Homages Other Sources, 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 my humble obeisances at your lotus feet. All glories to Your Divine Grace!
In your commentary on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.5.12, you reveal a fundamental principle for establishing a divine society: that everyone is eligible to serve the Supreme Lord.
Everyone should be allowed to render service to the Lord to the best of his ability, and everyone should appreciate the service of others. Such are the activities of Vaikuṇṭha [the spiritual world]. Since everyone is a servant, everyone is on the same platform and is allowed to serve the Lord according to his ability.
You teach us that Vaikuṇṭha is not a distant, abstract realm, but a state of consciousness where the service of every soul is valued. The spiritual platform is the great equalizer. In a world obsessed with hierarchy and competition, you remind us that, as servants of the same master, we are all fundamentally unified. You have shown us that the secret to spiritual harmony is twofold: the freedom to offer our unique talents to Kṛṣṇa, and the humility to sincerely appreciate the offerings of others.
As our movement grows, we sometimes struggle to accept one another’s differences, but you teach us that the individual nature of the soul is eternal. Rejecting the heresy of impersonalism, you give us a vision of unity in diversity. As personalists, we understand that unity is not forced upon us by conformity. Spiritual unity can only be accomplished by cooperation between different natures and by our appreciation of each other’s unique contributions.
We are part of a worldwide family. Please help us to see every devotee’s effort as a precious contribution to your mission. Please help us to cultivate this Vaikuṇṭha atmosphere here on earth, making ISKCON a place where everyone feels empowered to serve and truly valued for their devotion. Please give us the inspiration to increase our own service and enough humility and compassion to empower others around us to do the same.
Your servant,
Rādhā Devī Dāsī, for the ISKCON Vaiṣṇavī Ministry
Homages Other Sources, VP2025
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept my humble obeisances at your lotus feet.
I heard the most amazing lecture of yours the other day. It was given in Los Angeles on May 3,
1973. I marveled at the wisdom and expertise that was in full view as you wove in and out of the
full spectrum of your presentation of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
In one class, primarily given to disciples who, on the average, had been chanting for two or
three years, you told us to be free from the bodily concept, to be detached from everything that
reinforces that false conception, to boldly defeat the rascals ruining the world (materialistic scien-
tists, politicians, Māyāvādīs, sahajiyās – you covered them all!), that Kṛṣṇa’s real home is Vrinda-
van, and that we should beg for the mercy of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, who controls Kṛṣṇa by Her love.
There was something for everyone, regardless of where they were at in 1973, or where we are at in
2025.
Here are some brief samples showing the span of your presentation in just one class:
The highest is available to anyone: “If Caitanya Mahāprabhu is pleased, then He can give
kṛṣṇa-prema, love of Kṛṣṇa, to anyone, doesn’t matter what is his qualification. He gives. If a
person who is giving in charity, he can select any man: ‘You take.’ That is power of Śrī Caitanya
Mahāprabhu. Otherwise, kṛṣṇa-prema, to understand Kṛṣṇa, is very, very difficult job.”
We should preach strongly: “Now it is the time for making propaganda amongst the so-called
scientist, philosophers, leaders, politicians. Because they are misleading the whole people of the
world under the bodily concept of life.… These rascals, they’re the greatest enemy of the human
society.”
We should be detached: “To become free from material attachment, that is required. So long I’m
thinking, ‘I’m father of this, mother of this, husband of this, wife of this,’ that is attachment.…
The māyā is causing to dance like this – monkey’s dancing … if we waste our life, misuse this
opportunity of human life just to live like the cats and dogs, āhāra-nidrā, eating, sleeping, mating,
and defending, then we are spoiling. The human life is successful when he understands Kṛṣṇa.
Otherwise he remains an animal. That’s all.… That is freedom, that ‘I do not belong to anything
of this bodily connection.’”
Rascal sahajiyās: “They picture simply Kṛṣṇa as if simply embracing Rādhārāṇī. That’s all. That
is also very, in an obnoxious way. These rascal, they take it, the dealings of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa as
ordinary boys’ and girls’ dealing. They don’t understand anything. Let there be one picture how
Kṛṣṇa is controlling the whole universe.”
Bhakti, Kṛṣṇa, in Vrindavan, and Rādhārāṇī’s shelter: “In His original form, He is Kṛṣṇa, two
hands, playing on the flute. That is His original form. The universal form is causal but that is not
His real form. Kṛṣṇa’s real form is Vrindavan, at home, the dvi-bhuja-muralīdhara. Dvi-bhuja, two
hands, having a flute in the hand.
“Kṛṣṇa becomes a tool in the hands of bhakta. Just like Rādhārāṇī, the symbol of the topmost
bhakti, Rādhārāṇī. So She has purchased Kṛṣṇa. She’s so powerful. Therefore Vaiṣṇavas, they
take shelter of the lotus feet of Rādhārāṇī so that if She recommends, ‘Oh, here is a nice devotee,’
Kṛṣṇa has to accept.”
What an incredibly powerful and diverse class. Over the years we often have heard the phrase
in praise of you: “He built a house in which the whole world can live.” We, your followers, likely
have different ways of understanding that phrase. I’ve often wondered what it tangibly means.
This lecture of yours helps me think of that phrase in real terms, at least as it relates to the devotee
community. In thirty-nine minutes you gave inspiration to every devotee, whether they are strug-
gling to understand that they are not their body, or are more focused on begging for the mercy of
Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, as well as many stages and topics in between. Such expertise!
Thank you, Śrīla Prabhupāda, for this lecture and all the ways you give us the opportunity to
achieve the Lord’s mercy by endeavoring to serve and please you.
Your servant,
Vraja Vihārī Dāsa
Homages Other Sources, VP2026
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Your Divine Grace.
Looking at the world around us, it seems there is darkness everywhere. There are fights, conflicts, and wars going on in Ukraine, Russia, Israel, Iran, the US, and many other places. There seems to be conflict among the devotees in ISKCON as well.
In these difficult times, we seek the shelter of your ISKCON movement, of your faithful and mature ISKCON devotees, and especially of your vāṇī.
In your purport to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.20.18 you write: “Both King Indra and Mahārāja Pṛthu were envious and angry with each other, but since both were Vaiṣṇavas, or servants of Lord Viṣṇu, it was their duty to adjust the cause of their envy. This is also a first-class example of cooperative behavior between Vaiṣṇavas.” [Emphasis added]
While we celebrate ISKCON’s sixtieth anniversary, we meditate on your words spoken in 1966 in New York: “‘Yes, I will act according to Your desire.’ That is bhakti. This is the difference between bhakti and karma. Karma means to fulfill my desires, and bhakti means to fulfill Kṛṣṇa’s desires. That is the difference. Now you make your choice as to whether you want to fulfill your own desires or Kṛṣṇa’s. If you decide to fulfill Kṛṣṇa’s desire, then your life is successful. That is our Kṛṣṇa conscious life. ‘Kṛṣṇa wants it; I must do it. I will not do anything for me.’ That is Vrindavan. All the inhabitants of Vrindavan are trying to fulfill Kṛṣṇa’s desire. The cowherd boys, the calves, the cows, the trees, the flowers, the water, the gopīs, the elderly inhabitants, Mother Yaśodā, Nanda are all engaged in fulfilling Kṛṣṇa’s desire. That is Vrindavan. So you can turn this material world into Vrindavan provided you agree to fulfill the desires of Kṛṣṇa. (Lecture, Bhagavad-gītā 16.4, Honolulu, 1975)
Please bless us that we can make your desires, which are Kṛṣṇa’s desires, our life and soul and thus become instruments to transform this world into Vrindavan.
We hope that we can show our love for you by cooperating with one another, and inspiring others to cooperate with one another, to keep your desires at the forefront of our consciousness and actions.
By your mercy, ISKCONResolve is gradually becoming more active and better organized around the world. We wish that it becomes something you are proud of.
Please bless us that we can be your willing instruments in creating better understanding and cooperation among devotees. We are unqualified, so please empower us to serve you, your movement, and your devotees in a way that is pleasing to you.
Thanking you,
Your servant,
Ācāryaratna Dāsa, on behalf of the global ISKCONResolve team
Homages Other Sources, VP2025
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept my respectful obeisances at the dust of your lotus feet. 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
The global education sector has faced a complex array of new and intensifying challenges over
the last decade. These challenges stem from a confluence of factors, including technological shifts,
socioeconomic pressures, political instability, and environmental changes. Education systems in
various countries have been grappling with significant issues in recent years, and the solutions
implemented by these countries’ governments have often fallen short. Despite numerous attempts
to introduce new educational methods, students and teachers around the world are facing increas-
ing difficulties, and as a result, many are finding their health and well-being negatively impacted
due to the heightened pressure.
You explained very clearly the reason for the failure of the current system of education in your
purport to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 8.16.19: “Unfortunately, this spiritual education is completely
absent from modern human civilization. No one understands his real self-interest, which lies with
the spirit soul, not with the material body. Education means spiritual education.”
Your ISKCON Ministry of Education is working to fulfill that mission: to provide Kṛṣṇa
conscious education of high quality to everyone through temples, educational institutions, and
other global initiatives. The mission of your ISKCON Ministry of Education is to empower and
support educational initiatives and collaborations among educators, educational institutions,
and professionals. The ministry is working toward establishing and monitoring high standards
of Vaiṣṇava education. We are working on setting up processes, supervising the development and
execution of educational plans, and ensuring that these structures are delivered to high standards.
Through various initiatives, the Ministry is working on understanding and fulfilling the educa-
tional needs of Kṛṣṇa conscious families. We aim to make every temple an educational center and
a center of excellence.
You described your own educational mission in a Melbourne room conversation on April 20,
1976: “I have already explained, that this is my mission, to educate people to understand himself.
They are under this misconception that, ‘Every one of us, we are this body.’ That is misconception.
You must know who is within the body. That is real education.”
The problem we have with the modern educational system is that it’s like craftsmanship. You
clearly explained this in a lecture given in Miami on February 25, 1975: “This is not education, that
we have manufactured nice car or nice machine. That is called craftsmanship. That is not educa-
tion. Just like one electrician, he knows how to join the two wire and bring current. In India it is
called mistri. Mistri means worker. Because he knows that technical art how to bring electric cur-
rent, that does not mean he is educated. Education is different thing.”
Modern educational systems implemented by governments around the world, despite incor-
porating all sorts of advancements, have not been able to resolve societal issues. As a result,
frustration continues to grow among both students and teachers. While progress has been made
in increasing school enrolment globally, the last decade has seen persistent and, in some cases,
widening inequities. Disparities in access to quality education based on socioeconomic status, sex,
geographic location (urban vs. rural), disabilities, and displacement due to conflict or disaster
remain significant.
You explained in a lecture on the Bhagavad-gītā (13.1–2), given in Miami on February 25, 1975:
“Education means brahma-vidyā: to understand what is that living force within this body that is
working, what is his position, constitutional position, how it is working, wherefrom it has come,
so many things. That is called brahma-jijñāsā, to inquire about the spirit. That is education. So
that education is lacking. Therefore there are so many problems at the present moment. The prob-
lems are created. Just like if I do not give food to the driver, and he is entrusted with a nice car,
and he is not happy on account of not being properly taken care of, then he must create disaster.
There will be car accident. So that is happening. Nobody is taking care of the driver of this body.
No education is there. They are simply trying to rectify the defects in the body.”
There has been a growing recognition of the increasing mental health challenges faced by
students, influenced by academic pressures, social media, and global anxieties. Educators also
experience significant stress and burnout. Education systems are challenged to provide adequate
mental health support and create supportive learning environments.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, your teachings emphasize the spiritual equality of all living beings, seeing
beyond material designations like race, gender, or socioeconomic status. This philosophical foun-
dation can drive initiatives to make education accessible to all, regardless of background, seeing
education as a fundamental right for the soul’s development.
Śrīla Prabhupāda’s ISKCON Ministry of Education is working to provide the world with a
genuine education system based on the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and all seventy volumes of your books.
These books are highly regarded by scholars for their authority, depth, adherence to the original
Vedic scriptures, and clarity.
Your servant of the servant,
Satyamedhā Gaurāṅga Dāsa
Executive Director, ISKCON Ministry of Education
Homages Other Sources, VP2025
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Your Divine Grace on this most auspicious
occasion of Śrī Vyāsa-pūjā.
When asked, “What is justice?” the common responses include being treated impartially, equal-
ity before the law, fairness, and moral and legal righteousness. To be impartial means that one has
to act objectively, without fear or favor. Likewise, fairness incorporates the notion that the arbiter
is unbiased.
The Justice Ministry strongly advocates for such principles to be incorporated in decision
making when dealing with complaints. We live in the age of quarrel and hypocrisy and must
therefore be more mindful of our actions, both our words and our deeds, especially recognizing
how they impact the lives of others.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, you gave us a wealth of knowledge and instructions, but mostly you
demonstrated through your dealings how an ideal leader should treat those who serve within
ISKCON. On October 4, 1975, in a room conversation in Mauritius, you said, “You have to spend
or waste gallons of blood before you can convert a person to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. It is so difficult
task.” Much effort is invested in preaching and making devotees. We must be careful, then, how
we treat the devotees.
Vaiṣṇava-aparādha, offending devotees, is described by Caitanya Mahāprabhu as the “mad
elephant offense.” In your purport to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.1.5 you state, “When a mad elephant
enters a beautiful garden, it destroys everything, leaving a barren field. Similarly, the power
of vaiṣṇava-aparādha is so great that even an advanced devotee becomes almost devoid of his
spiritual assets if he commits it. Since Kṛṣṇa consciousness is eternal, it cannot be destroyed alto-
gether, but advancement may be checked for the time being. Thus vaiṣṇava-aparādha is one kind
of impediment to devotional service.”
We therefore need to educate our devotee community about avoiding vaiṣṇava-aparādha com-
mitted in any manner whatsoever. Let alone the hurt and pain it causes another devotee, it also
impedes one’s own spiritual progress. Moreover, Lord Kṛṣṇa never forgives one who offends His
devotee.
If we conduct ourselves in a circumspect manner, always guarded against committing offenses
toward devotees, then we will not have so much conflict and complaining in our community.
By establishing ISKCON, you created the spiritual world on this planet, but because we are
in the material world, as diseased conditioned souls, we enter ISKCON like patients entering a
hospital. While you have administered the cure in the form of the holy names and strict adherence
to the regulative principles, some patients are bringing with them many lifetimes of conditioning
and therefore create some disturbances to others.
You took hippies and made them into devotees; you did not discriminate who was eligible to
become a devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa and who was not. That is how mercifully you blessed everyone.
Despite all the physical hardships you experienced when you first arrived in New York, you toler-
ated and taught, training the new devotees in every aspect of life, including cleanliness, cooking,
Deity worship, and a host of other services. It is because of how lovingly you cared for them
that to this day your sincere disciples continue to fulfill your mission relentlessly. You said that
Kṛṣṇa is more eager for us to return to Him than we are to go. He is like a loving father, ready to
embrace His wayward children. But, in fact, Śrīla Prabhupāda, you have fulfilled this role in our
lives.
The only way we can repay this eternal debt is by cooperating with one another, serving your
mission and exemplifying the kind of conduct you would expect us, as your representatives, to
demonstrate.
We pray to be able to serve your ISKCON in a manner that pleases you, and we take this
opportunity to express our deep gratitude for your giving us shelter at your lotus feet. May your
glories be spread all over the three worlds!
Champakalatā Devī Dāsī, ISKCON Minister of Justice
One behalf of your servants at ISKCON’s Ministry of Justice
Homages Other Sources, 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 humble and respectful obeisances at your divine lotus feet. We adore those lotus feet with the heartfelt desire to only serve them eternally.
The tremendous power of time forcefully keeps turning the blades of the churning mixer that is this material cosmic creation. Anything coming into existence immediately starts to deteriorate with the sun’s inevitable dawns and settings till it becomes nil.
But Your Divine Grace’s glories do not deteriorate. Not at all! On the contrary, your glories increase and increase more and more – exponentially at every tick-tock of time’s clock.
You reside in Kṛṣṇa’s heart. Thus, you are merged in that transcendental anxiety felt by Śrī Kṛṣṇa for the condition of the fallen soul, His part and parcel. Forgetting how much He loves us, we uselessly suffer, loitering here and there within the material atmosphere. You feel Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s transcendental compassion toward the fallen soul. Unlike the material compassion that only mourns the suffering of the mortal creatures, Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s transcendental compassion is manifest in His longing to bring His part and parcel back home to rejoin Him in His eternal, blissful pastimes.
O dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, you actually “are” the personification of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s intense transcendental compassion – so much so that you infuse that compassion in whomever comes in contact with Your Divine Grace. Please allow us to be your servants in satisfying that longing of the Lord.
*
“Alas!” – cries out the sinful soul –
“Why am I in this hell?
I’m swallowed by this dark black hole,
Where cries as echoes dwell.”
Making her way through countless forms
To fill this human frame,
The fallen soul perceives the thorns
Of this material game.
She reaches into empty air
To find a solid hand;
But finds a vacuum of despair
Where ghosts of shadows stand.
Now questions from millions of years
Filling the outer shell,
A tiny spark of thought appears
That could those doubts dispel.
But world’s cacophony rings loud;
Allured, she turns astray,
And blinded by the mortal shroud,
Again she falls as prey.
Thus, sinking back in the dark frost
Through endless forms of grief,
Once more that human chance is lost
To find the soul’s relief.
Śrī Kṛṣṇa sees the soul depart,
Forgetful of her place;
His sweet eternal, loving part,
Now lost in time and space.
But Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s deep connection,
Makes Him feel the soul’s strain.
As with a finger’s infection,
The whole body feels pain.
That Arjuna’s felt compassion,
The one Śrī Kṛṣṇa scorned,
In the world’s religious fashion,
Those who suffer are mourned.
It may nourish worldly sattva;
It’s not for Kṛṣṇa’s sake,
Nor for transcendental tattva.
The soul does not awake.
The Lord wants us with Him so much,
Much more than we can think.
Sends “you” to break the Māyā’s clutch
And thus restore the link.
O dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
You’re that Kṛṣṇa’s longing;
You’re the death of Māyāvada,
Our sense of belonging.
O Prabhupāda, our dear Lord,
If we could but reflect
That true compassion you have poured;
Even a tiny speck.
So many truly need saving!
Make us become your rays,
To sate Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s craving
For souls to join His plays.
Just as a cintāmaṇi stone,
Turns iron into gold,
You turn our feeling, sad and lone,
To longing for His fold.
You’re here to change our rebel mood
That as a painful dart,
When māyā holds the soul subdued,
Keeps piercing Kṛṣṇa’s heart.
You are the Lord’s compassion’s form,
So powerful! So strong!
You drag lost souls just like a storm
To where they do belong.
You’re making every soul aware
Of how Śrī Kṛṣṇa feels,
Since you, yourself, are Kṛṣṇa’s share
That He Himself reveals.
Without Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s presence,
Gaurāṅga sees all void.
Nonetheless, feeling that absence,
He’s purely overjoyed.
We feel that separation too,
We miss your “face to face”;
Yet we shall always be with you,
Craving “Your Divine Grace.”
*
Holding very dear that intensely unifying feeling of separation, we pray to the most magnanimous Śrī Śrī Gaura-Nitāi to never let us forget your divine instructions and to kindly let us be eternally engaged in serving your divine lotus feet so that, even if we miss you so much, we shall still always be with Your Divine Grace.
Your humble respectful servants at Radio Krishna Centrale, Terni, Italy
(written by Narakantaka Dāsa)
