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 offer my sincere obeisances to you.

In Krishna-lila, we find that various pure devotees enjoy different relationships with Krishna. We observe this principle when Krishna descends as Govinda, and also when He comes as Nimai Pandita to manifest the sankirtan movement. There is variety not only of rasas but of ‘moods.’ Thus among the servants of Mahaprabhu, some are bold, others meek, some innovative, others traditional.

As a pure devotee not different from Krishna, you accept and reciprocate the sincere devotion of varieties of ISKCON devotees. With great wisdom and foresight, you often insisted that within reasonable boundaries, we should respect the individuality of the diverse souls who come to you for shelter. Everyone knows how you came to the West, how with pure devotion, you ingeniously established Krishna consciousness in America, and there upon throughout the world. You did this within a specific historical context. We, your followers, now struggle faithfully and creatively to continue your glorious legacy by trying to act with ingenuity and purity to keep Krishna consciousness relevant.
Before coming to the West, you strove with complete sincerity to spread Krishna consciousness in India, with results that did not at all satisfy you. Thus, you boarded the Jaladuta with a magnificent global strategy that you enacted with unique success. Your activities in India prior to coming West demonstrate, as you revealed to Giriraja Swami just before leaving this world, that both purity and intelligent strategy are needed to spread Lord Caitanya’s divine mission.

On the holy day of Your Appearance, we pray that you bless us with purity and intelligence so that we can powerfully perpetuate your grand movement and serve you as worthy descendants.

Your servant,
Hridayananda das Goswami
August 22, 2011

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 at your lotus feet.

In your purport to Gita 3.30, you write, “The Lord instructs that one has to become fully Krishna conscious to discharge duties, as if in military discipline.”

In our conditioned state it is natural that we, your followers, go through physical, emotional, and spiritual cycles in which our enthusiasm and energy for service wax and wane. Yet if we continue to faithfully serve you, we will steadily advance, even as we experience inevitable ups and downs.

With perfect purity, maturity, and compassion you, our loving spiritual father, guide us through life’s struggles and guarantee the ultimate victory of those who remain faithfully engaged in serving your mission.

You are not merely a glorious theological category. You are a charming, inspiring, liberated soul with your own unique Krishna conscious personality. Learning to relate to you appropriately, we learn to relate to Krishna and other liberated souls. We prepare for our eternal life.

As always, on this day we thank you best by rededicating ourselves to the fulfillment of your selfless desires, which are truly the desires of Krishna Himself.

Thank you for everything, Srila Prabhupada.

Your servant,
Hridayananda das Goswami
September 2, 2010

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

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

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

My simple prayer is that Lord Krsna bless me to be an enthusiastic member of Srila Prabhupada’s sankirtana party.  Srila Prabhupada’s pure loving service to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu inspired the Lord to reveal Himself in the most powerful and enchanting way.  We can all participate in that unique revelation by enthusiastically assisting Srila Prabhupada in his unique service to the Lord.

Sincere service to Srila Prabhupada in his sankirtana activities quickly and easily elevates us beyond the predictable misery of selfishness.  Service to Srila Prabhupada is the best way to water the root of our existence, and thus achieve eternal peace and happiness.  Let us try to put his pleasure above our own, for only thus will we be happy in this world and the next.

Srila Prabhupada’s pleasure is sublime and selfless; he seeks the eternal happiness of all living beings.  Trusting in his mercy and that of Lord Krishna, let us rededicate ourselves to his mission, which is identical to that of Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai.

From one who aspires to serve him,
Hridayananda Dasa Goswami
September 5, 2007