Dear Srila Prabhupada,

Please accept my humble obeisances at Your holy lotus feet. All glories to Your unequalled stature in the world of devotional service!

You are called Spiritual Master, because You are able to present appropriately the spiritual subject matter of God or Krishna consciousness to anyone and everyone, including the big leaders of society. The opening of Your letter to the then Governor General of Canada, Roland Michener is a good case in point:

“ISKCON (the International Society of Krishna Consciousness) is a non-lucrative organization, whose purpose is to promote the well-being of human society by drawing its attention to God. We are a non-sectarian society, and our members include people from Christian, Jewish and Moslem as well as Hindu faiths. The aim of ISKCON is not to found a new religious sect, but to invoke the living entity’s dormant love of God, and thus provide the human society of all faiths with a common platform of clear theistic knowledge and practice. Members of ISKCON may retain their own respective religious faiths, as ISKCON is meant to establish a clear, practical common formulation of the common ideal of all theists, and to defeat the unnecessary dogmatic wranglings that now divide and invalidate the theistic camp. This common ideal of theism is to develop love of God. ”680824Let.GovernorGeneralCanada

Actually You are the center of our lives. Just like today, we all come together for the anniversary of Your disappearance also called in Sanskrit language “tirobahva mahotsava.” Or when we chant japa in the temple room, circumambulating Srimati Tulasi Devi, we perform an extra bodily revolution just to acknowledge your presence on the Vyasasana. You control us as much as we agree to follow Your beneficial instructions. It is a matter of love and strength on both sides. It is not a matter of force, even though force entails strength.

Even though You have relinquished your physical form 38 years ago, in November of the year 1977, while I was serving in the French army, You are in fact very much with us.

This is confirmed in various ways.

For example:

1) When the reporter asked You who will be the next Acarya after Your passing, delighting all Your disciples and followers, you side stepped the question and your grand and bold reply came as: “I SHALL NEVER DIE.” I write this sentence in capital letter.

In the mood of the exuberant, enthusiastic and sometimes wild early days, collective exclamations of “Jai” along with “Jai Srila Prabhupada” followed.

2) When You noticed how Your pictures were somehow neglected, You clearly explained that the bona fide Spiritual Master, being situated on the absolute platform, is not different from his pictures and they should therefore be treated accordingly. The same reasoning will apply to Your murti on the Vyasasana and therefore I am saying that You are very much here, right now, in front of us.

Let us treat You accordingly with all due respect, consideration and propriety. At times You do indeed reciprocate with us directly from the Vyasasana.

3) Besides that and most importantly anyone can always and under most circumstances directly associate with You through sound vibration by listening to your lectures, which have been so nicely produced by the Bhaktivedanta Archives, read Your books or chant Japa in Your company. You have so kindly, expertly and liberally given us all Your knowledge and realizations. Where is the question of separation?

“In the absolute world there is no distinction as me, or he, and I. Krishna and His representative is the same. Just like Krishna can be present simultaneously in millions of places. Similarly, the Spiritual Master also can be present wherever the disciple wants. A Spiritual Master is the principle, not the body. Just like a television can be seen in thousands of places by the principle of relay monitoring.” 680528Let.Malati

The Spiritual Master sets us straight on the path back home, back to Godhead. I want to thank You very much for the reply to the only letter I ever wrote to You in April / May 1977, when, under the direction of H.H. Akshoyananda Swami, I was doubting my position as the temple commander at the Krishna Balaram temple in Vrndavan, India. One of Your favorite disciples H.H. Tamal Krishna Goswami relayed Your words to me. Here they are:

“ There is no difference between management and study in Krishna consciousness. I am studying books and writing also and at the same time attending to your letter. And there is so much management to look to. So I am doing both because there is no difference.”

These represent indeed most important, enlightening, meaningful and direction-giving instructions. Due to our artificial education systems, we tend to see borders and demarcations. These are therefore also artificial border and artificial demarcation shattering instructions. I try to execute my service in that mentality and make these instructions the corner stone of my remaining life in this fragile tabernacle. This non-difference is both enlivening and productive as well. It is also timesaving because practical. These instructions are very much in line with Your insistence on authenticity, as opposed to bluff and blind following.

Srila Prabhupada, I sometimes feel very, very good in devotional service and sometimes not so good, to put it positively. Frankly sometimes a feel miserable, so much so that addressing You, as I do now, becomes a burdensome task. I am then unable to pray to You with sincere feelings. It simply becomes an artificial formality at best. I take the liberty to speak like this and remember the example of Srila Narottama Das Thakura, who says in his Prayer to the Lotus Feet of Sri Nityananda from Prathana

Ha ha prabhu nityananda premananda sukhi

Krpabalokana koro ami boro dukhi

or as per your own translation:

“My dear Lord Nityananda you are always joyful in spiritual bliss. Since you always appear very happy, I have come to you because I am most unhappy. If you kindly put Your glance over me, I may also become happy”

Please hear my wish Srila Prabhupada:

I would like to continually feel very, very happy in devotional service and always be able to remain very active in cultivating and spreading Krishna consciousness to the best of my ability without interruption. Enough time has already been lost.

Sri Krishna in Bhagavad-Gita 3.30 clearly implies that on the transcendental plane one becomes free from lethargy.

Here is the verse: “Therefore, O Arjuna, surrendering all your works unto Me, with full knowledge of Me, without desires for profit, with no claims to proprietorship, and free from lethargy, fight.”

I wish to become like You, who exhibited the greatest steadiness of mind amidst even the greatest disappointments-as for example when Your GBC deputies unexpectedly abandoned their posts. According to Sri Krishna BGAII 2.48, this equanimity is yoga:

“Perform your duty equipoised, O Arjuna, abandoning all attachment to success or failure. Such equanimity is called yoga.”

I that respect, I find Sankirtan book distribution the most edifying and pleasing school of yoga.

In glorification of Srila Prabhupada, I would also like to bring to the attention of the devotees that there is a website which lists individuals who have become tremendously successful after the age of 50 and Srila Prabhupada’s name is also mentioned.

The web site is:

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/worklife/05/16/mf.famous.career.after.50/

My friend Madhukanta Prabhu found and supplied this information.

In conclusion, I may state that, just like the Vedas, You are an inexhaustible source of both spiritual and material inspiration and will remain the perfect example in all respects. By material inspiration I mean to say that You teach us how to handle the material world for Krishna, which in fact is also spiritual.

Let us therefore follow You closely in all earnestness.

Thanking You Srila Prabhupada.

Your insignificant servant,

Yadavendra Das.

Brisbane, November 16^th 2015