Amsterdam

In Bhagavad-gita Krsna states: "Out of compassion for them I, dwelling in their hearts, destroy with the shining lamp of knowledge the darkness born of ignorance." (Bg. 10.11) His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada is the surrendered mentor of his spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Gosvami Maharaja, and he is successfully carrying that shining lamp of knowledge to the western world. With the inexhaustible, all-perfect, transcendental message of Srimad-Bhagavatam for the benefit of all suffering beings. And it is the same selfless desire of all Vaisnavas-the desire for pure, unalloyed devotion to the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna-which lives in the heart of our beloved gurudeva, Srila Prabhupada. In that perpetually all-auspicious mood of devotion to his gurudeva, Srila Prabhupada is fulfilling his spiritual master's desire. We can clearly affirm this by the results of his endeavors since His Divine Grace's arrival in New York in September, 1965.

Just prior to his arrival in America, Srila Prabhupada offered this prayer to Krsna, seeking the benediction of pure devotion and the ability to convince us of the transcendental message of loving devotional service to Sri Krsna, the Supreme Lord. In this prayer, the essential qualifications and qualities of a bona fide spiritual master, or representative of the Absolute Truth, are perfectly recognizable. Because he is fully surrendered to the Absolute Truth, he receives in full measure the grace of the Supreme Lord, and thus he is able to bestow that grace on others. Srila Prabhupada begins:

A pure devotee of Krsna always accepts every condition of life, even the most uncomfortable, as Krsna's kind mercy. At the advanced age of 70 years, Srila Prabhupada left material comfort behind him, sailing for America for one purpose-to please his dearmost spiritual master.

To fulfill the desire of the bona fide spiritual master is to fulfill the desire of Krsna, for their desire is the same thing-to bring us back home, back to Sri Krsna, the Supreme Godhead.

What appears impossible is made possible by Krsna because Krsna has unlimited potency. One who is truly surrendered to Krsna recognizes this truth and lets Krsna act through him. This is the meaning of self-realization-realizing Krsna, the Absolute Truth, in all of one's activities. One, who acts in Krsna consciousness, because he is accepting fully the causeless mercy of the Lord, is non-different from the Lord's mercy just as an iron rod heated in fire becomes like the fire itself. Srila Prabhupada continues:

No one can be convinced of the truth by one who is not living the truth. The truth is that we must surrender to the Supreme Lord and His mercy, the spiritual master. The absolute potency of the spiritual master lies in his full surrender to his spiritual master in the line of disciplic succession from Krsna. In this way the self-realized spiritual master acts as the transparent medium through which one can realize Krsna.

Thus, a qualified spiritual master gives all credit for the success of Krsna's mission to Krsna, taking no credit for himself. Situated in service to the Supreme Lord, who is all-powerful, he is the greatest optimist, feeling the greatest assurance that everyone will some day be receptive to the divine message of love for Krsna.

Those who refuse to recognize the unlimited potency of the Supreme Lord fail to understand that He is capable of communicating His message to the conditioned souls through the potent words of the spiritual master. The spiritual master is expert in making the transcendental message understandable under the dictates of time and circumstance. Srila Prabhupada continues:

We can see that Prabhupada's faith in Krsna, the Supreme Soul of all living beings, Is bearing fruit in the measureless benediction of gladdened, reawakened souls now glorifying the Lord with the pure sound vibration of the holy names. Let us offer our most humble obeisances, falling at the lotus feet of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Gosvami Maharaja Prabhupada who is surrendered to the lotus feet of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati. He alone can lead us to that place of eternal dance with Govinda, the Reservoir of all pleasure, Krsna. As he is surrendered to Him who prays at last to Lord Krsna:

Because in fact he is filled with devotion and knowledge, the highest devotion and knowledge obtainable, the purport of Bhaktivedanta is indeed being fulfilled in the most fruitful tree ever to blossom forth on this planet, loving devotion to the Supreme Lord, Sri Krsna.