Vyasapuja 2008
Dearest Srila Prabhupada,
Please accept my humble obeisances in the holy dust of your lotus feet, which you sprinkled onto six continents as you reawakened pure Krsna consciousness on earth.
In this contentious age, when people are taught to value their own opinion above everyone else’s, it is an undisputed fact that you accomplished something no one ever has accomplished before or will ever accomplish in the future, at any age, let alone at the age of seventy.
I remember the first thing I saw on my first visit to India in 1975: an old man squatting on the floor of the Calcutta airport, punching holes in stacks of disembarkation forms with hammer and nail, preparing to thread the forms with string.
Can anyone imagine the cultural obstacles you confronted, alone and penniless in 1965 Manhattan, after sixty-nine years in India? Can anyone imagine how you learned to cross such obstacles by studying the American people as you rode the New York subway lines from one end to the other? What were the odds of such a thing happening, and with such unprecedented success! How could a person with your cultural background touch the hearts of everyone you met? How could you know them so intimately?
Indeed, to calculate the depth of spiritual realization required to accomplish such a task is impossible. It was beyond scholarship, beyond expertise, beyond human capability.
You were an empowered soul extraordinaire.
In accomplishing the impossible, you consistently displayed inconceivable qualities: you were simultaneously strict and liberal, gentle and stern, highly organized and spontaneous, childlike and venerable, simple and regal, peaceful and vigorous. Your qualities and activities were graphic displays of Lord Caitanya’s perfect philosophy, acintya-bhedäbheda-tattva.
And all this you did while in poor health!
My appreciation of your accomplishments soared this past year as I passed through a health crisis. A ruptured spinal disk confined me to bed for eight weeks under treatment, and to twice-daily physical therapy for many more weeks after that. In the beginning the pain was indescribable. But I can honestly say that I stayed joyful simply by listening for hours every day chronologically to the lectures, room conversations, and morning walks you conducted as you roamed over the earth transplanting the Vedic principles and injecting Krsna consciousness into the hearts of hundreds and thousands of conditioned souls. Now I can’t live without hearing at least two of your lectures every day.
I can’t recommend strongly enough this regimen of hearing chronologically your talks as a way of staying enthusiastic.
At first, due to discomfort, I couldn’t concentrate so well on what you were saying. But even then the sound of your voice picked me up, gave me remembrance, and kept me enlivened in ways I hadn’t felt in years. Such is the power of your personality, of your saìga.
As my conditioned improved and I could concentrate better on what you were saying, I perceived that you are the embodiment of all the previous acharyas. I’m now more convinced than ever that to follow in the footsteps of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura, Srila Narottama Dasa Thakura, the Six Gosvamis of Vrindavana, or any of the other great heroes of our sampradaya, we need look no further than your example. By accepting your teachings as they are, by sincerely trying to emulate you—not by imitating the activities of our previous acaryas—one can become a perfect follower of all the previous acaryas.
My vision is certainly limited, but the essence of what I mean to say is that each of us should rededicate ourselves to meeting people face to face and convincing them of the absolute need for Krsna consciousness. You came to give us Krsna. We can repay you only by giving Him to others. We can please others only by first pleasing you and Lord Krsna.
In this complex time of controversy, factionalism, and the growing impediments of a time-worn culture, my conclusions might seem simplistic or naive. But what more can I say than that nothing works better than the simple process you gave us: chant Hare Krsna constantly as we go about our conditional and constitutional duties, without succumbing to skepticism, cynicism, discouragement, or doubt.
Praying that I never forget these simple truths, and that I never reduce my effort to apply them in my practical dealings with others, I beg you to keep me in your presence and to bestow upon me the essence of spiritual life: selfless service to you.
Your eternal servant,
Kesava Bharati Dasa Goswami