Homages Non-GBC Sannyasis, VP2026
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Your Divine Grace.
As I am your initiated disciple and you are my (now physically unmanifest) representation of Paramātmā, I have always taken it for granted that you are naturally aware of my intentions and activities. But since my practical service is presently so meager, I have begun to question my ability to draw your attention. I am, however, confident that you will attend to the sincere offerings of your more devoted and productive followers and, in this way, you may kindly also take notice of mine by association.
kāmādīnāṁ kati na katidhā pālitā durnideśās
teṣāṁ jātā mayi na karuṇā na trapā nopaśāntiḥ
utsṛjyaitān atha yadu-pate sāmprataṁ labdha-buddhis
tvām āyātaḥ śaraṇam abhayaṁ māṁ niyuṅkṣvātma-dāsye
O my Lord, there is no limit to the unwanted orders of lusty desires. Although I have rendered these desires so much service, they have not shown any mercy to me. I have not been ashamed to serve them, nor have I even desired to give them up. O my Lord, O head of the Yadu dynasty, recently, however, my intelligence has been awakened, and now I am giving them up. Due to transcendental intelligence, I now refuse to obey the unwanted orders of these desires, and I now come to You to surrender myself at Your fearless lotus feet. Kindly engage me in Your personal service and save me.
I am very weary of being in a material body that obstructs my every effort to render devotional service, coupled with a stubborn mind stuck in deep ruts from countless lifetimes. I would therefore like to beg a fervent request of Your Divine Grace: please petition our Lord to cleanse my consciousness and fashion me as an instrument in carrying out His mission to redirect this hell-bent society. You have given me so much, and although I am neither an orator nor a scholar, I do have an aptitude and apparent ability as a “reading leader” for sādhakas, as well as a distributor of your gifts to the public. Please engage me by your transcendental “power of attorney.”
Your servant,
Gaṇapati Swami
Homages Non-GBC Sannyasis, VP2025
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept our humble obeisances at your lotus feet. All glories to your good self, who are so
kindly delivering the whole world from darkness by your unlimited kindness and austerity.
Though you have accepted us as your disciple, we are full of substantial disqualifications. Yet
we humbly hope to offer a few words of gratitude on the anniversary of your appearance in this
material world.
Very prominent is that at 77 years old, our body is quite naturally failing. We are losing sight,
hearing, mobility, memory, etc., but we remember again and again hearing you say that old age is
a good friend to a devotee. It seems very, very true.
Old age is pushing us off the gross platform of life onto the intellectual, buddhi, platform and
making the purely spiritual platform more and more visible, accessible for practical reform.
We feel that we have been a rather insincere disciple, but have been making some effort for a
long time. The result is amazing. We feel like your comment that even a dog can take part in this
movement and dance in ecstasy is being proven to us. Some more advanced aspects of devotional
service seem to be opening up to us (or else we are becoming seriously senile). We feel that we can
say that your process, by your mercy, really works.
There is so much more to say, but we have the chance to communicate with you daily during
maṅgala-ārati, saṅkīrtana, japa, etc., so we will end here and listen to the comments by other mem-
bers of the chorus.
Thank you.
Maybe next time we meet, Your Divine Grace and all members of ISKCON will be in
Navadvīpa with Nimāi.
Hanumātpreṣaka Swami
Homages Non-GBC Sannyasis, VP2025
My dear spiritual master, Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept my most humble obeisances in the dust of your divine lotus feet.
Once again, on this sacred day of your Vyāsa-pūjā, I come before you not only to offer words of praise, but to pause, reflect, and re-dedicate my heart to your sacred mission. Each year, this day reminds me that my life’s purpose is bound entirely to you. You are the reason I stand where I stand now, speak what I speak, and live as I live.
I often picture you alone on the Jaladuta, frail in body but carried by a will greater than the ocean itself. On that ship you crossed not only waters, but worlds bringing the treasure of bhakti into a place that neither expected nor asked for it, yet was starving for it. You came with nothing but your books, your beads, and the instructions of your Guru Mahārāja burning in your heart. And you changed the course of history.
It was you, Śrīla Prabhupāda, who found me in the darkness of material life. You called my name, lifted me from ignorance, and placed me on the path of devotional service. Whatever little service I have rendered since that day is simply my attempt to show you my gratitude.
For fifty-four years I have tried in my own small way to carry your message out into the world. From major cities to remote villages, deserts to jungles, mountains to seashores, I have tried to speak your words, share your books, and glorify your mission. Wherever I go, I feel you beside me – I speak, but it is your voice. I move, but it is you who carries me.
You once said, when asked about miracles, “My miracle is that I have made these Western boys and girls devotees of Kṛṣṇa.” That miracle continues to this very day. I witness it with awe: the spark of devotion igniting in unexpected places, the eyes of strangers lighting up when they hear your message, and hearts once burdened by material life suddenly lifted by your words.
This year, I saw your magic unfold in a myriad of ways. At the Sadhu Sanga Retreat in North America, thousands of devotees danced and chanted with one heart, one voice, along with many newcomers encountering your mercy for the first time.
At our kirtan festival in Rishikesh, at the foot of the Himalayas, the holy names echoed off the mountain slopes and danced upon the waters of Mother Gaṅgā. Wandering sādhus, yogīs, seekers, and curious travelers paused to listen. They had all come to Rishikesh searching for something divine and they found it in the holy names, in devotee association and in the love you left behind.
Similarly in Poland, for the thirty-fifth year in a row, we sang, we danced, we performed, and we warmly welcomed guests into the uplifting world of Kṛṣṇa consciousness through our lively festivals. The people often thanked us with heartfelt words, but in reality, Śrīla Prabhupāda, it is you to whom their gratitude truly belongs.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, the years are passing quickly now. The body I once relied on for endless travel and service no longer responds with its former strength. But growing older has deepened my sense of urgency; every remaining moment is a treasure not to be wasted. Whatever strength is left in me must be spent entirely for you.
I do not fear impending death, Śrīla Prabhupāda. What I fear is that I have not done enough. That I could have loved you more deeply. Spoken more boldly. Served more selflessly. I carry these thoughts with me and they make me strive harder to be the servant you deserve. When my time comes to leave this world, I wish to do so with your name on my lips, your form in my heart, and your eternal service as my only aspiration. You alone are everything to me.
My beloved spiritual master, can you see me? Can you hear me? From the core of my heart, I call out to you. Please cast your merciful glance upon this unworthy servant! I am waiting here, with great expectation for whatever service you will entrust to me next. Be it in heaven or in hell — it matters not. Wherever your order sends me, that place will become my Vaikuṇṭha, just as it has been in this lifetime. My only desire is to be part of your eternal entourage forever.
Your words during a darshan in Mayapura on February 16, 1977 give me hope:
“All of you. You were simply born because the mission was to be started. Just like in Yadu-vamsa, Krsna ordered all the devotee demigods to ‘go and take birth there to help Me.’ Similarly, you also. You were born in Europe, America to help me.”
Your ever-grateful servant,
Indradyumna Swami
Homages Non-GBC Sannyasis, VP2025
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
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
My obeisances again and again at your lotus feet.
This is the fiftieth anniversary year of your setting foot in New Mayapura, France on August 11, 1975. In December this year we also have the fiftieth anniversary of the installation of Gaura-Nitāi at New Mayapura – on the tirobhāva of your own Guru Mahārāja.
One of your instructions was to “at least maintain what I have given you.” After so many years I feel sad that we are a long way short of that, or of fulfilling your vision for New Mayapura.
Still, dedicated efforts are being made by the devotees at New Mayapura – trying to fix the buildings as per your desire and construct new ones using as much local material as they can. They are also, albeit somewhat reduced, maintaining the worship of the Deities, Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Govinda Mādhava, Śrī Śrī Gaura-Nitāi, and Śrī Śrī Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma (installed by you in 1976). Over the past few years, the goshala has been resurrected – we now have two young sets of bullocks learning to plough and work. Milk is provided, at least for Their Lordships’ offerings, and the excess goes to the devotees. Slowly, efforts to produce more food from the land are underway. A restaurant was opened a few years back in the nearby city, and this year one young Vaiṣṇavī, who joined at New Mayapura just a few years back, has started a weekly preaching program there. It is already attracting dozens of youngsters. Hundreds of young volunteers from all over the world stay annually at New Mayapura.
Festivals have been revitalized, attracting devotees and guests from all over Europe, including many from the local area. The young managers are heart-and-soul dedicated to you, Śrīla Prabhupāda, and will do whatever you want. I pray that you guide them and protect them.
Young French devotees are now working alongside the elders on completing the translations and commentaries of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam into French. After all these years, it has never been finished. The book distribution has been slowly growing over the past eight years, with young and old devotees working together.
A year or so back, after much effort, the movement in France was finally accepted as a religious nonprofit, tax-exempt association. Efforts are underway to again establish a school for the devotee children and also to provide facilities to serve the elderly devotees in their final journeys or when in dire need.
On another front, in Paris there is daily harināma and book distribution going on in the city center. Undermanned we are, but again, the dedicated young devotees there are doing all they can to please you. We pray that as soon as possible your beloved Rādhā-Parisīśvara can be housed in a wonderful facility suitable for Their worship and pleasing to you. Many Indians are also coming to the temple, and programs are underway to guide them to your lotus feet.
I hope this little report brings a glimmer of happiness to you in this far distant place.
From my side I wish to offer you my obeisances in a practical way. I pray you kindly accept them. From your 1961 Vyāsa-pūjā offering, Vaiśiṣṭyāṣṭakam:
But simply a festival of flowers and fruits does not constitute worship.
The one who serves the message of the guru really worships him.
The service of the message is the real meaning of the Vedas.
Neophyte that I am, I am still attached to do what I want to do and have still not surrendered to your essential message of surrendering to Kṛṣṇa’s will. You are so mercifully accepting the efforts of egotistic followers like myself. I pray that my heart will somehow transform and truly follow your path.
My dear Lord Kṛṣṇa, You are so kind upon this useless soul, but I do not know why You have brought me here. Now You can do whatever You like with me.
O Lord, I am just like a puppet in Your hands. So, if You have brought me here to dance, then make me dance, make me dance, O Lord, make me dance as You like. (Mārkine Bhāgavata-dharma)
Somehow you have placed me in France to serve your mission. I pray that I can live by your words and dedicate this good-for-nothing body and mind in your service, to dedicate this lifetime and future ones, if need be, to fulfilling your desires. It seems this is the real way to offer obeisances (the dictionary definition of obeisance being the “act of obeying” or something you do that expresses that).
The disciple should not consider whether he is going back home, back to Godhead; his first business should be to execute the order of his spiritual master. Thus, a disciple should always meditate on the order of the spiritual master, and that is perfectional meditation. Not only should he meditate upon that order, but he should find out the means by which he can perfectly worship and execute it. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.24.15, purport)
I can only say I am trying to execute your will in at least some small way or other. Please give me the strength that I do not desist, no matter what the challenge, and become the instrument of your will.
So, I thank you very much for inviting me in your temple, and I am very much pleased there are so many young boys and girls, they are chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. That is a new thing in the history, in a city like Paris, younger generation will chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. We are making history. That’s a fact. So do it sincerely. In all circumstances, trials, do not give up. (Arrival address, August 8, 1973, Paris)
If you desire, I am willing to come back again and again. Your example of sacrifice sustains me, maintains me, and remains with me always. Reflecting on the years when you walked the streets of Delhi and New York alone distributing Kṛṣṇa conscious literature gives me the strength to soldier on.
I often have my own meditation, strange at it seems, to be in Paris – in the heart of the city, Chatelet Les Halles, the “Gates to Hell” (chatelet means “the fortified gateway,” les halles, “the hell” – my play on words). I think of being there chanting, dancing, distributing books till I drop at your lotus feet with my last breath.
“Either you put me in the hell or heaven or this or that, [it] is all the same.” Because he is always with Kṛṣṇa, chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa is always with him. So, where is the cause of being afraid that “This place is not good; this place is very good”? No. Wherever Kṛṣṇa is there is very good. That’s all. (Initiation lecture, August 27, 1969, Hamburg)
It doesn’t matter where it is. Even if we … We can go to the factory. Anywhere. We can go to the hell even. (Room conversation with John Papworth and Schumacher, August 4, 1973, London)
You have given the simple formula of transforming these hellish places into Vaikuṇṭha. Chant, dance, and distribute books and prasādam. The street becomes our temple, and all the conditioned souls there are coming to worship the Lord, even without their knowledge, particularly when they take the mercy in the form of your books. You have truly given us this gift of seeing Kṛṣṇa in everything and everywhere through this saṅkīrtana-yajña. We just have to do it. You have given us the most joyful austerity. This “austerity” is the means of transforming our intent from “what I like” to “what you like” – what Kṛṣṇa wants, the essence of our mission. The austerity is not the activity but the attitude in which we act. You again and again encouraged us to always chant – but to also hear the sound when we chant, to put Kṛṣṇa in the center. Such a sublime process.
In Kṛṣṇa consciousness, our recreation is dancing and chanting, and when we get tired, we take prasāda. Is dancing difficult? Is chanting difficult? (The Path of Perfection, “Yoga as Action”)
Simply our prayer should be, My dear Krishna, please remind me to always chant Your Holy Name, please do not put me into forgetfulness. You are sitting within me as Supersoul, so you can put me into forgetfulness or into remembering You. So please do not put me into forgetfulness. Please always remind me to chant, even You send me into the hell, it doesn’t matter, just so long as I can always chant Hare Krishna. (Letter to Devānanda Dāsa, November 23, 1968)
I have no other hope than this – that you please always remind me to chant, and as long as this body works, to dance. I have no qualification for anything, but out of your causeless mercy you have given me and everyone else this divine lifeline of saṅkīrtana.
May I dedicate this lifetime to serving you wherever you put me, to sacrificing everything at my disposal. To hell with personal desires for satisfying my temporal so-called needs. The only thing of value in my life is the privilege to surrender to your will. Thank you, Śrīla Prabhupāda, for this greatest gift of allowing me to associate, if only from a distance, with the topmost līlā of harināma-saṅkīrtana. This is my only sādhana, and you are my only hope.
May you cast your glance on France and make us dance. I pray you please shower your glance of mercy on us all that we can continue on the path of becoming your unalloyed servants – fulfilling your desires to preach the saṅkīrtana movement without the self-aggrandizing false ego that drives me on.
Your lowly begging servant,
Janānanda Goswami
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
I offer my obeisance in the dust of your lotus feet.
Just now, I listened to a lecture by Nirañjana Swami given at an initiation in Lithuania and reminding us of what initiation meant in the early 1970s. The prominent aspect in those formative years, he so relevantly exposed, is that the mood of “I must do” or “have to do” was not our incentive. Unfortunately, I must say my mood is that I have to write my offering, since today is the deadline. And, it will be the “deadline” anytime soon.
Vyāsa-pūjā day again and again – at every moment you are appearing. But the specific day of your appearance is the most glorious day of our lives and indeed of the whole world, even though it may be unknown to almost everyone. The privilege of writing an offering to you is the greatest good fortune. That privilege is the right of each and every aspiring servant who is following in your footsteps. Writing an offering is an essential act of connection, of association.
In the words of Lord Kapila you so kindly gave us:
prasaṅgam ajaraṁ pāśam
ātmanaḥ kavayo viduḥ
sa eva sādhuṣu kṛto
mokṣa-dvāram apāvṛtam
“Every learned man knows very well that attachment for the material is the greatest entanglement of the spirit soul. But that same attachment, when applied to the self-realized devotees, opens the door of liberation.” (Bhāgavatam 3.25.20)
This is one of those foundational verses giving us a constant reminder of the path you walk and implore that we follow.
Absorbed in thinking of you, it is a time to deepen our attachment to you. A time to glorify you. To enter deeply into our relationship with you. To deepen our appreciation of you. To dedicate and rededicate ourselves to you. To remember all that you have done. To ponder your mission. To reflect on the movement since your departure and the amazing achievements of many of your disciples both within and without. A day to cry to you for mercy – to repent, to appreciate others, to let go of our false ego and embrace the transcendental ego of being proud to have the chance to associate with you. A day to realize how little devotion I have. A day of surrender.
These are the most intimate and significant moments of the year, simply thinking of you while attempting to write some words. Words from the heart. A golden opportunity to be honest. Of course, we should be honest at every moment, but this is the special time to truly feel your darshan, which is still as much available now as ever – in fact, it’s even more available now through your ever-expanding family, because we can remember you through the many memories and accounts of your interactions and revelations others share with us.
Especially on this day, Kṛṣṇa provided technological methods by which we can absorb ourselves in hearing and seeing the pure devotee. Above all your books is you, and you are the transparent medium in the books through which we can see Kṛṣṇa on every page. You are so powerful that by all these means you give your association to us, according to our surrender.
As Kṛṣṇa appears in many forms by which we witness the actions of His energies and thereby remember Him, so you also appear in many forms. We can remember you in practically everything, since you are not only a transcendentalist showing us that which is beyond our vision, but you are bringing that transcendence into the external world, to which we relate in every way. In every breath, step, thought, act, interaction, word, and deed. St. Francis of Assisi once said in answer to the question, “When we go out to preach, should we walk?”: “It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching.” Yes, you taught us to see everything in relationship with Kṛṣṇa and to use it the way He would like.
Today, we can reflect on what causeless good fortune we have to be so close to such an exalted person – the rarest opportunity in this world, what to speak of in Kali-yuga. Associating with you means associating with Kṛṣṇa, since Kṛṣṇa is always with you in your every moment.
Those in the outside world think you have gone, but you have not. You have left the boat of pure devotion on this shore for us to board. The boat is the shelter of your lotus feet, your instructions, and more.
This year, your birthday falls on September 5, at least in France. I look often at the VedaBase to see what you did on that day, what you said, and what was happening around you on that date. This is one way that we can hear and see you during your manifest pastimes every day. Another nice way to feel your presence at every moment.
In his book, Servant of the Servant, Tamāl Krishna Goswami mentions some of the drops of mercy you shared with a few disciples in your room on 5 September 1977. You were at Bhaktivedanta Manor on that day and in the last few months of your manifest presence. You were in extremely severe health.
“Oh, you are doing so much. If I live or die, it is all right. Otherwise, I want to see you all a little stronger.”
“As a father likes to see his estate nicely managed, so I am like that. Get places and print. The whole world is simply waiting for Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Let us give them something. Let them be happy.”
“We were sitting with Prabhupāda in his sitting room after darshan,” Tamāl Krishna Mahārāja writes. “Seeing an opportune moment, I presented Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Tenth Canto, Part One. With great affection he took the Bhāgavatam, held it to his head respectfully, and turned from page to page, reading everything carefully. Then he wanted us to read. I said, “You must give us all the chapters of the Tenth Canto.” With a look that expressed determination and confidence that Kṛṣṇa would enable him, Prabhupāda agreed. He was then offered the Vyāsa-puja book. Turning each page and looking at all the pictures, he remarked, “Like father, like son.”
On September 5, 1974, Śrīla Prabhupāda wrote to Bali Mardana: “My only anxiety is to guide you. Krishna sometimes makes me sick just to examine how much you have learned to conduct the business under my guidance, with a little independence. You should never act independently, because my guidance in my words are always there. The main guidance is all of us should remain spiritually strong by chanting the minimum number of rounds and following the rules and regulations.”
Another transcendental way you are always guiding us to Kṛṣṇa through sickness and, finally, death.
And for me, who had little direct association with you, you are fully present in unlimited ways, although I do not fully appreciate it.
Your presence is felt in the annals of time.
To this day it remains fully sublime.
As we ponder your presence in the darkness of night
The memories of you give us light.
What sustains me and others is your life of submission
To your guru’s orders and Kṛṣṇa’s transmission.
Your vāṇī remains for all to embrace
Delivering fully your divine grace.
You have left the boat on this forlorn shore
To ferry us over with the spiritual oar
And bring us safely to the other side,
Free from illusion no more to hide,
To serve your Lord Kṛṣṇa with heart and soul
To realize that He’s in control.
Where to begin and never to end
I offer this ode which on this day do send
On your 130th appearance day
Submit to your feet and fervently pray
That the glorification of your family tree
Will mercifully help me to properly see
Exactly what’s happening beyond this mind
And open my eyes which are presently blind.
Your books, your temples, your eating, your talks,
Your breathing, your dressing, your movements, your walks,
Your smiling, chastisements, your humor, your love,
Compassion personified, descend from above.
Your chanting and dancing, your writing, dictations,
Your boldness in preaching “form united nations.”
’Tis bhakti alone that will save the world,
The love within becoming unfurled.
Your care and attention to every and all,
Your reading and praying you lovingly call
To the Lord of your heart and His consort,
Guru and Vaiṣṇavas who give us support.
Your śiṣyas, godbrothers, to preaching the dharma,
Your dealings with others causing no harm
To the children, the public, to women, and old,
Preach no matter in heat and in cold.
Don’t drive too fast and turn off the light.
Relish prasādam with every bite.
Waste not the prasādam, not even a grain.
Turn off the tap lest it pour down the drain
Keep the kitchen clean, it’s Rādhā’s abode.
The bathrooms, the toilets, spotlessly glowed.
The bedrooms, the storerooms, and all that exists –
To clean them persistently you did insist.
Be careful with lakṣmī, to us it belongs not.
Remember that no matter what we have got.
Must be used in his service down to the line
For Kṛṣṇa’s pleasure and not for mine.
To all living beings compassion you show
Animals and birds and especially the cow,
To the plants and the trees, the horse and the bees,
To the fish and the insects, the dog or the fly
They are Kṛṣṇa’s children – they don’t want to die.
Your darshans, your lectures, your letters galore,
The Deities that you installed for all
The farms, the schools, the restaurants too,
Scientific preaching to show us what’s true.
And book distribution, your heart and soul,
Showing clearly what is life’s ultimate goal.
To us you gave the lawbooks of mankind:
For 10,000 years we can find
Direction, inspiration and every solution.
Push us on with unlimited distribution
On the streets of New York alone you did go.
The perfect example you did mercifully show.
Let’s make this yajña our life and soul;
To distribute books our primary goal.
Your travels, your dealings with problems galore,
Your patience, humility, and unlimited more.
Your qualities are beyond our scope.
Your mercy stands as our only hope.
I can’t forget prasādam at least two times a day.
That’s 40,000 helpings – around forty tons, I’d say.
And my favorite halava, two tons downed at least –
Where has it gone, I ask myself, the fruit of many a feast.
But for me above all your presence is found
In your followers both gone and those still around
Who have carried your love wherever they go,
No matter how small or if we don’t know
Who they are or what they did,
Their service to you is never hid
From the Lord of the heart who sees each act
Recording their good fortune, He keeps a track.
To the lesser known who humbly pursue
The path of devotion and service to you
Not expecting any honor or recognition,
Their devotion unswerving serving the mission.
To those who have temporarily drifted
We know that their service will always be gifted
With your unending mercy to bring them back home
Even though they may have appeared to roam.
To the GBC who relentlessly stay
Sacrificing their lives to maintain your way
With the ongoing challenge of keeping the mission
From breaking apart causing division
Facing challenges galore and criticism
Have stayed together avoiding a schism.
To numerous devotees who give me light
To help me through this darkness of night
Where oftentimes I lose my sight
And often consider to give up the fight
This is your vāṇī, which keeps me alive
I pray that your mission will unlimitedly thrive.
Maintaining your gifts and not claiming them mine
But to humbly submit for eternal time.
To hold your hand and never let go
Submit at your feet and remain always low
To be guided by you and never depart
To accept you in the core of my heart
As my life and soul your vāṇī I hold
Your living example a drop has been told.
At this time of reflection
Unavoidable dejection
To see so many stalwarts depart
And now when this body is old
And energies are almost sold
Please appear within my heart.
To guide me on the final leg
Your mercy I humbly beg.
I know that some clever or foolish poetry means nothing in and of itself, especially when it is presented with desire for recognition, but I hope that somehow a small drop will benefit someone and maybe please you. At least it has occupied my devious mind in thinking of you for hours on end. For this opportunity I thank you again and again, Śrīla Prabhupāda, for “appearing in this world” and allowing such a rogue as myself the privilege of a drop of your association.
When, as Nirañjana Mahārāja so succinctly pointed out, will that “have to do” become a “want to do” and eventually “all that I do”? I wish that could be my permanent state.
Servant of your servants’ servants,
Janānanda Goswami
Homages Non-GBC Sannyasis, VP2025
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
I take this occasion of again celebrating your blessed appearance in our midst as an opportu-
nity to offer prostrated, heartfelt obeisance to your lotuslike feet.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, of your countless wonderful qualities, one stands out for me in my present
reflection on your glories, namely, that you always put forward a grand vision of Kṛṣṇa conscious-
ness for the whole world, a vision full of hope. You always radiated confidence that this vision
would become a reality. In this spirit, you anticipated a historiography that would acknowledge
the realization of your vision when you wrote in a letter to Jayaśrī (November 13, 1969),
Our movement is the greatest gift to the human race. They may not immediately appreci-
ate it, but time will come and history will give evidence that this movement saved the
human society from being fallen into barbarianism.
Thus, you anticipated a radical change in civilizational direction, from a steady decline into “bar-
barianism” to an elevation toward widespread engagement in devotional service. In a Caitanya-
caritāmṛta purport (Madhya-līlā 25.121) you further envisioned that “[e]veryone has an equal
right to execute devotional service. That is the platform of oneness and the basis for a classless
society.” In referring to “equal rights” in relation to devotional service as the “platform of oneness”
that becomes “the basis for a classless society,” you hinted at the practical enactment of how the
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is “meant for bringing about a revolution in the impious life of a misdirected
civilization” (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, preface). By hearing, reading, reflecting on, and sharing the
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, our minds and hearts can be incrementally transformed. This transformation
is inclusive: Recognizing all human beings as having “equal rights” means that everyone should
have the opportunity to hear the message of Śrīmad-Bhaāgavatam. This was always your firm
conviction.
Reflecting on the notion of “revolution” as the expected result of engagement with the
Bhāgavatam, I like to think of reading and sharing it as a subversive act. In a quiet, nonconfronta-
tional manner, everyone has the right to participate in the slow and steady erosion of materialistic
consumerism, replacing it with humble acts of devotion that nourish the soul, honoring all living
beings as sparks of divinity.
In a further reflection on your anticipation of “history giving evidence” that this Kṛṣṇa con-
sciousness movement is to be credited with turning the tide toward a favorably directed – rather
than a misdirected – civilization, I was inspired this last February to give a presentation at the
ISKCON Leaders’ Saṅga in Māyāpur titled “‘History Will Give Evidence’: Writing Our His-
tory to Prepare ISKCON’s Future.” After raising questions about the nature, process of gather-
ing, archiving, accessing, and presenting of historical “evidence,” and pointing out some efforts
already being done in this direction, I and my co-presenter Lokarāma Prabhu urged devotees to
develop oral history projects that would document the experiences of individual devotees and
groups of devotees.
I concluded the short presentation by noting three benefits of gathering and writing our his-
tory. First, it can help foster a sense of mission continuity for Vaiṣṇava communities over multiple
generations. Second, it can inspire present and future generations of devotees to enthusiastically
preserve and spread the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. And third, it can positively direct our
future, enabling your prediction to come true, namely, that “history will give evidence that this
movement saved the human society from being fallen into barbarianism.” Responses to our pre-
sentation were very positive.
With your kind blessings, Śrīla Prabhupāda, as your follower and humble student, I will con-
tinue to be a small instrument to encourage everyone to pursue and persist in the subversive act
of hearing, reading, and sharing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and to encourage your followers to record
the history of how this “revolution in the impious life of a misdirected civilization” is becoming a
reality.
Always your servant,
Krishna Kshetra Swami
