Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept our humble obeisances at your divine lotus feet. All glories to Your Divine Grace!
On this most auspicious occasion of your Vyāsa-pūjā, we, the devotees of ISKCON Dadri and
the ISKCON Padayatra Press, come before you with hearts filled with gratitude and reverence.
Your life, mission, and teachings continue to be the guiding light of our collective efforts to serve
and spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
By your divine mercy, we have been empowered to engage in various services – managing
centers, organizing preaching programs in villages, corporate circles, and among the youth, and
facilitating book distribution and saṅkīrtana. Through these endeavors we witness firsthand how
your instructions cut through all social and cultural barriers, awakening dormant devotion in
countless hearts. Whether addressing villagers with simple faith or professionals navigating the
complexities of material life, your timeless words resonate deeply and inspire transformation.
Your vision to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness to every town and village continues to guide our
efforts. Book distribution, which you described as the “heart and soul” of this movement, remains
central to our mission. We have seen how your transcendental books act as silent preachers,
transforming lives in unimaginable ways. Under the spiritual guidance of His Holiness Lokanāth
Mahārāja, ISKCON Padayatra Press continues to publish and distribute literature that furthers
your divine mission.
Additionally, our outreach has expanded to include collaboration with corporate entities,
enabling us to introduce Kṛṣṇa consciousness to professionals in various fields. By presenting the
timeless principles of the Bhagavad-gītā in a relatable and practical manner, we have witnessed
how even those immersed in the complexities of corporate life can develop an appreciation for
devotional service.
Your life of complete dedication to Kṛṣṇa’s service teaches us how to mold our own lives in
the same spirit. Your example of detachment from material allurements and unwavering focus on
spreading Kṛṣṇa consciousness inspires us to cultivate the same mood in our personal lives and
collective service. As we strive to follow the principles of ashram life and maintain our commit-
ment to devotional practices, we experience a growing detachment from material pursuits and a
deeper attachment to Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet.
We are blessed to have the dedicated service of Rādhā-Govinda Darśana Dāsa, who is tirelessly
assisting in the ISKCON Dadri project. Kauśalendra Dāsa and Mahā-Narasiṁha Dāsa play vital
roles in the management of the ISKCON Padayatra Press. Amala Govinda Dāsa has been instru-
mental in nurturing and strengthening the congregation, while Atri Ṛṣi Dāsa continues to serve
with great sincerity in communications and providing valuable personal assistance.
However, Śrīla Prabhupāda, we would be remiss not to acknowledge the countless other devo-
tees whose names may not be mentioned here but who are selflessly engaged in various aspects of
service. Whether they are performing Deity worship, maintaining the center, cooking prasādam,
participating in saṅkīrtana, supporting managerial tasks, or contributing behind the scenes, their
dedication is an integral part of this collective offering. Their sincere efforts, often unnoticed by
the world, are certainly seen and blessed by you and Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Govinda Dev.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, without your boundless compassion, we would have remained entangled in
the complexities of material existence. But through your mercy, we have been given a higher taste
and a purpose that transcends this temporary world. We collectively pray that we may always
remain instruments in your hands, serving with sincerity, humility, and determination.
On this sacred occasion, we beg for your continued blessings so that we may deepen our com-
mitment, overcome our shortcomings, and dedicate our lives fully to fulfilling your desires. May
we always remain connected to you through your instructions and the association of your sincere
devotees.
Your aspiring servants,
Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi Dāsa and
the devotees of ISKCON Dadri and the ISKCON Padayatra Press team
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept our obeisances. All glories to you.
Among the many projects you established in ISKCON, we know how book publication and
distribution is close to your heart. You expressed on multiple occasions that transcendental book
distribution can bring about the desired revolution in the impious lives of a misdirected civiliza-
tion. Every year, devotees from all over the world try their best to please you by distributing as
many books as possible.
Last year, in 2024, your dear disciple Gopal Krishna Goswami Mahārāja left this world to join
you in your service. He was the one who pioneered book distribution in India on a mass level.
He had truly imbibed your spirit of book distribution, and he pushed for it wherever he went,
encouraging devotees to “double it,” just as you would do.
At ISKCON Chowpatty, Radhanath Swami Mahārāja felt that to honor such a tireless warrior,
we should do something extraordinary. He said that the best way to please you, Śrīla Prabhupāda,
would be to glorify his sincere followers like Gopal Krishna Goswami Mahārāja, and the best way
to glorify Gopal Krishna Goswami Mahārāja is to accomplish big results in book distribution. He
told us that we should double last year’s score, and then he said we should come first in the entire
world during this year’s book marathon.
All these years, ISKCON Chowpatty never came first in the book marathon. We always stood
far behind the top book distribution temples of the world, so we wondered how we could ever
come first in the marathon? It would take a herculean effort.
Radhanath Swami Mahārāja himself led the endeavor by rallying the entire congregation to
put in their best efforts at distributing the maximum number of books. He fervently appealed to
the entire community to sacrifice all their comforts and other services and focus entirely on this
service for the one month of the marathon. He constantly called the temple leaders and got the
updates about the latest scores.
We also invited many other senior leaders to give inspirational talks to our community, and
that helped. Knowing that our community was trying their best to glorify such a stalwart devotee
like Gopal Krishna Goswami Mahārāja, everyone was deeply touched, and they showered their
blessings upon us.
The result was we were able to achieve the unthinkable result: we distributed more than
600,000 books and stood first in the entire world. Again, it was proved that the most ordinary can
achieve extraordinary results if we try to honor great Vaiṣṇavas. We are convinced that we were
able to achieve this result only by your blessings coming to us through your sincere followers.
We hope and pray that we continue to remain the recipients of such divine blessings so we can
continue our service in your divine mission.
Your servants,
The devotees at ISKCON Chowpatty
Dearest Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept our respectful obeisances unto your lotus feet.
oṁ ajñāna-timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākayā
cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ
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
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, thank you for having fearlessly descended to this material world to com-
passionately distribute the mercy and love of Goloka Vrindavan in all directions!
His Holiness Śivarāma Swami Mahārāja writes in his work Nava-vraja-mahimā, volume 7,
chapter 32:
His Divine Grace told my friend Tamal Krishna Goswami: “In Goloka, Kṛṣṇa told me,
‘You go down there and preach.’ I replied to the Lord, ‘It’s such a nasty place. I don’t
want to go. Please let me stay here.’ but Kṛṣṇa persisted and said, ‘Don’t worry about
anything. I will make every arrangement for your comfort. In the meantime write your
books, and when you have finished, then you can return.’” Śrīla Prabhupāda con-
cluded, “Then I said, ‘All right.’”
Having taken the mission that Lord Kṛṣṇa empowered you to do, you were willing to brave the
fire of ordeal to convey the transcendental message of the spiritual world, Goloka Vrindavan,
to the fallen souls in the midst of material existence, launching your heroic life journey as the
senāpati-bhakta of the Lord.
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, our most respected senāpati, you crossed the seven continents with
your divine love, the pure holy name, your transcendental knowledge your weapon, and using
modern means of transportation as your chariot, and you built a powerful saṅkīrtana army. You
gave the ungodly the opportunity to bathe in the vibration of the holy name, to drink the nectar
of transcendental knowledge, to experience pure devotion, and to finally return home to Vrinda-
van. All this has come to pass because of your sweet will.
One of your early disciples, Govinda Dāsī, found an old Indian newspaper from the 1970s in a
box in her attic. In it was an article about you, Śrīla Prabhupāda, written by an astrologer. It read,
“Nobody can read this chart; if they say they can, they are lying. This personality comes and goes
by his own sweet will; he is not bound by anybody or anything. The stars are lined up perfectly.
There is no question of karma. He is working directly under the will of God. And when he writes,
his pen does not have ink in it. His pen has fire in it, which will burn the ignorance of the whole
world.”
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, whose heart is as soft and sweet as a rose, thank you for having reso-
lutely sent a resourceful, vigorous, considerate, humorous, down-to-earth, caring saṅkīrtana
soldier to Khasadeśa to spread the seeds of bhakti throughout this land of voidism and imperson-
alism. With the blessing of your beautiful wishes, the spiritually dormant land of China, like an
awakened lion, has begun to rise in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. The Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-
mantra is spreading all over the land. A wide range of quality prasādam is attracting more and
more young people. Your books, Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
and others have entered countless homes in towns and villages and now flow into the veins of
countless people, transforming the hearts of many, because you inherited and presented these
sacred teachings exactly as they are. As Kong Ji, a grandson of Confucius, said: “A filial person is
one who inherits the will of the ancestors and spreads their activities and contributions.”
Dear far-sighted Śrīla Prabhupāda, thank you for having raised so many heroic sons and
daughters that we now have the privilege of consulting and serving. In this way we can truly feel
the value of a moment of personal association with pure devotees and the extraordinary power of
your presence through them.
Dear merciful Śrīla Prabhupāda, may you, who are always in the mood of Goloka Vrinda-
van, bless us to unite closely as you wished and to keep moving in the direction of the sweetest
Goloka Vrindavan, no matter what storms we may encounter in this world. Dear affectionate Śrīla
Prabhupāda, may you bless the Khasadeśa yātrā to be prosperous in Lord Caitanya’s saṅkīrtana
movement.
Your indebted servants,
The Chinese devotees
(written by Surabhi Devī Dāsī)
Dearest Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to you. We wish you a very happy Kṛṣṇa con-
scious 129th Vyāsa-pūjā, dear Śrīla Prabhupāda.
Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura sent his first book to the West in 1896, and you appeared that same
year to fulfill the prophecy that a senāpati-bhakta would appear and spread the holy names of the
Lord to all towns and villages of the world. We are receiving the causeless mercy of Śrī Caitanya
Mahāprabhu through you, dear Śrīla Prabhupāda.
We are trying to please you through our efforts to establish your movement here in Chandra-
pur, in the eastern part of Maharashtra. We started as a small center in 2018, and by your divine
mercy we are now able to have regular youth and congregational programs each weekend. We
also celebrate the major festivals throughout the year. This year, your 129th Vyāsa-pūjā falls on
August 17, and we will be celebrating Śrī Kṛṣṇa Janmāṣṭamī on the same day in Chandrapur. We
seek your constant blessings to keep our standards moving in the right direction.
Here are the highlights of our service for your pleasure and to seek your blessings:
• Every year we try to share Kṛṣṇa consciousness with people through the celebration of
Nityānanda-trayodaśī, Gaura-Pūrṇimā, Rāma-navamī, Jagannātha Ratha-yātrā, Balarāma
Pūrṇimā, Janmāṣṭamī (large-scale), Rādhāṣṭamī, Kārttika dīpdān, puṣpa-abhiśeka, and the
boat festival.
We celebrate our annual Janmāṣṭamī festival on a grand scale, attracting nearly two and a
half thousand devotees from various walks of life.
• 25 youths attend our IYF and IGF programs each weekend.
• Our Sunday feast program is attended regularly by 60–70 devotees, and on some occasions,
we reach 100 attendees.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, you worked so hard day and night to give us the treasure of spiritual wisdom
through Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Caitanya-caritāmṛta, and so many other books.
These nectarean teachings guide and help us progress in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This year, we dis-
tributed nearly two thousand Bhagavad-gītās and some Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam sets.
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, we are eternally grateful to you for giving us such beautiful devotees
with whom to associate, devotees who show genuine compassion for all of us. We are deeply
thankful to His Grace Hari Kīrtana Prabhujī for his constant guidance and care.
Just as the Lord was pleased by the cooperation between the Pracetās in devotional service, so
we pray to you to beg for your blessings. We too hope to develop a beautiful loving congregation
filled with love, respect, and cooperation with one another so that the Lord and his pure devotees
are pleased, and more and more souls are attracted to this most magnanimous movement of Śrī
Caitanya Mahāprabhu under your shelter.
Your insignificant servants,
The devotees of the ISKCON Chandrapur community
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Your Divine Grace. On this most blessed
and auspicious occasion of your Vyāsa-pūjā we bow our heads in gratitude for your immeasurable
mercy upon the entire world.
One does not ordinarily begin practicing bhakti-yoga unless he has cultivated it in previous
births. Moreover, one can only truly take to devotional service by the mercy of both the spiritual
master and Kṛṣṇa: guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja (Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya 19.151). The
seed of bhakti is received by the grace of guru and Kṛṣṇa, and in this age, you have been the most
merciful instrument of the divine will. You made the rare and precious gift of Kṛṣṇa conscious-
ness easily accessible to all, transcending barriers of nationality, race, and background. Though
the teachings of bhakti were always present, it was through Your Divine Grace that Lord Caitanya
Mahāprabhu’s mission spread so widely and powerfully across the globe.
You are the senāpati-bhakta – the great commander of Lord Caitanya’s army – leading the
charge in spreading the glories of the holy name. By your mercy alone, the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-
mantra is now chanted in every corner of the world. Even people in influential fields are recogniz-
ing and actively participating in this divine movement with great respect.
As per your desire and by the untiring efforts of your dedicated disciples and granddisciples,
we are witnessing history in the making. Year after year, the number of temples, initiated devo-
tees, books distributed, Govinda’s restaurants, and harināma-saṅkīrtana parties continue to grow
exponentially. Even after the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, temples worldwide have seen
a resurgence in attendance and enthusiasm.
Your teachings are being disseminated through innovative and modern means, ensuring that
no soul is deprived of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. When asked why you embraced the latest technol-
ogy in Kṛṣṇa’s service, you profoundly responded: “If a thief is escaping on a motorbike, and the
police chase him on foot, how will they ever catch him?” Following your example, your disciples
are utilizing every available resource to fulfill your mission.
Here in Chandigarh, your branch is also witnessing a surge in preaching, especially among
congregational members and the youth, teens, and children. Festivals are being celebrated with
great pomp and devotion. By your blessings, four saṅkīrtana parties are going out into the streets
and markets of Chandigarh, Panchkula, and nearby areas daily to distribute prasādam, books, and
the holy names.
By your mercy, we are planning to expand our altar to include Śrī Rāma Darbar and Śrī Śrī
Gaura-Nitai. We humbly seek your blessings for this endeavor. An additional preaching facil-
ity is under construction in Panchkula. College preaching has seen a great impact, and in IIT
Ropar, especially, we have an official Gītā course apart from Chandigarh University and Panjab
University.
This year we also experienced a great loss with the departure of one of your most beloved gen-
erals, His Holiness Gopal Krishna Goswami Mahārāja. His passing left a deep void in our hearts,
but in this difficult time, we felt the necessity of taking even greater shelter in your divine instruc-
tions. Your constant presence through your books, lectures, and the loving guidance of your dis-
ciples has given us the strength to move forward.
On this sacred day, we pray for your continued blessings and guidance. Please empower us to
faithfully carry out the desires of the ācāryas and serve your mission with unwavering dedication.
Your granddisciples at Chandigarh and Panchkula
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 our humble obeisances at the dust of your lotus feet. All glories to our param-guru,
Śrīla Prabhupāda.
guru kṛṣṇa-rūpa hana śāstrera pramāṇe
guru-rūpe kṛṣṇa kṛpā karena bhakta-gaṇe
According to the deliberate opinion of all revealed scriptures, the spiritual master is
nondifferent from Kṛṣṇa. Lord Kṛṣṇa in the form of the spiritual master delivers His
devotees. (Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi 1.45)
śikṣā-guruke ta’ jāni kṛṣṇera svarūpa
antaryāmī, bhakta-śreṣṭha, – ei dui rūpa
One should know the instructing spiritual master to be the Personality of Kṛṣṇa. Lord
Kṛṣṇa manifests Himself as the Supersoul and as the greatest devotee of the Lord.
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi 1.47)
Śrīla Prabhupāda, as the founder-ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
(ISKCON) and the preeminent teacher (śikṣā-guru) and ultimate authority in our Society, you
have a unique relationship with every ISKCON devotee. You left a legacy of instructions through
your books, lectures, and letters on each and every aspect of devotional service to the Supreme
Lord and the practical aspects of running an organization.
You left behind key systems of spiritual practice, governance, and community engagement,
emphasizing bhakti-yoga, or devotion to Kṛṣṇa, performed through profound and clear processes
of chanting, temple worship, and the distribution of literature.
Śrīmān Mahāprabhu chose you to be an ambassador of His mission and vision (mora senāpati)
because you are an ocean of fine Vaiṣṇava qualities. We can experience these good qualities in
your personal interactions with your disciples, followers, and the people in general. By coming
in touch with your transcendental books, your vapu, we became very fortunate. In Śrīmad-
Bhāgavatam (1.1.15), Śaunaka and other sages glorify Sūta Gosvāmī by describing the potency of a
pure devotee:
yat-pāda-saṁśrayāḥ sūta
munayaḥ praśamāyanāḥ
sadyaḥ punanty upaspṛṣṭāḥ
svardhuny-āpo ’nusevayā
O Sūta, those great sages who have completely taken shelter of the lotus feet of the
Lord can at once sanctify those who come in touch with them, whereas the waters of
the Ganges can sanctify only after prolonged use.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, we are very proud of being your warriors. Recently, at the Kumbha Mela, the
sannyāsī community gave you the title jagad-guru – the one and only spiritual master for the whole
world – seeing how you have changed the entire world, and no other guru had ever done this
before. Even Rāmānujācārya, the most renowned spiritual master recorded in history, couldn’t
achieve what you achieved within such a short time.
Your glories are unlimited. Your divine BBT purports – your transcendental ecstasies –
touched my heart, and many millions of living entities are being transformed by them. These
purports and your divine classes on the Gītā, Nectar of Devotion, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and Caitanya-
caritāmṛta are so electrifying that they propel us deeper and deeper into Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Your words make us more surrendered and give us much renewed energy to serve your mission
in the association of your disciples, granddisciples, great-granddisciples, and other Vaiṣṇavas in
loving, humble cooperation. We are learning so much from your personal letters and the purports
of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and the Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Your concern that devotees work cooperatively
to serve the mission of Caitanya Mahāprabhu is touching to our heart and soul. We experience
that without cooperation, neither we nor the community grows. That is the success of disciplic
succession. As you wrote, “There is only one guru, who appears in an infinity of forms to teach
you, me, and all others.”
In the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad (1.2.12) it is said:
tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet
samit-pāṇiḥ srotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham
In order to learn the transcendental science, one must approach the bona fide spiritual
master in disciplic succession, who is fixed in the Absolute Truth.
A few lines from your homage to your spiritual master are reflective:
Absolute is sentient
Thou hast proved.
Impersonal calamity
Thou hast removed…
Had you not come,
Who had told
The message of Krishna
Forceful and bold?…
The line of service
As drawn by you,
Is pleasing and healthy
Like morning dew.
The oldest of all,
But in new dress.
Miracle done,
Your Divine Grace.
At ISKCON of Central New Jersey, as a humble offering to you and our spiritual masters, we
started our center in 2004 – from a once-a-week rental facility to a full-fledged temple by 2015.
This year on Balarāma Pūrṇimā we are celebrating the tenth anniversary of the installation of Śrī
Śrī Rādhā-Śyāmasundara. We are blessed with the manifestation of the most beautiful Deities of
Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Śyāmasundara, Śrī Śrī Jagannātha-Baladeva-Subhadrā, Śrī Śrī Gaura-Nitāi, choṭa
Śrī Śrī Rādhe-Śyāma, and choṭa Śrī Pañca-tattva.
We are a vibrant community with more than one hundred initiated disciples. We celebrate all
major festivals, including three Ratha-yātrās each year; have weekend warriors, who go out on
book distribution, with an offering of more than five thousand hardbound books distributed in
2024. More than ten bhakti-vrikshas cultivate two hundred congregants each week. We have daily
morning and evening virtual śāstric saṅgas, a vibrant Sunday school consisting of five classes, with
more than one hundred students taking advantage of spiritual education from their childhood.
The youth coordinate kīrtana events, and there is a Bhakti club at the university that attracts
thousands. Govinda’s catering and restaurant provides sanctified food to hundreds; fully installed
solar panels support the temple’s Go Green initiative; and an upcoming tulasī room will be built
later this year. These are some of the humble offerings at your lotus feet.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, you taught us about the four pillars of our Society: “Purity is the force,”
“Utility is the principle,” “Books are the basis,” and “Preaching is the essence.” Every day we try
to strengthen these pillars. However, due to our inability and weakness, our progress is very slow.
Our preaching activities attract many new devotees to our center. We distribute books in new
venues. We finish our rounds in the morning and utilize our facility to serve communities. We are
eagerly seeking your mercy. Please guide us, bless us, show us the path. We just want to follow
you – only you – your words, your instructions, your standards, and your footsteps. Without your
mercy, nothing is possible. But with your mercy, everything is possible.
The savior of the whole world, Śrīla Prabhupāda kī jaya!
The devotees at ISKCON of Central New Jersey
