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
As you were leaving this world, you said, “Try to expand our mission. If you cannot expand it,
at least maintain it.” Sadly, we were not able to do that, and today your Western mission is quite
small compared to what it was under your direct leadership. Thus, it is the duty of your faithful
followers to join together in a determined effort to expand your Western followers. You often
emphasized that if leading Western countries accepted Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the world would
follow. This was your global strategy to establish Lord Caitanya’s saṅkīrtana movement as the
yuga-dharma for the whole world. I pray that Lord Kṛṣṇa empower us to carry out your clearly
stated desire for this planet. You gave your life to achieve this most noble goal, and we should
give our lives in the same spirit. This will show that we actually understand the yuga-dharma and
the founder-ācārya of ISKCON.
Your servant,
Hridayananda dāsa Goswami
My dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept my prostrated obeisances at your divine, merciful lotus feet. All glories to Your
Divine Grace.
When I joined the Boston temple in 1969, Satsvarūpa Dāsa was the temple president and also
the editor of BTG, and he always wanted articles for the magazine, so I wrote one, entitled “The
Genuine Spiritual Master.” By the time the issue with my article reached you in February of 1971, I
was with you in Gorakhpur, India.
After reading my article you called for me. The temple room was dimly lit – only some narrow
shafts of light pierced through the slim openings in the wooden shutters along the side. Sitting
alone on your raised cushion at the far end of the room, you were the very image of the eternal
spiritual master, and your voice resonated with the truth of eternal time. I sat at your feet, eyes
and ears wide open.
“I saw your article in Back to Godhead,” you said. “It was very nice. You should write. This is
your first business. Go on writing. We require many, many such articles about Kṛṣṇa conscious-
ness. So you should devote yourself to writing.”
“I will try,” I said. “But why are you asking me? I have no special qualification.”
“We require many to do this work, and we need you also. So, you travel with me and I will
guide you. You come and stay with me.”
I felt thrilled and honored. You had never before given me a direct instruction. In fact, we had
hardly ever spoken, and now you were inviting me to stay with you so you could guide me in
writing.
Over the years you repeated your instruction for me to write. In a letter to me dated August 12,
1971, you wrote, “In the midst of your heavy duties, go on writing something glorifying the Lord
and put our philosophy into words. Writing articles means to express oneself how he is under-
standing the whole philosophy. So this writing is necessary for everyone.”
In 1973 I sent you my Vyāsa-pūjā offering, and on August 23, from Bhaktivedanta Manor, you
sent me an encouraging note: “I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter and the nice Vyasa-
puja offering you sent. I have sent it to Satsvarupa Goswami for printing in the BTG. Writing is a
very important part of our work, and Satsvarupa is always anxious to have new material from the
devotees for expanding the BTG. You have a nice talent for writing, and practice makes perfect,
so continue. It will be appreciated.”
In recent years I have edited Life’s Final Exam: Death and Dying from the Vedic Perspective
and written Watering the Seed – With Teachings from His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Prabhupāda; Many Moons: Reflections on Departed Vaishnavas; I’ll Build You a Temple: The Juhu Story;
and Dancing White Elephants: Traveling with Śrīla Prabhupāda in India, August 1970–March 1972. This
year I submitted two articles to BTG, which have been accepted for publication, and I am in the
last stages of completing my latest book, about meeting you and the devotees in Boston, April
1969–October 1970.
On this occasion I pray to you to bless me that I can continue to serve you, the devotees, and
the world by writing about Kṛṣṇa consciousness in the right consciousness. As you wrote in your
commentary on Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya 19.132, “It is certainly not good to write literature
for money or reputation, but to write books and publish them for the enlightenment of the gen-
eral populace is real service to the Lord. That was Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī’s opinion, and
he specifically told his disciples to write books. He actually preferred to publish books rather than
establish temples. Temple construction is meant for the general populace and neophyte devotees,
but the business of advanced and empowered devotees is to write books, publish them and dis-
tribute them widely. According to Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, distributing literature is
like playing on a great mṛdaṅga. Consequently we always request members of the International
Society for Krishna Consciousness to publish as many books as possible and distribute them
widely throughout the world. By thus following in the footsteps of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, one can
become a rūpānuga devotee.”
I am assisted in my work by a team of expert editors, headed by Kālachandjī Dāsa, and I
request you to kindly bless them too.
Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Your eternal, grateful servant,
Giriraj Swami
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāmin iti nāmine
I offer my respectful obeisances unto His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Prabhupāda, who is very dear to Lord Kṛṣṇa on this earth, having taken shelter at His
lotus feet.
namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe
nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe
Our respectful obeisances are unto you, O spiritual master, servant of Sarasvatī Gosvāmī.
You are kindly preaching the message of Lord Caitanyadeva and delivering the Western
countries, which are filled with impersonalism and voidism.
As Kali-yuga merrily sails its māyā-enchanted prisoners toward a seemingly inevitable abyss,
I visited an old friend of fifty years, an artist, surfer, and yogi. He has now retired, but for years
he worked as the international art director of a multibillion-dollar surf-wear company. But above
all else that he has done, he remains a disciple of Your Divine Grace. The beautiful name you
entrusted him with is Shyāmānanda Dāsa.
Although 75 plus, he is still strong of body and spirit despite currently suffering the nasty treat-
ment regimen of chemotherapy. Śrīla Prabhupāda, his remembrances of you remain firm, for he
has never forgotten you despite a full lifetime of both victories and defeats. He faces an unknown
but ultimately inevitable future, and your interactions with him and your instructions to him
personally and through your Bhagavad-gītā As It Is have been stored carefully within him as his
greatest wealth.
Shyāmānanda appeared awed and illumined when describing the breadth of your influ-
ence, from ubiquitous yoga-school chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra to the worldwide
acceptances of elements of Vaiṣṇava philosophy, dress, hairstyle, eating, science, and methods of
preaching. And he was struck how you left an indelible mark on many powerful souls who met
you just once but never formally accepted your shelter. And having a warrior’s nature himself, he
reveled in your stepping out alone, elderly and penniless, from Vrindavan to the United States, as
you began your worldwide movement armed only with your bravery of spirit, a trunk of Śrīmad-
Bhāgavatam books, and the order of your Guru Mahārāja.
But most of all he reveled in his personal interactions with you. He had observed you cook
with your three-tiered cooker, shirtless, just as you must have cooked for yourself in Vrindavan,
and how you salted and spiced deftly with your fingers, never measuring, but with the confident
flare of an experienced master chef. As he spoke of this, Shyāmānanda moved his arms with the
grace of a dancer in his attempt to duplicate your spicing technique.
He remembered you learning that he was an artist, although neither shaved-up nor in devo-
tee attire, calling him to sit next to you behind your low desk as you showed him one by one
photographs of the Rādhā-Dāmodara temple and described in detail the look you wanted for
your yet-to-be constructed Vrindavan Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma Mandir. When Shyāmānanda, knowing
his art history, commented to you that the arches you suggested seemed Islamic in design, you
proceeded to explain the cultural assimilation that had occurred in Vraja as a result of the Mogul
occupancy of North India.
He also remembered two tense, unanswered challenges you forcefully shot at your devo-
tees. First, while viewing a proposed Third Canto Bhāgavatam painting as if seen from above
Lord Brahmā, a viewpoint which was philosophically incorrect, you challenged, “Who is above
Brahmā?” Nothing else was spoken and no one replied. Second, some tacks mysteriously
appeared on your bed. You were angry at the danger they presented and challenged, “Who has
done this?” Again, your few but sharp words received only silence in reply.
He remembered with joy your visit to the Cistercian Monastery in near-to-Melbourne Tarra-
warra, and your lecture, to his surprise, on demigods. But in Tarrawarra what moved him
most was your full relaxation among these serious Christian practitioners, for all were celibate,
vegetarian monks.
He somberly also remembered assisting Tamal Krishna Goswami and Upendra during the final
months of your sojourn on earth. He recollected that while he sat in your presence in the upper
rooms of your Vrindavan home, he witnessed a leading disciple consult you about a complicated
financial decision that had to be made. And he recalled your weighty words: “First complete your
sixteen rounds before speaking to me about these things.”
Śrīla Prabhupāda, you once even instructed Shyāmānanda’s father, who previously had been
an active military fighter, to go alone into the forest and chant oṁ tat sat! And astoundingly, his
father, after that one meeting, would regularly journey to the forest near his home and chant oṁ
tat sat.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, how many souls have you touched as you unfurled Śrī Caitanya Mahā-
prabhu’s mission to spread the chanting of Kṛṣṇa’s holy names throughout the world? In
how many hearts have you planted the seed of Kṛṣṇa consciousness? How many still unrecog-
nized souls will rise to prominence in time to fulfill your desire and the desire of Śrī Caitanya
Mahāprabhu that Kṛṣṇa consciousness be spread throughout the universe?
As you credited your completion of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta to the “authorized order” of your
Guru Mahārāja, you referred to him as “His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura
Gosvāmī Mahārāja, my beloved eternal spiritual master, guide, and friend.”
A friend acts for our benefit and forever wishes us well. As your Guru Mahārāja was your
“friend,” and as Kṛṣṇa is the dearmost friend of every soul (Gītā 9.18), you are also the greatest
friend of the world, for you have planted the seed of meaning, bliss, and eternity in the hearts of
countless souls.
Although Shyāmānanda is my dear friend, Śrīla Prabhupāda, you will always remain his great-
est friend. And Śrīla Prabhupāda, as my own most beloved eternal spiritual master, guide, and
friend, please allow me to forever serve your two ever-moving lotus feet.
Your Bhūrijana Dāsa
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
Prostrated at your lotus feet, paying my humble obeisances, I have come once again to beg for
the mercy of Your Divine Grace and humbly request that you accept this new attempt to glorify
you. I wish to express my deepest, heartfelt gratitude to you and, for your satisfaction, also to the
disciples who, following your request and with great sacrifice, took Kṛṣṇa consciousness even to
remote corners of the world.
On the occasion of this year’s Vyāsa-pūjā, celebrating your divine appearance in this world –
most appropriately termed “The Most Blessed Event” – and now also “The Most Wonderful Day
of the Year” – I recall the fortuitous way and glorious day you appeared in my life, making me
supremely fortunate.
In so vividly and recurrently relating your first encounter with your own spiritual master, His
Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, you taught us by your own example how
crucial and significant the meeting was, having come to you fortuitously, in its appearance.
It is a long story, how I met him. One of my friends, he dragged me. I was at that time
Nationalist, and manager in a big chemical factory. My age was about twenty-four
years. So one of my friends, he asked me that “There is a nice sādhu, Bhaktisiddhānta
Sarasvatī Ṭhākura. He has come in Calcutta. So let us go and see.” So I was reluctant.
I thought just like so, “There are so many sādhus. So I am not very much …” Because I
had very bad experience; not very good. So I said, “Oh, these kind of sādhus, there are
many.”
… So anyway, it was Kṛṣṇa’s grace. I would not go, but their point of view was that
unless I certified that sādhu, Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, he’ll not be accepted.
Therefore he dragged me. So I went to see Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura on that
day. On the first meeting, just we offer our obeisances. It is the practice. So immedi-
ately he began his talking that “You are all educated young men. Why don’t you take
up Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s cult and preach all over the English-knowing public?
Why don’t you take up this matter?” So I argued with him in so many … At that time
I was Nationalist. So I told that “Who will accept our message? We are dependent
nation. Nobody will care.” In this way, in my own way, in these younger days … But
we belonged to the Vaiṣṇava family, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Nityānanda, Rādhā-
Govinda. That is our worshipable Deity. So I was very glad that “Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa cult,
Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s … this sādhu is trying to preach. It is very nice.”
So at that time we had some talks, and of course I was defeated by his argument,
my argument. [laughter] And then, when we came out, we were offered prasādam,
very nice treatment, the Gauḍīya Maṭha. And when I came out on the street, this
my friend asked me, “What is your opinion of this sādhu?” Then I said that “Here is
the right person who has taken up Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s message, and now it
will be distributed.” (Lecture, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta disappearance day, Los Angeles,
December 13, 1973)
Śrīla Prabhupada, this recount was made by you at the Los Angeles temple on December 13,
1973. Notably, this was just ten days before I, along with other devotees from the Caracas temple,
had the privilege of meeting you in person for the first time and receiving our first initiation on
December 25. It is a very moving lecture that underscored your emotions when remembering your
Guru Maharaja.
So this is a memorable day. What he desired, I am trying little bit, and you are all
helping me. So I have to thank you more. You are actually representative of my Guru
Mahārāja [starts to cry] … because you are helping me in executing the order of my
Guru Mahārāja. Thank you very much. ( Lecture, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta disappearance
day, Los Angeles, December 13, 1973)
In the latter part of 1971, while studying at the University in Caracas, I found myself at a cross-
roads, questioning the path I was on in life. Like many university students, I began to feel disillu-
sioned with the prospect of my future. Although I was pursuing a degree in chemical engineering
for its potential financial stability, my real interest was philosophy.
Drawn intuitively to Eastern philosophy after reading popular books on the topic, I sought
answers in the university library. It was there that I stumbled upon a vast collection of books by
and about Gandhi, recently donated by the Indian Embassy to commemorate his birthday.
I was instantly fascinated by Gandhi’s philosophy and humble demeanor. His writings fre-
quently referenced the Bhagavad-gītā, but somehow or other, I never got around to reading it; the
title simply registered with me.
On March 5, 1972, while visiting a mutual friend, I met Ilan Chester (who was to become Havi
Dāsa), a musician of my age who was popular among young people. He was there with other
musicians for a musical session. After it concluded, we were introduced. He then asked if I could
give him a ride home. During the ride, Ilan shared his spiritual perspectives with me, as we would
later say in ISKCON, “preaching” to me. Śrīla Prabhupāda, that is the day and the way you
entered my life.
Ilan asked if I spoke English, and when I replied that I did, he invited me to form a group with
some mutual friends to explore a book on Indian philosophy, specifically the Bhagavad-gītā. I was
startled when he mentioned the Gītā, the book Gandhi had cited so often. I readily agreed to his
proposal.
It so happened Ilan had recently returned from Israel, where he had been studying music
at the university. He was staying there with a friend who also spoke Spanish. One day, a young
Argentinean man, briefly passing through from India, was directed to them due to their common
language and asked to stay with them. Ilan, who was very interested in spirituality and philoso-
phy, was very attracted to the talks with him on these topics. In particular, the day before he left
their visitor spoke about bhakti-yoga, which Ilan marked.
Coincidentally, shortly afterward, he stumbled upon a magazine article featuring an interview
with your disciples, where they discussed bhakti-yoga. The disciples were Dinesh Candra Prabhu,
his wife Krishna Devi, and their little daughter Vishnu Arti, who had gone to Israel at your loving
request. You wrote to Krishna Devi:
My Dear Krishna Devi,
So far as opening a center in Israel, I have all approval. So make arrangements with
the government and go there immediately. I have all blessings for this enterprise. Try
and preach Krishna Consciousness in this part of the world. So you go there husband
and wife with child and start a center. If you are successful in your effort, then I may
stay with you a few days there before going to London.
… Your husband’s letter along with yours is very encouraging and I have answered
it separately. I’m so glad to know that both of you are enhancing your Krishna Con-
sciousness by mutual cooperation. May God bless you. You are all helping me by
abiding the orders of my Spiritual Master, His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati
Goswami Maharaj and He’ll be pleased upon you who are His grand spiritual children.
So this program to open a branch in Israel has got all my approval. (Letter to Kṛṣṇa
Devī Dāsī, Gorakhpur, February 16, 1971)
Fulfilling your instruction, as other exemplary gṛhastha couples had done before, they had gone
there and opened the center, and were conducting the program as you had indicated Dinesh
Candra Prabhu should do.
My dear Dinesh Chandra,
Please accept my blessings and offer the same to your wife Krishna Devi, daughter
Visnu Arati and Kulasekhara Prabhu. I am in due receipt of your very encouraging
letter dated 30th June, 1971 and have noted the contents carefully. Your endeavor is
very much appreciated. Thank you very much. You have my all good wishes. Success
or no success, it doesn’t matter; you have come to Israel with your family and that is
my pleasure. All blessings upon you.
So for the time being, you can stay in your apartment, have discourses and hold
kirtana and whoever voluntarily may join, no one can object. Whoever comes, give
him nice prasadam. For the time being this can be done. There is no need of outside
engagements if they are not possible to get. If you can, that’s all right. But inside
activities should go on. So live peacefully and whatever service you can render is all
right. (Letter to Dinesh Candra Dāsa, Los Angeles, July 13, 1971)
Their address was listed there, and Ilan decided to visit them, attending those programs at their
apartment for some time before returning to Venezuela. Through their association, he became an
avowed devotee of Kṛṣṇa and collected from them all the books and Kṛṣṇa conscious materials
they had available so he could preach in Caracas. After his return, I met him on March 5, 1972, as
previously mentioned. We then formed a group with like-minded friends interested in the Gītā
and Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We regularly gathered for harināma and private Gītā readings in local
parks, universities, and a yoga studio. This continued until December 1972, when ISKCON devo-
tees arrived to establish the country’s first temple.
By January of 1973, Citśukhānanda Prabhu had become the first temple president there, devel-
oping the Hare Kṛṣṇa community very nicely – so much so that soon, there were devotees ready
for initiation. He began arranging for your visit to Caracas at that time.
Tomorrow I am going to Dallas because the weather here in Los Angeles is not good
for my health. It is too cold and cloudy. So I am going to Dallas to get some sunshine.
If the weather there is not suitable, I may come at once to Caracas. However, if the
weather is good in Dallas I shall remain there until May 30 and then to New Vrinda-
ban for the corner stone laying for our first temple there. Then I shall come to Caracas
from Pittsburgh.
Please let me know in Dallas whether or not you can make arrangements for tickets
for four to Caracas. (Letter to Citsukhānanda Dāsa, Los Angeles, May 18, 1973)
During the rest of that year, Your Divine Grace was not able to travel to Caracas, so by December
it was decided that a group of devotees from Caracas would travel to Los Angeles to meet you
and for seven of us to be initiated. Thus you gave us our new names: Viraha Dāsa, Vīrabāhu Dāsa,
Havi Dāsa, Tamoha Dāsa, Pramāṇa Dāsa, Kartā Dāsī, Vara Dāsī. In the short lecture, you told us,
I am not asking individually about the four principles. I suppose you know this. But
just I was explaining sat and asat. These two things are side by side. Just like there is
darkness and there is light, you can see merging in the sunlight. You’ll see, one side
is light, and one side is dark. Similarly, sat and asat, they are existing side by side. If
you don’t remain this side, then you come to this side. So it is my choice. So this Hare
Kṛṣṇa is the bright side, and the other things, material activities and sinful activities –
meat-eating, intoxication, gambling, illicit sex – the dark side. So it is your choice. If
you remain the bright side, then your progress is certain, and if you fall down again on
the dark side, that is your misfortune. You should always remember that. (Initiation
ceremony, Los Angeles, December 25, 1973)
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, on this auspicious day of your divine appearance, I am reminded of your
recollection here in Los Angeles in December of 1968, when you were reminiscing about your own
encounter with your Guru Mahārāja and our encounter with Your Divine Grace:
Fortunately … by Kṛṣṇa’s arrangement, we came in contact. I was born in a different
family; my Guru Mahārāja was born in a different family. Who knew that I will come
to his protection? Who knew that I would come in America? Who knew that you
American boys will come to me? These are all Kṛṣṇa’s arrangement. We cannot under-
stand how things are taking place. (Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta disappearance day lecture,
Los Angeles, December 9, 1968)
By one such arrangement of Kṛṣṇa’s, we have come to you and you have most mercifully accepted
us. Our prayer is that one day we may have the realization in our relationship with you of the fol-
lowing statement we borrow from your Concluding Words to the Caitanya-caritāmṛta:
I think that His Divine Grace Prabhupāda is always seeing my activities and guiding
me within my heart by his words. As it is said in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, tene brahma hṛdā
ya ādi-kavaye. Spiritual inspiration comes from within the heart, wherein the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, in His Paramātmā feature, is always sitting with all His devo-
tees and associates.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, please keep me always in the shade of your lotus feet. May I always remain
there as one of your innumerable and fortunate servants. Eternally grateful, may I go on inces-
santly chanting your glories in your service, all of which have made me forever fortunate.
Your lowly servant,
Vīrabāhu Dāsa
O most merciful Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept my humble obeisances at your divine lotus feet. All glories to Your Divine Grace,
whose compassion, wisdom, and tireless service have transformed the lives of millions and awak-
ened the dormant love of Kṛṣṇa in countless hearts. You are truly the jagat-guru, the spiritual
guide for the entire world, fulfilling the divine mission of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
Your life is an unparalleled masterpiece of dedication and devotion. You manifested ISKCON
from nothing but unwavering faith in the instructions of your spiritual master and an unrelent-
ing determination to share the holy names of Kṛṣṇa. Sailing across stormy seas, enduring great
personal hardship, you delivered the eternal message of the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
to the Western world. Through your divine purity and steadfast love, you inspired a global spiri-
tual revolution, igniting the fire of Kṛṣṇa consciousness in places where it had never been known
before.
Your legacy is a living testament to the power of your mercy. Whether in the bustling cities
of America, the quiet villages of Africa, or even the Islamic countries, where cultural and soci-
etal dynamics present unique challenges, your mission thrives. Preaching in these lands has
underscored the universality of your message – a message that transcends barriers of religion and
culture, offering the ultimate shelter of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet to all.
Last year I was deeply honored to serve on the GBC Executive Committee, a role that allowed
me to witness the magnificence of your divine mission on a global scale. The intricacy and expan-
siveness of ISKCON’s endeavors stand as a direct reflection of your genius as an ācārya. As I look
ahead to this service in the coming year, I humbly pray for your blessings to carry out this service
with even more integrity, wisdom, and dedication, ensuring your teachings remain the guiding
light for generations to come.
Although I have physically left the sacred service in Śrīdhāma Māyāpur, your cherished global
headquarters, my heart forever remains connected to that transcendental abode. Your voice, reso-
nating through your books, lectures, and instructions echoes within me, reminding me to always
act as your humble servant in spreading the mission of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Truly, it is by
your divine grace that this service continues, despite my countless shortcomings.
On this auspicious day of your Vyāsa-pūjā, I rededicate myself to your lotus feet. Śrīla
Prabhupāda, you are the eternal well-wisher of all living beings, the empowered emissary of Śrī
Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s boundless mercy, and the guiding light leading us back to Kṛṣṇa. May I
always strive to be an instrument in your hands, spreading the glories of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa and
the profound teachings of the Gītā and the Bhāgavatam across the world.
Your eternal servant,
Tapana Miśra Dāsa
Governing Body Commissioner – Middle East and North Africa
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
mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande paramānanda-mādhavam
My dear and most respected spiritual master and eternal father,
Please accept my most humble and respectful obeisances in the dust of your most merciful
lotus feet! All glories to you, Śrīla Prabhupāda.
You are Kṛṣṇa’s ambassador directly from Goloka Vrindavan, carrying to the world an unceas-
ing stream of reminders of our forgotten relationship with Kṛṣṇa. This is not mere hyperbole, by
your own admission.
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 concluded, “Then I said, ‘All right.’” (Nava-vraja-mahimā,
Śivarāma Mahārāja, volume 7, chapter 32)
Who can estimate the great fortune of being your disciple and eternal servant!
Honoring you in this mood, I want to share but a few inspirations which continue to propel me
forward in the senior years of my devotional life – a life singularly and exclusively dedicated to
you and your mission.
I take much inspiration from your own expression that you had the in-person association with
your Guru Mahārāja on only a handful of occasions, yet you never left his association and have
never felt separation from him.
To Śatadhanya, in Tokyo, 1972: “So far personal association with the Guru is concerned, I was
only with my Guru Maharaja four or five times, but I have never left his association, not even for
a moment. Because I am following his instructions, I have never felt any separation. There are
some of my Godbrothers here in India who had constant personal association with Guru Maha-
raja, but who are neglecting his orders. This is just like the bug who is sitting on the lap of the
king. He may be very puffed up by his position, but all he can succeed in doing is biting the king.
Personal association is not so important as association through service.”
There are many of us who, due to providential arrangements, can also attest to the modest
number of opportunities we had to be in your personal association. Much of my junior years of
brahmacārī life were physically distant from Your Divine Grace, yet I remain to this day vibrantly
inspired and connected to you, representing Your Divine Grace and your sublime instructions.
I fall at your feet with the earnest prayer for your mercy to always refine and amplify my aspira-
tion to become a qualified instrument in your ongoing mission.
I take as your blessing that, as the years pass, the vitality of my dedication to your mission and
to living by your teachings does not waver or fade in the least.
One of those teachings and examples set by you was your emphasis on college preaching, for
which I was personally on the receiving end!
For example, in December 1972 you wrote Śukadeva Prabhu in Seattle: “My request to you is
that you enter into the universities and colleges wherever possible and preach there with a view
to recruiting some first-class devotees for helping me manage and push on this movement all over
the world … That will be the best contribution. Now spread this idea also to the other leaders.
Appeal yourself to the high class of men, not the mass. Mass, too, we do not eliminate anyone, but
if best men are there to run on things, mass will follow later.” You even requested your secretary
Śyāmasundara Prabhu to handwrite a note at the bottom of this letter: “Kindly xerox and distrib-
ute copies of this letter to all temple presidents, GBC, and sannyasis.”
For decades, dedication to this part of your mission has occupied a major role in my life, as has
the encouragement to distribute your all-important, life-changing BBT books and your Bhakti-
vedanta purports.
Both delight and reassurance arise again and again when, over time, all the essential elements
as well as the subtle refinements found in your BBT purports trace directly to the writings of
the Six Gosvāmīs and other predecessor ācāryas. At the same time, your inimitable style of com-
munication makes access to even the most subtle points of philosophy so easy to understand and
digest!
Resting upon these and many more inspirations in my relationship with you as your faithful
disciple, for whatever days or weeks or years remain in this lifetime, please grant me the strength
to remain always aspiring to become your ever-more useful and effective servant.
For that matter, I beg to remain your eternal servant!
Romapāda Swami
