Cherkasy, Ukraine

Europe & Russia, Homages ISKCON Centers, VP2026

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Śrīla Prabhupāda,

Please accept our humble obeisances in the dust of your lotus feet.

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

oṁ ajñāna-timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākayā
cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ

On this auspicious day of your Vyāsa-pūjā, we, your devotees from the city of Cherkasy, Ukraine, wish to express to you our gratitude and love.

In former times, disciples searched for the true guru in order to attain knowledge of the Absolute Truth, but modern society has become so degraded that the jagad-guru paramahaṁsa pure devotee of the Lord, such as yourself, had to cross the Atlantic Ocean of material existence in order to find all of us, the lost children of Kṛṣṇa.

Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.14.58 it is said that this world is a dangerous place and that dangers await at every step. You’ve also said that at any moment, anything can happen. Now, from our own experience, we have realized the truth of your words.

Nevertheless, by your mercy, all your disciples and the disciples of your disciples continue to preach, each on their own “battlefield.” During these years, when war has overtaken our country, dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, armed with your instructions, we have begun to take shelter in the study of the sacred scriptures. Practically the entire yātrā is studying the bhakti-śāstras under the guidance of senior devotees.

A Food for Life project was launched, and people spoke very positively about the devotees, thanking them for their care and support in this difficult time. Together with the devotees, these people chanted the holy names of Kṛṣṇa and received your books.

Daily online lectures on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam were organized in the mornings (the devotees are learning how to give lectures), as well as readings of kṛṣṇa-līlā in the evenings.

We have also been conducting mantra-yoga – chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra with new people, offering them prasādam, and distributing your books to them. People very positively and gratefully shared their experience of happiness from chanting and associating with the devotees.

At present, some services have been put on pause due to military actions, but we are all together and continue to cooperate despite everything because in this way we wish to express our love for you, dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, and to follow you by carrying out your will.

Our community, the yātrā, is small, and we cannot boast of great achievements or projects. Nevertheless, as you have said, “It is time to boil the milk.” And now, together and individually, we are “boiling the milk,” deepening our relationship with you, with guru, and with Kṛṣṇa.

At present, we are absorbed in studying your books, associating with senior devotees, and chanting the holy names.

You continue to lead us, dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, blind and lame as we are, on the path of bhakti, and we, in turn, try to dedicate our lives to you and to your disciples as our guru-dākṣiṇā. You once said, “Do not be surprised when something does not go as it should; be surprised that something still goes as it should.” Therefore, despite all difficulties, hardships, and obstacles, we move forward, dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, through the darkness of Kali-yuga, because you illuminate our path, and by your mercy we are able to see the path of pure devotion.

I was born in the darkness of ignorance, but my spiritual master opened my eyes with the torch of knowledge. Therefore, I offer my most humble obeisances unto him.

All glories to your lotus feet.

The servants of your servants,

The devotees from the city of Cherkasy, Ukraine

Czech yātrā

Europe & Russia, 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

I offer my humble obeisances to Oṁ Viṣṇupāda Paramahaṁsa Parivrājakācārya 108 Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, who is very dear to Lord Kṛṣṇa, having fully taken shelter at the Lord’s lotus feet.

I offer my prostrated obeisances to Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, the dearest servant of His Divine Grace Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda. He is spreading Kṛṣṇa consciousness throughout the Westernized capitalist world, soundly defeating atheists, Māyāvādīs, who claim that God does not have a form, and the adherents of the atheist doctrine that everything is ultimately void.

Religions failed to confront and defeat atheism
Which currently dominates most discourses in our secular democracies
Be it in the media
Or at universities

The line of demarcation between religion and science
Has been drawn since more than two centuries
Science is the religion of evolution
Sharing the belief in an unknown cause
While Abrahamic religions share the belief in an unknown creator
It is belief against belief, after all.

The science of Kṛṣṇa consciousness
On the other hand
Has nothing to do with religious belief
It is based on the teachings of Lord Kṛṣṇa in His Bhagavad-gītā

The science of Kṛṣṇa consciousness
Does not profess mental speculation
Nor does it preach dogma, manmade doctrines, or some magic
It teaches what the Supreme Personality of Godhead
Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the son of Vasudeva and Devakī, the darling of Vraja
Taught trillions of years ago to Lord Brahmā
Who taught it to the president of the sun planet, Vivasvān
Who taught it to Ikṣvāku, and then to the Manus
Progenitors of generations of women and men.

For this and many other reasons
Kṛṣṇa consciousness
Will prevail against atheism and flourish – for the next ten thousand years!

Thanks to you, Śrīla Prabhupāda,
For it is you who has singlehandedly
Delivered Kṛṣṇa consciousness to the world
In order to defeat the rule of demonic science and ruthless atheism
In all aspects of human civilization
You delivered Kṛṣṇa consciousness in a most selfless way
Acting strictly on the order of your Guru Mahārāja
The evangelic angel of the gospel of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu
The Great Savior from the East

Your servants, and servants of your servants in Czech Republic,

Nitāi-Navadvīpa Candra Mandir

Kṛṣṇa’s Court

Śrī Hari Dhāma Saṅga

Chakra Lutotin

and all the friends and supporters of Kṛṣṇa consciousness

(written by Jayagurudeva Dāsa)

Czech Republic – Prabhupāda Bhavan and Nava Gokula

Europe & Russia, Homages ISKCON Centers, VP2026

Our most beloved Śrīla Prabhupāda,

Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Your Divine Grace!

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

You are indeed the most merciful and advanced personality to have visited this planet of death in recent times. Your closeness to Kṛṣṇa is truly astounding. You are His very intimate associate. We have seen this repeatedly in the pastimes you manifested in this material world. In reality, you were not even in this world. You were always with Lord Kṛṣṇa. You never forgot Him. And yet you hardly ever publicly displayed ecstatic signs of love for God. By that I mean signs such as rolling on the ground, incoherent speech, loss of consciousness and the like. You could have, but for our sake, you acted in such a way that we could gain as much as possible from pure devotional service. You remained understandable to our Western minds. You thought of us. You performed many miracles and accomplished deeds that are unparalleled in the history of this universe. Your greatness is very difficult for us to comprehend. And yet you remained perfectly personal and normal.

Practically everyone who came into contact with you could immediately begin to love you. You knew very well that when a conditioned soul loves someone like you, they gain immense spiritual benefit. Repeatedly in your lectures you teach that our attachment to sense gratification must be transformed into attachment to a sādhu. You also perfectly embodied this sādhu. You were not a charlatan who merely performed cheap yogic or magical tricks to gain popularity among the uninformed public. You took the ancient teachings originating from the spiritual world and descending into this material world through Lord Brahmā, Nārada Muni, Vyāsadeva, Madhvācārya, and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. You took this very noble message and very carefully and expertly presented it to us, the people of the West.

And who are we? Merely the degenerate remnants of the mlecchas and Yavanas who, many years ago, broke away from the Vedic tradition and went in search of happiness on a lower, even animalistic, level. But that did not bother you. Although from the Vedic perspective we are untouchable, and a pure person should take a bath as soon as they see any of us, you paid no heed to such regulations. The only thing on your mind was to fulfill the instruction of your spiritual master. You set out into hardship and foreign lands. You proudly carried the message of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and proved yourself a true general who defeats the armies of material energy with the ease of a little boy.

Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, you have Kṛṣṇa. Everyone knows this. Even little Saraswati knew it. And yet you are constantly in the mood of earnest effort to find Kṛṣṇa, just like the Gosvāmīs of Vrindavan. He rādhe vraja-devike ca lalite he nanda-sūno kutaḥ … “Where is Kṛṣṇa? When will the day come when I see Kṛṣṇa?” This is what you taught us. You never taught, “I have Kṛṣṇa. I am very advanced. I am a noble devotee.” That was not your mood. You perfectly embodied the mood of Rūpa Gosvāmī. You gave us countless perfect examples of what a true Vaiṣṇava looks like. You were a perfect servant. Although your position is most exalted, you yourself washed the plates of your future disciples and cleaned up after the feasts you yourself cooked. You did everything so that the conditioned souls of this material world could find a crack in the impenetrable external energy of the Supreme Lord. Like a needle, you created a tiny crack that gradually grew into a vast path leading directly from this brahmāṇḍa to Goloka Vṛndāvana. You built a bridge across which even the blind or mute can safely walk home, back to God.

You feared nothing and no one. And you preached the same: whoever knows Kṛṣṇa has no fear. Fear is merely a sign of ignorance. You alone have done what is utterly impossible for thousands of others. Your glories are celebrated every day. In many places on this planet, hundreds and hundreds of ashrams, temples, and farm projects celebrate your glories, which are constantly expanding. Unlike materially famous personalities, your glories will never fade; on the contrary, they will spread throughout all three worlds. Ebe jaśa ghuṣuk tribhuvana.

Our dearest Śrīla Prabhupāda, you saved us. You saved us from ourselves. We had fallen into the dark well of the material world and lost our direction, purpose, and sense of reality. Like madmen, we wandered from place to place in a hopeless search for happiness. We wanted to be happy, but we didn’t know how to go about it. You came and gave us that supreme happiness, just as if it were a completely ordinary and natural thing. We were engaged in the most dreadful sinful activities, hoping they would bring us joy. But instead of joy, frustration and suffering came again and again. You taught us to chant the holy name of Lord Hari. You taught us to prepare delicious prasādam, and you gave us a yajña perfectly suited to the present age and the condition of humanity. You engaged us in the production and distribution of your books, your transcendental ecstasies.

You taught us perfect selflessness. You taught us that if we truly want to take Kṛṣṇa consciousness seriously, we must spread this consciousness far and wide. Only by sharing Kṛṣṇa consciousness can a living being experience true happiness, which comes directly from the spiritual world. You brought the spiritual world with you and gave it to us. Again and again, you asked, “Where is book? Where is book?” But you did not ask for yourself; you asked for the good of all humanity. Until the very last moment of your presence in this world, you were translating Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. You fought until your last breath and showed us a perfect example.

Your lotus feet hold the mission and the secret to true happiness. I say “hold,” yet it is no secret at all; service to your lotus feet is the perfection of life. Nothing else in our lives has any real meaning or significance. Taking one, two, three, or more of your books and going to try to place them in the hands of any conditioned living being is the foundation of your mission – the foundation upon which everything else stands.

You, however, are a genius and will not be satisfied with merely partial success. As soon as we understand the importance of your mission, which you received in disciplic succession, and fully engage in it, we will be given a specific place, tailored just for us as individual living beings. You relate to each of us in a perfectly personal way. You know each of your followers perfectly, because you know Kṛṣṇa. You can discern our mentality with absolute precision and engage us perfectly in service to Kṛṣṇa. Although our tendencies are very low and our inclinations among the lowest, you search our hearts for even the slightest interest in Kṛṣṇa and gradually nurture it more and more. As you said, “fan the spark.”* You take even the tiniest spark of interest in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and elevate it very highly. You inspire and nurture this slightest interest to the point where it becomes a great fire – a fire that burns away all material attachments, leaving only interest in Kṛṣṇa. You are a perfect sādhu and perfectly care for the plant of bhakti, whose seed you distribute wherever there is even the slightest chance of it sprouting.

In addition to distributing books, you established and announced another vital program. This program is even more challenging than book distribution. It’s a program that engages a vast number of devotees in direct service to the lotus feet of the Divine Couple, Śrī Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, in the mood of Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa. This program aims at helping all of humanity engage in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. I’m referring to varṇāśrama-dharma. You have repeatedly said in your lectures that it is not possible for everyone to practice Kṛṣṇa consciousness. There will always be people who oppose it. Such is the nature of the material world. However, this did not bother you; you strove to expand self-sustaining communities and teach all of humanity simple living and high thinking. This is especially true in Western countries, which have a culture far removed from traditional Vedic culture – a culture that is, in every aspect, highly conducive to the development of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. It is particularly in these countries that a cultural revolution is needed to enable the mass participation of humanity in the worship of Śrī Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa.

This endeavor is still in its humble beginnings. Here and there, glimmers of hope and some efforts in this direction appear. The varṇāśrama cultural direction goes against the current social mainstream. The whole world is striving for greater comfort and sense pleasure. Most people seek happiness in making money and satisfying their senses. You, however, teach us how to engage in renunciation and to satisfy the senses of the original master of the senses, Hṛṣīkeśa. You teach us how to live a simple life centered on the protection of cows, chanting the holy name, and serving the temple Deities. In this way, you engage our inclinations and tendencies in pure transcendental activity. You very graciously give us a way to live with our strong conditioning in the service of Kṛṣṇa. You do not send us away because we cannot always follow the perfect ideal you teach; on the contrary, very leniently and patiently, you teach us the basics of Kṛṣṇa consciousness again and again. We hear in practically every one of your lectures that we are not this body. Nevertheless, realizing this fact seems to be a lifelong project. And you very patiently walk with us and help us at every step to overcome the pitfalls of our own material desires. You are more merciful than our own parents. You are a true master on the path upward toward the perfection of human life, and it is only by your grace that it is possible to live in the company of devotees. There is so much I would like to say about you, and there is so much I would like to write to you. Today, therefore, let this be at least a modest effort to glorify your lotus feet, which are the sole comfort and hope of our lives.

We beg you, dearest Śrīla Prabhupāda, shower us with your mercy and make our insignificant efforts successful by being pleased all our mistakes and shortcomings. We will strive to improve ourselves as much as possible.

On behalf of your servants at Prabhupāda Bhavan and Nava Gokula,

Sureśvara Dāsa

Debrecen, Hungary

Europe & Russia, Homages ISKCON Centers, VP2026

Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to You!

My name is Nitāibhavana Dāsa, a disciple of Śrīla Śivarāma Swami. I am writing to you from a small town in Hungary – Debrecen – on the occasion of your appearance day.

For more than thirty years, Śrīla Śivarāma Swami has been organizing the spread of Kṛṣṇa consciousness in Hungary. Among his many services, he arranged for the translation of your books into Hungarian, installed Śrī Śrī Rādhe-Śyāma in Krishna Valley, and Śrī Śrī Dayāl Vijaya Gaurāṅga in Budapest.

I have been serving as the leader of the center in Debrecen since 2000, and since 2009 I have also been managing the Govinda’s restaurant operating as part of the center.

I am very grateful to you for allowing me to perform this service. My Guru Mahārāja has often reminded me of your expectations regarding the functioning of a Kṛṣṇa conscious center and community. He has repeatedly instructed me that I must always follow the principles you have established in your books.

By reading your books and hearing your lectures, I have gradually begun to understand your intention behind preaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness worldwide. It has always been clear to me that you began spreading the bhakti movement globally in order to fulfill the desire of your spiritual master, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura. Over time, I have also come to understand that this preaching could only be successful because you were fully blessed by the mercy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

From the descriptions of Satsvarūpa dāsa Goswami, we have been able to closely perceive how the mercy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu descended upon you. In your twenties you identified yourself as a follower of Mahatma Gandhi and embraced the ideal of an independent India, while at the same time being raised in a family of devotees, which naturally attracted you to the service of Kṛṣṇa. However, when you first met and spoke with Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Gosvāmī, you immediately accepted that the desire of Caitanya Mahāprabhu – that the culture of bhakti be spread worldwide – could not wait for a future independent India.

When I heard about this conversation, I immediately felt how bhakti can enter the heart of one whose heart is pure. Although you already possessed pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness as a devotee, it was still necessary to receive the strong desire of your spiritual master to begin this immense mission. A spark was needed to inspire you to fully embrace the efforts of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Gosvāmī. This story is very beautiful, and indeed it also inspired the events in Debrecen, as Śrīla Śivarāma Swami began preaching in Hungary with the same aspiration.

You said that practicing Kṛṣṇa consciousness and sharing it with others is not easy, but even if we do not reach the end of the path within one lifetime, it is still worthwhile, for it means we have made the best possible use of our lives. Indeed, we can experience how perfect our lives are compared to those who have not yet accepted the process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

You also mentioned that for householders, a very good form of Kṛṣṇa conscious service is to work in a restaurant where one can participate in distributing kṛṣṇa-prasādam. Day by day, I experience how – even though it is physically demanding – the time passes very quickly while making different preparations and distributing prasādam. Of course, this also includes chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra in the morning and holding morning programs. Simply by accepting even a small portion of the boundless mercy you have given us, we are able to live a meaningful life.

The distribution and study of your books also hold an important place in our lives. Those who regularly and sincerely engage in these services experience a taste that cannot be matched by any selfish activity. Fortunately, these services occupy a central role throughout the entire Hungarian yātrā. Although there are no full-time devotees in Debrecen, many contribute to the spread of Kṛṣṇa consciousness according to their capacity. In the countryside, more and more practitioners are joining who follow the process at home and participate in collective service on a weekly basis.

You often quoted the verse spoken by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to the Kūrma brāhmaṇa:

yāre dekha, tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa
āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra’ ei deśa

Instruct everyone to follow the orders of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa as they are given in the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In this way become a spiritual master and try to liberate everyone in this land. (Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 7.128.)

This is the guiding principle of the Kṛṣṇa conscious community in Debrecen, both in personal practice and in preaching.

We are very grateful for the direct care you have given us through your books and through your audio and video recordings. If we associate with you in this way even for a short time each day, then – as you said – we will not be carried away by the lifestyle of materialists. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu also states:

kabhu nā bādhibe tomāra viṣaya-taraṅga
punarapi ei ṭhāñi pābe mora saṅga

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu further advised the Kūrma brāhmaṇa, “If you follow this instruction, your materialistic life at home will not obstruct your spiritual advancement. Indeed, if you follow these regulative principles, we will again meet here, or, rather, you will never lose My company.” (Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 7. 129.)

The example you set in following your spiritual master has deeply touched me. I could not fully explain why, but I felt it to be very beautiful and intimate. You often said that you did not create anything new, you simply spoke what you had heard from your divine spiritual master. Although you did not meet him very often, when you did, you listened with great attention. When Bhaktisiddhānta Gosvāmī accepted you as his disciple, he remarked before his other disciples that you listened very attentively.

From this we can understand that attentive hearing of the spiritual master, understanding his instructions, and following them are of utmost importance. This alone can grant all perfection. To teach us this, you placed great emphasis on the worship of the guru.

Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, you are a Vaiṣṇava ācārya who teaches not only by words but also by example. In a world of selfish people, such personalities are not to be found, because one who is not a devotee has no true good qualities.

yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā
sarvair guṇais tatra samāsate surāḥ
harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇā
manorathenāsati dhāvato bahiḥ

All the demigods and their exalted qualities, such as religion, knowledge, and renunciation, become manifest in the body of one who has developed unalloyed devotion for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva. On the other hand, a person devoid of devotional service and engaged in material activities has no good qualities. Even if he is adept at the practice of mystic yoga or the honest endeavor of maintaining his family and relatives, he must be driven by his own mental speculations and must engage in the service of the Lord’s external energy. How can there be any good qualities in such a man? (Bhāgavatam 5.18.12)

Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, you possess pure and spotless love for Kṛṣṇa, and therefore you naturally feel compassion for all living beings. Indeed, you are the one who has sprinkled upon us the blessings of Lord Caitanya from the boundless ocean of mercy, extinguishing the blazing fire of our material desires. Without you, we would have remained burning in that fire, but now it is only a matter of time before we return to our original home.

This small Vaiṣṇava community in Debrecen is deeply grateful to you for bringing the transcendental realm to us as well: golokera prema-dhana, hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana … Now it is up to us to express our gratitude by passing on this inheritance that we have received from you.

On behalf of the Kṛṣṇa conscious community in Debrecen,

Your servant,

Nitāibhavana Dāsa