Hanumātpreṣaka Swami

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

Ganapati Swami

Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,

vāñchā-kalpatarubhyaś ca
kṛpā-sindhubhya eva ca
patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo
vaiṣṇavebhyo namo namaḥ
If there was an integral formula behind the success of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s campaign, it certainly
consisted of the chanting of the holy names, the dissemination of spiritual knowledge, and the
distribution of kṛṣṇa-prasādam.
Most devotees will attest that reading Prabhupāda’s books played a pivotal role in their ini-
tially embracing Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and that it remains central to their ability to hold firm to
the process. And who will argue about prasādam? “You go on simply eating, that’s all. And all of
my devotees, they have come to me simply by eating prasādam.” (Līlāmṛta) My personal convic-
tion, however, is that the transcendental sound vibration emanating from Śrīla Prabhupāda’s
lotus lips was (and still should be) the overriding inspiration behind his movement. Ralph
W. Emerson visualized an institution as “the lengthened shadow of one man”; in a similar way,
ISKCON could be seen as the expansive manifestation of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s pretenseless kṛṣṇa-
prema-viraha kīrtana – his pining to once again “wander about the cowherd pastures and fields.
Running and frolicking in the many forests of Vraja, I will roll on the ground in spiritual ecstasy.”
(Jaladuta Diary). His kīrtana “raised God from the dead” for the brain-dead of Kali-yuga and
revealed Kṛṣṇa’s presence as śuddha-nāma (’bhinnatvan nama-naminoh). No one chants like Śrīla
Prabhupāda! He affirmed his secret in his purport to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.20.25:
Although when a pure devotee speaks the articulation of his voice may resemble the
sound of this material sky, the voice is spiritually very powerful because it touches the
particles of saffron dust on the lotus feet of the Lord. As soon as a sleeping living entity
hears the powerful voice emanating from the mouth of a pure devotee, he immediately
remembers his eternal relationship with the Lord, although up until that moment he had
forgotten everything.
Such sound is not of this mundane realm (golokera prema-dhana, hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana), and when
it remains readily available to all via recordings, only a fool will not take advantage of it on a
regular basis!
I’ll close with two more quotations from Śrīla Prabhupāda, the first from a purport to Śrīmad-
Bhāgavatam (3.26.32), the second from a lecture:
It is understood from this verse that by agitation of the element of egoism in ignorance,
the first thing produced was sound, which is the subtle form of ether. It is stated also in
the Vedānta-sūtra that sound is the origin of all objects of material possession and that
by sound one can also dissolve this material existence. Anāvṛttiḥ śabdāt means “libera-
tion by sound.” The entire material manifestation began from sound, and sound can also
end material entanglement, if it has a particular potency. The particular sound capable
of doing this is the transcendental vibration Hare Kṛṣṇa. Our entanglement in material
affairs has begun from material sound. Now we must purify that sound in spiritual
understanding. There is sound in the spiritual world also. If we approach that sound,
then our spiritual life begins, and the other requirements for spiritual advancement can
be supplied. We have to understand very clearly that sound is the beginning of the cre-
ation of all material objects for our sense gratification. Similarly, if sound is purified, our
spiritual necessities also are produced from sound.
From a lecture dated January 10, 1968:
Now, the whole material world is produced from sound. That is scientific fact. Scientists
are researching the importance of sound, physical science. Sound, light, and transmis-
sion of sound and light. There are so many things, electronics. So this sound vibration,
this is material sound. They have got so much wonderful power. And just try to under-
stand what is the power of the spiritual sound. Real sound is coming from the spiritual
world. It is simply just like gramophone. The sound is coming originally from the person;
the gramophone is reproducing. That is not the original source of the sound. Similarly,
whatever sound is there in this material world, the original sound is produced by God.
Just like in your Bible it is said, “Let there be creation.” It is, simply it was sound and
there was creation. So spiritual sound is so powerful. And we are trying to catch you
directly from that sound vibration, Hare Kṛṣṇa, and I am sure it is acting. Simply, śabdād
anāvṛttiḥ.
Seeking the blessings of all those who have been blessed by His Divine Grace,
Your dāsānudāsa,
Ganapati Swami

Dhanvantari Swami

Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept my most humble and respectful obeisances. All glories unto you, who are most
dear to Kṛṣṇa and forever sheltered at His lotus feet.
For your Vyāsa-pūjā this year, I come, perhaps a bit shy but resolute, to offer you humble ser-
vice in the field of education for young adults. This service is carried out through the Instituto
Jaladuta, named in honor of the vessel that once crossed oceans to carry you to the West, with the
summum bonum of all Vedic literature, the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, in your hand luggage.
This year, the Instituto Jaladuta celebrates its Silver Jubilee, twenty-five years of dedicated
service inspiring and guiding the systematic study of your books among the sons and daughters
of ISKCON members, as well as among new bhaktas and bhaktins who are coming closer to your
movement.
Our curriculum is the Bhakti-śāstrī course, which you established as the foundational academic
degree within your ISKCON. As students spend approximately nine to ten months immersed in
the ashram environment, we also offer strong sādhana-bhakti and personalized guidance in human
development through sadācāra and other tools to equip them to become leaders and opinion-
shapers in society.
Throughout these twenty-five years, our team, composed exclusively of your faithful follow-
ers, has continuously refined this service as an offering to you. Now at this mature stage, having
already graduated around five hundred young men and women as Bhakti-śāstrīs, having estab-
lished three advanced campuses in Brazil and Argentina, and having launched a distance-learning
department that offers both Bhakti-śāstrī and Bhakti-vaibhava levels, we have finally found the
courage to formally present this service to you.
On this most auspicious day of your Vyāsa-pūjā, we also wish to express our heartfelt gratitude
for all the instructions you gave us regarding the vital importance of śāstric education, both for
the members of ISKCON and for society at large. It is these instructions that empowered us to
overcome inertia and serve our students with renewed enthusiasm.
Please, Śrīla Prabhupāda, accept this humble offering for your pleasure and satisfaction, and
kindly allow us to continue forever as your humble servants.
Your eternal servant,
Dhanvantari Swami
Brazil

Dayānanda Swami

Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept my humble obeisances.
I have been reflecting on just how fortunate I am to have received the gift of being able to
engage in devotional service. Lord Caitanya instructed Rūpa Gosvāmī (Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya 19.151):

brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva
guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja

We come to Kṛṣṇa consciousness after many lifetimes in this material world, and by the mercy
of Kṛṣṇa we get a spiritual master, and by the mercy of both guru and Kṛṣṇa we can go back to
Godhead.
How we get this mercy is explained in the Mādhurya-kaḍambinī, where it references Śrīmad-
Bhāgavatam 11.20.8: “If somehow or other one develops faith in hearing and chanting my glo-
ries.…” “Somehow or other” is also explained as good fortune, and that good fortune is coming
from the mercy of a devotee.
In my case, it was by your mercy that I became fortunate – by reading one of your books. By
reading we get your personal association. You set the standard for all devotees as para-duḥkha-
duḥkhī. This is mentioned in the purport to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 8.7.39, where it says, “A Vaiṣṇava is
always unhappy to see the conditioned souls unhappy.”
I was unhappy, Śrīla Prabhupāda, and by your mercy I am now becoming happy.
Another point, Śrīla Prabhupāda, is that many times you said, “Devotional service is so nice.”
I have appreciated this point especially when listening to your lectures. para-duḥkha-duḥkhī – you
tirelessly preached the philosophy of Kṛṣṇa consciousness at every opportunity. “Kṛṣṇa con-
sciousness is so nice.” (Morning walk, December 25, 1976, Bombay) In this respect my realization
is that, “It is so nice that just by hearing your lectures every day, one will become firmly fixed in
the process of devotional service.”
Another way you exhibited the mood of para-duḥkha-duḥkhī is when you first arrived in the
USA at Commonwealth Pier, Boston Harbor. You had come to the conclusion, after visiting the
city, that the people were too absorbed in the mode of passion and ignorance, and how then
would they be able to understand the message of Kṛṣṇa consciousness? Yet you still underwent
the enormous sacrifice to give them Kṛṣṇa consciousness. I sometimes ask your disciples what
they found attractive about you, Śrīla Prabhupāda. Usually, they don’t answer straightaway, as if
they don’t know, and what I have understood from their answers is that everything about you was
and is still attractive.
If I ask myself what I find attractive, I would say that your mercy is the most attractive qual-
ity. My life has changed so much, and I am in a position to fulfill my deep desires to work in
a certain way according to my nature while at the same time take credit for service rendered,
although I am completely unqualified. You said, “Chant and be happy.” That is what is happen-
ing. The Christian faith has a Psalm (23:5–6, of the King James Bible): “My cup runneth over.”
in other words, because of your compassion, I have no need for anything. This is your quality of
para-duḥkha-duḥkhī.

Your humble servant,
Dayānanda Swami

Dānavir Goswami

Dearest spiritual master, Śrīla Prabhupāda,
On September 1, 1896, in Calcutta, a child named Abhay Charan was born. An astrologer pre-
dicted: “When this child reaches the age of seventy, he will cross the ocean, become a great expo-
nent of religion, and open 108 temples.”
From the time in 1922 when your Guru Mahārāja, His Divine Grace Oṁ Viṣṇupāda
paramahaṁsa parivrajakācārya aṣṭotara śata Śrī Śrīmād Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī
Ṭhākura Prabhupāda, requested you to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness through the English lan-
guage, you became completely convinced and never wasted a moment. You demonstrated that a
gṛhastha can also perform great service for the saṅkīrtana movement.
In July 1935, when Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī visited the Bombay branch of the Gauḍīya Maṭha,
some of the leading disciples recommended that Abhay Caraṇaravinda Dāsa become the president
of the Bombay branch. Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī cryptically replied: “He will do. When the time
comes, he will do everything himself. You don’t have to recommend him.” As a perfect disciple,
you executed all of your spiritual master’s orders and beyond.
On this most auspicious day marking the anniversary of your divine appearance on earth, I
humbly pray that a tiny particle of your unlimited causeless mercy drown me eternally in devo-
tional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, under your blissful direction.
Your unworthy servant,
Dānavir Goswami