Homages Non-GBC Sannyasis, VP2025
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept my humble obeisances in the dust of your lotus feet. All glories to you. All glories
to your service to your spiritual master, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda and
to Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu!
At the end of your purport to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 9.4.68 you write: “The devotee does not do
anything not sanctioned by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As it is said, vaiṣṇavera kriyā
mudrā vijñeha nā bujhaya. Even the most learned or experienced person cannot understand the
movements of a Vaiṣṇava, a pure devotee.”
This is the description of a Vaiṣṇava that best suits you, dear Śrīla Prabhupāda. Over the years,
I am gradually becoming more aware of how much your actions are dictated by Kṛṣṇa Himself.
Here are some examples of this:
When you read your books with your purports, sometimes you asked your disciples, “Why am
I reading my own books? Have you seen any author reading his books? No, they don’t read. Why
is that?” And you answered yourself: “Because they write their own books. I don’t write my own
books. I write what Kṛṣṇa dictates to me. That’s why I read my own books with interest.”
For several years you told your disciples, “There’s going to be a World War, so you have to
distribute a lot of books to try to fix this situation.” But afterward you said, “There will be no war.”
The disciples were surprised: “Why, Prabhupāda? After all, you used to talk about its inevitability.”
Then you replied, “Yes, that’s what Kṛṣṇa thought. But you, my disciples, distributed the books so
well that He changed His mind.”
When you were preparing to leave your body in 1977, your senior disciples came to Vrindavan
and begged, “Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, don’t leave us! Stay with us! We can’t live without you!”
You started eating again and gradually came back to life. It was another miracle that you showed
them. The disciples were happy and thought that now you would stay with them for a long time.
But you said, “Kṛṣṇa is calling me.” After that you stopped eating again and gradually left in full
Krsna consciousness in Vrindavan.
Yes, dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, you acted, are acting, and will act on the direct orders of Lord Śrī
Kṛṣṇa.
I was lucky enough to meet you in my life, and I am infinitely happy about it. I am making
my humble attempts to realize the greatness of your personality, the meaning of your books, and
even trying to participate in some aspects of your preaching mission, but I realize that my lack of
understanding you is bigger than my understanding of you.
I try to accept you with my Kali-yuga-like heart, as much as it is possible for me. I don’t
stop trying to do this. Just before going to bed yesterday I again listened to an excerpt from
Śrīla Prabhupāda-līlāmṛta, a book about you written by your beloved disciple, Satsvarūpa dāsa
Goswami. A few hours earlier I was studying your books and purports as part of the Bhakti-
vedanta course that you personally established. I tried not only to understand philosophy, logic,
and the sequence of events, but also with my heart to imbibe you and your devotion to the Lord.
I’m also trying to preach. I tell devotees the sambandha, inspire them to follow the abhidheya,
and discuss prayojana and how it can be achieved. By your grace, dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, this year
in Māyāpur, your beloved disciple Śrīla Nirañjana Swami mercifully initiated me into the sannyāsa
ashram along with other sannyāsīs present, such as Bhakti Caitanya Swami, Prahlādānanda Swami,
and Candramauli Swami. The next morning, at Ekachakra, I performed an abhiṣeka with water
from the Lord Nityānanda’s lake, bathing the little mūrti of you my Guru Mahārāja presented to
me at the ceremony. I hope I was able to please you. Please be merciful to me and let me always
remember that my service as an ISKCON sannyāsī is my personal service to you, dear Śrīla
Prabhupāda. And all the results of this service – enlightening Vaiṣṇavas, preaching in society, and
so on, are not my results but yours.
Please, dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, remain my param-guru and always continue to bestow your
blessings on me, your unworthy servant, like a thundercloud. You are the main part of my spiri-
tual life. I read your books every day. I chant sixteen rounds of japa every day, as you ordered.
Every day I sing kīrtanas, which you established as daily sādhana. Every day I take prasādam
because you said that “we must eat our way home to the spiritual world.” I cooperate with other
devotees in various countries. I preach in various countries. For the past twenty years I have
been traveling with your mūrti and trying to talk to, listen to, and read about you, dear Śrīla
Prabhupāda.
Please mercifully continue to reveal yourself to me in my heart, even if I am not qualified for
that. Without you, I’m not even interested in spiritual life. I would not want to be left without
you, dear Śrīla Prabhupāda. Please don’t reject me.
Trying to serve your lotus feet in some way,
Viśvāvasu Swami
Homages Non-GBC Sannyasis, VP2025
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept my humble obeisances at your lotus feet. All glories to Your Divine Grace.
My primary service to you and your representatives is to cooperate with fellow devotees in
spreading Kṛṣṇa consciousness to every province of Spain. This year, I humbly offer you a reflec-
tion on your instructions – given in letters to your dear disciples – which I also embrace as per-
sonal guidance.
All generations of devotees in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement are meant to become instru-
ments, according to their capacity, to assist you in fulfilling Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s desire: to
deliver the holy names of Kṛṣṇa to every town and village in the world. Moreover, we aspire to
please you, for as you taught us, “satisfaction of the self-realized spiritual master is the secret of
advancement in spiritual life” (Bhagavad-gītā 4.34, purport).
In 1976, you wrote: “I approve your plan to combine together with Kesava to lead a party of
Spanish speaking devotees with nama-sankirtana to every town and village in Spain.” (Letter to
Citśukhānanda Dāsa, December 24, 1976)
I carry on my head the instruction from my dīkṣā-guru, your Satsvarūpa Mahārāja, to focus on
preaching in Spain as my prabhu-datta-deśa. Inspired by this, I strive to contribute, alongside other
devotees, to bringing nāma-saṅkīrtana not only to every province, but – as you are empowering us
in this letter – to every town and village in Spain.
That same year, 1976 – when ISKCON was legally registered in Spain – you also wrote: “Your
desire to please me is very pleasing, and your preaching program in Spain sounds very nice.
Please push on this movement in the Spanish and Portuguese languages with great enthusiasm,
and certainly Krishna will bless you for taking so much trouble to preach His glories. A Vaisnava
always feels himself incapable to repay his debt to his spiritual master, therefore he works very
hard in order to try and repay that debt. He knows that without the mercy of the spiritual master
one cannot preach this Krishna consciousness, and therefore he always tries to act in such a way
that he may please his guru. Please continue in this way and keep very strictly the regulative prin-
ciples and chanting the prescribed number of rounds on the beads, and you will clear the way for
success in your preaching work.” (Letter to Catur-mūrti Dāsa, August 9, 1976)
Here, you reassure us that any service offered to please you – especially through preaching – is
deeply cherished. You remind us that Kṛṣṇa will bless every endeavor and austerity we under-
take to spread His movement, even when we feel unqualified or the task seems daunting. Most
crucially, you reveal the key to success: sincere adherence to chanting the prescribed rounds and
strictly following the regulative principles.
I surrender at your lotus feet, Śrīla Prabhupāda, and pray for your guidance, blessings, and
empowerment to deliver Kṛṣṇa’s holy names and teachings to every corner of Spain, in harmony
with the community of devotees.
With heartfelt gratitude,
Your eternal servant,
Yadunandana Swami
Homages Non-GBC Sannyasis, VP2026
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept my humble obeisances at your lotus feet. All glories to Your Divine Grace.
I recently heard a recorded answer you gave to someone who asked what would happen to your movement in the United States after your departure. In your usual witty and profound manner, you replied, “I will never die. I shall live in my books, and you will utilize them.” In the recording, one can hear how the disciples present erupted in joyful cheers upon hearing your powerful words.
Based on my own personal experience as well as that of many people I know, I can testify that your prediction is manifesting exactly as you said. Many people are utilizing your books and receiving guidance from your living instructions, and as a result, they are undergoing wonderful transformations in their lives.
As you wrote in dedicating your magnum opus – the translation of and Bhaktivedanta purports to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam – to your spiritual master: “He lives forever by his divine instructions, and the follower lives with him.” In this connection, you personally shared that during the early days of the movement, while you were on the streets of New York seemingly like a vagabond, you never felt alone – even though externally you were by yourself in a foreign country, without material resources, far from your beloved Vrindavan. You always felt the presence of your spiritual master.
Thus, by your own example, you demonstrated the guru-paramparā principle that the disciple always lives with the spiritual master by faithfully, gratefully, and lovingly following his instructions.
As for how your divine instructions are affecting my own small life, the more I read, study, preach, teach, and write about your books – and the more I hear your lectures and read your letters – the more inspired I become to follow the beautiful process of devotional service to Kṛṣṇa that you compassionately gave us. Moreover, I feel inspired to share this gift with others.
I humbly pray at your lotus feet that as you live through your divine instructions, I may always live with you by following them and by helping distribute them wherever I go – especially in the prabhu datta-deśa you entrusted to me through your representative.
May I always remain a servant of your followers, who are living with you by faithfully following your instructions.
Eternally your servant,
Yadunandana Swami
