O mind, please perpetually worship Vaiṣṇava Śiromaṇi Śrīla Prabhupāda, who is a perfect shelter
in the dangerous storm of material existence and whose śakti-laden words grant prema and entry
into the personal life of God.
O Prabhupāda, you’re a once-in-history ācārya. Your contribution is unparalleled, not just in
the history of Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism, not only in the history of all the mighty Vaiṣṇava sampradāyas,
but in the history of the world.
The powerful movements of the Buddha, Jesus Christ, and Muhammad took many centuries to
evolve. In contrast, in just over a decade – at an advanced age – you opened a hundred temples;
translated, published, and distributed vast volumes of Vedic scriptures; and attracted thousands
of disciples across all continents. And there is even more momentum and strength now in what
you launched only sixty years ago.
Other leaders have spread religious teachings beyond their homeland, but who else has suc-
cessfully transplanted an entire cultural and devotional practice – including the ancient practice
of Deity worship, authentic kīrtana, prasādam distribution, and a monastic order – to an entirely
different hemisphere?
Your campaign was not fueled merely by immense human effort. Rather, the potency of
pure devotion, śuddha-bhakti; full surrender to Kṛṣṇa; and deep love and guru-niṣṭhā for Śrīla
Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura instilled in you a spiritual presence that enabled you to utterly
shatter illusion and falsehood.
The force of your being was extraordinary. You radiated a rare combination of spiritual depth,
unwavering conviction, divine authority, boundless compassion, purity, humility, an aristocratic
presence, and complete selflessness. You were decisive, resolute, grave, pragmatic, affectionate,
strict, and merciful. Your gaze was penetrating, and you had an immovable strength of purpose.
As revealed by your godbrother Śrīla B. R. Śrīdhara Mahārāja, you are a śaktyāveśa-avatāra, the
personified form of Nityānanda-āveśa, a śakti of extreme, indiscriminate mercy. Lord Nityānanda
specially empowered you to spread Mahāprabhu’s mission globally. And your campaign paral-
leled Nityānanda Prabhu’s.
Nityānanda Rāma emphasized the chanting of Kṛṣṇa’s holy names and chanted in the streets
on Lord Caitanya’s orders. With pure faith in the holy names, you made harināma-prema-
saṅkīrtana the foundation of your movement.
Your heart ached for the suffering of conditioned souls, and with deep compassion you freely
gave kṛṣṇa-bhakti to the most fallen. Similarly, Nityānanda Mahājana focused on delivering the
outcastes and most wretched.
Nitāi fearlessly approached anyone and everyone, risking harm. In the same way, Śrīla
Prabhupāda, you embodied the purport of your name Abhay Charanaravinda – you were abso-
lutely fearless in your preaching work.
Simply by seeing Nityānanda Avadhūta, people were overcome with devotion and took up
kṛṣṇa-bhakti. Likewise, many people became devotees of Kṛṣṇa just by the sight of you.
O Prabhupāda, ocean of Lord Nityānanda’s mercy, we offer you obeisances!
Your translations and commentaries have restored, preserved, and spread the knowledge of
Vedānta, contributing the most important works to the world’s library. Standing supreme is your
translation of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam – the first time this classic was made available in English, the
global language. We know of the unrivaled place of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam among all spiritual texts
through Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī’s massive tome the Ṣaṭ-sandarbha, which increases our appreciation of
how you focused your own literary work on the Bhāgavatam, that most exalted poem of divine
love.
As a meticulous scholar, you gifted us this treasure along with insights from all the great com-
mentators in the illuminating purports you carefully crafted at night, while the world slept. Espe-
cially noteworthy is your direct devotional clarity, which ensures that Sanskrit words related to
devotion, like bhakti, Kṛṣṇa, atma, dharma, and Brahman are understood correctly rather than
misinterpreted in impersonal or materialistic ways.
Your translations of Sanskrit words are now cited in Sanskrit-English dictionaries, which are
compiled by academic scholars, confirming that Sanskrit scholars accept the authenticity, clarity,
and authority of your bhakti translations.
Your work is not just a grammatical rendering, but because it is a faithful representation of
the original meaning as intended by Kṛṣṇa and the ācāryas, it is invested with the transcendental
potency to reveal prema-bhakti.
Further, you made the Bhāgavatam a primary text in modern Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism, which
for centuries had largely focused on the Caitanya-caritāmṛta. You placed the Bhāgavatam in an
elevated position by instituting its daily classes and encouraging systematic study from the first to
the twelfth canto, exhorting us to not focus solely on Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes in the Tenth Canto but to
become knowledgeable of bhakti-siddhānta.
Your own scholarship as a dig-vijaya was acknowledged this year on the grand stage of the
Maha Kumbha 2025, when the Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad, composed of 14 akharas, mostly
Advaitins, gave you the deeply revered title Vishwa Guru (world teacher). The award is rarely
given and has never been given posthumously, a fact that indicates that your impact continues to
echo through time.
Not only did you increase the fame of the sampradāya by bringing pure kṛṣṇa-bhakti to the
world on a mass scale, but in doing so you drew the attention of scholars, historians, and other
intellectuals to all four Vaiṣṇava sampradāyas, sparking a resurgence of bhakti in all its forms.
Thus, India’s grand monotheism, which had been hiding from the Western world under the cloud
of Advaita Vedānta’s prominence, is shining brightly.
Carrying Nāma Prabhu in your pure heart, you ignited the Hare Kṛṣṇa Explosion in the West
by introducing prema-kīrtana of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. For this you have been dubbed
the “divine minstrel” in American Veda. Factually, it is by your endeavor that kīrtana has become so
popular and is touching hearts around the globe.
Then, in a stroke of brilliance, you took the holy name and kīrtana – made attractive by your
dancing white elephants – back to your countrymen in India, where now there is a second wave of
the Hare Kṛṣṇa Explosion.
O Prabhupāda, the whole world is being engulfed by the prema-kīrtan tsunami you initiated!
You have shocked the theological world awake with the revelation that love of God is greater
than God; that our ideal is to achieve love of God, not God; that love conquers God. The wave of
this revelation continues to swell with meaning and is charming people with a vision of the Sweet
Absolute that is simply wonderful.
With tenderness, affection, and great caution you properly introduced Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, the
confidential treasure and distinctive wealth of Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism, who enhances the beauty
of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. She is the personification of the most exalted love of God, the fountainhead of all
goddesses, and the person who gives Kṛṣṇa’s life meaning. When She stands next to Him, we
encounter the divine dyad, and only then do we find the full face of the Absolute Truth not avail-
able anywhere else.
O Prabhupāda! O friend! O treasure! In the intensifying hope of being brought into your holy
company, the days grow longer and longer. When, oh when, will you call us to engage in your
direct service?
O mind, please perpetually worship Vaiṣṇava Śiromaṇi Śrīla Prabhupāda, who is a perfect
shelter in the dangerous storm of material existence and whose śakti-laden words grant prema and
entry into the personal life of God.
Your servants at New Raman-reti,
under the shelter of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Śyāmasundara, Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma, and Gaura-Nitāi
(written by your śiṣya, Prāṇadā Devī Dāsī)
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
On this most auspicious occasion of your Vyāsa-pūjā, we, the devotees of Nava Saṅkīrtana Purī
Dhāma in New Orleans, humbly offer our heartfelt homage at your divine lotus feet.
This year, we had the great fortune of celebrating the Golden Jubilee – fifty glorious years – of
Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Rādhākānta’s divine presence in New Orleans (1974–2024). This momentous occa-
sion was marked by grand festivities, inspiring discourses, and deep reflections on the immeasur-
able mercy you bestowed upon us. The temple, which stands as a beacon of your divine mission,
continues to thrive by your causeless mercy, nurturing both devotees and newcomers in their
spiritual journey.
Furthermore, in 2025, we eagerly anticipate commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of your
transcendental visit to New Orleans. From July 31 to August 1, 1975, you graced Nava Saṅkīrtana
Purī Dhāma and New Tālavana with your divine presence, infusing them with spiritual energy
that still resonates today. To honor this sacred occasion, we will recreate your historic two-day
visit, remembering and reliving those priceless moments through kīrtana, discourses, and reflec-
tions from those who were blessed to serve you at that time.
By your mercy, Śrīla Prabhupāda, our devotee community has expanded significantly. Many
householders actively participate in the daily services of the temple, contributing to its continued
growth and stability. Every Sunday, hundreds of people from all walks of life attend our Sunday
Feast program in the evening – a tradition that has been steadfastly upheld in New Orleans since
1971. This spiritual gathering continues to serve as a transformative experience, nourishing souls
with the holy name, prasādam, and kṛṣṇa-kathā. We are deeply grateful to be a small part of this
divine movement that you have inaugurated for the benefit of all humanity.
In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.22.35), it is stated:
etāvaj janma-sāphalyaṁ
dehinām iha dehiṣu
prāṇair arthair dhiyā vācā
śreya-ācaraṇaṁ sadā
It is the duty of every living being to perform welfare activities for the benefit of others
with his life, wealth, intelligence, and words.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, you exemplified this verse in every way:
• Life: You sacrificed every comfort to fulfill the order of your spiritual master, traveling across
the world to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
• Wealth: You utilized every resource for the service of Kṛṣṇa, establishing temples, printing
transcendental literature, and providing prasādam to millions.
• Intelligence: You masterfully presented Vedic wisdom in a manner accessible to all, authoring
voluminous translations and purports that continue to enlighten generations.
• Words: You tirelessly preached the glories of the holy name, delivering lectures and person-
ally guiding thousands of devotees on the path of bhakti.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, we pray to always remain under the shelter of your divine lotus feet. May we
continue to serve your mission with unwavering faith and dedication, striving to share the gift
of Kṛṣṇa consciousness with the world. Please bless us so that we may uphold and expand your
legacy for generations to come.
Your servants at Nava Saṅkīrtana Purī Dhāma
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept our most humble obeisances. All glories to Your Divine Grace. May your lotus
feet spread the greatest benedictions to our souls.
You are the greatest savior of this current modern age, having enlightened us on the pitfalls
of the materialistic way of life and all its dangers. You brought singlehandedly the message of
bhāgavata-dharma, and have now inspired millions and millions of lost souls to take up the sooth-
ing, moonlike chanting of the holy names of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Śrīla Prabhupāda, we will never be able
to repay you for all you have done and went through to save us from the dangers of this material
world. You have shown us, and everyone, the ultimate path of perfection. What would we have
become if you had not taken so dearly the instructions of your spiritual master?
It is up to us to take your instructions to our hearts and live them. You have insisted on the
importance of vāṇī – your words, your teachings, your instructions, and your orders. You have
laid down the foundations of this preaching work in the Western world, which was initiated by Śrī
Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His followers in the subsequent years and centuries. You said that “the
disciple has to pass the test of the spiritual master,” and it’s now in our hands to be tested in this
way and in whichever sevā we may be doing, and by so doing, try to make you happy and proud.
As you wrote, “When a disciple very perfectly makes progress in spiritual life, this gladdens
the spiritual master, who then also smiles in ecstasy, thinking, ‘How successful my disciple has
become!’ He feels so glad that he smiles as he enjoys the progress of the disciple.” (Caitanya-
caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 7.82, purport)
Śrīla Prabhupāda, in keeping with your mission, here at New Mayapura we have, by your
mercy and for your pleasure, increased our Deity worship standards, our book distribution, and
introduced additional preaching activities around our community. As an additional path toward
self-sufficiency, we are progressively increasing the number of cows for our own milk and prop-
erly training the oxen in the fields. Significant repair work has continued to be done, thanks to
the contributions of many sincere souls attached to your mission. These persons are particularly
happy to see that New Mayapura serves as a haven to many – and will be a haven to many more
souls to come.
At the New Orleans farm in 1975, during the morning Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam class, you said,
“Make life very simple – and simple living, high thinking, and always conscious to go back to
home, back to Kṛṣṇa. So if you show practical example that how you are living simple life and
how you are advanced in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then people will learn from you.”
As we are celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the installation of Śrī Śrī Gaura-Nitāi this year,
we, your disciples and granddisciples, pray to Their Lordships to let us strive to continuously
keep the right mentality and humble attitude of showing how it is possible to live simply and
happily in this farm community in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and expand it for the people’s spiritual
benefit and transcendental happiness.
You are that person and that great saint who gave us the means to attain this transcendental
happiness. As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.2.5: “The activities of great saints like you who have
accepted the infallible Lord as their very soul result only in the happiness of all beings.” All glo-
ries to you Śrīla Prabhupāda!
Begging to remain your eternal servants at New Mayapura
(written by Śikṣāṣṭaka Dāsa)
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Your Divine Grace.
On this auspicious day of your Vyāsa-pūjā, we gather to express our deepest gratitude and
reverence for your unparalleled contributions to the world. Your tireless efforts in spreading the
teachings of Lord Kṛṣṇa have illuminated countless hearts and minds, guiding us on the path of
devotion and spiritual enlightenment.
Your life is a testament to unwavering dedication, compassion, and humility. Through your
books, lectures, and personal example, you have shown us the true essence of bhakti-yoga. Your
teachings continue to inspire and transform lives, providing solace and direction in an often tur-
bulent world.
As we reflect on your legacy, we are reminded of the importance of sincere service and unwaver-
ing faith. Your vision of a global community united in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is more relevant today
than ever before. More people are seeking community living where spiritually based support
becomes essential to them.
We are committed to carrying forward your mission, striving to live by your teachings and
share them with others.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, we offer our heartfelt obeisances at your lotus feet. May we always remain
steadfast in our devotion and service, seeking your blessings and guidance in every step of our
spiritual journey.
Your humble servants,
New Govardhana Farm, Australia
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
The Power of Purity
We here at New Gokula farming community offer our gratitude for the rare fortune of offering
devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead every day in varieties of ways compat-
ible with our individual capacities.
We offer our praise for the privilege to nurture body and spirit on devotionally imbued kṛṣṇa-
prasādam, prepared devotionally – our devotee cooks being careful and conscious to follow all
standards you have personally taught in order for their offerings to be accepted by Lord Kṛṣṇa
and Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.
Full appreciation to you, our dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, for directing your followers to read and
discuss your precisely prepared literatures, which remove the prevalent ignorance of Kali-yuga,
under which we were also fully ensnared; and which lift human lives from despair and drudgery
to genuine realization of the highest spiritual truths, yielding actual contentment.
The association of like-minded devotees, sincerely attempting to raise their consciousness to the
mode of goodness and beyond, is your unique and glorious credit, Śrīla Prabhupāda. Also, Śrīla
Prabhupāda, you have bequeathed a life in the lap of Mother Nature, offering fresh produce and
flowers that can please Their Lordships. Not to forget the loving nature of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s cows and
bulls, whom we are learning to nurture and protect and who epitomize the principles of dharma.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, it is no small feat of your far-reaching vision that you offered rigorous
training in worshiping the beautiful arcā-vigrahas of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Gokulānanda, Jagannātha-
Balarāma-Subhadrādevī, Gaura-Nitāi, and, of course, your own form, in which the devotees of the
Lord have full faith and confidence that you hear and reciprocate their daily prayers.
And most of all, Śrīla Prabhupāda, may we sincerely glorify you for the wonderful example
you left us, recounted in countless memoirs and recordings, of the qualities of a perfect character
lauded in all scriptures, appreciated by anyone and everyone, including even so-called enemies.
Finally, Śrīla Prabhupāda, thank you for the ISKCON society, which you describe in your
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.26.5 purport: “This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is the only means by
which the sinful activities of men in this Kali-yuga can be counteracted.”
Your servant,
Kāliya Kṛṣṇa Dāsa,
on behalf of the devotees at New Gokula Farm
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
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Your Divine Grace.
I was requested to write your Vyāsa-pūjā offering on behalf of the New Dwaraka temple. After
several tries, yesterday, when I went out on book distribution, what I had wanted to say became
clear.
So much becomes clear when there is your book distribution. Having the opportunity to pres-
ent your Bhaktivedanta translations and purports to the Bhagavad-gītā to the students at the col-
leges is a very rich and satisfying experience. They seem to be dismayed about what is going on in
the world. It is very easy to see that the quality of their lives is not the same quality of the lives of
young people fifty years ago.
Everything you predicted is coming true. You predicted that the American people would lose
all their pious merit because they have thrown out God and embraced science for the purpose of
improving sense gratification. You predicted an increasing lack of protection of the weaker citi-
zens, such as old men, women, young people, and animals. Today’s young people cannot expect
stability – not from the economy, their leaders, their employers, not even from the weather. I feel
relieved and grateful when your beautiful Bhagavad-gītā is placed in their hands or it goes into
their homes. Even if they do not look at it for years, there is no better insurance for their future.
Evidently, other distributors feel the same way, because so many, many of your transcendental
books have been distributed. The amount more than triples the amount distributed when you
were physically present! Currently, entire sets of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Caitanya-caritāmṛta are
received by delighted people every day. Millions of your books are warehoused for this purpose
all over the world. ISKCON educational institutions, teaching Bhakti-śāstrī and Bhakti-vaibhava
classes, as well as massive prasādam distribution programs, serve tens of thousands of people daily
on this planet. All of this is due to the expertise of your disciples and granddisciples in a truly
grand cooperative effort.
When I first became a devotee, just after your departure, I witnessed how the initial enthusiasm
in your Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement fell into some chaos and lack of clarity. Then a fire of
purified and refined feelings of love and undeniable gratitude for Your Divine Grace burned up
all the confusion and hesitancy. The result? In our community we have seen amazing expertise in
handling all forms of deviation with single-minded attention to your instructions, at any cost! I
think this must have happened all over the world, because we see the same result everywhere. This
vyavasāyātmikā-buddhi determination has endowed us with an atmosphere for beautiful, expansive
temple communities and congregations at hundreds of locations.
As you envisioned for your devotees, the quality of our lives is ever increasingly enhanced. In
your ISKCON we are experiencing an ongoing evolution of Vaiṣṇava culture: kīrtana, bhajana,
dance, art and design, architecture, festivals, education in śāstra, a growing enthusiastic congrega-
tion, the implementation of the social divisions of varṇa and āśrama, vegetarian prasādam, and
Vaiṣṇava dress. It should be mentioned that the opportunity in your ISKCON for Deity worship
is unique in the world of bhakti. Your instruction to worship and decorate the Deities with great
attention, as gorgeously as possible, is a great challenge as well as an enthralling pleasure. And
how did we learn all this?
All of this has come to us because your most loyal devotees have spent their lives training us
in the understanding of what they learned from you. For example, over and over again I have
seen your disciples at New Dwaraka train a new person who may fall away, just in the hope that
they will somehow, or someday, become attached to Kṛṣṇa’s devotional service. Do your disciples
turn their attention elsewhere? No. That is because they are fully committed to you. The loyalty
and love your disciples have for you are rarely found anywhere. What is the effect? We get the
shelter of your lotus feet and become sane, and even full of joy. We dance and chant. We are saved
from material suffering. The most fearsome danger of repeated birth and death is avoided if we
can begin to appreciate this loyalty and love coming to us through you and the entire disciplic
succession.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, you had no opportunity like we do to pick up a mṛdaṅga and books and go
to a safe, legal location to do harināma-saṅkīrtana. You didn’t have a harmonium or legal status
or strong health or experienced followers. You wrote back to India many letters that reveal your
helplessness to get support and paraphernalia. Yet because you loved Kṛṣṇa and His parts and
parcels more than your own life, because the order of your spiritual master was your only priority,
you did not waver or bend. For an elderly person to be far away from his homeland, surrounded
only by confused young people in the severe New York weather, with scarce finances, often poor
accommodations, and then come out of it absolutely undeterred can only be seen as supernatural.
You are simply Kṛṣṇa-natural.
In your classic Bhaktivedanta purport to Bhagavad-gītā 18.75, you explain the Kṛṣṇa-
supernatural ability that empowered you to directly deliver Kṛṣṇa consciousness to others: “Vyāsa
was the spiritual master of Sañjaya, and Sañjaya admits that it is by Vyāsa’s mercy that he could
understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This means that one has to understand Kṛṣṇa
not directly but by the medium of the spiritual master. The spiritual master is the transparent
medium, although it is true that the experience is still direct. This is the mystery of the disci-
plic succession.” This explains how you are continuing to give Kṛṣṇa to others to this day and
eternally.
We offer our humble obeisances to Your Divine Grace, who loves Kṛṣṇa so perfectly. We can
only offer our respects to you and try to follow and serve you in constant debt for having gotten
the chance to appreciate your perfect love for Kṛṣṇa.
Your humble servants at New Dwaraka
(written by Karuṇa Dhāriṇī Devī Dāsī)
