Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept my most humble obeisances. All glories to Your Divine Grace.
I had the good fortune to be accepted as your disciple in the year 1971, in London. At that
time, we were at Bury Place, and the initiation was conducted in front of Their Lordships Śrī Śrī
Rādhā-Londonīśvara. That is now over fifty years ago, and there have been many changes in the
London center and the standards of worship. But Lord Kṛṣṇa is the same Supreme Personality
of Godhead, and you are the same founder-ācārya of the Society. The goal of our lives has also
not changed: we would all like to develop love of God, kṛṣṇa-prema, and there should be sweet
kīrtanas and tasty prasādam. These basic elements of Kṛṣṇa consciousness are still the goal and
mission of the devotees.
I am still a long way from achieving these things, but my desire is still there. In fact, my desire
has intensified over the years of service, and I want to continue my efforts in the hope that one
day in the coming crores of my births in this material world I may somehow achieve a semblance
of love for Kṛṣṇa and a complete desire to please the Lord and His devotees.
I thank you again and again for coming into my life and bringing some meaning and purpose
to my existence.
With profuse obeisances at your lotus feet, I remain the most insignificant beggar,
Tridaṇḍi Swami Bhakti Vighna Vināśa Narasiṁha
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Your Divine Grace, Śrīla Prabhupāda.
Your books have broadened and deepened my knowledge of culture, thereby facilitating an
applied Vaiṣṇava knowledge-sharing culture. Thank you, Your Divine Grace, Śrīla Prabhupāda,
for your causeless mercy.
By casting your sidelong glances on a reckless brute such as myself, the applied Vaiṣṇava
Vedānta could be shared with management and leadership scholars at a recent International Con-
ference on Business, Management and Finance held on March 27–29 in Oxford, United Kingdom.
Here is a list of the presentations:
Das, V. (2025). Preventive strategies for heropreneurship. Proceedings of the 8th Inter-
national Conference on Business, Management and Finance. https://www.dpublication.
com/abstract-of-8th-icbmf/74-imf7-7142/
Das, V. (2025). Leadership trust strategies for change management. Proceed-
ings of the 8th International Conference on Business, Management and Finance,
March 27–29, 2025, Oxford, United Kingdom. https://www.dpublication.com/
abstract-of-8th-icbmf/78-imf7-7115/
Das, V. (2025). De-escalation strategies for felonocracy. Proceedings of the 8th Interna-
tional Conference on Business, Management and Finance, March 27–29, 2025, Oxford,
United Kingdom. https://www.dpublication.com/abstract-of-8th-icbmf/79-imf7-7117/
Das, V. (2025). Preventive strategies for legislative octogenarian gerontocracy. Pro-
ceedings of the 8th International Conference on Business, Management and Finance,
March 27–29, 2025, Oxford, United Kingdom. https://www.dpublication.com/
abstract-of-8th-icbmf/74-imf7-7062
Das, V. (2025). Strategies for preventing genderwashing leadership. Proceedings of
the 8th International Conference on Business, Management and Finance, 74-IMF7-
7086, March 27-29, 2025, Oxford. United Kingdom. https://www.dpublication.com/
abstract-of-8th-icbmf/74-imf7-7086/
Śrīla Prabhupāda, the members of the academic community warmly embraced our presentations
by your special grace. Thank you for using us as instruments of positive change.
Your servant of the servants,
Bhakti Vāsudeva Swami (Vasudev Das)
You Are the One
O dearest Śrīla Prabhupāda
You are the one
Giving me hope, giving me strength
Setting me free, making me happy
O dearest Śrīla Prabhupāda
You are the one
Opening my heart, abating my fear
Showing me light, making me fight
O dearest Śrīla Prabhupāda
You are the one
Gentle and kind, serene and grave
Eager to serve, giver of prema
O dearest Śrīla Prabhupāda
You are the one
Humble and meek, fearless and pure
Giving your life, so all can live
O dearest Śrīla Prabhupāda
You are the one
Words of wisdom, forever to hear
Beacon of hope, my true savior
O dearest Śrīla Prabhupāda
You are the one
Servant of the servant,
My master and eternal guide
O dearest Śrīla Prabhupāda
You are the one
Savior of the most fallen
My ever well-wisher
O dearest Śrīla Prabhupāda
You are the one
Fleeting of time, weak in bhakti
Wanting to weep, at your lotus feet
O dearest Śrīla Prabhupāda
You are the one
Your Divine Grace, my only love
Seeking your shelter, your beloved Raghav
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept my prostrated obeisances unto the dust of your lotus feet.
Day by day your glories are exponentially progressing. Thousands of devotees have been writ-
ing your newer and newer glories as offerings to you for many, many years. But owllike persons
like me can’t understand your unlimited transcendental glories. Like the Lord, you are the well-
wisher of all:
(a) Atheists. You gave them sufficient proof so they can believe in God and affectionately called
them “rascals.”
(b) Impersonalists and members of other religions. You explained Lord Caitanya’s philosophy of
acintya-bhedābheda-tattva.
(c) Karmīs. You showed them that devotees enjoy more than karmīs enjoy and that the enjoyment
of devotees is eternal.
(d) Demigod worshipers. Whatever benefits these persons can get by worshiping demigods, you
showed them that more benefits can be gotten by worshiping the Lord. Even professional
Bhāgavatam reciters and other types of businessmen can earn a lot of money, by your mercy,
by propagating Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and developing the holy dhāmas.
(e) Scholars. You gave them so much literature to read.
(f) Scientists. You gave them the science of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and defeated the false propa-
ganda of scientific claims like the moon landing and Darwinism, especially proving that life
comes from life.
(g) Viṣṇu worshipers. By explaining Lord Caitanya’s acintya-bhedābheda, you made it possible to
understand that Lord Viṣṇu is an avatāra of Lord Kṛṣṇa, and you gave them a most respected
place in society.
(h) Kṛṣṇa devotees. You taught that mādhurya-rasa, Kṛṣṇa’s rasa of conjugal love, is topmost
according to the Gauḍīya-darśana.
(i) People throughout the world. You fulfilled the meaning of “Jagannātha” by introducing Lord
Jagannātha to people everywhere in the Ratha-yātrā festival.
(j) The most fallen. You gave us, the most fallen, a most respectable position as Vaiṣṇavas after
giving us everything – even rāgānuga-bhakti, which your dear disciple His Holiness Bhakti
Chāru Swami taught so clearly.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, by your causeless mercy, the Ujjain devotees, with the help of the Madhya
Pradesh government, conducted an online Gītā contest based on your Introduction to the
Bhagavad-gītā, in which 646,240 students took part.
This year we want to perform Jagannātha Ratha-yātrā in all the schools of Madhya Pradesh
with the help of the government. This will only be possible if Your Divine Grace showers your
causeless mercy upon us.
Your name is indirectly mentioned in the Gopī-gītā where the gopīs cry and call you “bhūridā.”
Please give me the vision to appreciate your glories. Our bhakti is directly proportional to real-
izing your glories. That is why those who are broadcasting your glories are also bhūridā. Please
allow me to remain as an insignificant servant in your holy movement.
Servant of your eternal servant,
Bhakti Prema Swami
Respected Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept my most humble obeisances at your divine lotus feet. All glories to Your Divine
Grace.
You are the senāpati-bhakta – the chosen commander of Mahāprabhu’s saṅkīrtana army – who
fulfilled the impossible mission of spreading Kṛṣṇa consciousness beyond India. You crossed
oceans, faced countless hardships, and awakened the sleeping souls of the Western world. What
no one could imagine, you made a reality by your firm faith in the holy name, in the instructions
of your spiritual master, and your deep compassion for the fallen conditioned souls.
You gave us your books – not ordinary books, but eternal scriptures meant to guide humanity
for the next ten thousand years. They are the lawbooks for the world, full of spiritual wisdom,
hope, and direction. Just by reading your books, lives are transformed. Nations can change by
your books.
Yet despite doing so much you never took credit. You always said, “I am simply a servant of my
Guru Mahārāja.” You gave all glories to your spiritual master and the paramparā. This humility is
your greatness. This humility of yours is the source of inspiration for many, including myself.
You had a grand vision for Śrī Māyāpur – the World Headquarters of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness
movement. You wanted it to be a spiritual United Nations, where people from all over the world
could come and understand who they really are and what the purpose of life is. Your vision for
Māyāpur is unfolding and becoming a reality.
You also warned us about internal conflicts. You said that once the movement grows, we must
be careful not to lose our purity. “Boil the milk,” you said, meaning, deepen the quality of devo-
tees, not just increase our quantity. You desired cooperation, not unhealthy competition. You
wanted all of us to work together under the guidance of the GBC body, with unity and trust.
ISKCON must remain united under one umbrella or your mission will suffer.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, I am praying at your lotus feet, please give me your mercy so that I can
always remain a loyal servant to you and your ISKCON. Please empower me to help spread the
message of Lord Caitanya across the world, as you taught us. Please forgive all my offenses, done
knowingly or unknowingly.
I am forever your unworthy but hopeful servant,
Bhakti Prachar Parivrajak Swami
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 most humble obeisances in the dust of your divine lotus feet. Hare Kṛṣṇa!
In 1966, my father somehow found his way to you at 26 Second Avenue. He wasn’t knowingly
searching for Kṛṣṇa, but rather had a personal agenda related to his son, who had “lost it” (gone
crazy) due to a neurosis compounded by the effects of LSD. On that occasion, you expressed your
underlying and profound compassion in a simple acknowledgment: “There is something wrong
with that boy.” You then immediately reassured your visitor: “But we can fix him up!”
(This confident statement calls to mind the title of Satsvarūpa dāsa Goswami’s third volume of
his Śrīla Prabhupāda-līlāmṛta: Only He Could Lead Them.)
So, let’s count how many years have passed up to the present? All right, 2025 minus 1966
equals 59 years since those wild beatnik/hippie days in downtown NYC! (From the bodily per-
spective, I was twenty years old and am now seventy-eight.)
Five years later, in 1971, by the intercession of the devotees, you permitted me one more per-
sonal darshan. This took place in another sacred enclave, namely the second ISKCON temple, in
Boston, Massachusetts, at 38 North Beacon Street. The bottom line of that exchange, or the take-
away from it, was your concluding words: “I only ask one thing of you – simply try to understand
Kṛṣṇa!”
Another five years later, in April 1976, I was formally initiated to become your disciple. Up to
the present I have been chanting at least the minimum sixteen rounds daily and have not broken
any of the four regulative principles. But it was only in 2013 that I felt steady and strong enough
to accept the order of sannyāsa.
Of course, my humble story repeats in thousands of ways, with many variations, for each one
of your fortunate disciples. After your departure, so many others would yet become initiated by
your disciples, and thus your ISKCON movement continues to spread throughout the world. This
was foreseen by the previous ācāryas, notably Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, while I still mentally struggle with the challenges of the awful impressions
from my youth and, now, with the inevitable miseries associated with old age, I am thankfully
aware of my extraordinarily good fortune to have met you and to find myself in the process of sur-
rendering unto your lotus feet – and thereby to the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality
of Godhead, also known as Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
All glories to you, Śrīla Prabhupāda, on this auspicious celebration of your divine appearance
on this earth.
Your yet aspiring servant,
Bhakti Prabhupāda-vrata Dāmodara Swami
(now based at New Raman Reti, Alachua, Florida, USA)
