Canada & USA, Homages ISKCON Centers, VP2026
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept my humble obeisances.
What a privilege to serve you in this life. Whenever we please you, our hearts fill with joy and satisfaction. Your precious and potent gifts, the “techniques of spiritual life,” always uplift our hearts and minds. Reading your books, chanting japa, discussing Kṛṣṇa with your followers, honoring prasādam – anyone, anywhere, now and for all time, can learn these simple practices and transform their lives. As your service to your spiritual master, you gave these miraculous gifts so freely, and at so much personal sacrifice.
As you have given these gifts to us, we pray to share them with others on your behalf. Doing so, we please you and enrich our lives with Kṛṣṇa consciousness all over again.
In his song, Vaiṣṇava Vijñapti, Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura wonderfully expresses our appreciation for you.
(1) Dear merciful Vaiṣṇav master, be kind to us, please.
Other than you, who can wash out our impurities?
(2) To simply be in your presence, all sins go away.
Where could we find someone else with mercy you display?
(3) To bathe in the Gaṅgā’s waters cleanses over time,
yet simply to see you, one is instantly refined.
(4) Offenses to Kṛṣṇa better chanting will resolve.
Offenses to you cannot be washed away at all.
(5) In your sacred heart Govinda endlessly resides.
Govinda declares, “Vaiṣṇavas are My very life.”
(6) Birth after birth, we shall beg for the dust from your feet.
Please think of your Gainesville servants as your property.
Your servants at ISKCON Gainesville, Florida, USA
Canada & USA, Homages ISKCON Centers, VP2026
Dearest Śrīla Prabhupāda,
nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāminn iti nāmine
namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe
nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe
On behalf of the Minnesota temple and our Kṛṣṇa conscious community here, we feel grateful for another year under your shelter. Your presence continues to guide us in ways we often don’t even realize until later.
One of the most meaningful moments for us this year was hosting ISKCON Minnesota’s first Ratha-yātrā. For our community, it was a deeply emotional and joyful experience. Seeing Lord Jagannātha, Baladeva, and Subhadrā Devī come out and bless the streets of Minnesota felt like a moment we had been waiting for, and it touched our hearts in a way we will never forget.
Throughout the year, we saw your teachings quietly touch people. During our weekly kirtans, new guests stayed longer than they expected, especially many college students who were curious and searching for something deeper. Their openness, their questions, and the way they connected with the chanting showed us how naturally Kṛṣṇa consciousness can reach people when it’s offered with sincerity. The children’s enthusiasm during kirtan and service also brought a warmth to the temple that lifted everyone’s spirits.
In this Age of Kali, we see how stressed, anxious, and overwhelmed people are. Many feel lost or are unsure where to turn. But when they come in contact with your teachings – even briefly – something softens in their hearts. We see it in their eyes, in their questions, and in the relief they feel during kirtan. Your message gives people hope, clarity, and a sense of direction that is hard to find in today’s world.
Our university outreach at the University of Minnesota also gave us hope. Students were open, curious, and genuinely trying to understand Kṛṣṇa consciousness and your mission. Their sincerity reminded us that your teachings continue to reach new people, even in places where we might not expect it.
Inside the temple, we’ve tried to strengthen our services – festivals, Deity worship, and caring for one another. There were times when things felt challenging, but returning to your instructions on humility and cooperation helped us stay steady. Again and again, we felt guided back to what truly matters.
As a community, we feel inspired to do more. We genuinely want to serve more, to reach more people, and to share Kṛṣṇa consciousness in a way that touches hearts. There is so much more we hope to offer – through outreach, festivals, prasādam, kirtan, and simply being available for anyone who is searching. Our prayer is to grow in sincerity and dedication so we can contribute more meaningfully to your mission.
We are grateful to serve under the guidance of His Holiness Romapāda Swami, whose instructions help us stay aligned with your mood and mission. His reminders about sincerity, patience, and genuine care keep us grounded as we try to carry forward even a small part of your vision.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, we feel so blessed. Your teachings give us hope, direction, and the heart to serve the community the way you taught – with humility and care.
Your servant of the servant,
Śauri Dāsa, temple president
Canada & USA, Homages ISKCON Centers, VP2026
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
We offer our humble obeisances to you, at whose feet all masters sit. All glories to your extraordinary life of pure and unalloyed devotional service to Śrī Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa!
On this most auspicious occasion of your appearance in this material world, we take the opportunity to remember you and to meditate deeply on the meaning of Vyāsa-pūjā. In the early days of the Tokyo temple, in 1970, on the occasion of Vyāsa-pūjā, you instructed your disciples about the meaning of the Vyāsa-pūjā day and about serving the spiritual master in separation. You said: “You should always pray that only by the grace of the spiritual master we achieve the grace or mercy of Kṛṣṇa. This is the meaning of Vyāsa-pūjā … remain always faithful to the spiritual master and try to understand Kṛṣṇa.”
Today, we meditate on your instruction and rededicate ourselves to the service of your mission here in Athens, Ohio. We seek your blessings in order that we might carry on with our humble attempts to assist you in your work of bringing light to the people of this modern age of spiritual darkness, Kali-yuga. Your life’s example is our guiding light and our inspiration. Please guide our thoughts, words, and deeds as we continue on. Please give us the strength to take your vision of Kṛṣṇa consciousness forward and share the teachings of the Bhagavad-gītā with everyone we meet, just as you did.
Out of profound compassion, on a wonderful day – May 19, 1969 – you addressed the people of Athens, Ohio, at a place called the Appalachian Lighthouse. How appropriate, as you had come to bring illumination to this remote place, located so far from the birthplace of Lord Caitanya.
Your message was simple. You spoke about the importance of chanting and what it can do for the human being: “[W]ith chanting, there is no religious or sectarian movement, only happiness. Happiness is man’s nature. It is one of man’s inherent qualities.” May the people of Athens become happy by being in contact with Kṛṣṇa and by the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa!
It has been our honor to represent you and to share your message of “Chant and be happy!” We pray that our service attempts are pleasing to you and to the entire disciplic succession.
We beg to remain your humble servants,
Ashok Gupta, professor emeritus
Prem Vilas Dāsa
Pranatakaruna Dāsa
Rāsalīlādevī Devī Dāsī (ACBSP)
Canada & USA, Homages ISKCON Centers, VP2026
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept our humble obeisances at your lotus feet. All glories to Your Divine Grace.
We are a small community in Angus, Ontario, north of Toronto, where the nearest ISKCON temple is more than 108 km away. Though physically distant from the temple, by your mercy we have never felt far from Kṛṣṇa consciousness because your books have brought your association directly into our homes and hearts.
By the enormous help of your books, we have been able to introduce Kṛṣṇa consciousness to many people in our area. Most are Westerners who had little understanding of God, the demigods, or the science of the soul. Through reading your books such as Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, The Science of Self-Realization, the Kṛṣṇa Book, and others, they have made remarkable spiritual progress. Your words carry such potency that they awaken devotion even where there was previously no knowledge of bhakti.
By your causeless mercy, our small group became officially registered as ISKCON in 2025. What began as a few gatherings has become a genuine spiritual family. Some devotees among us have taken the path of bhakti very seriously, and by your blessings and the blessings of guru and the Vaiṣṇavas, they have now received initiation into your movement. This is all your miracle.
You have created a spiritual home for the whole world. Even in small towns, even far from temples, your presence is alive through your books, your instructions, and your devotees.
Your books are our guide, your teachings are our shelter, and your example inspires us to continue sharing the holy name in our community. Whatever little service we are able to do in Angus is simply an extension of your compassion.
Thank you, Śrīla Prabhupāda, for giving us life, purpose, and the path.
Your humble servant
Kṛṣṇa Kathā Dāsa
On behalf of the devotees at ISKCON Angus
Canada & USA, Homages ISKCON Centers, VP2026
Dearest Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to you on this most auspicious day of your appearance.
Traveling to the ruins of ancient civilizations provokes in some a sense of historical irony. All of the great empires of the world declared themselves everlasting. One can still visit the temple dedicated to Roma Aeterna, “the eternal Roman Empire,” which collapsed more than fifteen hundred years ago. When asked, anyone with an understanding of history will declare that no matter how mighty a nation, empire, or any other power is, it will eventually fall. But it is a rare occurrence for us to apply such wisdom to our own situation. Such a fate of destruction could not possibly befall us; any downturn in our fortune, we reason, must be a fluke, a simple cyclical variation. But when the tide turns back in our favor, the good times will roll, we think.
It seems increasingly likely, however, that such a correction will not save us any time soon. Over the last several years, the situation in practically every nation in the world has degraded, and there is no clear indication of how or when recovery will come. World leaders have been exposed as demons, and yet justice has not found them. Food prices increase, even as our food is chemically modified into “product” rather than nourishment. Petroleum, the lifeblood of modern civilization, is increasingly expensive, its price dependent on the egos of madmen. The people are thus forced to spend more time working in unnatural and artificial occupations, increasing their work hours until they have nothing to do but sleep and labor. This intense suffering causes them to take shelter of the modes of passion and ignorance, leading to an increase in violence, conquest, and genocide.
Yet still, most inmates of this society hold onto the hope that a correction is just around the corner – that all we must do is wait a while longer, and the good times will surely begin. You, however, see only through the eyes of śāstra. You taught us, through your books, lectures, and all your teachings that the wheel of sense gratification only has so many turns before catastrophe.
You explained in so many ways how the modern demoniac society is unsustainable. An often-repeated reason is the industrialized slaughter of cows. The various means of advertisement and social engineering, meant to fan the flames of anger, lust, and greed, deserve a mention as well. The list you gave us goes on and on, showing that this modern society is but a small push away from collapse. There is also another critical reason that you gave when explaining how the collapse would come: no one knows how to grow food.
The increased chaos in the world shows that your prescription is critically needed. Almost none of the residents of Gītā-nāgarī have a background in farming. We came from offices, labs, and classrooms, from cities, where food came not from the ground but from a supermarket. But as much as we are able, we are attempting, under the direction of your servants, to take up your instruction to protect cows, grow food, and live simply off the land.
The other philosophies of the world, utopian and apocalyptic in their design, rely on political machinations, social subterfuge, or violent uprisings to achieve their aim. Ultimately, this aim is not a true rebirth of society, but only a reordering of who is on top. Meanwhile, the social revolution you envisioned is a complete cultural overhaul, and begins in the most unlikely places: a mantra chanted, a book distributed, a cow cared for, and a seed planted.
Please give us your blessings, Śrīla Prabhupāda, that we can fulfill your mission in showing the world that competition and exploitation is not the only life conceivable, but that it is indeed possible for humanity, the land, animals, and Kṛṣṇa to live in cooperation and harmony.
Your servant,
Kāla-Svarūpa Dāsa
On behalf of the Gītā-nāgarī Farm community
Canada & USA, Homages ISKCON Centers, VP2026
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Your Divine Grace.
You gave us a purpose, a meaning, and a reason to live. You gave us positive engagement. You gave us temples, devotee association, and loving exchanges. You gave us books in which we can find shelter and which have become our medium to serve others.
You gave us an example. Your deep devotion gives us faith. You gave us the morning program. We beg you to please guide us on how we may become internally pure. Please give us the intelligence, words, and strength to know how we can share the message among diverse audiences in western Michigan.
Your humble servants,
Shyāmānanda Krishna Dāsa
and the devotees of the ISKCON Grand Rapids community
