nama om visnu-padaya krsna-presthaya bhutale
srimate bhaktivedant-svaminn iti namine

namas te sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracarine
nirvisesa-sunyavadi-pascatya-desa-tarine

Dear Srila Prabhupada,
I bow at your feet.

One morning in December 1973, as a disciple drove you to Venice Beach to walk, I sat with you in the back seat. All the way down Venice Boulevard, you instructed me on the importance of our American mission. On many occasions, public and private, you declared the sovereign importance of your western mission. If America and Europe accepted Krishna consciousness, the world would follow.

Before leaving this world, you stated that you had completed the first half of your western mission: Krishna consciousness was spreading dramatically throughout the western world. ISKCON made its voice heard In the national conversations of many western countries. Transforming the western world was a living, present possibility, not a prophecy to be fulfilled “someday” after we are gone.

As I write this, I am three and a half years younger than you were when you boarded the Jaladuta and journeyed to America. Only Krishna knows how many years more He will give me in this world. Considering the entire situation, I have dedicated myself to this:

I want to again see your western mission growing dramatically. I want to again hear an influential ISKCON voice in the national conversations of western nations. I want to again dream a rational dream that Krishna will transform the world within my lifetime.

Prabhupada, you are an eternally liberated soul with nothing to gain or lose in this mad world. Still for your selfless pleasure, I pray that more than ever you empower all those eager to dedicate their lives to the second Hare Krishna explosion in the Western world.

With eternal gratitude,
Your servant,
Hridayananda das Goswami
August 18, 2014