Homages from ISKCON Centers

Çré Vyäsa-püjä 2012
Thank you, Çréla Prabhupäda, for leaving behind a legacy for us all to benefit from. Your leadership
and character have inspired the families of ISKCON Brampton, who have worked hard to keep your house
in order, to always remember you when taking your movement to the next level.
Everything you left us reminds us of you—from your books to your temples to your direct disciples’
association and guidance. Most importantly, we really gain an appreciation of everything you’ve inspired
us to do when we look at how each and every family that is a part of ISKCON Brampton gives 100% to
make you proud. They are living examples of what you have been trying to teach us, and we are so
grateful for that.
Thank you, and please accept our offering.
Your servants at ISKCON Brampton, Ontario, Canada.
Brisbane
Dear Çréla Prabhupäda,
Please accept our humble obeisances at the dust of your lotus feet. All glories to Your Divine Loving
Grace, Çréla Prabhupäda, the savior of the whole world! We are eternally grateful and indebted to you.
Without you, we wonder what would have become of us.
Exactly what are we grateful and indebted for? Maybe the whole world knows the answer, but have
we really realized it? Çréla Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura writes in his Säragrähé Vaiñëava poem,
Forget the past that sleeps
And ne’er the future dream at all,
But act in times that are with thee,
And progress thee shall call.
We, however, cannot forget your past. Your past is eternally present. It is your exemplary existence
on this planet that gives us guidelines to become a better yäträ. Our Brisbane yäträ has endured hard
times, so remembering you gives us solace, courage, and enthusiasm to move on and rekindle our real
purpose.
While Kåñëa was glorifying the wonderful, auspicious trees of the Våndävana forest, He compared
them to “a noble person who has sacrificed everything possible—his body, mind, activities, intelligence,
and words—for the welfare of all living entities.” (Kåñëa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Chapter 22)
Looking deep into your sacrifice, we see that you were prepared to leave your beloved Våndävana at
such an advanced age, suffering several heart attacks at sea, to be the instrument of Caitanya Mahaprabhu
in fulfilling His famous prediction—påthivéte äche yata nagarädi gräma/ sarvatra pracära haibe mora
näma: “All over the earth, in every town and village, My name will be preached.”
And your destination—New York. Surely for the “welfare of all living entities” New York was the best
source of preaching action, despite its notoriety. But Çrématé Rädhäräëé, showing Her all-encompassing
compassion, sent you there exactly when the hippie movement was at its height, which provided you with
a scene conducive enough as a starting point. Despite the pitiful and degraded scene, you intelligently
designed a plan to engage the fallen souls there, and that too without compromise. Who could have
imagined that at a time when people had had enough of war you would teach them the Bhagavad-gétä,
where Lord Kåñëa instructs Arjuna to take up arms? Or that at a time when long hair was a most prized
possession among males, you would instruct your male followers to give up their precious hair? Who
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