Homages from ISKCON Centers

Homages from ISKCON Centers
Fall” (following a famous statement you made in March of 1976 in Mäyäpur) because this is what so many
devotees in our ISKCON movement feel is one of the main necessities nowadays.
O divine master, you are the very root of our life, and therefore, as always, I feel very deep appreciation
and gratitude for what you have done for us— undergoing so many difficulties and austerities to bring
Kåñëa consciousness to faraway countries such as Italy.
Today, March 8 th , we are celebrating Gaura Pürëimä here in our temple in Bergamo, known as Villaggio
Hare Kåñëa. On this very auspicious anniversary of the appearance of Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu, my
mind goes to you, dearmost Çréla Prabhupäda. I meditate on your first Gaura Pürëimä in the West, in
New York, on the March 6, 1966. Alone, elderly, not in the best of health, you stood on the battlefield
of America trying to spread Kåñëa consciousness. Çré Kåñëa, Janärdana, the father of all living entities,
and all the previous äcäryas of our sampradäya had great concern for the precarious situation of the
conditioned souls of Kali-yuga, and you were there in New York representing all of them. Therefore . . .
Your mission was the most important one!
Your conditions were the most difficult ones!
Your determination was the strongest of anyone!
Our good fortune to meet you? I can only say: a matchless gift!
You wandered here and there in Manhattan, trying to distribute your books. The winter was a most
difficult one, with lots of snow, blasting wind, and temperatures reaching an icy -18 degrees C!
Çréla Prabhupäda, you were alone in your poor and humble rented room, No. 307 at Dr. Mishra’s
yoga ashram in Manhattan (paying $72 a month), when you wrote in your diary:
According to Mayapur Panjika [calendar] today is Adhivas day of Gour Purnima. Devotees at
Vrindaban and Nabadwipa are enjoying the celebration. I am here alone without any devotee
companion. But I have come here to serve the Lord and not for personal happiness. I am prepared
to live in hell even if I am able to serve the Lord. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu wanted that His
mission should be propagated all over the world and that is my objective. I do not mind the
inconvenience personally felt.
This was the cause of our salvation—your deep and strong determination in propagating the mercy
of Çré Caitanya Mahaprabhu under the order of your spiritual master.
You were never alone, as you said on several occasions. You always felt the presence of your spiritual
master. Similarly, we learned from you to always feel your presence in our efforts to preach Kåñëa
consciousness. We remember the picture of you walking down a street in New York City wearing a big
black coat in the freezing winter of 1965–66. Your face looks somber, not lighthearted, because at that
time you seemed not to be making any progress in your preaching and your condition was very poor.
But nothing, nothing, nothing could stop you.
So today we can boldly say that you are still here with us: you are here with your instructions;
you are here with your strong and unbreakable desire to save us; you are here with your movement,
ISKCON; you are here with your servants; you are here in your mürti; you are here in the hearts of those
who serve you, continuing your mission of saving the fallen souls. You told us that preaching means
undergoing austerity with tolerance and compassion to help others become Kåñëa conscious. As said
in the Çrémad-Bhägavatam (8.7.44), in the verse beginning tapyante loka-täpena, real saints voluntarily
undergo sufferings to relieve the sufferings others. This is the best form of worship (paramärädhanam)
by the best devotees (sädhavaù)—devotees like you, dearmost Çréla Prabhupäda!
Çréla Prabhupäda, we miss you so much, but we also feel that you are here next to us, enthusiastic
as always, full of youthful energy as always, never wanting to rest and stop your preaching. Once in New
York in 1976, when you were entering the elevator of the 55th Street building, you turned to Rameçvara
Prabhu, who had suggested you rest and recuperate at Gétä-nägaré for some time, and exclaimed: “I want
to die on the battlefield of preaching, just like Arjuna!”
But simultaneously you were always asking help from us. As you said, “Alone, what can I do?” When
in March 1966 a thief stole your tape recorder and typewriter, you asked your visitors and friends for
advice on what to do.
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