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

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

Dear Srila Prabhupada,

I bow in reverence at your lotus feet. I come to you with a simple prayer — that you petition your Lord Krishna to mercifully empower your servants to restore your Western mission to the glory that you created for it. As we walked with you one morning in Rancho Park, Los Angeles, you stopped and wonderfully recreated Lord Krishna’s dialogue with Arjuna, speaking both parts.

Lord Krishna: Just be my instrument Arjuna. I have already slain these soldiers. But you take the credit.
Arjuna: But how I can accomplish such a great task?
Lord Krishna: I have already done it Myself. But I want to give you the credit. So just be my instrument.

Prabhupada, you then spoke in your own voice and said, “Just as Lord Krishna defeated Pandavas’ enemies at the Battle of Kuruksetra, and thus spread His own glories, so the Lord will spread His sankirtana movement. But He wants to give you the credit. So take the credit and become the Lord’s instrument. Otherwise, He will give the credit to another devotee. But why don’t you take the credit and make your life perfect?”

Srila Prabhupada, we humbly volunteer to be your instrument, because you are the Lord’s greatest instrument. Please empower us to restore your Mission to its rightful prominence in a fallen and suffering world.

Your aspiring servant,
Hridayananda das Goswami