In just a dozen years, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda gave the world a legacy that will last forever.

"The spiritual master is receiving benediction from the ocean of mercy. Just as a cloud pours water on a forest fire to extinguish it, so the spiritual master delivers the materially afflicted world by extinguishing the blazing fire of material existence. I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of such a spiritual master."

The Vedic teachers compare the material world in which we live to a forest fire. Although no one wants a forest fire, sometimes a fire spontaneously takes place in the forest, inflicting suffering on the helpless creatures who live there. But if, by the grace of God, storm clouds gather and shower their water, drenching the forest with rain, the forest and its creatures are saved. Similarly, when a bona fide spiritual master, by the grace of Krsna, showers upon human society the benediction of Krsna consciousness, that benediction can save us from the eternal problems of material ignorance and suffering and give us the chance to return to our real life of eternal bliss and knowledge in the service of Krsna. We should therefore glorify and offer our respectful homage unto the lotus feet of such a bona fide spiritual master.

A devotee poet has written that no one can fully understand the words, activities, and characteristics of a pure devotee. Nonetheless, let us try to appreciate some of the extraordinary gifts given to the world by the beloved spiritual master of the Hare Krsna movement, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

Of course, although the movement Srila Prabhupada started has great tangible manifestations, his contribution is ultimately spiritual, not material, and therefore it will be appreciated according to one's spiritual understanding. Just as an intellectual contribution is truly appreciated only by intellectuals, a spiritual contribution will best be appreciated by those who are advanced in spiritual culture and knowledge.

Generally speaking, gross material accomplishments win immediate popular applause, but they are also quickly forgotten. Although an intellectual contribution may take longer to be widely acclaimed, its benefits are more profound and long-lasting. A spiritual contribution, however, though perhaps least appreciated immediately, is ultimately the most profoundly significant and enduring. Therefore, let us try to understand and appreciate the myriad spiritual contributions of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder-acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.

The first point we might consider is that whatever Srila Prabhupada did, he did not to serve any personal self-interest or create an individual charismatic mission, but rather to serve the will of the Supreme Lord, as expressed by the Lord Himself in the Vedic literature and handed down since time immemorial by the Vedic chain teachers. In the recent era, Srila Prabhupada's spiritual master, Sri Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura, was the most outstanding representative of this Vedic line, and the spirit of full, unalloyed devotion to this great Vedic teacher and to the Supreme Lord Himself was the essence of all that Srila Prabhupada did.

Now, let us see the gifts Srila Prabhupada has given us, one by one