Gainesville

GAINESVILLE
Dearest Srila Prabhupada,
Please accept our fallen obeisances at your lotus feet.
nama om visnu-padaya krsna-presthaya bhū-tale
srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine
namas te sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracarine
nirvisesa-sūnyavadi-pasatya-desa-tarine
Although we have very little understanding of your glories, it is our duty, as your eternal servants, to chant them to the best of our ability. Before you came we were wandering aimlessly through life looking for happiness and meaning. I shudder at the thought of where we would be now if you had not made your appearance.
Your accomplishments are incomparable. You have induced thousands of bewildered living entities who were previously addicted to meat-eating, intoxication, illicit sex, and gambling to abandon these habits and to accept a life of purity and renunciation. You have made the holy name of Sri Krsna a household word. You have defeated the teachings of the greatest atheists of the world and have attracted the attention of prominent personalities in every country. All this you have done in twelve short years.
It is obvious from your accomplishments that you are not just another guru or acarya. Your ability to deliver the message of Lord Krsna is unparalleled in the history of this world. Just as Lord Ramacandra conquered Lahka and Ravana with His army of bears and monkeys, so you have liberated the whole plant with your army of mlecchas and yavanas. You were empowered by Lord Gaurahga Himself just to save the suffering living entities of Kali-yuga. Lord Krsna says in Bhagavad-gita (4.7-8), "Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion-at that time I descend Myself. In order to deliver the pious and annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium." Similarly, Srila Prabhupada, that was your only business. Out of your infinite compassion you have given us a way out of this confusing world. You have given us the key to finding eternity, bliss and knowledge.
Pariksit Maharaja said of Lord Krsna, "The burden of the earth was certainly diminished by the Personality of Godhead and by others as well. When He was present as an incarnation, all good was performed because of His auspicious footprints." (Bhag. 1.17.26). Srila Prabhupada, you also diminished the burden of the earth by your activities. Anyone who has a little knowledge can see the auspicious results of your spreading the chanting of the holy name all over the world. Now that you have left us we are wondering how we will carry on. Once Lord Caitanya asked Ramananda Raya, duḥkh-madhye kona duḥkh haya gurutara? "Of all the kinds of distress, what is the most painful?" And Ramananda Raya replied, krsna-bhakta-viraha vina duḥkh nahi dekhi para: "Apart from separation from the devotees of Krsna, I know of no unbearable unhappiness." (Cc. Madhya 8.248)
Now you have gone to take part in Lord Caitanya's pastimes, and we are left feeling helpless and bewildered. But actually, Srila Prabhupada, you have not left us. Just as Krsna never left the inhabitants of Vrndavana, you have not actually left us. Your Bhagavad-gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam, Caitanya-caritamrta, Nectar of Devotion, essays, tapes, and innumerable other divine instructions remain with us. We also have your appointed representatives to guide this movement according to time, place, and circumstance. You have burned a lasting impression within the hearts and minds of your sincere disciples. May we never forget your lotus feet.
Ramananda Raya told Lord Caitanya, ami-nata, tumi-sūtra-dhara / yei mata nacao, taiche cahi nacibara: "I am just like a dancing puppet, and You pull the strings. Whichever way You make me dance, I will dance." So we are your puppets, Srila Prabhupada, and we will dance just as you desire. The only value to our lives is our service to you. Any person who thinks he can carry out the mission of Lord Caitanya without remembering you and your desires does not understand Krsna consciousness, for you are our connection to the spiritual world.
In the Fourth Canto you have informed us that, after the disappearance of the spiritual master, it is better for the disciple to give up his body than to live not executing the order of his guru. So our only business now, as always, is to cooperate with each other (unity is strength) and to continue what you have started. Purity is the force, and our purity lies in our ability to follow your instructions without adulteration.
We thank you for another year of devotional service. Our only desire is that we can give up all self-motivation and thus always remember your lotus feet as you always remember the lotus feet of your Guru Maharaja.
Your servants of ISKCON Gainesville.
 

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