In 1971, I wrote to Srila Prabhupada asking if I could address him as my spiritual father. He wrote back saying that he was indeed my spiritual father, and that the Gayatri mantra was the spiritual mother. With the combination of father and mother, the disciple takes second birth. As we continue to receive the unstinting mercy of our eternal guide, Srila Prabhupada, we continue to grow spiritually, and indeed intellectually and emotionally, since all our faculties rest on the spirit. With our growth in Krishna consciousness, it is natural that we discover an ever more mature relationship with Srila Prabhupada, even as we learn to appreciate him with ever greater insight.

As Prabhupada progressively frees us from our blind attachment to our temporary bodies, and to this temporary world, we are able to increasingly appreciate his own spiritual purity and perfection. We can see with far greater clarity that Prabhupada’s glory lies in his selfless devotion to Lord Krishna.

Once in a morning Bhagavatam class in New Dvaraka, Prabhupada said, “People give me credit for spreading this movement, but I take no credit. If, however, you insist on giving me some credit, then it is simply this: that I never tried to take Krishna’s position.” Srila Prabhupada is the only person I ever met about whom I can say with complete certainty, that everything he did, he did with no other desire than to please and glorify Sri Krishna. It is this pure Krishna consciousness that we worship and follow as we eternally serve Srila Prabhupada.

His servant,
Hridayananda das Goswami
August 17, 2009