VYASA-PUJA OFFERING 2025
nama om visnu-padaya krsna-presthaya bhu-tale
srimate bhaktivedanta-svaminn iti namine
I offer my respectful obeisances unto His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Prabhupada, who is very dear to Lord Krsna on this earth, having taken shelter at
His lotus feet.
namas te sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracarine
nirvisesa-sunyavadi-pascatya-desa-tarine
Our respectful obeisances are unto you, O spiritual master, servant of Sarasvati
Gosvami. You are kindly preaching the message of Lord Caitanyadeva and
delivering the Western countries, which are filled with impersonalism and voidism.
And You Will Utilize
O dearest Srila Prabhupada, O unlimited ocean of mercy, compassion, tolerance, forgiveness, kindness, humility, liberalness, strictness, courage, spiritual strength––and all the other auspicious qualities that comprise the character of a nitya-siddha associate of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Lord Nityananda Prabhu––I fall at your feet and beg you to accept me as your eternal servant. The shelter of your lotus feet is everything to me. You are my life and soul. On this holiest of days, your Vyasa-puja, please allow me to rededicate my life to serving you and your mission of making everyone happy by reading your books out loud to whomever I meet.
Srila Prabhupada, a reporter once asked you “What will happen when you die?” Your response? “I will never die. I shall live forever in my books and you will utilize.”
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That you spoke these words is common knowledge. Also well-known is your declaration that anyone who wants to know you should read your books, for everything you had to say is in your transcendental literature. Indeed, your books are a veritable encyclopaedia of spiritual knowledge and understanding. You painstakingly composed your Bhaktivedanta Purports by combining your own transcendental realisations with the essence of our previous acaryas’ commentaries. By reading your books, then, we get to know not only you but also the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, SriKrishna, as well as His eternal consort and
greatest devotee Srimati Radharani, along with Their personal expansions and incarnations––not to mention the expansions of Their eternal associates who come to this material world to assist Them in the mission of calling the fallen conditioned souls back to their eternal home in the spiritual world. All these transcendental personalities live in the pages of Bhagavad-gita As It Is, Srimad-Bhagavatam, Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, and the other literatures you have translated and commented upon.
But something else is encapsulated in the final phrase of your answer to that reporter––“And you will utilize.”
You wanted everyone to use the knowledge contained in your books, Srila Prabhupada, no matter what position they hold. To bring about peace in human society we all must apply the principles taught in the holy scriptures to purify and develop our character. And that process begins by each of us correcting ourselves by thinking, feeling, willing, and acting according to the spiritual standards set by the great exemplars––and then explaining and demonstrating that spiritual knowledge and culture to others.
“To hear and explain them is more important than reading them. One can assimilate the knowledge of the revealed scriptures only by hearing and explaining. Hearing is called sravana, and explaining is called kirtana. The two processes of sravana and kirtana are of primary importance to progressive spiritual life. Only one who has properly grasped the transcendental knowledge from the right source by submissive hearing can properly explain the subject.” (SB 1.1.6, purport)
Thus, for your pleasure, Srila Prabhupada, again I wish to emphasize the rarely quoted last phrase of your answer to that reporter’s question––“and you will utilize.”
You state in your purport to Bhagavad-gita 2.72, “One can attain Krsna consciousness or divine life at once, within a second—or one may not attain such a state of life even after millions of births. It is only a matter of understanding and accepting the fact.”
Your purports provide that understanding, Srila Prabhupada. By hearing your books repeatedly over a long period of time––especially out loud––and by sincerely trying to understand them can we learn all the mysteries of the universe, what is true and what is false, and how to live in the truth.
As Kapiladeva instructs Devahuti, “One can get liberation by seriously discharging devotional service unto Me and thereby hearing for a long time about Me or from Me. By thus executing one’s prescribed duties, there will be no reaction, and one will be freed from the contamination of matter.” (SB 3.27.21)
Studying your books over a long period of time and applying that knowledge to our daily lives is the process to understand the fact. And the fact is that Lord Sri Krsna is the Absolute Truth and that pure devotional service to Him is the goal of life. You wanted us to peach this truth to uplift human society, Srila Prabhupada.
To properly understand, however, one needs a purified heart. And so along with hearing your books you emphasized the inoffensive chanting of the holy name of the Lord, the maha-mantra: Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rma Hare Hare, which according to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu cleanses the heart of unnecessary and unwanted things.
Srila Prabhupada, you are a transparent via medium to our previous acaryas; therefore, it is hardly surprising that your approach to chanting the holy name is the same as that of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, who wrote:
Your mind is wandering all over the universe when you chant.
Chant anyway!
Your mind is wandering to the past and future when you chant.
Chant anyway!
You are not able to concentrate on Krishna’s names while you chant.
Chant anyway!
You have no taste for chanting.
Chant anyway!
You have lusty desires.
Chant anyway!
You are making offenses in chanting.
Chant anyway!
You are not praying to Krishna to help you chant better.
Chant anyway!
You often chant late at night.
Chant anyway!
So WHY? Why should you chant despite all the above obstacles?
This is why:
“There is no vow like chanting the holy name, no knowledge superior to it, no meditation which comes anywhere near it, and it gives the highest result.
”No penance is equal to it, and nothing is as potent or powerful as the holy name.
”Chanting is the greatest act of piety and the supreme refuge.
“Even the words of the Vedas do not possess sufficient power to describe its magnitude.
“Chanting is the highest path to liberation, peace and eternal life.
“It’s the pinnacle of devotion, the heart’s joyous proclivity and attraction and the best form of remembrance of the Supreme Lord.
“The holy name has appeared solely for the benefit of the living entities as their Lord and master, their supreme worshipful object and their spiritual guide and mentor.
“Whoever continuously chants Lord Krishna’s holy name, even in his sleep can easily realise that the name is a direct manifestation of Krishna Himself in spite of the
influences of Kali-yuga.” (Chant Anway, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura)
Furthermore, the Supreme Lord is not obtained by expert explanations, by vast intelligence, or even by much hearing. He is obtained only by one whom He Himself chooses. To such a person, He manifests His own form (Mundaka Upanisad 3.2.3).
Ultimately, then, our spiritual success depends on our receiving the mercy of the Supreme Lord, especially in His form of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, as that mercy flows through you dearest Srila Prabhupada!
The mercy of Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityananda flows naturally to the most fallen. And because I am most fallen my appeal is most legitimate and urgent.
Srila Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami expressed this urgent need most eloquently to Lord Caitanya Himself: “All glories to Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the most merciful saviour of the fallen souls! All glories to the Supreme Personality!”
“Sir, we belong to the lowest class of men, and our associates and employment are also of the lowest type. Therefore, we cannot introduce ourselves to You. We feel very much ashamed, standing here before You.”
“Dear Lord, let us inform you that no one is more sinful than us, nor is there any offender like us. Even if we wanted to mention our sinful activities, we would immediately become ashamed. And what to speak of giving them up!”
“Dear Lord, You have incarnated to deliver the fallen souls. You should consider that in this world there is none so fallen as us.
“You have delivered the two brothers Jagai and Madhai, but to deliver them You did not have to exert Yourself very much.”
“The brothers Jagai and Madhai belonged to the brahmana caste, and their residence was in the holy place of Navadvipa. They never served low-class persons, nor were they instruments to abominable activities.”
“Jagai and Madhai had but one fault—they were addicted to sinful activity. However, volumes of sinful activity can be burned to ashes simply by a dim reflection of the chanting of Your holy name.”
“Jagai and Madhai uttered Your holy name by way of blaspheming You. Fortunately, that holy name became the cause of their deliverance.”
“We two are millions and millions of times inferior to Jagai and Madhai. We are more degraded, fallen and sinful than they.”
“No one within the three worlds is sufficiently powerful to deliver us. You are the only saviour of the fallen souls; therefore, there is no one but You.”
“If You simply deliver us by Your transcendental strength, then certainly Your name will be known as Patita-pavana, the savuior of the fallen souls.”
“Let us speak one word that is very true. Plainly hear us, O merciful one. There is no other object of mercy within the three worlds but us.” (CC Madhya 1.189–202)
In this way, Srila Prabhupada, you have taken away all excuses by delivering the secrets of successful spiritual life through your teachings.
You freely gave such rare, precious gifts to the world! You explained that your books are your kirtana, the brhad-kirtana. Through that brhad-kirtana––along with the harinama parties, the vow to chant daily a fixed number of rounds on japa beads, the prasadam you taught us to cook, offer to the Lord and distribute to the public––you instilled in us faith in the process of Krsna consciousness, the solution to all the world’s problems.
And above all you taught us to chant the holy name “without stoppage.”
namaparadha-yuktanam
namany eva haranty agham
avisranti-prayuktani
tany evartha-karanii ca
“The chanting of Hare Krnsa is recommended for persons who commit offenses, because if they continue chanting, they will gradually chant offenselessly. Even if in the beginning one chants the Hare Krsna mantra with offenses, one will become free from such offenses by chanting again and again.” (Padma Purana)
“Therefore, the chanting of Hare Krnsa, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare should be continued without stoppage. This will protect a devotee from all accidental falldowns. He will thus remain perpetually free from all material contaminations.” (Bg 9.31, purport)
Please, Srila Prabhupada, please allow me to assist you in giving these invaluable precious gifts to whomever I meet.
After all, your answer to that reporter so many years ago –“and you will utilize”– must mean that your books are for everyone. Please empower us, your sincere followers, to assist you in your profound mission to uplift the world in its darkest hour by the mass distribution of your transcendental books and the holy maha-mantra.
Hare Krnsa!
Begging for any place in the dust of your lotus feet,
Kesava Bharati Dasa Goswami