, just as you instructed. As a service to your instruction, it is my earnest desire to see the Padayātrā movement carried forward for the next ten thousand years, until the chanting of the holy name reaches every town and every village.
For more than forty years, devotees from around the world have participated in the Kārttika Vraja-maṇḍala Parikramā. experiencing spiritual rejuvenation through thirty days of immersion in the holy dhāma.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, you established the great Mayapur and Vrindavan festivals, and parikramā has always been an integral part of these sacred festivals. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu Himself performed this parikramā, and your Guru Mahārāja, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, organized Vraja parikramā in 1932, in which Your Divine Grace participated.
To help pilgrims understand the spiritual significance of each sacred place, I compiled Vraja-maṇḍala Darśana, a book that has now been translated into at least seven languages (and counting). Following your example and the tradition you upheld, I strongly feel that every single devotee should perform Vraja-maṇḍala parikramā at least once in their lifetime, and I pray that by your mercy, this tradition continues for thousands of years to come.
“The whole of India and specifically your Maharashtra are enthused with Krishna. Now you have to revive their Krishna consciousness … So revive them by the process of the sankirtana movement.” (Letter, 30 July 1977)
Inspired by this instruction, I initiated systematic preaching in Maharashtra, establishing temples and overseeing Deity installations so that devotees could have stable centers for sādhana, kirtan, preaching, education, festivals, and community life. You wrote: “Organize very solidly and thus increase the number of books distributed, the numbers of devotees made, and develop centers of Krishna consciousness everywhere.” (Letter, 30 July 1977)
Centers are flourishing in Maharashtra: Solapur (Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Dāmodara); Beed (Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Govinda-deva); Latur and Pachora (Jagannātha, Baladeva, and Subhadrā); Ichalkaranji (Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Śyāmasundara); and Amravati (Śrī Śrī Rukmiṇī-Dvārakādhiśa). These are the principal temples, alongside dozens of extension centers and preaching outposts.
In Gautam Buddha Nagar District, now known as Greater Delhi State, we have many temple projects – Noida, Greater Noida, and Jewa, to name a few. The opening of Noida International Airport has brought greater importance to our temple projects in the zone.
You wrote: “You should train the one farmer from your native village so that he can actually become an ISKCON representative there.” (Letter, 30 July 1977) The entire region has been spiritually elevated. Aravade, my birthplace, has become enthused with Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Gopāla has become a cherished place of pilgrimage and worship.
All these temples, projects, and initiatives have been developed in accordance with your vision – keeping a succession plan and the next generation of devotees in mind. The foundation has now been laid, and I look to the Regional Secretary assistants, leaders, and managers to carry this legacy forward to expand and maintain these efforts and “to revive Krishna consciousness by the process of the sankirtana movement.”
In the early 1970s, Śrīla Prabhupāda, you returned to India with your Western disciples. Looking at the map of India, you began identifying key locations for establishing centers of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. You put your finger on the map to indicate Nagpur, marked by the historic Zero Mile of India.
Recognizing its central position, you expressed your desire that a grand temple be established there. This instruction has taken form today as the beautiful lotus-shaped International Vedic Cultural Centre (IVCC), a majestic temple and cultural palace of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Gopīnātha, a living embodiment of your wish and will.
Your affectionate statement, “Our Lokanath Swami is just like Saint Tukaram,” deeply connected me with Pandharpur and my traditional spiritual roots. Pandharpur is the spiritual capital of Maharashtra and the abode of Lord Viṭṭhala, and under your encouragement I began my preaching career there.
Pandharpur also has a strong Gauḍīya connection – Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s eleven-day visit there, Lord Nityānanda Prabhu’s initiation there by Lakṣmīpati Tīrtha, and Viśvarūpa winding up His pastimes and departing for the spiritual world from there.
The highlights of the new Bhūvaikuṇṭha Temple project include the iconic Prabhupāda Ghat, a magnificent temple, a Prabhupāda museum, exhibition galleries, a goshala, international-standard guesthouses, restaurants, extensive pilgrim services, the Rūpānuga Vidyāpīṭha (educational facilities), Bhaktivedanta Hospital, and a residential devotee community.
I pray that by your mercy, Śrīla Prabhupāda, the new Bhūvaikuṇṭha in Pandharpur will develop into a grand international spiritual and cultural hub, becoming well known throughout India and worldwide, revealing its spiritual glory to pilgrims and future generations.
Near Nagpur, in Maharashtra, lies Kaundanyapur, the birthplace of Śrīmatī Rukmiṇī Devī, a sacred dhāma deserving of global recognition. This holy dhāma is directly connected to one of the most beautiful pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa: the “kidnapping” pastime of Lord Kṛṣṇa and His accepting Rukmiṇī Devī as His eternal queen.
Our temple project, currently under development, stands on the site where Lord Kṛṣṇa’s chariot stood during the divine pastime. The Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava heritage, along with the importance of this holy place, call for it to be properly established, preserved, and revealed, so that it may become a recognized place of pilgrimage for Vaiṣṇavas worldwide. By your mercy and guidance, Śrīla Prabhupāda, and through my humble service, I aspire to see this sacred dhāma properly developed and revealed to the world.
In 2018, I established Zoom Harināma Mandir to ensure that devotees, especially initiated disciples, chant their rounds in the morning. Of course, it is open to all your followers and the disciples of my godbrothers, some of whom have been joining. Also, several of my godbrothers give japa talks. Now, seven years later, around two thousand devotees from across the world gather daily, and the initiative has been recognized by the World Book of Records for three consecutive years of uninterrupted global mantra meditation. I pray this nonsectarian online mandira continues long beyond my personal presence.
“There is need of making more Indian devotees. We have to make more men like you.” (Room conversation, Bombay, 1975) By your own example, you taught us that spiritual leadership means caring for people, shaping character, and cultivating devotion. You wrote: “Train them according to your needs. Krishna has given you and your companions a very nice responsibility. If you like you can go all over India and make it more and more in that way.” (Letter, 14 December 1976)
More than ten thousand of my disciples, and of course they are your granddisciples, in over fifty-five countries are now serving your mission. Initiation was only the beginning. I have endeavored to train, encourage, and gradually prepare them for meaningful service so they become spiritually strong, philosophically grounded, responsible, competent, cooperative gentlemen and capable of serving with maturity and integrity.
“Keep your behavior right to the point, set a very good example and others will follow. Yes, I want you to concentrate on preaching.” (Letter, 23 December 1976) Devotees learn not only through instruction, but through association, conduct, standards, and personal example. I have especially encouraged simplicity, humility, sādhana, Vaiṣṇava behavior, preaching spirit, and loyalty to ISKCON. My aim is to cultivate future servants, teachers, leaders, and caretakers of your movement. I am dependent mostly on them to continue, to maintain what has been created and, of course, further expand these programs and projects, Padayātrās and publications.
“Although it may take long to master Sanskrit, once it is learned, the student passes through ‘the gateway to education.’” (Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi 15.5 purport) Through your books, you carefully preserved Sanskrit Devanāgarī, transliteration, word-by-word meanings, translations, and introduced morning and evening recitations of the Gītā and Bhāgavatam so that devotees everywhere could gradually hear, read, pronounce, study, and appreciate the language of the Vedic literature. I want to encourage Sanskrit learning within ISKCON – academically, devotionally, and practically – so devotees may develop deeper appreciation and understanding of your books, prayers, mantras, and the original śāstric tradition.
You repeatedly emphasized the importance of proper pronunciation: “Every mantra of the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam is sabda-brahma … If the mantra is poorly articulated, then the sound form of the Lord is disfigured.” (Letter, 5 April 1970) With this inspiration, I also prepared a Sanskrit pronunciation guide to help devotees properly articulate Sanskrit sounds, chant verses carefully, sing prayers correctly, and gain confidence in approaching Sanskrit study. We humbly seek your blessings for this initiative to promote learning Sanskrit, including its correct pronunciation, so the devotees can better understand scripture. A selected group of learned ISKCON Sanskrit scholars will work with ISKCON’s Education Ministry to promote and propagate Sanskrit only to those who are voluntarily willing and competent to learn.
“The business of advanced and empowered devotees is to write books, publish them, and distribute them widely.” (Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya 19.132) I have authored about a dozen books and have many more writing projects in the pipeline. Śrīla Prabhupāda, only you could simultaneously write and translate books while traveling and managing ISKCON’s affairs worldwide. You instructed, “You do as I did,” but I am certainly not able to do as you did. Yours was an amazing and almost inconceivable feat. During the last leg of my journey, I am trying to hand over my managerial responsibilities so that I may find time for writing. I have established a publishing house called ISKCON Padayatra Press. I once again beg your blessings for success with this herculean task. Books are a very special significant part of a legacy. The physical body may leave, but one stays behind in the form of one’s books.
You had personally witnessed what happened after the departure of your own spiritual master. You clearly wrote: “Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, at the time of his departure, requested all his disciples to form a governing body and conduct missionary activities cooperatively. He did not instruct a particular man to become the next ācārya.” (Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi 12.8, purport)
You did not want individual gurus to assume the position of independent ācāryas and ultimate managers, thereby fragmenting the institution into competing factions. You clearly foresaw the dangers of guru groupism, and therefore to fulfill your spiritual master’s instruction and protect ISKCON, you established the Governing Body Commission. In your final will, you stated: “The Governing Body Commission (GBC) will be the ultimate managing authority.”
I have personally endeavored to take practical and deliberate steps so that guru groupism and the Zonal Ācārya Syndrome may be checked and gradually eradicated, especially within ISKCON in India, where guru groupism still prevails. During the recent ISKCON India Bureau meeting, I put forward a proposal in this regard, which was accepted. It was resolved “that the ISKCON Bureau constitutes ISKCON India Guru and Sannyasa Services Committee to process, coordinate, and monitor the guru/sannyasa candidates and gurus/sannyasa,” of which I am a member. The essential aim is for many gurus, many leaders, and many services, but one heart and one unified mission under the GBC, as you envisaged.
On the occasion of your 130th Vyāsa-pūjā, Śrīla Prabhupāda, I humbly offer this account of my imperfect efforts to serve your instructions. Many of these initiatives are still developing and have not yet matured. I therefore beg your blessings for strength, intelligence, and purity for myself and for those who will carry these efforts forward for your pleasure.
Your servant always,
Lokanāth Swami
Homages Non-GBC Sannyasis, VP2025
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept my obeisances. All glories to Your Divine Grace!
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
Recently, your disciple Swarup Dāsa, posted on social media that he often asks himself how it’s
possible to express and show his gratitude for what you have given him. He wrote that you’ve
“taken me from the darkness of ignorance to the light of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, from suffering,
misery, and hopelessness to a life of joy and happiness, from bondage to freedom.” His words
struck a chord in my heart, as he had eloquently expressed exactly what I was thinking.
Swarup Prabhu goes on to say that he found his answer in your purport to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
4.22.47: “A joker’s activities simply arouse laughter, and a person who tries to repay the spiritual
master or teacher of the transcendental message of Kṛṣṇa becomes a laughingstock just like a
joker because it is not possible to repay such a debt. The best friend and benefactor of all people
is one who awakens humanity to its original Kṛṣṇa consciousness.”
Indeed! You, Śrīla Prabhupāda, are certainly that “best friend and benefactor” saving suffering
humanity. Though humanity in general has not yet understood that, and despite various attempts
of the demons to impede Lord Caitanya’s mission, your teachings continue to spread like wildfire,
and huge numbers of sincere souls continue to join!
When you were physically with us here, you seemed to me, in your lectures and purports, to
closely identify with Prahlāda Mahārāja, who famously said that he was concerned only “for the
fools and rascals who are making elaborate plans for material happiness.” (Bhāgavatam 7.9.43)
That seems to be also your only concern, and in fact, anyone who is not a devotee of Kṛṣṇa cer-
tainly is an unfortunate fool or rascal. You taught us, therefore, that our duty as Vaiṣṇavas is to try
to make the unfortunate fortunate by bringing them closer to Kṛṣṇa. Without Kṛṣṇa, there’s no
consciousness, as without the sun, there’s no shining.
Though we, your disciples and followers, are the “laughingstock” you mentioned who are
trying to repay our colossal debt to you, nonetheless we try, “hope against hope,” to do something
useful to direct the misled human beings off the highway to hell and onto the path back home,
back to Godhead.
Our tremendous thanks to you, Śrīla Prabhupāda, for giving us, unqualified though we are,
this ecstatic opportunity to try to help you. All glories to you!
Your grateful servant and disciple,
Mahādyuti Swami
Homages Non-GBC Sannyasis, 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 obeisances. All glories to Your Divine Grace!
Your glories, of course, are unlimited, Śrīla Prabhupāda. Yet for this homage I’ll comment briefly on only one outstanding feature of your transcendentally genius vision – a feature that may be unknown to many of your followers.
Śrutakīrti Dāsa told me that you mentioned to him that you were successful because you made “the adjustment” to allow women to live in the temples. What a bold and revolutionary departure from the culture from which you came! And what a startling assertion that this adjustment was integral to your success!
Though certainly you respected Vedic culture and tradition, and though you were keen on establishing varṇāśrama-dharma, you were obviously much more concerned with whatever was most effective for spreading Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the prime necessity for every human being.
In your purport to Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya 23.105, you write, “What is possible in one country may not be possible in another. The ācārya’s duty is to accept the essence of devotional service.” That, indeed, is the duty you accepted, Śrīla Prabhupāda – according to time, place, and circumstance – in American, European, Australian, and other societies, where men and women tend to mix freely.
Besides allowing women to live in the temples, you engaged them in the same activities in which you engaged the men – especially in preaching. Sometimes you insisted on their lecturing and leading kirtans, even in the presence of sannyāsīs, and even in India, where the audience sometimes numbered in the thousands.
“Women in our movement can also preach very nicely,” you wrote to Mālatī Devī Dāsī on 25 December 1974. “Actually male and female bodies, these are just outward designations.… The qualification for leading class is how much one understands about Krsna and surrendering to the process. Not whether one is male or female.”
You clearly affirmed that “these women are not ordinary women. They are preachers. They are preachers. They are Vaiṣṇava. By their association, one becomes a Vaiṣṇava.” (Morning walk, Bombay, 27 March 1974)
And Mādhavānanda Dāsa recalls that at the end of a morning walk in Calcutta in 1972, when some brahmacārīs had been complaining about the presence of women in the temple, you corrected them, saying, “If you associate with these women, you will go back to Godhead.”
Your consistent care and respect for these ladies spurred them to perform colossal amounts of high-quality service for your movement. They often endured severe austerities, such as traveling in vans in freezing weather and tolerating the abuse of lusty men, just to distribute your books. They also, most unfortunately, had to endure, contrary to your wishes, disrespect from and marginalizing by many of your male disciples.
As your godbrothers criticized you for allowing ladies to live in the temples, some of my godbrothers will surely criticize me for making this topic the focus of my homage to you. I take solace, however, in your well-known instruction: “Do as I do.” I am simply trying to follow in your footsteps, which I am absolutely certain are progressing in the right direction and in the most effective and blissful way.
All glories to you, Śrīla Prabhupāda, and all your transcendentally genius preaching “adjustments”!
Your faithful disciple,
Mahādyuti Swami
Homages Non-GBC Sannyasis, VP2026
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept my respectful obeisances. All glories to you on the occasion of your divine appearance.
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
On this wonderful day, the entire ISKCON community around the world remembers you with gratitude and love, for it is thanks to you that we have received a new life – one that is about true reality. Through your person and teachings, so many people awaken from a confused nightmare – the materialistic life woven with ignorance.
In our age, the entire human society has fallen victim to this diseased condition. Moreover, the suffering masses are further misled by many cheating teachers and pseudospiritualists. As you write in your purport to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.26.6, “Currently, in this Kali-yuga, the entire human society has become a society of cheaters and cheated.”
The Lord advises Arjuna to approach a bona fide spiritual master who has seen the truth if one wishes to be freed from the confusion born of ignorance. The position of the spiritual master is described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.17.27):
ācāryaṁ māṁ vijānīyān nāvamanyeta karhicit
na martya-buddhyāsūyeta sarva-devamayo guruḥ
“One should understand the spiritual master to be as good as Myself,” said the blessed Lord. “No one should be envious of the spiritual master or consider him an ordinary man, for he represents all the demigods.”
You, dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, are in this position, yet you consider yourself only the humble servant of your beloved spiritual master, and you see all your achievements as the mercy of guru and Kṛṣṇa.
Unfortunately, I could not meet you personally, but your disciples, books, and teachings all testify to your presence – that is, you are still giving your blessings. You are the founder-ācārya, not just one teacher among many. You carry the special empowerment of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Rūpa Gosvāmī, and Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī.
With their message in your heart, you set out to help the fallen souls of this dark age. What you accomplished is truly a miracle, was it not? As a perfect instrument, the Lord was able to use you in His divine plan, and He is all-powerful.
Thank you for this inconceivable mercy, and I pray for your causeless blessings so that I too may become a suitable instrument in your hands and in the hands of your devotees.
Your insignificant servant,
Mahāprabhu Swami
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