My Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept my humble obeisances in the dust of your lotus feet. All glories to Your Divine
Grace.
Guru-mukha-padma-vākya. In your purport to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.20.25, you write, “The tran-
scendental vibration from the mouth of a pure devotee is so powerful that it can revive the living
entity’s memory of his eternal relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead…. This
awakening voice comes through the mouth of a pure devotee. A pure devotee always engages in
the service of the Lord, taking shelter of His lotus feet, and therefore he has a direct connection
with the saffron mercy-particles that are strewn over the lotus feet of the Lord.”
For the past fourteen years, among other services I have been engaged in the production and
distribution of your Vani, Ultimate Audio, which is a 120-GB USB drive with 4,073 audio files.
Mādhava Prabhu, from Hare Kṛṣṇa Media in Mumbai, has been serving tirelessly since 2005 with
your Bhaktivedanta Archives, a division of your Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT), in producing
an Ultimate Audio of your recordings. For more than a decade, we have distributed over 150,000
units. This service is so amazing that it is clear that Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa and Śrī Śrī Pañca-tattva
want to give everyone a chance to hear from you – the distribution service has its own transcen-
dental flow.
Guru-mukha-padma-vākya: I also desire that my only wish is to have my consciousness purified
by the words emanating from your lotus mouth.
Ebe yaśa ghuṣuk tri-bhuvana. In a letter to Tuṣṭa Kṛṣṇa Prabhu, dated December 14, 1972, you
state, “To carry out the teachings of guru is more important than to worship the form, but none
of them should be neglected. Form is called vapuḥ and teachings is called vani. Both should be
worshiped.”
In my travels, I hear from devotees how they and their family members are adversely affected
by the Personality of Kali’s chief disciple, Social Media. At times I’ve felt helpless when I try to
support them and have just prayed and prayed how to get them off the internet and other similar
types of platforms.
Then for the past three years, Mādhava Prabhu and I began production and distribution of
your vapuḥ, the Ultimate Video Collection, on a 64-GB USB drive. This drive is comprised of sev-
enty videos – more than fifty-eight hours of the highest-quality footage. We are immensely grate-
ful to Nṛsiṁhānanda Prabhu from ISKCON Television (ITV) and Yadubara Prabhu and Mother
Viśākhā from ISKCON Cinema for their blessings and mercy to widely distribute your vapuḥ.
Thus far we have distributed over 45,000 units. Here again, engaging in this service is definitely
Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s arrangement – offering your transcendental form to the world.
Ebe yaśa ghuṣuk tri-bhuvana: I also desire to spread your glories to be continuously sung
throughout the three worlds.
All glories to your vāṇī and vapuḥ, our saving grace! Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Your servant of your servant,
Bhakti Bṛhat Bhāgavata Swami
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Śrī Guru and Śrī Gaurāṅga. All glories to
Your Divine Grace.
For the past two years, I have had the opportunity to travel and teach devotees in South Amer-
ica, visiting Brazil, Chile, Peru, and Paraguay, and in Mexico. It has been such a deep and reward-
ing experience for me – meeting so many incredible Vaiṣṇavas everywhere I go. Some places,
like Patagonia in Chile, are so remote that they call them “the end of the world!” We even held
a Ratha-yātrā there at the start of this year, and it was a truly beautiful and uplifting experience.
Among the many other places I have visited are Cusco, Peru, high up in the Andes, and Manaus,
Brazil, in the heart of Amazonia. In all these places, Vaiṣṇavas are chanting the holy name and
practicing Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and it is truly a reality that the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra resounds
in every town and village.
I have been sharing your teachings with the devotees – about Vedic culture, varṇāśrama-
dharma, and Vaiṣṇava philosophy – all directly from your books, and they are eager for this
knowledge. I have been studying Bhagavad-gītā As It Is with the help of a study guide you wrote
in essay form, An Analysis of Bhagwat Geeta, based on sambandha, abhidheya, and prayojana, from
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s Daśa-mūla-tattva. It is such a powerful tool, because it truly deepens my
understanding of the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and I see that many devotees are
eager to delve into it as well.
Lately, I have been reflecting a lot on the fourth and fifth verses of the Upadeśāmṛta. Rūpa
Gosvāmī presents them so beautifully, explaining how we, as devotees, should connect with each
other on a personal level to grow in devotion. The fourth verse really struck me – I feel that it
embodies the heart of abhidheya, the process of devotional service. Then, in the fifth verse, he
speaks about how to show respect to devotees, and what stood out to me is his emphasis on asso-
ciating with uttama-adhikārīs. They possess all auspicious qualities, yet Rūpa Gosvāmī highlights
just one: they have no propensity to criticize others. That realization deeply impacted me – it is so
powerful, and I am striving to live by it myself. I still have so much to learn.
I am deeply grateful for the association I receive through your books and lectures. Please bless
me with the strength to deepen my understanding of your mood and realizations so that I may
fully grasp and apply them throughout my life with all my heart.
Your humble servant,
Bhakti Ārjava Prīti Vardhana Swami
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
I bow my head in the sacred dust of your lotus feet.
Today, on the holy day of your Vyāsa-pūjā, I pray that I may please you by faithfully following
your holy teachings and serving your divine mission. You have mercifully given all of your fol-
lowers the opportunity to receive your intimate blessings by assisting you in your service to your
beloved Guru Mahārāja, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda, and the exalted
ācāryas.
Recently, I heard a recorded lecture that you had given. It deeply affected my heart. You said,
“When a devotee is so advanced that he cannot live without Kṛṣṇa for a moment – then he can see
Kṛṣṇa everywhere.”
In these simple words you shared a principle that is at the heart of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s
teachings. Lord Caitanya prayed, śūnyāyitaṁ jagat sarvaṁ govinda-viraheṇa me: “In separation from
Govinda the entire universe appears to be a dreary void.”
Śrīla Prabhupāda, you taught us that a sincere devotee strives to be absorbed in pleasing Kṛṣṇa
in both pleasant and challenging conditions, to be so deeply humble that we realize our complete
dependence on Kṛṣṇa’s mercy at every moment. The true value of whatever we do or say is accord-
ing to how Śrī Guru and Śrī Kṛṣṇa are pleased with the sincerity of our devotional service. In this
way, according to the quality of one’s surrender, Kṛṣṇa gives us the vision to see Him and serve
Him everywhere and in the hearts of all beings.
Lord Caitanya taught that even the most fallen souls can realize this highest spiritual perfec-
tion by sincerely chanting Lord Hari’s holy names and living with Vaiṣṇava character. Through
the saṅkīrtana movement He freely distributed the sweetest revelation of love of Godhead as
is exhibited by the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana. While residing in the Gambhīrā, Śrī Caitanya
Mahāprabhu revealed the treasure of His heart – expressing Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s feelings of
loving separation from Kṛṣṇa. By His example He taught how to cultivate union with Kṛṣṇa
through feelings of loving separation from Him.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, serving Lord Caitanya’s infinite love is the treasure of your heart. You so
mercifully shared this treasure with all of us. In 1965, you departed from your sacred home in
Vṛndāvana to beg all people of the world to accept this supreme treasure – kṛṣṇa-prema-dhana –
unconditional love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Alone, in your old age, you ventured into strange lands with no money or any material security.
Yet you prayed only to be an instrument of Kṛṣṇa’s compassion to bring eternal joy to people in
every town and village of the world.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, with profound urgency you pleaded with all of us to very carefully follow
the teachings and culture of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and to spread it according to our capacity. With-
out authentic sanātana-dharma, all noble efforts to do good are destined to collapse. Prema-bhakti –
pure devotional service – is the jaiva-dharma, the eternal nature of the soul. Śrīla Prabhupāda,
your total absorption in pure bhakti and your compassion for all beings reveals this highest
dharma.
In your books, lectures, and interactions, we hear the urgency in your voice as you plead with
us to be “serious and sincere” in our spiritual practice.
Your urgent plea is forever relevant, especially in the times in which we are living. The present
condition of the world is stricken by brutal wars, devastating earthquakes, and miserable diseases,
horrific fires, droughts and floods, heat waves and hurricanes. The tragedy of untimely death …
Nations are severely divided with hatred and distrust over ideological, political, social, and
economic issues. Terrorism, stockpiles of nuclear bombs, and man-induced climate change have
plagued the world with instability and robbed people’s confidence to safely raise their families.
Racism, oppression, cruelty, and slaughter are unleashed due to the ignorance of bodily designa-
tions. Arrogance, vengeance, greed, and exploitation as well as immoral vices are rampantly being
accepted as coveted characteristics of greatness – even in the name of religion.
Yet even in pleasurable times, when there is an abundance of goodness, kindness, security,
comfort, and prosperity, we tend to forget the very purpose of life in a world where suffering is
imminent: to reconnect with our true self as loving servants of the Lord. The only sustainable
solution is genuine spirituality.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, you entrusted to us this knowledge and the timeless mercy of the ācāryas.
You invested your sincere followers with a responsibility to rise above our differences and to
infuse the society with the culture of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. It is above sectarian beliefs and is
inclusive with all earnest seekers of God’s love.
Yet the path of bhakti, as taught by Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityānanda, leads us into the
sweetest, most ecstatic pastimes of the Lord, where the all-powerful Absolute Truth, the origin of
all existence and the reservoir of all love, reciprocates with His devotees’ devotion by becoming
their intimate friend, child, or lover.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, this is your gift.
We pray for your mercy that we not be depressed, distracted, or indifferent to the heartbreaks
of the world. We pray to be ever grateful for the transcendental gift you have entrusted to us. You
taught us that where there is great need, there is a great opportunity to serve.
I beg forgiveness for my shortcomings in serving you. I am fallen, unworthy, and unqualified,
yet you continue to extend your mercy. The most precious gift in my life is knowing that you have
saved me and that you have given me and all of your followers the full mercy of Lord Caitanya.
I pray to ever be absorbed in expressing my gratitude to you by faithfully serving your loving
servants.
Radhanath Swami
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept my prostrated obeisances in the dust of your lotus feet. All glories to Your Divine
Grace.
The time for your Vyāsa-pūjā is quickly approaching, and we eagerly await this sacred day
when a disciple is given a unique opportunity to offer homage to his spiritual master on the day
of his appearance. It’s a time to express gratitude to you and to take inventory of my heart based
on the ever-fresh realizations I should have experienced while serving your instructions in deep
separation from your physical presence.
I must sadly admit, Śrīla Prabhupāda, that I have not had any new realizations this year.
Instead, I have been consumed by the pain of separation, not only from you but also from your
service. This year I have nothing to offer you except my paltry attempts to restore my health.
I could say I offer you my heart, but I should provide you with a clean heart, not a heart still
contaminated with unwanted desires. It’s been over fifty years since you offered me your service
and the holy name, replete with all the cleansing potency required to obtain a clean heart. My
heart should be a clean altar for you to sit on by this time. Regrettably, it is not.
The simple fact is that I have nothing to offer except a strong desire to please you someday. To
say that I am grateful for this desire would be inadequate. It’s what keeps me alive. It gives me
hope and a purpose for living.
On this most auspicious day of your divine appearance, Śrīla Prabhupāda, I beg you to please
find in me the sincerity to say that I am,
Your servant eternally,
Nirañjana Swami
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
Reciprocation
On 13 December 1973, at the Los Angeles temple, on Srila Bhaktisiddhānta’s disappearance day, you ended your lecture by saying that you were “horrified” by dreaming several times that Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Mahārāja was calling you to take sannyāsa. At that time, all of the devotees present in the temple room saw tears streaming from your eyes as your voice choked to gravel and you said, “You are helping me.” Then there was a short pause. You were displaying some transcendental emotions as these tears of gratitude seemed to take over. The devotees there had never heard or seen anything quite like this – ever. Previously, you had exhibited intense anger when speaking with impersonalists sometimes masquerading as devotional individuals. However, these emotional displays of gratitude were witnessed only by a privileged few. Your moods seemed to alternate between kindness and friendliness to stern disagreement, depending on who you were speaking with – the age, gender, nationality, and philosophical conviction of the person before you.
One could say that time, place, and circumstance/audience were the determining factors of the mood you adopted on specific occasions.
In the book The Nectar of Devotion Kṛṣṇa talks about his indebtedness to Draupadī for calling out to him, “He Govinda.” This indirectly indicates that Krsna is obliged to appreciate such surrender and points out the psychological need for all people to feel valued. Śrīla Prabhupāda went so far as to indicate that ISKCON leaders should discuss their differences threadbare, until they would reach a deeper understanding. He told us that the movement’s leaders should discuss the principle of acintya-bhedābheda-tattva (inconceivable simultaneous oneness and difference) each year in Māyāpur. Mutual appreciation was an essential keynote of this instruction.
Without this reciprocation, life can be humdrum and outright depressing. Some have even left the frontline preaching of ISKCON, or ISKCON entirely, because they were either undervalued or not valued at all.
A person who is mindful of his friend’s beneficial actions is grateful. In the Mahābhārata, Kṛṣṇa says, “When I was away from Draupadī, she cried with the words, ‘he Govinda!’ This call for Me has put Me in her debt, and that indebtedness is gradually increasing in My heart.”
Although you were often stern, uncompromising, and seemingly cruel and rigid, your kindness and indebtedness were always there – as is the nature of any true sādhu. So, you were in a sense the master of reciprocation.
Your servant,
Mukunda Goswami
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,
nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
svāmi-śrī-bhaktivedānta-prabhupādāya te namaḥ
gurvājñāṁ śirasi-dhṛtvā śaktyāveṣa-sva-rūpiṇe
hare-kṛṣṇeti mantreṇa pāścātya-prācya-tāriṇe
viśvācārya-pravaryāya divya-kāruṇya-mūrtaye
śrī-bhāgavata-mādhurya-gītā-jñāna-pradāyine
gaura-śrī-rūpa-siddhānta-sarasvati-niṣeviṇe
rādhā-kṛṣṇa-padāmbhoja-bhṛṅgāya gurave namaḥ
I offer my humble obeisances unto His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Prabhupāda, who is Kṛṣṇa’s beloved associate and who came down to this plane from
Goloka. Taking the order of his guru on his head, he is the śaktyāveṣa (empowered)
avatāra of Nityānanda Prabhu personified. He distributed the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra all
over the Eastern and Western world, delivering and uplifting all fallen souls. He is the
best of millions of jagat-gurus because he is the personification of divine mercy. He has
distributed the sweet nectar of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and the transcendental knowledge of
Bhagavad-gītā all over the world. He is constantly engaged in exclusive devotional service
to Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Prabhupāda, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, and Śrī Gaurāṅga
Mahāprabhu. I offer my humble obeisances unto Śrīla Prabhupāda, who is like a bum-
blebee always tasting the nectar of the lotus feet of Śrī Śrī Rādhā and Govinda. (Written
by Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja upon request, and edited by Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja)
At the present moment, your intimate disciples have gathered in Śrī Vrindavan-dhāma to celebrate
the fiftieth anniversary of your victorious offering to the sacred lineage of the Brahma-Madhva-
Gauḍīya-sampradāya, ISKCON’s Śrī Śrī Krishna-Balaram Mandir, notably featuring the teachings
of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu; His personal associates such as Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī, who
was His intimate private secretary; His deputed band of front-line preachers, the Six Gosvāmīs;
and Rāmānanda Rāya and other illustrious ācāryas. The heartfelt descriptions coming from your
own front-line generals, men and women, indicate that the time is ripe for a continuation of
Lord Caitanya’s ādi pastimes via your adroit vision and ardent adherence to the orders of Śrīla
Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura. Who will write that tome from among ISKCON’s second
generation, while there is still connectivity with some of your original stalwarts? The Prabhupāda-
līlāmṛta, even with its faults and inaccuracies, delivers the essence of your transcendental pastimes
as you transform from a “Calcutta boy” into a world-recognized and famed ācārya, but there
remains an incredible storehouse of pastimes to be revealed, pastimes that will expand further,
expand on your glories as a śaktyāveṣa-avatāra.
The Krishna-Balaram Mandira rose against all odds at the time, being constructed and built
by foreigners in a remote part of Vrindavan, Raman Reti, outside the general Vrindavan village
itself, while giving leeway for the completion of Hare Kṛṣṇa Land in Juhu, another remotely
placed village outside of Bombay, on the seaside. The undeniable crest jewel of your crowning
achievements, Śrīdhāma Māyāpur, rising as your indisputable world headquarters, being the most
remote, the most off the grid, is the most fantastic part of your vision to spread the cult of Śrī Cai-
tanya Mahāprabhu’s saṅkīrtana movement worldwide. It is the place where a glimpse of the Lord’s
prophecies would be seen in action during the first international Gaura-Pūrṇimā festival in 1972,
where fair- and dark-skinned foreigners alike danced and chanted haribol! haribol! through the
streets of Navadvīpa with youthful abandon.
Only you were not surprised by this occurrence due to your complete faith in the instruction
of your guru and full faith in the Lord Himself. You knew, without a doubt, that this would occur,
and you brought us along, introducing us to an amazing world outside time that we would have
never imagined existed. By your grace, we were given glances into the spiritual world, enough to
captivate us and keep us on track as your dancing white elephants, (as we were often called).
I am no longer much of a dancer, but I beg you to allow me to remain engaged in your service
during this closing chapter of my life. You told us that Vaiṣṇavas do not “retire,” and you were
that vivid example. You gave us that “real life, as Caitanya has wrought,” filled with a value that
can never be bought. You “purchased” our empty hearts with your genuine love, and while we
knew that we can never repay your selfless gift, our lives are still molded by our attempts to do so.
I have no other purpose for breathing.
May I ever remain your dāsī,
Mālatī Devī Dāsī
