Canada & USA, Homages ISKCON Centers, VP2026
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories unto your lotus feet.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, you said, “We are like fish out of water. Just as a fish cannot be happy unless he is in the water, we cannot be happy apart from the spiritual world.”
At ISKCON Vancouver, devotees are immersed in spiritual activities. Every month is filled with festivals and events, where devotees are looking forward to the celebrations. The number of visitors is increasing by the day, and more of them are taking to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Daily classes are wonderfully facilitated by your disciples and other advanced speakers. Kirtan events are beautifully organized by devotees.
The year began on a spiritually vibrant note with the Adhivāsa festival for Lord Nityānanda’s Appearance Day – celebrated for the first time at New Gokula Dhāma. It was performed by our head priest Shanti Parayan Dāsa, who made a meaningful impact on the community as well. Brāhmaṇa-initiated devotees took part in this special ceremony, offering twenty-seven items to Lord Nitāi in honor of His divine appearance. The congregation and visiting guests were deeply moved, witnessing both this unique festival and the beautiful three-day Gaura-Pūrṇimā celebrations that followed shortly after.
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam classes are conducted every Saturday without fail by dedicated Vaiṣṇavīs in Bengali, Hindi, and English, making the teachings accessible to a diverse community. Prakriti Sundarī Devī Dāsī facilitates the Bengali preaching sessions to audiences around the world. Similarly, Nāndīmukhī Devī Dāsī has been consistently facilitating preaching sessions in Hindi. The Vaiṣṇavī Ministry here continues to inspire and encourage women to read your books daily, a practice being followed with sincerity and commitment. Your biography, Śrīla Prabhupāda-līlāmṛta, is imparting countless valuable lessons and deepening our understanding and appreciation during our weekly reading sessions. We are also truly fortunate to receive the guidance and blessings of advanced Vaiṣṇavīs, whose presence enriches and uplifts the Vaiṣṇavī Saṅga gatherings.
Bhakti Home preaching efforts are being made by some of our core members under the guidance of the Congregational Development Ministry. Forming these small groups and inspiring their members to take small steps, we are making great progress, and devotees are taking up chanting on japa-mālā and reading all of your books, dear Śrīla Prabhupāda.
This year, on the occasion of ISKCON’s sixtieth anniversary, our yātrā is looking to conduct the groundbreaking ceremony for a new temple on our current property. With your blessings, devotees have acquired a beautiful piece of land in Metro Vancouver, which has housed our Deities for so many years. With time, the need has arisen for us to construct a new temple. Several devotees have come forward to contribute their resources for this noble cause. Please bless us so we can give better space for Their Lordships and Your Divine Grace.
Our book distribution team, headed by Rasasindhu Dāsa, is doing a tremendous job. In 2025, more than a thousand copies of the Bhagavad-gītā along with others of your books were distributed around the Greater Vancouver area. During our 2025 book marathon, devotees placed the Bhagavad-gītā, Science of Self-Realization, and Higher Taste in more than 200 Little Free Libraries as well as at the Vancouver and Lynn Valley public libraries, in senior care homes, hospices, several thrift stores, and more.
By your boundless mercy and the power of your transcendental vision, what began as a small, humble offering of flowers has, by your grace alone, blossomed into something we could never have imagined on our own. In 2026, we enter the fifth year of the Vancouver Pushpanjali Flower Farm – a small expression of your instruction to engage everything in the service of Kṛṣṇa. Situated on the sacred grounds of ISKCON Vancouver, we grow thousands of fresh, seasonal flowers – marigolds, cut flowers, and more – for the pleasure of Their Lordships Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Madana-mohana, and for the garlands and offerings of our beloved temple and community festivals. In the words of Murāri Charan Dāsa and Dhruva Nārāyaṇa Dāsa, who lead this project, “Each petal grown is an attempt, however imperfect, to honor your vision that devotional service can flow through the earth itself.”
We endeavor to tend this land with ecological care and consciousness, honoring the gifts of Mother Earth as Vaiṣṇavas ought to. Every year, by your grace, the farm reaches new milestones in service to the temple. Most recently, the land has been granted Farm Status in Canada – a development that now saves the temple approximately $20,000 per year. These resources may now be redirected to Kṛṣṇa’s service. Through the Federal Canada Summer Jobs Program, we have also been blessed to engage young students from UBC, offering them the opportunity to participate in this sacred sevā during the summer months. Murāri Charan Dāsa further says, “What began as seeds – both literal and spiritual – has grown into a living instrument of community, devotion, and sustainability. The farm has become a place where hands touch soil in your service, where strangers become devotees, and where the land itself participates in a higher purpose. We humbly pray that you continue to guide and bless this service, that it may remain always pure, always useful, and always for the pleasure of Śrī Kṛṣṇa and His devotees.”
The Vancouver Food for Life team has consistently distributed prasādam in downtown Vancouver since 2022. Every Sunday, rain or shine, Bhakta Victor, along with the other team devotees, prepare and transport prasādam to downtown eastside Vancouver. People in that neighborhood are struggling with addiction and homelessness. It reminds us of how merciful you were to live in the Bowery loft that was offered to you by Harvey Cohen. Living among addicts did not deter you from serving your spiritual master’s wish that Kṛṣṇa consciousness be spread in the West. We are praying that by the mercy of prasādam these individuals can realize the importance of their human life and slowly reintegrate into society.
Members of the Friday Night Youth Kirtan team immerse themselves in the nectar of the holy names. There are at least a dozen youth that sing soulfully for the pleasure of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Madana-mohana, Śrī Jagannātha, Śrī Baladeva, and Lady Subhadrā, and Śrī Śrī Gaura-Nitāi. Hari-nāma eva kevalam! Śrīla Prabhupāda, your blessings are bountiful for this group. We are consciously preparing the little souls to lead the congregation in the future.
This past year, ISKCON Vancouver has seen tremendous growth in spiritual activities for teenagers and youth. While the parents are busy serving in the temple, their children are bonding with their spiritual buddies. Teen mentorship involves spiritual goal-setting and serving in the temple while sharing their highs and lows for the week.
I read recently this remembrance by Yamunā Devī Dāsī: “It was a very crowded situation – perhaps ten to fifteen of us in one room – and the only place free was the bottom shelf in one of the walk-in closets. We had all of our paraphernalia piled up, and I was in a sleeping bag down on the bottom shelf. Śrīla Prabhupāda noticed I was missing, and I was later told that he had inquired many times where I was. Śrīla Prabhupāda had a hospital bed brought in for me and moved me into a room right next to his, with floor-to-ceiling windows, neem trees outside, and a fan. And I remember being propped up in this bed, and he came in every day to check on my progress.”
Śrīla Prabhupāda, you are the personification of devotee care. Despite having thousands of disciples worldwide, you carried each one in your heart, personally guiding them through your tireless correspondence. Today, that same compassion flows down to us, your granddisciples, through your esteemed disciples. Inspired by this legacy, ISKCON Vancouver has made devotee well-being our highest priority. Each week, our management team begins by meditating on your instructions for leadership. We don’t just read them; we strive to breathe them into our decisions, knowing that a temple only truly flourishes when the servants of Lord Kṛṣṇa are deeply cared for.
In a letter to Tribhūvanātha dated 17 July 1971, you wrote: “I am also glad to note that a meeting of all the presidents was held just recently in order to unify the temples. That is the process. Unless we work cooperatively, how this movement will go on? So my request to you all is that you maintain that spirit of cooperation always and help me to deliver Lord Caitanya’s message all over the globe.”
Our temple leaders and managers are dedicated to channeling positive energy toward the temple’s mission. Rooted in your instructions on cooperation, we are successfully advancing Lord Caitanya’s vision of global outreach. Our strategic focus for this year is Education and Training, providing developmental opportunities for devotees and council members alike. While we remain committed to our preaching efforts, we are equally focused on maintaining the strength of our personal sādhana, and we pray for your blessings to succeed in this endeavor.
We are eternally grateful to His Holiness Bhaktimārga Swami, Indresh Gaura Dāsa, and Vrinda Devī Dāsī for guiding us as we follow your instructions in all our endeavors. While His Grace Rohita Prabhu’s dedication to tulasī service reflects your teaching and instruction, Her Grace Mother Rādhikā’s contribution to our temple’s growth is remarkable as well. Pārtha and Uttama Prabhus have taken time from their busy schedule to deliver seminars and the disciples course, which are indispensable for our spiritual growth. Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, we are eternally indebted to you for your mercy on millions of souls. Thank you for giving us this family called ISKCON.
On behalf of ISKCON Vancouver’s temple council and congregation,
Nitya Kishori Devī Dāsī
Canada & USA, Homages ISKCON Centers, VP2026
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to you!
This year in DC
we celebrate your visit
of 50 years ago, in 1976
to the property at Potomac
13 acres of good land
with a hill to remind us
of Govardhana
a small stream that
becomes the Yamunā
and a flood plain
to remember the mercy
you carried, to inundate
the world with beauty and truth
Because you gave us the eyes to see
you gave us the language to understand
and gave us wisdom to dig beneath the surface
of an ordinary life, an ordinary piece of land,
we find Kṛṣṇa here and our identity in relationship to Him
Tucked into every nook and corner
are the seeds of bhakti that you planted
the seeds of golokera prema-dhana, hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana
Take advantage, you would say, and make your life perfect.
We thank you for planting this place of pilgrimage.
“In Vrindavan there is a place where there was no temple, but a devotee desired, ‘Let there be a temple and sevā, devotional service.’ Therefore, what was once an empty corner has now become a place of pilgrimage. Such are the desires of a devotee.” (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.13.50)
Your servant,
Ananda Vrindavaneswari Devī Dāsī, temple president
Canada & USA, Homages ISKCON Centers, VP2026
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept our most humble obeisances at your lotus feet. All glories to Your Divine Grace.
Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu requested that His message be preached in every town and village. Through the visionaries who foresaw His instructions coming to fruition, we can proudly say that ISKCON Waterloo is one such center.
We wish to offer our deepest appreciation for the immense effort Your Divine Grace invested in establishing Kṛṣṇa consciousness worldwide. We marvel at how you managed this mission before the existence of modern technology, which today allows us to broadcast a message at the touch of a button.
We also thank you with profound gratitude for the hardships you endured to plant this seed across the globe. Were it not for Your Divine Grace and the dedication of your sincere disciples, we would be lost in this material realm of instant sense gratification.
We are striving to work strictly under your instructions and the guidance of our spiritual masters. We recognize the challenges, but as you so wisely stated, “Purity is the force” and we are committed to abiding by that principle. We understand that progress begins with cooperation, and we are deeply appreciative of the support from our leadership, which has allowed us to foster a true sense of unity.
Through the profound knowledge you have given us in the śāstra, we are working to ensure that our devotees grow with a deep philosophical understanding, moving beyond mere sentimentality toward a fixed state of devotion.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, the ISKCON Waterloo center has been steadily growing, and our only desire is to continue pleasing Your Divine Grace and the Lord. Although we were officially registered as an entity in April 2025, our community has been active in various forms for the last six years. Having maintained a steady location for the past year and a half, we are pleased to report a consistent increase in our congregation.
Our weekly programs now regularly host 50–55 devotees. During last year’s Janmāṣṭamī celebration, we were blessed to welcome over 350 guests. Furthermore, your Chariot Festival, the Jagannātha Ratha-yātrā, has become a cornerstone of our outreach. Following the success of our last two festivals, we are preparing to go “bigger and better” this year. We are implementing more structural organization in our dealings with the city, inviting more delegates, and refining our outreach to bring the mercy of Lord Jagannātha to every soul in this area.
This is merely our humble and sincere attempt to serve your mission. We pray for the strength to continue expanding this center for your divine pleasure.
Your insignificant servants,
The devotees of ISKCON Waterloo
Canada & USA, Homages ISKCON Centers, VP2026
Dear 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
Please accept our humble obeisances at your divine lotus feet. All glories to you and to Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Baṅkebihārī, the presiding Deities of Boise.
On Your Divine Grace’s most auspicious 130th Vyāsa-pūjā day, at New Biharvana in Boise we are reflecting upon three anniversaries:
- Sixty years since the establishing of ISKCON
- Fifty years since your disappearance from this planet
- Forty years since we opened the Boise temple
60, 50, 40
In your biography, Śrīla Prabhupāda-līlāmṛta, Satsvarūpa Mahārāja quotes you as you set foot in New York City, in September 1965: “I did not know whether to turn left or right.”
Now sixty years later, one can go to any corner of the world and walk left or right – nay, in any of the ten directions – and one will bump into a devotee quietly walking with a beadbag in his hand, kaṇṭhī-mālā on his neck, and tilaka on his forehead. Or perhaps he’ll have a bright yellow Bhagavad-gītā As It Is in hand, beseeching unfortunate souls to take one. Or maybe your ears will catch the singing of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. I have personally experienced all of these in my travels throughout the world.
Thanks to your determination and conviction, in sixty years Hare Kṛṣṇa has permeated the entire world:
pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma
sarvatra pracāra haibe more nāma
In every town and village, the chanting of My name will be heard.
Lord Caitanya predicted it, Lord Nityānanda predicted it, the preceding ācāryas wanted it, and then you, empowered by your guru, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Gosvāmī, fulfilled it. During the last two years, in my travels to the End of the World Route at the southern tip of Chile, next to Antarctica, I was amazed to see Lord Jagannātha-Baladeva-Subhadrā being worshiped and devotees holding their first Ratha-yātrā. Going north, near the Arctic Circle in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, devotees are almost finished building a four-story temple. In the foothills of the Himalayas in Nepal, devotees are distributing books as far north as Muktinath, the place where people go to get liberation.
Ten years after you left us fifty years ago, you had established the yuga-dharma under the ISKCON banner, where the oldest religion had become the newest religion; the eternal sanātana-dharma has been rebranded as ISKCON. From 108 temples now, there are more than 1,008 temples, farm communities, Govinda’s restaurants, and countless bhakti-vṛkṣas. By the time you had left us, you had inspired many of your disciples, who inspired the second-generation devotees. The result of such inspiration is the Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Baṅkebihārī temple in Boise, Idaho.
In Boise, we are now celebrating forty years of the birth of this temple. It is a very small offering to Your Divine Grace, a small cog in the wheels of the giant ISKCON ratha. With your permission and for your pleasure, on behalf of the devotees in Boise, I would like to present to you our salient contributions to ISKCON.
The temple started as a preaching center in 1986 in a 600-square-foot family room under the guidance of four of your exalted disciples: His Holiness Gaṇapati Swami, His Holiness Gopal Krishna Goswami, His Holiness Hanumāt Preṣaka Swami, and His Holiness Badrinārāyaṇa Swami.
Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Baṅkebihārī is the only Baṅkebihārī in ISKCON in the Western hemisphere. Based on Their pastimes in Boise, They are nondifferent from Baṅkebihārī in Vrindavan and the Deity you installed in Nairobi. The temple ceiling is the only ceiling in ISKCON temples that has the entire spiritual sky and material sky painted on it, as depicted on the cover of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto 1.
We celebrated the first Holi in ISKCON in the US in 1987. Your exalted disciple, Cāru Prabhu, picked up on the idea and made it a worldwide phenomenon.
We held our first twenty-four-hour kirtan in ISKCON in the US in the 1990s – an idea picked up from another of your exalted disciples, His Holiness Hanumāt Preṣaka Swami, who had held a twenty-four-hour kirtan in Nashville and then it spread elsewhere.
We conducted the first New Year’s Japathon in Boise, chanting 300,000 names on New Year’s Day, which again was picked up as an annual activity on New Year’s Day in many temples, including Salt Lake City and Naperville, Illinois. Over the years we have now collectively chanted over one million names on New Year’s Day.
We started the homeschooling movement in ISKCON by homeschooling our children based on studying Bhagavad-gītā As It Is and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Right from the inception, our focus was on two areas: to raise Kṛṣṇa conscious children by homeschooling them, and to have a truly international congregation. In forty years, forty-two devotees were initiated, of which one third are Westerners. Our latest effort started three years ago, when we started a Thursday evening Kṛṣṇa Lounge program to attract Westerners.
COVID-19 slowed us down quite a bit, but we are rebuilding and rejuvenating now. We need your blessings to venture into our half century of Kṛṣṇa consciousness in Boise.
Seeking drops of your mercy and shade under your divine lotus feet
in the dry parched desert of Idaho,
Your insignificant servant on behalf of the devotees in Boise,
Anantarūpa Dāsa
Canada & USA, Homages ISKCON Centers, VP2026
Dear 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
Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to you.
We, aspiring to get shelter at your lotus feet, have no qualification to glorify your life, qualities, and pastimes, yet we believe that glorifying an exalted Vaiṣṇava ācārya like you is a way to purify our heart and soul. We pray to the lotus feet of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Giridhārī, the presiding Deities of ISKCON Brampton, for humility, so we can present our humble offering to you with the right words in the right spirit. Any limitation in our endeavor to glorify you is probably a reflection of limitations and imperfections in our devotional service and limitations in following your instructions as you have given them.
As our ever well-wisher, you endowed us with the greatest gift: the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, ISKCON. Your life and deeds continue to inspire thousands of people to join the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement every day from all sections of life.
The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement was introduced by none other than Kṛṣṇa Himself in the form of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Mahāprabhu made a predication that in every town and village, the chanting of His name will be heard (pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi-grāma sarvatra pracāra haibe mora nāma). You accepted Mahāprabhu’s instruction as your personal responsibility. Being empowered by Mahāprabhu as his warrior devotee (senāpati-bhakta), at a very advanced age you left your accomplished spiritual life in Vrindavan for America, to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
In your journey as a parivrājakācārya, you endured health issues, physical discomfort, psychological torment and uncountable risks; yet you were fearless and relentless in the face of every adversity and calamity. While you were under no compulsion, you undertook this great spiritual endeavor to make Mahāprabhu’s prediction a reality, and to immerse the whole world in the ocean of the saṅkīrtana movement. Above all, you did so out of your compassion for ordinary conditioned souls like us. You united the whole world through the glorious path of devotional service. We owe you an unrepayable debt of gratitude.
The ISKCON community continues to thrive despite many societal challenges, because the purpose is genuine, and the process is sublime. It is no overstatement to say that human society at large is deriving much-needed spiritual nourishment from the ISKCON movement. It is also not an exaggeration to mention that ISKCON is serving as the modern transformational institution for many ordinary souls, who get solace by following your simple instructions on the devotional path and by taking shelter of your books. You were the touchstone magician who reshaped many ordinary human hearts into pure golden ones.
After your departure from this material world, your mission continues to be the change agent in society. We continue to experience significant spread of the movement both through various traditional methods, such as house congregation programs, outreach preaching, temple programs and creative means of virtual outreach that leverage technology to reach thousands of ordinary souls all over the world who are waiting to follow your instructions.
The ISKCON movement assumes even greater significance in this decade, mired in geopolitical conflicts and forever wars. With global mental health continuing its downward spiral in the aftermath of the pandemic, many are finding a much-needed solace by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa.
The devotees at ISKCON Brampton feel a deep sense of gratitude and indebtedness for the spiritual treasures you bestowed upon our community. With more than 650 devoted members, the ISKCON Brampton community continues to flourish year by year, driven by the profound sense of purpose you gave us. The following are some lines of sight presented for your pleasure.
Congregation programs: With numerous congregation programs across the Greater Toronto area, ISKCON Brampton is attracting more new devotees by propagating your teachings. Many of these newcomers have made immense progress on the devotional path and are making significant contributions in various initiatives through sincere service.
Book distribution: Book Distribution has been one of the most telling successes of ISKCON Brampton in recent years. In 2025, ISKCON Brampton was able to distribute a total of 13,000 books, which includes 71 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam sets, 2,567 copies of Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, and more than 10,000 copies of other big and small books. This accomplishment was only made possible by your mercy and determination, coupled with the enthusiasm of a few sincere devotees.
Temple programs and festivals: The weekly Sunday Feast at ISKCON Brampton consistently draws an average of 200 devotees and serves as a pillar of our community. In 2025, the temple successfully organized ten major festivals. Notably, Ratha-yātrā and Janmāṣṭamī attracted massive crowds, blending devotional fervor with cultural fanfare and resulting in the distribution of 5,000 and 2,000 plates of prasādam, respectively.
Sunday school: A hallmark of ISKCON Brampton, our Sunday school is making steady progress, with 75 students currently enrolled. By imparting essential spiritual education, the program continues to build a strong devotional foundation for our young children.
Adult education: The year 2025 marked a pivotal moment for the Adult Education department at ISKCON Brampton. By expanding our curriculum, this department attracted approximately 70 students across established programs like Vaiṣṇava Etiquette, Bhakti Śāstrī, Bhagavad-gītā Fundamentals, and the ISKCON Disciples Course. ISKCON Brampton is proud to announce that four students have successfully completed the rigorous Bhakti Śāstrī course. Furthermore, new offerings like Tulasī Care and Parenting have drawn many curious participants who seek practical spiritual training. 2026 is already following the same encouraging trend we experienced in 2025.
Teen education: ISKCON Brampton’s Teen Education program emphasizes experiential learning, blending spiritual knowledge with practical application through innovative projects. In 2025, 20 students participated in the Bhakti Śāstrī Teens program, engaging in highly interactive, hands-on learning. As part of the curriculum, they completed two student-led projects, taking full responsibility for planning and execution. The NOD Project involved organizing an interactive workshop with rotating sessions on Vaiṣṇava etiquette, Deity worship and cleanliness, book distribution, and the benefits of prasādam. In the Śrī Īśopaniṣad Project, students applied philosophical teachings to real service roles, demonstrating principles such as selfless service, duty without attachment, and respect for all.
Youth program: ISKCON Brampton’s youth group is a closely connected and emerging community of young leaders poised to serve as future torchbearers. Throughout 2025, the Youth Group worked diligently behind the scenes to lead and support several outreach initiatives, including organizing a family day kirtan that fostered a spiritually enriching, community-centered environment, and actively contributed to the success of our 13th Annual Festival of Chariots, serving in multiple areas. In parallel, the group maintained consistent engagement in temple activities and service opportunities, strengthening a culture of responsibility, collaboration, and deeper devotional connection among its members.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, in the purport to verse 1.2.6 of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, you define dharma as the living being’s sustenance of existence by aligning one’s activities with one’s eternal relationship with the Supreme Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. While we sincerely try to live by this guiding principle, we often find ourselves falling short of the standards you set. Despite our efforts to uphold and preserve what you so mercifully gave us, we recognize our limitations in expanding your movement with the dedication and boldness it truly deserves. At times, we take shelter in our comfort zones, supported by excuses that hold us back from striving further.
We understand that your ISKCON movement is now more relevant than ever, especially in a world increasingly affected by conflict, suffering, and uncertainty. Humanity stands in need of hope – the hope of returning back home, back to Godhead, beyond the despair of material existence. In these challenging times, we humbly beg for your special mercy – that we may remain firmly rooted in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and protected from influences that may divert us from the path of devotional service.
Please bless us with strong spiritual character and a genuine missionary spirit, so that together we may contribute, in our own small way, toward uplifting the world. Kindly grant us unwavering conviction in Kṛṣṇa’s protection – avaśya rākṣibe kṛṣṇa viśvāsa pālana – under all circumstances.
Above all, we pray for the strength to live simply on your remnants and to sincerely serve by spreading Kṛṣṇa consciousness with humility and devotion.
Your menial servants at ISKCON Brampton
Canada & USA, Homages ISKCON Centers, VP2026
Our dearest ever well-wisher, Śrīla Prabhupāda,
oṁ ajñāna-timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākayā
cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ
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
Please accept our humble obeisances in the dust of your lotus feet. All glories to you on this most auspicious occasion of your Vyāsa-pūjā, the 130th anniversary celebration of your appearance.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, we stand before you with no qualification. We have no good qualities, no strength, and no ability to serve you properly. Still, by your causeless mercy, you have given us a place in your mission, and that alone gives us hope.
In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.10.18), it is said that the symptoms of a sādhu are that he is tolerant, merciful, and friendly to all living entities. When we think of this, we can only think of you. You showed these qualities perfectly in your life.
Another verse describes how a tree gives everything to others without expecting anything in return. Even when cut or neglected, it continues to give shade, fruit, and shelter. Śrīla Prabhupāda, you are like that tree. You tolerated so many difficulties, traveled across the world at an advanced age, and gave Kṛṣṇa to everyone without discrimination. In fact, you built a house (ISKCON) in which the whole world can live, the true definition of vasudhaiva kuṭumbakam.
From Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Ādi 11.59):
anargala prema sabāra, ceṣṭā anargala
prema dite, kṛṣṇa dite dhare mahābala
All these devotees had unlimited strength to deliver unobstructed, unceasing love of Kṛṣṇa. By their own strength they could offer anyone Kṛṣṇa and love of Kṛṣṇa.
Purport: Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has sung, kṛṣṇa se tomāra, kṛṣṇa dite pāra, tomāra śakati āche. In this song, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura describes that a pure Vaiṣṇava, as the proprietor of Kṛṣṇa and love of Kṛṣṇa, can deliver both to anyone and everyone he likes. Therefore, to get Kṛṣṇa and love of Kṛṣṇa one must seek the mercy of pure devotees. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura also says, yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādo yasyāprasādān na gatiḥ kuto ’pi: ‘By the mercy of the spiritual master one is blessed by the mercy of Kṛṣṇa. Without the grace of the spiritual master, one cannot make any advancement.’ By the grace of a Vaiṣṇava or bona fide spiritual master one can get both love of Godhead, and Kṛṣṇa Himself.
It is described that a pure devotee has the power to give Kṛṣṇa and love of Kṛṣṇa to anyone. Śrīla Prabhupāda, you have done exactly that. You have given Kṛṣṇa to the whole world. Because of you, even in a small city like Burlington we are able to chant, hear, and try to practice Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Home away from home – just because of your causeless mercy.
We know that without the mercy of the spiritual master, we cannot get Kṛṣṇa. So today, we simply pray to you: please shower us with your bhakti-śakti (Caitanya-caritāmṛta Madhya 7.99). Please give us even a small drop of your faith, your determination, so that we, your followers, are able to preach this message of Kṛṣṇa consciousness to everyone.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, we also remember how Lord Kṛṣṇa embraced Sudāmā and the leper Vāsudeva with great compassion (Caitanya-caritāmṛta Madhya 7.143). In the same way, we pray that you kindly embrace us also at ISKCON Burlington, even though we are unqualified and full of faults.
By your mercy, this past year has been very special for ISKCON Burlington. We started Bhakti Vriksha programs in devotees’ homes, where we gather in a simple and informal way to hear, chant, and associate. These programs have helped us come closer as a community and stay connected in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
With your blessings, we were also able to conduct our fourth Ratha-yātrā at Spencer Smith Park. It is one of the most beautiful places in our city, and many people came, took prasādam, had darshan of Lord Jagannātha, Baladeva, and Subhadrā, and received Their causeless mercy. We could feel that this is your movement, and you are bringing people to ISKCON step by step.
Our small community has also grown. More devotees are regularly coming, and for the first time at ISKCON Burlington, two devotees have received first initiation. This has given us great hope that many more will come forward in the future to take up Kṛṣṇa consciousness seriously.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, whatever little we have been able to do is only by your mercy. We cannot claim anything as our own.
Looking forward, we have one strong desire: to establish a permanent home for your mission here in Burlington. We are searching for a place where devotees can come together regularly, where your books can be distributed, where kirtan can go on, and where new people can be introduced to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Please bless us so that we can collect the required lakṣmī and resources to make this happen for your pleasure, if you so desire.
We also pray that we can continue and expand our temple and Bhakti Vriksha programs and focus more on making devotees and engaging them in your mission. Please give us the intelligence, cooperation, and sincerity to work together and serve you nicely.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, you said that your mission is to give Kṛṣṇa to everyone. We are very small and weak, but if you bless us, even we can become instruments in your hands.
So today, on your Vyāsa-pūjā day, this is our simple prayer:
Please engage us in your service.
Please keep us together.
Please keep us under your shelter.
Let us never forget that everything depends on your mercy.
Thank you for giving us Kṛṣṇa. Thank you for giving us your books. Thank you for giving us a place in your movement.
Your insignificant servants of your servants,
ISKCON Burlington, Canada
