THE MOST BLESSED EVENT

80’S ANNIVERSARY

SRI VYASA-PUJA
December 7, 2019. The Appearance Day of Our Beloved Spiritual Master

His Hooliness Om Visnupada

Paramahamsa Parivrajakacarya Astottara-sata
Sri Srimad Satsvarupa dasa Goswami Maharaja
International Society for Krishna Consciousness
nama om visnu-padaya krsna-presthaya bhutale
srimate satsvarupa dasa gosvami iti namine
satsvarupa bhidam vande-vinitam sadhu bhusanam
bhakti granta-naipunyam bhaktivedanta siksitam
FROM GODBROTHERS
Dear Satsvarupa Maharaja,
Deep in the land of the heart, where real thoughts are carefully cherished, you live
in Viraha Bhavan, a little white house down the road from the cornfields, a house
where, upstairs, Radha and Krishna live, a few feet from your chair. There you hear
about Them, chant for Them, write for Them, see Them, and disclose your mind
to Them, and They encourage you, inspire you, pull you closer toward Them. Srila
Prabhupada is there, your lifelong guide, your master and friend, there with Radha
and Krishna, helping you, guiding you, nourishing and strengthening and refining
your devotional life, your thoughts, the words that you write and say.
After the years and decades when you served on active worldwide duty—
temples! travels! men! meetings! programs! Library party! GBC! zones! money!
management! -- it’s quiet there, a few close servants and friends with you, helping
you in this time of your devotional career.
Downstairs, Gaura-Nitai extend blessings—Vrindaban upstairs, Mayapur on the
ground. And even at the kitchen table, at lunchtime, sounds from the spiritual
world invoke the presence of Krishna, in his many forms, in his pastimes with his
devotees, through the reading of Srimad-Bhagavatam.
Outside the borders of this mostly unknown land, people live in a world of flags
and firetrucks and Hudson Valley illusions. But here, your Krishna consciousness
creates the world of Vrindaban, the world of Krishna, the true home for the soul.
And for your fortunate readers, friends, and followers, your words dispel illusions
and lead the way, following Srila Prabhupada, back to the land of eternal service to
Krishna.
Forever in your debt,
Your servant and friend,
Jayadvaita Swami
My dear Satsvarupa das Goswami Maharaja,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
As you know, you are my mentor, exemplar, and inspiration for writing about
Srila Prabhupada, which has been my main focus for the last several years, and
so I have been thinking of you. I recently finished the first draft of my book about
Srila Prabhupada and Juhu, and while working on the book I would refer to Srila
Prabhupada-lilamrta and marvel at how beautifully it was written.
Now I am contemplating writing about Boston, where we first met and where you
nurtured me in Krishna consciousness and encouraged me to write. And I will be
referring to your writings about that period as well.
In my initiation letter, dated July 5, 1969, Srila Prabhupada mentioned you:
“With my blessings, I am sending herewith your beads, duly chanted upon by
me. You should avoid the ten offenses as far as possible, and follow the four
regulative principles, as Satsvarupa will instruct you. I know your good godbrother
Satsvarupa will always help you in this connection.” And even now, your emphasis
on your personal japa is guiding and inspiring me.
So I feel very grateful to you, for you have nurtured me in Krishna consciousness
from my very first days, as a student at Brandeis University, until today. And I know
that you will continue to do so.
How you protected me is exemplified in a small exchange. Once, at breakfast,
Saradia was sitting at the end of the sheet on which we had our plates, kitty-corner
to me, and you were next to me. Saradia, glancing at me, said, “Satsvarupa, since
when do we let hippies stay with us?” You winced and replied incredulously yet
firmly, “Glenn isn’t a hippie, Saradia. He’s a devotee.”
Later, at North Beacon Street, feeling especially wretched and lowly, I said, “I feel
so fallen, I don’t think Rupa Goswami would want me in the spiritual world,” and
you replied, “No, he thinks that you’re nice and that you should be with there with
them.”
Unfortunately, my health has not allowed me to visit you again, but I often recall
my visit to Stuyvesant Falls and the association and instructions I got from you
there.
If there is anything I can do for you, it would be my great honor and pleasure, so
please ask without hesitation or reservation.
I love you, Maharaja.

Hare Krishna.

Your eternal, indebted, aspiring servant and younger godbrother,

Giriraj Swami
Dear Satsvarupa Maharaja,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

I have very fond memories of you from my younger days when I joined the Krishna
consciousness movement in Austin, Texas in 1971.

I wrote you many letters asking you various questions regarding Krishna
consciousness, and without fail you always took the time and trouble to
thoroughly answer all of my questions. In this way you were following perfectly in
the footsteps of our most beloved Srila Prabhupada.

Now I am also a guru.  And I have hundreds of disciples all over the world with a
steady stream of emails flooding my inbox every day. So now my determination
is to manifest the same loving kindness to my inquirers that you and Srila
Prabhupada blessed me with.

If I am most fortunate, I will again have the chance to see you again after so many
years of separation.

Your grateful servant,

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

I am one among thousands whose life has been significantly benefitted by
Satsvarupa Maharaja’s profuse writings about Srila Prabhupada. In future,
may it be millions.

Bhakti Vikasa Swami

Dear Satsvarupa das Goswami,

Please accept my respectful obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

It is an honor and joy to send my appreciation for your eightieth-year celebration.
I remember Los Angeles, when you arrived to stabilize Back to Godhead magazine.
While achieving that goal, you also counseled many younger devotees—including
me. I was affected by certain perplexities prevalent at New Dvaraka then, and you
personally ensured that I remained on track.
Later, during my harrowing years in the communist East Europe bloc, you helped
me understand how Srila Prabhupada was directing me through the heart,
marching this frail disciple onward in what surely seemed a hopeless mission.
Indeed, I remember a vivid dream of Srila Prabhupada asking you, “Why hasn’t
Devamrita taken sannyasa?”
Meanwhile you observed how the onerousness of the zonal acarya system was
taking its toll. You offered precious sympathy and validity to my plight.
I thank you for the Free Write Journal, a multi-faceted literary gem. Its bhakti
clarity and honesty become increasingly addictive each passing week.
All of Srila Prabhupada’s spiritual children will leave whenever Krishna wants, but
we thank Krishna for His continuing in this world both your presence and your
literary output, for our benefit.
your hopeful servant,

Devamrita Swami
Lost and Found
It was the last week of July, 1970, at the old Boston temple on 38-40 North Beacon
Street. I had joined the devotees a couple of weeks earlier as a refugee from the
counterculture: UConn drop-out, expat returnee, Beatles’ breakup mourner.
The temple was in the Allston-Brighton section of Boston—rougher then, with
broken buildings and aging streetcar lines. The houses at 38-40 had been a funeral
home but now sheltered some fifty devotees, many serving at ISKCON Press, the
precursor to Srila Prabhupada’s BBT.
All day, every day, some of the best and brightest in Prabhupada’s growing
Movement—artists, editors, scholars, transcribers, pressmen, organizers, singers,
cooks, pujaris, drivers, mechanics, and more—charged up and down the buildings’
creaky stairs to and from their services before charging out on massive harinama
parties in shifts, the last to the theater district at night where Hair was playing.
Since the play climaxed with the cast singing the Hare Krishna mantra, when the
public emerged from the theater into the upraised arms of our harinama party,
many thought we were part of the play!
Much as I loved the devotees, the Bhagavad-gita, the chanting, the prasadam,
and the revolutionary purpose Prabhupada had given my life, the nonstop pace at
the temple was dizzying. I felt like a little boy at a merry-go-round I couldn’t quite
get on. After two weeks at the temple, I decided to leave.
I knew the devotees would try to dissuade me so I planned a midnight getaway.
We new men slept in the prasadam room on the ground floor. One night, while
everyone snoozed, I carefully opened a window, placed my backpack and bedroll
onto the porch, and stepped into the midsummer darkness. Down the street from
the temple sat a nunnery park I had noticed a few days earlier. Placing my bedroll
by a protective oak, I lay down amid serenading crickets and soon fell asleep. As
dawn approached, I heard sandals shuffling near my head. It was Hridayananda
dasa Brahmacari murmuring his japa. Looking down, he said, “Dick Prabhu, are
you coming to mangala-arati? Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna…”
I looked up and rubbed my eyes. “No, the temple is too much for me,” I said
sheepishly. “I have my Gita and my beads. I’m going to hitchhike to Cape Cod to
see some friends.”
After some back and forth, Hridayananda somehow persuaded me to return to
the temple, where the president was sitting on the front porch, chanting japa on a
bench. Hridayananda suggested I join the president, who invited me to sit by him.
His name was Satsvarupa dasa Adhikari.
As a newcomer, I had admired Satsvarupa Prabhu from a distance—his kindness,
his learning, his hard work, his love for Srila Prabhupada and surrender to his
movement. Managing fifty devotees crammed into a converted funeral parlor
appeared difficult for him, but it all worked, it seemed to me, because of his
endearing example. Now in his presence, I asked him a question:
“Did you ever have any doubts?”
“Doubts?” he said pensively, gazing at the emerging Boston skyline. His Catholic
family had disowned him, I would later learn, for joining Srila Prabhupada. “Yes,
I had doubts. I had many bitter doubts. But with one swing of his cane, Srila
Prabhupada kicked them all away.”
I looked at Satsvarupa’s eyes, suddenly glimpsing Prabhupada’s greatness. He
was opening up to me, and I was grateful for that. I knew I wanted to stay now,
whatever the hardships, because he was staying. Out of his kindness, Satsvarupa
Prabhu befriended this lost soul, and now I was found.
His grateful friend and servant,
Suresvara dass

P.S. In future tributes, I look forward to describing how our friendship evolved
through thick and thin.
Dear Satsvarupa Maharaja,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. All glories
to you, one of Srila Prabhupada’s most beautiful creations.
The first time I saw you in person was at the Boston temple in October or
November of 1971; you were the temple president at that time. I was visiting
from NY, traveling with the ISKCON Press devotees to New Hampshire with a
truck full of books to be bound. We spent the night at the Boston temple and
returned to NY the next day. During milk prasadam that evening, you were
speaking about an engagement you and some other devotees had attended, and
you mentioned how one of the devotees started playing a piano very expertly
and impressed the people at the program. My impression of you at that time was
that you were humble and peaceful. I didn’t know who you were, nor did I even
know your name. On the drive back to NY, the devotees were talking about you
and explained to me who you were. In December that same year I moved into
the Boston temple, but you had already left and Gaura Hari was the new temple
president.
Since that time, I would now and then get your association. When I was the SKP
leader in Philadelphia you were our GBC, and I would regularly report to you how
the SKP devotees were doing. I used the terms, “So and so was fried out, so and
so was fired up.” Later I read something you wrote about ISKCON jargon and I
always wonder if you wrote that because of my letters.
I was a brahmacari for eight years and the first day I put on white, (by bleaching
my dhoti) I went to the Long Island temple to pick up Jivanausadhi dd, my future
wife. I never met her before, the arrangement was made by Adi Keshava and I was
to bring her back to our Hartford temple. I remember the surprised look on your
face when you opened your door and saw me wearing white. It wasn’t a negative
“You fell down” kind of look, but just more of a surprised look. I was embarrassed
because in those days we were brahmacaris for life (even though 99% of us got
married!).
I have recently visited you a couple of times and I am impressed with your Krishna
consciousness. I read your Free Write Journal every week, and your books
regularly, especially Srila Prabhupada Lilamrita and most recently He Lives Forever,
and I have to say they are transcendental literatures. Anyone who reads Lilamrita
has to become attached to Srila Prabhupada. Thank you so much for writing so
many wonderful Krishna conscious books. You will also live forever in your books.
I have always been attracted to your humility. I think humility and kindness are
the most important qualities of a devotee, and you have them in spades. I am so
happy that I have met you and you have treated me as a friend. I thank you so
much for your association, and I hope to visit you again and again in the upcoming
years. Hare Krishna.
Your (aspiring to become humble) servant,

Pyari Mohan Das

Dear Satsvarupa Maharaja,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
Thank you for your ongoing contributions to Srila Prabhupada’s movement through
your writing as well as through your personal example of following Srila Prabhupa-
da’s teachings in sadhana and in always trying to remember Krishna and never forget
Him.

My gratitude to you always.

Your servant,
Visakha Dasi
Some Memories
Rumors of the Boston monk
When I first joined ISKCON in Tallahassee, Florida, in 1971, I heard from
Janmenjaya dasa and Tara dasi about the advanced devotees: Kirtanananda
Swami and Satsvarupa Prabhu. Satsvarupa Prabhu was the president of the
Boston temple and was very advanced in Krsna consciousness. He is humble and
always engaged in service. He eats little, sleeps little, and serves. He is always
multi-tasking: management, editing Srila Prabhupada’s books, and editing Back to
Godhead magazine.
First Meeting
When our temple in Tallahassee was closed, we traveled in a U-Haul truck to
Dallas, Texas. You greeted us at the back door of the temple (which was under
renovation by Vamanadeva) dressed in the standard uniform of that time, a yellow
dhoti and kurta, with a sannyasi-style sash. Your head was freshly shaved, and
you seemed effulgent to us. You offered your obeisances to us so quickly that you
easily beat all of us to the floor. You expressed your gratitude that we had come
and that you were happy that you would have our help in Srila Prabhupada’s
gurukula project.
Asking my Advice
Srila Prabhupada had only written a few letters about gurukula at this point.
The general drift was to engage the children in remembering Krsna and enacting
His pastimes, and following the regular program of sadhana of their elders. You
consulted me regularly because I had credentials as a secondary school English
teacher. You treated me like the head teacher due to my two years’ teaching
experience. You asked me for my opinion as to how we should proceed. I
couldn’t really answer because Srila Prabhupada’s scheme was not clear to me,
but I remember feeling so appreciated and welcomed by you, feeling like I had
something to offer, despite my confusion.
Teaching by Example
You always talked yourself down as a manager, but it seemed to me that your
management was perfect. Anything you wanted us to do, you did yourself, setting
the example. That was what you had learned from Srila Prabhupada about
management: to be the example. We had daily temple clean-ups. You led the way.
Each devotee had their area in the large temple, and you led the charge, cleaning
the halls and chanting. You led kirtana very sweetly with real enthusiasm. You
rose earlier than everyone else so you could work on your BTG duties and editing
projects for Srila Prabhupada. Usually you were up by 2:00 or 2:30 a.m. You led
us on street sankirtana in downtown Dallas. Sometimes we were accosted by the
Christians, and sometimes we met the hostile presence of Black Muslims. One
time they shoved us off the sidewalk into the street, but we went on chanting.
You, at least, were undeterred. At the Dallas Fairgrounds, you once advised us not
to “get tar-babied” by the Christians, whose argumentative challenges distracted
us from the real work of book distribution, not to waste time trying to convince
those never to be convinced.
GBC Dissolution
Not long after we had arrived in Dallas, Srila Prabhupada wrote a letter effectively
dissolving the GBC. You immediately held an istagosthi and read out all of Srila
Prabhupada’s critical remarks and assured us that Srila Prabhupada was asserting
his proper authority in doing so, as his disciples had made many managerial
arrangements which he had not approved. Whenever you were called to spend
time with Srila Prabhupada in Los Angeles or other parts of the U.S., you always
returned with extensive diary notes, sharing your experiences and realizations
gained in his company. We experienced your transparency. It was as though
we were there with Srila Prabhupada with you, experiencing his humor, his
displeasure, his one-liners and his transcendental teachings. You were truly
a transparent via-media to Srila Prabhupada and have continued to be so by
presenting the Srila Prabhupada-lilamrta and so many other writings glorifying
the pure devotee, telling the stories, delivering his living presence in the form of
sound.
Cc. Adi-lila Chapter 7

When Cc. Adi-lila Chapter 7 came out in manuscript form, you shared it
with us in the evenings. As we drank the sweetened hot milk, we experienced the
sweetness, the wonder and the faith-inducing activities and philosophy of Lord
Caitanya. You never held anything back. Whatever nectar came your way, you
always shared it with appreciation, enthusiasm, and perceptive understanding.

Srila Prabhupada in the Sun 1973

As I remember it at least, when Srila Prabhupada came to Dallas in 1973,

he was unwell. He was taking mostly fruit and resting in the garden area in the
yard of the house across from the temple parking lot. You were rubbing Srila
Prabhupada with mustard oil. As you did so, he was instructing you. I watched
from an upstairs window. He would instruct, you would pause, then as he paused
in his instruction, you would rub more oil. I witnessed this familiar exchange. It
was like a father with his intimate son, and I knew that could not be me, not in
that way at least. You had been with him since the beginning, so I could never
have that kind of relationship. But I did not feel envious, because I knew that
whatever Srila Prabhupada revealed to you, you would communicate it to us. I felt
happiness just witnessing it, having confidence that all would be revealed by you,
his intimate servant.

New Vrndavana and Pittsburgh

Srila Prabhupada stopped in Pittsburgh, where a temple had been

started. You had taken some of us and some of the gurukula students to see
Srila Prabhupada. After the greeting and kirtana, Srila Prabhupada looked out
and spotted Dwarkadisha. He said, “Mr. DDD, how are you.” “Fine,” came the shy
answer. “And how is your mother?” Again, “Fine.” Then Srila Prabhupada looked
out and said, “Mr. DDD and I are very old friends.” (He paused.) “Very old.” After
the lecture, Srila Prabhupada started up the stairs of the two-story temple. You
and I were watching Srila Prabhupada and the big guns going up the stairs. I was
wondering why you didn’t go with them. Now, I know from reading your early
memories at 26 Second Avenue. You wanted to be invited, but otherwise, you
didn’t want to pretentiously assume you could go with him. I was thinking, if
it was me, I would go anyway, just for the chance to be with Srila Prabhupada.
But you hesitated. Then Srila Prabhupada turned, spotted you, and waved you
forward to come with him. With a smile, you bolted to the stairs and went with
him. I was thinking, I can never be anything but a rank and file devotee, but then
Dwarkadisha and you had been with him from early on. I had my chance in San
Francisco in 1969 but turned away then. You and Dwarkadisha were bound to be
appreciated by him. You both had come early and were both humble and sincere.
I still hadn’t learned that intimacy had to do with humility and service, not years
and not physical presence.

Taking Sannyasa

What year did you take sannyasa, was it 1972? I can’t remember. But I
remember a sinking feeling when I heard about it, because we wouldn’t see you
much when you hit the road. You were my inspiration. You were our leader. I
was ready to follow. I was distraught; trying to figure out what to do. I had a
brainstorm: I would be your servant and travel with you. I gradually worked up
the courage to ask you if I could be your servant. Rupanuga Prabhu came to
Dallas for a visit. He seemed very strict and grave. I made an appointment to
see you to ask if I could be your servant. When I came into the office and asked,
Rupanuga immediately said it was inappropriate for a grhastha to be the servant
of a sannyasi. I couldn’t understand it since I was already living in the asrama like
a brahmacari, and my wife at the time, Candrika, didn’t mind. I tried to argue,
but you agreed with Rupanuga. I was crushed, defeated, and disconsolate. Laxmi
Narayana Prabhu became the president and decided I was a useless teacher. I was
trying to think what my service could be.

Trying Again

When you and Hridayananda dasa Goswami decided to travel together

and preach, I thought to try again. I appealed to join your book distribution
party since I was unappreciated by the Dallas manager. I appealed to you to
put me on the party. However, I was placed instead with some very remarkable
devotees in Hridayananda Maharaja’s party: Ghanasyama (later to become Bhakti
Tirtha Maharaja) and Kusakratha Prabhu (the translator of multiple Goswami
literatures) and me. I didn’t have a relationship at this point with Hridayananda
dasa Goswami, but I was amazed by his energy and enthusiasm and tried to adjust
myself to book distribution in the areas of the southern and western U.S. I missed
you again.

Finally, I got so sick I couldn’t continue. I was dropped off in LA to

recuperate. After I started to get better, you stopped off in LA, and I went to see
you. You were sitting in a van full of books. The sun was shining, your head was
gleaming. It seemed to me that you were gleaming. You told me that any number
of brahmacaris could do book distribution. You said I was a teacher, not everyone
could do that. You said, “The children like you. You are their friend. I think you
should go back.” You were right, but I felt sad not to be able to go with you. That
was my heart’s desire, but it was not to be. I took a flight back to Dallas.

Montessori School

Mohanananda Prabhu was in charge by this time. I became the first

“asrama teacher,” getting the boys up for the spiritual program, getting them
dressed and bathed, cleaning, washing clothes, reading to them, chanting with
them. Occasionally, you would stop by, and you would chant with the boys, with
exaggerated movements of “both lips and the tongue,” as Srila Prabhupada had
instructed. Those were happy moments when you led kirtanas and chanted japa
with us, giving us encouragement. You had to swoop in at one point, having been
alerted by Kirtanananda Swami about the introduction of the Montesorri system
in the gurukula. Dayananda and I didn’t think it had much to do with what Srila
Prabhupada wanted. Apparently, Srila Prabhupada agreed. You came, and it went.

Chanting reform

You wrote a whole book about reforming japa. I remember how much you
tried to teach the importance of japa to us all. You showed by example once again.

Anything You Liked About It?

 I am remembering you wrote something once about a Godbrother
criticizing so many aspects of the Srila Prabhupada-lilamrta, going on and on
about what he considered defects. You wrote that you thought of asking him:
“Was there anything about it that you liked?” I thought this was hilarious. It
reminded me of an English comedy in which some characters are running a hotel
and an inspector comes with an enormous laundry list of faults. When he reached
the end, the proprietor of the hotel said: “Aside from that, everything else all
right?”

May you go on and on glorifying Srila Prabhupada, your life and soul. I remain,
Your servant and friend,

Rupa Vilasa dasa

Dear Maharaja,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to His Divine Grace Srila
Prabhupada!
On this glorious occasion I am very happy for you! The followings are simply
“thank yous,” about how you inspired my devotional life:

Thank you for letting me be your driver in Dallas. In 1974 as a young Bhakta
Butch, I would drop you off for various preaching engagements in the temple van.
Sometimes you would go by yourself to downtown Dallas, As a young Bhakta, I
thought that was brave and very cool.
In Houston, thank you for being our very personable GBC, you met and counseled
all our brahmacaris individually, and inspired me by your kindness and humility.
Thank you for writing Japa Walks, Japa Talks, and Shack Notes....and Prabhupada
Lilamrita, ISKCON 1970s, and your updates and writings from the SDG site!
But most of all, thank you for “giving me the sauce” in 1995, when I needed it, (by
letter correspondences), and then affectionately counseling me on my transition
from a military career back to my service to Srila Prabhupada.
You may consider yourself to be simply the eternal and humble servant of Sri
Radha Govinda, and our Srila Prabhupada, and Maharaja you rightly are, but I
consider you to be  the “one in a million” special devotee who has inspired fallen
disciples as myself, and given us mercy to push forward in our devotional lives.
Thank you once again, as I remain always your servant.
Bhushaya dasa (ACBSP)
Dear Guru Maharaja,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

A very happy birthday to you!

I am amazed that three years have passed since you welcomed me into your
life once more, and I am humbled and moved beyond words when I reflect upon
everything that I have experienced since that time. Fridays with you have been
the source of the greatest joy, and the warmth and grace that you have bestowed
upon me have deepened my faith in remarkable ways, such that I am a better
Christian and better pastor. Every word of thanks that I might offer could hardly
express the movement of my heart which I could never articulate.

It has been two years since we began what you wonderfully described as a
“literary adventure,” and my ever-deeper immersion within your writing has
given me a sense of purpose which I treasure at every moment. To read your
books is to discover your heart, and it is to discover a heart which reaches out
in love and compassion to all. To read your books is to be welcomed into your
inner life, and with great courage and artistry you make yourself vulnerable
before your reader and before your Lord, so that we might discover both our
own spiritual poverty and the magnanimous riches of God. In the baring of your
very depths, we discover the authentic and exceedingly rare intersection of the
artistic and devotional lives, and one can only describe such an inner movement
as redemptive for those who are blessed to make your acquaintance. Here lies the
root of my passion to make available to readers old and new, the riches of your
unpublished work. A literary adventure indeed!
When we first met in the 1980s, I was a university student seeking and searching
for that which would mend all of the broken pieces of my inner life. And there
you were, with your compassion and love, and through your presence in my life I
was able to begin the process of gathering together all of those pieces which had
been scattered. When I shared with you my desire to return to the Church, you
encouraged me still, to serve God in all that I would ever do. Here I am today, a
minister, who audaciously claims you as my spiritual master. As you have given
your heart to me, so I joyfully do the same.
And as we say in church, may the good Lord bless you and keep you always.

With love and devotion,

John Endler
Dear Guru Maharaja,
Please accept my humble obeisances at your lotus feet. All glories to Srila
Prabhupada.

This year on your auspicious Vyasa-puja celebration on your 80h birthday, I intend
to reflect on the wonderful living legacy you have manifested in service to Srila
Prabhupada and Krishna for the benefit of present and future generations.
I am using the expression ‘Living Legacy’ as a title for this offering because the
statement encapsulates numerous elements of your devotional lifelong work. Your
main contribution is undoubtedly your writings, generously available at sdglegacy.
com for the benefit of everyone interested.
Your immense literary contribution is living in multiple ways:
1. It reveals your lifelong experience in life and Krsna consciousness, from
your childhood and youth, before you met Srila Prabhupada, the personal
transformation you went through when you met him, the vast amount
of responsibilities you took on his behalf within ISKCON, the periods of
dynamic worldwide traveling and preaching, the crises you went through
both in health and other aspects of life, the innumerable amount of
special people you interact with, your personal sadhana and introspection,
and it might be appropriate to say that it culminates with your happy
days in Viraha-bhavan, where despite old age and its natural challenges
you continue to expand your literary legacy and you enjoy serving Radha-
Govinda and Srila Prabhupada in the company of disciples and friends.

2. Your literary work is not stereotyped dogma but the expression of a true
 person speaking to the world about the wonderful teachings he received
from his self-realized spiritual master and how he experiences them in
different life situations.

3. It continues to grow day after day, most probably it will expand until your
last breath.

4. It is expressed in manifold literary genres such as poetry, sacred biography,

devotional practice, essay, journal, free-writing, novel, fiction, art, and
other.

5. It is so vast that it is difficult to specifically know how many books you

have produced. I may be wrong, but I think that other than Krishna, no
one really knows how many literary pieces you have written.

6. Your readers get life and inspiration from what you share. By following you
in your often self-reflective writing style, they connect with Krishna within
their hearts and they become inspired to use whatever abilities they have
in His service, according to their natural propensities, both purely spiritual
and psychophysical.

7. It is not limited by time. Since it reveals the eternal truths of Krishna and
devotional service to Him, it will continue to exist and to enlighten people
after your physical departure from this world. It is the vibrant expression
of the guru-parampara vani manifested in a unique way.

Other aspects of your legacy are your lifelong wonderful example as a devotee
who is loyal to guru and Krishna, your voluminous artwork, and your intense and
yet quiet lifestyle, which is full of exciting experiences in relation to Krishna and
His devotees.
Since this year we have been asked to keep our offerings concise so that they
can be compiled, I’ll stop here by stating that your Living Legacy is so marvelous
that it deserves one or more thorough Ph.D. studies that may contribute to
comprehensive understanding for the benefit of the Vaisnava community and the
general public.
I bow down at your lotus feet with heartfelt gratitude and affection,

Eternally your servant,

Yadunandana Swami
Dear Srila Gurudeva!
Please accept my humble obeisances in the dust of your lotus feet. All glories to
your infinite, causeless mercy on the useless soul!
Your influence on my life is seen in many ways: from my marriage to my career in
music and, most importantly, my spiritual pursuits. After many years of difficulties
in Krishna consciousness, you encouraged me to get married and my life has been
much more stable for the past twenty years. I cannot say that marriage has always
been easy but it has been the best thing for me.
You have always encouraged my musical pursuits and took special care to make
sure I didn’t try to imitate you by renouncing jazz in my own life. For many years
we shared CDs and discussed jazz musicians; you even gave me a “blindfold test”
by playing CDs from your collection and having me try to identify the artists. Now
I still have some of your CDs from your collection and share them with other
devotee musicians. I am continuing to play jazz guitar and it remains a fulfilling
outlet for me.
Spiritually I continue to hear from you via SoundCloud. My wife and I like to listen
to your lectures in the morning while cooking and/or doing Deity service at home.
There is a depth of understanding in your presentation that allows us to go on
hearing again and again, gaining new insights each time. We gain inspiration from
your lectures and writings for our daily sadhana, especially japa. Your books on
chanting are the most valuable to me - I especially treasure Begging for the Nectar
of the Holy Name.
I am writing from Sri Mayapur Dham and only have my iPhone to compose this
on. I apologize for my shallowness and all my weaknesses but thank you for the
opportunity to try to glorify you.
Your fallen servant,

Sankirtan das
Dear Guru-maharaj,
Please accept my humble obeisances  on this day of your Vyasa puja for your 80th
birthday.

This time both my parents and my Gurudeva are alive.

My father and mother have close to 87 and 85 years old respectively.You have your
80 years of age today.

Please let me share this humble offering .

Sometime back while visiting  my dear mother, she open herself to me  feeling
almost sorry for herself : “You know we are old now we cannot do much and don’t
look so good as before and therefore it must not be fun for you to be with us .”

In replying my mother with reasuring words I also said that we are all following
each other in old age and death. We are in need to be courageous as we are facing
this  situation. My point here is Is there any need to lament ? I was trying to be of
some encouraging help .

I am feeling sorry that I didn’t do more for my godly mother

On the other hand sometime back also I got in my email a Free Write Journal from
you. This continued to come regularly. The content wasnt stale or dry but creative,
lively and encouraging for my Krishna consciousness. In old age when you write
addressing the various topics about Krishna consciousness, whether it is sadhana,
Srila Prabhupada or other realizations of yours, it seems to be coming from the
fountain of youth.

The result here is that I want to apply myself more and more in Krishna
consciousness, and my humble offering today is to fold my hand gratefully and
accept this beautiful teaching of yours and Srila Prabhupada so that one day I may
also meet the Person who is Himself the fountain of youth.

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

Yours in service,
Vedavyasa dasa
Dear Guru Maharaja:
Hare Krsna! Please accept my respectful obeisances. All glories to you and Srila
Prabhupada.
Almost every year for your Vyasa Puja, I made an attempt to express my
appreciation for your writings, books, and other contributions. This year I would
like to express my deep gratitude for all your love and affection over the past 20
years.
I have been extremely fortunate to have had you as my spiritual father and to
have been personally guided through so many stages and circumstances in my
life. I remember shortly after being initiated in 2000, there was lot of pressure
from my family to get married. I was very anxious, as some of the devotees who
I was meeting for a possible match were daughters of your Godbrothers. It was
really reassuring to hear these words from you –“Don’t feel pressured, and make a
decision based on who you find compatible for the family and service.” You words
gave me a lot of confidence to deal with the sensitive process of finding a suitable
spouse.
When I went through very difficult years in India between 2002-2007, you kept
encouraging me with letters expressing appreciation for my efforts to deal with
the situation and especially my efforts to print your books. You even agreed to the
proposal of printing two-volume EJW’s in India, even though a few of the older GNP
board members were skeptical of the attempt. In one letter you wrote “ I never
forget the service that you are doing in such heavy conditions in India.” In another
you wrote, “ You are our most valuable gem for printing in India and our dear friend
… I am always praying for you.” These lines and several others really sustained my
spirits through an extremely traumatic time of reversals.
Seeing my reluctance to write letters and my inability to respond to them timely, you
allowed me to speak to you on the phone on a regular basis. I also feel extremely
blessed to have had an open invitation to visit you anytime in your ashram and
sometimes at short notices. The conversations and visits have been crucial is
helping me go on with enthusiasm with my sadhana and services.
From 2007-2014, I was not able to do much service for GNP as I was working and
traveling excessively, trying to pay off a mountain of debts. Yet, you continued to
encourage me and express appreciation for even the tiniest services that I did. I
remember once I called you to report some book sales during Kartik in Vrindavan
and you told me - “Hearing about the book sales from you infuses me with blood and
energy to go on living and continuing with my writing service.”
In 2013 when I shared that my wife was keen to have a second child and I was all
reluctant and confused, you immediately gave your blessings by saying that, “It is
better to get it done now.” In 2015 when I had a relapse with my colitis and I called
you to share the bad news, the first thing you told me was that “I love you Nitai.” On
several occasions you have written that “you are very dear to me” and “disciples like
Nitai are my hope” (for book printing seva).
What more can I say, Guru Maharaja – you have been so kind and caring towards
me even though I have failed and continue to do so on my book printing and
distribution commitments. When people ask me how I have managed to survive
with enthusiasm through so many challenging situations, I tell them that the most
important factor has been the love and guidance I have received my spiritual master.
Thanking you for everything and seeking your blessings to become a more sincere
and serious disciple.

Your tiny servant,

Nitai dasa

Dear Guru Maharaja,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

The photo below is of our first meeting in Baltimore (1998). You were so kind to
allow me to attend the disciples meeting.

I have also included my 1st initiation photo held at the Towaco temple (2001).
These along with receiving 2nd initiation (2004) are life-defining moments that I
hold very close to my heart. Never a day goes by that I do not think of you, as I
am surrounded by your words and thoughts in the form of your books and unique
creative outpourings. You bring a nurturing depth to Krishna Consciousness that
is loving, authentic, and tangible. Your preaching in all of its creative forms is a
life raft and a most beautiful gift. You are so extremely special to me, and that
connection will never be lost.
I pray that you have the happiest of birthdays.
Your servant,
Lalita-sundari devi dasi
Dear Guru Maharaja,
Please accept my obeisances. All glories to Your Holiness. All glories to Srila
Prabhupada.
In the Notes from the Editor of BTG #14—12 of 1979, entitled “Turning Forty,” as
the then editor-in-chief, you wrote: “Today, while here in Boston, I turned forty
years old. I remembered when I was twenty-five years old and went out to chant
Hare Krsna with my fellow devotees on the Boston Commons…”
You were in ISKCON for fifteen years when you wrote this. Since then, another
forty fleeting years have passed. Today is December 7, 2019.  Disciples and friends
have gathered together at Stuyvesant Falls to celebrate your 80th appearance day
in this world. 
Had the course of your life not been intercepted by His Divine Grace A. C.
Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in 1966, who knows what direction your life
would have taken? And had you not intervened in our lives, who knows where
we would have been? Your involvement in assisting Srila Prabhupada’s fledgling
ISKCON in the early days is most profoundly significant. It was because of the
commitment and dedication you gave in full surrender and faith in the beginning
days that ISKCON has taken root and grown to a worldwide confederation of
hundreds temples and varied ISKCON projects—that today the world can take
shelter within. 
We cannot discern the plan of Krsna; we may have our plans, but the Lord’s
plan overrides our plans. The most wonderful thing ever in our entire existence
was when we met you. My wife Nrsimha dasi and I over the years have been
daily counting our blessings and the great fortune of having you as our eternal
spiritual master and guide. Our memories of you will always remain very special
recollections. Today we reflect on the many personal interactions with you when
you visited our budding ISKCON community in Guyana for the first time in the
summer of 1981, and in subsequent visits.
We fondly recall all the wonderful days in the 1980s and ’90s that you so
mercifully shared with us. I vividly remember the first day you set foot on Guyanan
soil in September of 1981. You came through immigration incognito. On that
visit you initiated seven of us, and over the years you continued to visit at great
personal convenience, dealing with third world insensitivity, our own immaturity
and many odd situations. But you reciprocated with us and appreciated the simple
loving exchanges of the devotees. In Guyana lotuses grow in the wild everywhere.
In one of your poems you wrote that the devotees were ‘lotus-like’. 
Over the years your spiritual guidance through your formal and informal
instructions serve to inspire us daily and this gives us the strength, courage,
and determination to stay fixed on the bhakti path. Though totally unqualified
and falling short in so many ways, you still tolerate and engage me even in your
personal, intimate services. I like to meditate on our sacred relationship and ways
to serve your will with commitment and determination—which may mean making
many adjustments in my life to accommodate this initiative. 
Your current weekly Free Write Journal keeps me glued to my iPad from start to
finish. They are invigorating bite-size nectar drops which are so relishable, which I
look forward to every Friday. I will always fall short in glorifying you to the fullest
extent, or fully penetrating the deep insights which you churn out in your writings.
Out of personal humility you don’t like personal glorification, but it is impossible
to not glorify your sublime qualities—not to be indebted to you eternally. As an
ordinary disciple I see each facet of your traits as so deep and wonderful. And
having your personal association is always an adventure in my spiritual journey. I
pray on your most auspicious 80th appearance anniversary today that Lord Krsna
give you improved all-round health and keep you with us for many, many more
years far in the future.

Your humble servant,

Paramatma dasa
Dear Gurumaharaja,
Please accept my humble obeisances on this glorious occasion of your 80th
appearance day Vyasa Puja celebration.
Thank you for being a Krishna conscious writer and so making it possible for my
mind and heart to be churned, reformed and consoled by your purifying, edifying
and empowering personal association. By continuously performing your maha-
sankirtana yajna over many decades and years you have created a legacy such
that I need never be deprived of the ultimate comfort of your kind Krsna conscious
counsel and the magic of my personal connection with you. May Krsna guide me
to make it so. 

BG 9.22: “...I carry what they lack, and I preserve what they have.”
You play the brhat mrdanga with an expert dexterity which seems to be ever-
expanding, like the ocean of bliss from which your dexterity is derived and to
which it aspires. You play with profound integrity and appealing originality in the
pleasing service of Srila Prabhupada and the Gaudiya guru parampara. This brings
to my mind Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s Suddha Bhakata, wherein he writes of his
heart feeling great joy upon hearing the sound of the mrdanga playing:

mrdanga-badya, sunite mana,

abasara sada jace
gaura-bihita, kirtana suni’,
anande hrdoya nace

“My mind always begs to hear the music of the mrdanga, and my heart dances in
ecstasy whenever I hear the kind of kirtana established by Lord Gauracandra.”
Your playing sonorously amplifies the call of a certain flautist, which cuts to the
chase, calling me out of considerable covered condemnation and intriguingly
enticing me with humour and promise to alternately dance in the direction of His
tune and company of myriad charms. 

Presently I am tuning into you via the transcendental sound system of your weekly
Free Write Journal. My God, it is such a soulful experience for me. 
The new addition of the Writing Sessions is particularly wonderful because you
wrote them in the mid ’90s whilst, in terms of bodily years, you were at the age
I am at now. It is so fascinating for me to see how you were thinking and serving
when you were my age and provides me with highly pertinent inspirations. In the
last few days, to this effect, I read this excerpt from Brescia Italy, penned on 5th
April (my own birthday) in 1994:
 “I chant and chant and try to hear the mantras. I’m no longer in the Navy.
I’m free in the gold period of my early old age. Thank Krsna and Prabhupada
you are a devotee.”

For me you are also a representative of another cosmically renowned player, Srila
Narada Muni. You’ve often quoted from Srila Prabhupada’s purport to Srimad
Bhagavatam 1.6.33. about Narada:
“Srila Narada chants the glorification of the Lord not for his personal
benefit but because the glorifications are identical with the Lord. Narada Muni
penetrates into the presence of the Lord by the transcendental chanting.”

I hope you have a wonderful day amidst the gathering of your disciples and
friends. I feel relieved that they will properly glorify you up and down and left and
right as you truly deserve but as I am unable to provide. Please, however, keep a
place for me somewhere in your presence and keep me in that place so that I may
continually be sparked to try to glimpse your glory, since I’m very happy trying. 
Your servant, 
Bhaktirasa dasa
Dear Guru Maharaja,

Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

By your causeless mercy we are amongst those fortunate souls that you take care
of.

We are deeply touched by your kindness: you are willing to give your time to guide
us, despite of us being insignificant.

We are inspired by your humility: you are one of the most senior disciples of His
Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, but you are interested only
in going on with your service and not in receiving awards or adoration for the
tremendous contribution you have been giving to the Movement of Lord Caitanya. 

We are impressed by your determination: in defiance of many bodily discomforts,

you are peaceful and satisfied in serving Srila Prabhupada and Krsna from your
room, taking every opportunity to remember their mercy and glorify them with all
available means, traditional or innovative.

Praying to be always enthused by your enthusiasm,

we remain happily grateful
and proud to be

your servants,
Manohara dasa and Visakha dasi
Dear Gurumaharaja,

Please accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Dearest Gurumaharaja, how merciful you are in offering us Srila Prabhupada and
the parampara. Srila Prabhupada writes that if by chance the conditioned soul
meets a saintly person who works on Krsna’s behalf, and if he agrees to abide by
his order he can gradually approach Krsna and attain his shelter.
Having attained this goal yourself, you are now offering this very special
opportunity to all of your disciples. “One who awakens devotion to Krsna is
certainly the spiritual master.”
We see by your always determined effort the seriousness needed in trying to
carry out the orders of the spiritual master. We can see by your example how
to dedicate oneself to follow the spiritual masters instructions. You teach us by
your deep meditations and worship how to serve Srila Prabhupada and Krsna at
all times. And in your writings you are not just giving us information about Srila
Prabhupada, you are giving us love for Srila Prabhupada. Dear Gurumaharaja, you
have given us this special opportunity to perfect our lives by sharing your full faith
in Srila Prabhupada’s instructions and teachings.
In Vrndavana during this past Kartik, His Holiness Radhanatha Maharaja spoke so
wonderfully. During his first lecture he dedicated his talk to feeling the mood of
gratitude. (He may have been referring to gratitude of Vrndavana, but I felt this
message was so prevalent to gratitude for the spiritual master as well).
 “To the degree we are grateful and we see every moment
as sacred, to that degree we will actually benefit...if we come
as sincere seekers of the essence of life then we make spiritual
progress. The highest goal of life is love of Krsna. We come to
Vrndavana to beg for that love, to serve, enthusiastic to hear,
and with that enthusiasm Krsna reveals himself. If we don’t
feel enthusiasm, we act enthusiastic, because we should be
enthusiastic to please Krsna.”

So dear Lord Krsna, may I always have that enthusiasm to please my spiritual
master. And today, most importantly, may I be able to express this gratitude to
you, Gurumaharaja, gratitude for offering me this opportunity to take shelter in
the paramapara. You, Gurumaharja, have given us this special opportunity to
perfect our lives, by sharing your faith and words in Srila Prabhupada’s instructions
and teachings. I am so very grateful for your example of love and acceptance of
Srila Prabhupada both by your example and by your treasure house of dutiful
writings. Through your writings and your remembrances of Srila Prabhupada’s
instructions, you have so mercifully offered us the opportunity where we can now
have a clear path to making spiritual advancement.

Srila Prabhupada would say that his qualification was that he was delivering the
message unadulterated and unchanged. ‘I have not pilfered with the mail, just like
a mailman who just delivers the mail.’ You, too, have offered Srila Prabhupada’s
message unchanged. I am so grateful that you are offering this knowledge of the
message of the parampara completely intact. It is this Prabhupada smaranam that
you are so kindly offering us through your large array of writings. I am so grateful
how you are offering us rememberances of Srila Prabhupada’s instructions, and
similarly acting in such a way as to setting a clearly defined example of Srila
Prabhupada’s instructions, dedication and commitment.

In your latter years you have so perfectly exemplified how to dedicate yourself
to Srila Prabhupada’s writings and the worship of Their Lordships Sri Sri Radha
Govinda. You, Gurumaharaja, at the same time continue to influence and
encourage countless devotees with the priceless gift of your personal writings.
Your enthusiastic worship and deep thoughtful darshans of Radha Govinda sets a
wonderful standard for Deity worship in one’s home. I am thrilled to be able to
participate in some small way in your home worship. It is with great enthusiasm
that I attempt to serve you in this way. I am hoping that you were pleased with
the two sets of outfits that Haryasva brought back with him from Vrndavana and
these outfits just peaked your anticipation for the outfits that I will be bringing
back from Vrndavana for your Vyasa Puja. Thank you for encouraging me to
continue in this glorious service in assisting you in your deep meditations in the
worship of Sri Sri Radha Govinda.

Your insignificant servant,

Sastra das
Dear Guru Maharaja

Jaya! Jaya! Jaya! 80 times!

I only hope to get more of your mercy and association somehow or another, in
this life or in the next. There is nothing else besides service that you keep giving
me and there is nothing else that I want from you. Please have some compassion
on this soul and please please introduce me someday to your beloved Srila
Prabhupada and Radha Govinda to recieve some more direct service.

There is so much you can do just by your kind though or a short prayer to Them.
If you can please mention my name and that I am very happy to be able to serve
you.

There are thousands of other things that I could ask, but I really ask you to keep
me engaged in the service.

Your servant

Caitanya Candrodaya dasa

Dear Guru Maharaja,
Please accept my humble obeisances, and all glories to Srila Prabhupada.
In 1993, I was facilitating a series of seminars at New Mayapur, in France. At
breakfast one day, two French Prabhupada disciples joined me, and they steered our
conversation to the role of the guru in ISKCON. 
They spoke of the history of Srila Prabhupada’s succession, and the conduct of
individual gurus. I felt a ‘ritvik’ moment coming on. So did others, as our small patch
in the prasadam hall started to fill with expectant faces. This was obviously the issue
of the moment in ISKCON France.
I was feeling very detached from this fraught topic. Affecting a forced nonchalance I
tried to keep them talking in the hope that I could leave before they got to their
point. As they continued to speak it became clear they thought I was a Prabhupada
disciple.
When I let them know that I was a disciple of Satsvarupa Das Goswami, they were
knocked off guard for a moment. Then one of them bounced back with, “But
wouldn’t you prefer to be a disciple of Srila Prabhupada?” “But I am a disciple of
Srila Prabhupada,” I replied, “and Rupa Goswami, and all the acharyas. Isn’t that
what parampara means?” Then they played their ace and asked, “But Prabhupada is
a pure devotee. Is Satsvarupa Maharaja a pure devotee?”.
We had reached a point where I had to offer an opinion, and fly a flag.
I didn’t care enough to have an opinion, as such, but I found myself saying, “l don’t
care. I love him and he loves me.” The political playboys were stunned to silence.The
other devotees nodded, smiled and drifted away, and I got to finish my prasadam.
It was the first time I had voiced how I felt about you, Guru Maharaja - even though
it just popped out of my mouth - but it was really how I felt - and how I continue to
feel.
You have given me so much, and sacrificed so much, to afford me good direction,
instruction, and example. I continue to feel embarrassed about being a charlatan
because I have offered you so little in return. I have had many bumps in my spiritual
journey, and you have continued to forgive and support me. I can never forget such
concern and affection, and I can never judge your life without remembering how
much more I have fallen short, and how you have picked me up. 
Life is not easy for anyone I have met, and spiritual life is not a piece of cake either.
Through all the morass, and all the curveballs life throws at us, and all the bumps in
the road, to know someone who keeps going in spiritual life with a pure intention is
extraordinary, and to be known by such a person is a privilege. I feel so blessed and
privileged to be your disciple. Thank you for having faith in me when I didn’t have
faith in you, for trusting me when I couldn’t trust myself, and for loving me although
I still don’t know the meaning of the word.
I offer this on your eightieth birthday, in the hope that you are finding satisfaction in
your wonderful sadhana, delight in the service of Radha Govinda, and living in the
blessing of Lal Gopal’s smile.
With love, your servant,

Saunaka-rsi dasa
 nama om visnu-padaya krsna-presthaya bhutale
srimate satsvarupa dasa goswamin iti namine

satsvarupa bhidam vande vinitam sadhu bhusanam

bhakti grantana naipunyam bhaktivedanta siksitam

Dear Guru Maharaja,

Please accept my most humble obeisances in the dust of your lotus feet. All glories
to His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada.
At this most auspicious time of the eightieth anniversary of your appearance, I
would like to express my sincere gratitude and love.
Lord Krsna is kind. He has given me you, my spiritual master who has given me
the precious bhakti-lata bija and the opportunity to perfect my life. I am forever
indebted for this great mercy. You have connected me to the guru-parampara. You
have given me the opportunity to engage in devotional service, to see and serve
the arca-vigraha, to associate with devotees, to honor Sri Krsna’s prasad and you
have given me the opportunity to realize my relationship with the Supreme Lord,
Sri Krsna. All that is good and positive in my life is due to your mercy.
You have shown me my duty. By your mercy alone I have the opportunity for
devotional service. It is you that are the source of my enthusiasm in devotional
service. I thank you for your instructions, guidance and kind support.
You have given me the maha-mantra and the desire to taste the sweetness of
Lord Krsna’s name which is non-different from the Lord Himself. You have taught
me to chant clearly and just hear. You emphasized, ‘Just hear’ the transcendental
sounds of the Maha mantra and do not imagine Their glories. You have written
many instructions on japa and you have made your mercy available in hundreds of
writings and recordings.
You are known to be extraordinarily honest, even to a fault. Whether it is your
personal experience or a ficticious scenario or a scholarly essay, you have given us
many books discussing the struggles of a sadhaka. By reading these books I have
developed determination. Everything is possible by the blessing of Guru and Krsna.

Srila Prabhupada said, “If you want to know me, read my books.” The persona of
the spiritual master is present in his books. Therefore, by your association through

reading of your books I have imbibed devotional sentiments. All my realizations

are made possible by your mercy.
You have produced over two hundred titles. You said that the subject matter of
your books is love. You have charted the course to develop my relationship with
Lord Krsna and you teach me how to love Him. This is the actual blessing of the
spiritual master.
You have spent a lifetime in devotional service to Srila Prabhupada and Sri Krsna
and have produced an immense body of work for our benefit and for posterity. I
believe your books will endure just as Srila Prabhupada’s books will, for the next
ten thousand years.
In a recent Journal entry you expressed sadness that most of your books are not
in print. I want you to know that not only do I have plans to try to print as many of
your books as I can, but my husband, your Godbrother, also has a desire to try to
print and sell some of your books.
Your transcendental blessings are eternal and I am eternally indebted. I don’t
know how I can repay this mammoth debt, but I am prepared to try, birth after
birth. Thank you, Guru Maharaja for your limitless blessings on this fallen soul.
Your eternal servant,

Syama Gopa Rupa dasi

Dear Srila Satsvarupa dasa Goswami Gurudeva,

Please accept my most humble obeisances on this most auspicious day of your
appearance!
On this day I am thinking why am I such a poor excuse of a devotee? Instead of
engaging in devotional service, I engage in activities to satisfy my material body
and mind. As I grow older such foolish activities cause more and more pain, but
still I faithfully carry them out like a dull animal carrying a miserly master’s burden.
By the mercy of Srila Prabhupada, I have been given the seed of devotional service
which if executed sincerly can free me from wandering up and down in this
material world. Will I take advantage of this gift?
Gurudeva, since you are Srila Prabhupada’s dear devotee, I beg that you give me
one drop of mercy! Please bless me to become a dear devotee of Srila Prabhupada
like you are. Please bless me to develop the good qualities a devotee and help
others.
Thank you for engaging me in devotional service,

Your humble servant,

Uddhava dasa
Dear Guru Maharaja

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to you and all glories to Srila
Prabhupada.
Again the opportunity to glorify you and remember your dedication, surrender
and devotion to Srila Prabhupada and his Movement.  The years go by and you
continue attached to your service, of writings always new angles of the philosophy,
points of view and the aplication in your own life. From your writings have coming
up great writings, specially Prabhupada Lilamrta which inspire to the entire world.
Also many others books with wonderful insides to help the society of devotees to
improve on their japa, sadhana, relations and general worship of Lord Krishna.
I am very greatful to you for so many wonderful presents like are your writings,
Always in your service,

Jiva Tattva das

Dear Gurumaharaj,
Please accept our humble obeisances and all glories to Shrila Prabhupada. Happy
Vyasa Puja. On the occasion of your 80 th birthday celebration, we want to express
our heartfelt gratitude to you for always being there to motivate us to remain
Krishna Consciousness under the shelter of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta
Swami Srila Prabhupada. We always start off our lectures with mangala-charan
prayers:
om ajnana-timirandhasya jnananjana-salakaya
caksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri-gurave namah

I was born in the darkest ignorance, and my spiritual master opened my eyes with
the torch of knowledge. I offer my respectful obeisances unto him.

I used to just recite this verse before for the sake of formality, but over the years
I have gained a deeper understanding of this verse. It would have been very
difficult for us to sustain even for a moment in this material world, if it were not
your books, lectures, and phone calls constantly reminding us off who we are
and what is our connection with Krishna. By taking the shelter off your and His
Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Shrila Prabhupada’s books, I have been
able to find answers to many of my burning questions and have been able to
continue my effort to serve devotees and deities besides all the hinderances in
our path. W always remember your instruction on Vani and Vapu. Vapu is the
physical association with your spiritual master and Vani is the association with the
teachings off the spiritual instructions.

I try to visit you periodically, but I still haven’t been able to visit you consistently
every year. However, I have tried my best to constantly associate with your
spiritual instructions (Vani), through your journals and also through our phone
calls. When I recently asked you for your advice for my visit to holy dham, you
suggested me to take the advantage of the association with devotees. In my visit
to different holy dhams, I have been trying to associate with as many devotees
possible. By associating with so many enlightened souls, I have understood that
I am not the only one trying to serve Shrila Prabhupada; Sometimes we get
proud about all the hard efforts we are taking to serve Guru and Krishna, but by
associating with so many devotees my pride has been broken into pieces. I beg at
your lotus feet on your Vyasa-puja, to always keep us
under your shelter, even though we are not worthed as we are still infected with
the disease of pride and false ego.
In my initial days me and my family had many questions regarding Isckon, but
at that time you explained that “groups will form and break, but a temple will
always be a temple”. With this instruction in mind me and my wife have been
able to continue our service for so many years, without you it wouldn’t have been
possible.
Our daughter Radhika, has been able to gain some understanding about Shrila
Prabhupada by reading the condensed version of Lilamrita. Please bless her, that
she takes up to Krishna Consciousness seriously and follows the instructions of
Shrila Prabhupada for lifetime. Please forgive us if we made any offenses in my
offering.
Happy Vyasa puja. Hope this meets you in good health.
Your servants,
Upendra Das, Panchali dd, and Bhaktin Radhika
Dear Guru Maharaj, 
Please accept my humble obeisances at the dust of your lotus feet. All glories to
Srila Prabhupada. On this special Vysa Puja celebration of your 80 th birthday, I will
like to express a few words of gratitude to You.
It has been a long journey of trials, smooth sailing, hardships, but you have
stood with us all along. Guiding and nurturing us through instructions, lectures,
meetings, letters, and most importantly through your books. These books
have been the foundation and the guide for us throughout our Bhakti journey.
“ Vaisnava Compassion, Living with the Scriptures, Begging for the Nectar of
the Holy Name, The Among Friends series, Nimai and the Mouse, Prabhupada
Lilamrita, Shack Notes, From Copper to Touchstone, The Story of My Life,
Remembering Srila Prabhupada, and all the rest have given us tremendous
inspiration, knowledge, and enlightenment. These books shall stand with time
and help the world know Srila Prabhupada, the subtle process of bhakti, and the
humble author.

Guru Maharaja you have been an active Prabhupada’s man and an exemplary
devotee. From the very beginning of Iskcon you assisted the temple through your
Welfare Office work. Later you were the Temple President of Boston and took to
householder life briefly. You then took sannyasa and travelled with the Library
Party on book distribution. You were Prabhupada’s secretary, Chief Editor of BTG,
writer, then you became Guru for so many disciples, and GBC for a large Zone.
You were writing all along but as you retired from management you became
more focus on writing books. It has been a long and productive life of service to
Lord Krishna, Srila Prabhupada, and Iskcon, and a wonderful example for us, your
disciples.
May lord Krishna shower His blessings on you on this wonderful 80th birthday.
Thank you. 
Please shower a drop of your mercy on this fallen soul,

your disciple,
Trivikrama Dasa
Dear Guru Maharaja,

Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

As we anticipate your 80 th birthday Guru Maharaja, we were reminded of a Back
to Godhead article you wrote many years ago, “Turning Forty In Krsna
Consciousness,” and we wondered, hopefully, if you would write another such
piece, “Turning Eighty in Krsna Consciousness.”

Our spiritual journey was just beginning back in those days, and one of the first
times we met you was when you visited the Boston temple and we all gathered
in an upstairs room to hear you speak to us about Krsna. As we all sat on the
rug facing you, you quietly said that it was time to make introductions. I listened
eagerly as adevotee began to introduce you, but then you interjected, “No, I
meant to please introduce all of THEM (meaning your audience), to ME.” I was so
moved at your humility and kindness. You wanted to know about US. I’ve never
forgotten that long-ago meeting, and how that interaction touched my heart, and
made me love you from the start.

We’ve had many wonderful years with you since then, as you guided us in Krsna
consciousness with “laughter and love, gallantry and grace,” and constancy to
Krsna in the hard times as well as the good times.

Our memories are full of wonderful walks and talks at Gita-nagari, of boxes of
your books arriving on our doorstep, and how that just filled us with glee, of happy
hours typing for you, gripped by what we were privileged to be hearing. You
helped us change our lives, Guru Maharaja. It has not been an easy task for you,
I’m sure, to take two hard-core academics whose mantra was “the intellect can
solve anything!!”
and change it to the Hare Krsna mantra. You gave us humanity, Guru Maharaja.
You helped us see that the only thing of value in this life is to try our best to serve
and love Krsna. You made us kinder. You made us happy.

So, the years have passed, and we’ve for sure gotten older, with all that comes
with that. Prabhupada said, “Don’t think this won’t happen to you.” As we face the
trials that come to all who face old age, we feel even more thankful to you for
helping us reach this stage with a measure of equanimity and peacefulness,
knowing that we are with you and safe.

Thank you, Guru Maharaja. We wish you the Happiest 80 th Birthday, with all our
gratitude and love.

Your servants,

Buddhi-yoga dasa and Krsna smaranam dasi

Dear Srila Guru Maharaja,
Please accept my most humble obeisances.  All glories to Sri Sri Guru & Gauranga. 
Happy birthday!
Time and memory can be funny in this world.  I have a vivid memory of reading
your editorial about turning 40 in Back to Godhead.  It was 1979.  I was 22.  I
thought 40 was very far away.  I remember holding that BTG as if it was yesterday.
Now you are turning 80 and I am 62.  You told me once we are growing old
together.  And here we are.
Regarding the passage of time in this world,  Krishna declares, “Time I am, the
great destroyer of worlds….” Bg. 11.32.  Of course this is true for the material
world but does not apply to guru - disciple relationships.  When Vasudeva met
his brother, Nanda, in Mathura, they discussed how living entities appear on this
earth under the pressure of fruitive activites.  Though they come together, there
is no certainty they will remain together. Vasudeva compared the living beings to
plants and creepers floating on the waves of the ocean being brought together
and then separated…..forever.  
While it is true we, as devotees, are also brought together and separated (often
against our will) by the waves of time and circumstance, I don’t believe the
“forever” part applies to spiritual relationships, especially not to the guru - disciple
connection.  You are forever my spiritual father and neither time nor the waves of
this world, metaphorical or otherwise, will change that.  In the end, it is love that
binds us.  I am forever in your debt.
This is your Vyasa-puja day.  It is a day when a disciple should not just affirm his or
her relationship with you, but also offer you praise despite your natural reluctance
to accept.  While honoring the birthday of the spiritual master as Vyasa-puja is
proper and the due of every spiritual master in our Gaudiya Vaisnava tradition,
it seems especially relevant to you.  Like Srila Vyasadeva, you are a writer.  It is
not something you do.  It is who you are.  Srila Prabhupada saw this early on.  He
instructed you to write, to follow your God given propensity and talent.  
When Narada Muni saw Vyasadeva’s dissatisfaction with his past
accomplishments, he saw a crisis.  Vyasadeva thought he was “undone” because
his writing had left him unfulfilled.  (SB 1.5.4).  The cure was given by Narada
Muni….write to broadcast the spotless glories of the Supreme Personality of
Godhead. (SB 1.5.8).   
Like Narada Muni, Srila Prabhupada gave you a similar instruction.  You have
spent your life pursuing and honoring this goal.  In doing so, goal and  process
have become non-different. You have honored Srila Prabhupada….and Srila
Vyasadeva…..by manifesting art and literature at an unprecedented rate.  The
poems, the prose, and the paintings fly from your mind, your heart and your
hands.  Their intensity, passion, insight and quantity, speak to empowerment by
Srila Vyasadeva, Srila Prbahupada and the Vaisnava acharyas.  But one must be
a fit conduit for empowerment or this art cannot manifest.  Your body of work
stands as a testament to your noble use of this gift. 
Your legacy is your art in all its forms.  This art is your gift to us, your disciples,
to all who are searching for a love which cannot be destroyed by time and for
a relationship which cannot be ended by the waves of this world.  You are my
eternal father and friend, whether we are within each other’s company and vision
or not.  This is what I pray to have faith in and to realize fully.  I pray for your
blessings for this..
I feel gratitude on your birthday for all you have given, for your presence here and
for being in your family.  These 40 years have gone by too quickly.  I want to slow
time down now and keep you near for many years to come
.
With love, your servant and friend,

Kirtan rasa dasa

Dear Guru Maharaja:
Please accept my humble obeisances at your lotus feet. All glories to Srila
Prabhupada.
I’m pleased to offer this heartfelt homage to you on the auspicious occasion of
your 2019 Vyasa Puja, marking the 80th anniversary of your Appearance Day!
As you recall, our association began when I read your book, Prabhupada-lilamrta.
I identified with your character of Stephen Guarino because I found similarities in
our backgrounds and I admired your dedicated service to Swamiji. I pretended
to be Stephen Guarino in the story and this helped bridge the culture gap I was
experiencing as a novice Westerner exploring the new world of the Hare Krishnas.
In this way, reading Prabhupada-lilamrta inspired me to participate in the Hare
Krishna movement and to turn to you for shelter.
Your personal association is very special and enlivening. I always feel awe
and reverence in your presence, though sometimes it may be masked by my
immaturity. I fondly recall the first time I met you at the Brooklyn temple when
I was allowed to sit in on your disciples’ meeting. I asked how one can find a
spiritual master who was bona fide. You explained the parampara and the system
of checks and balances (guru, sastra, and sadhu). The real question in my heart
was whether you were my spiritual master. In hearing you speak and by observing
you with your disciples my unspoken question was also answered.
I’m grateful that you cultivate an individual relationship with me as spiritual
master and disciple. You recognize my strengths and weaknesses, acknowledge
my personal history, and offer me individual guidance and encouragement in
friendship as you lead me on the path of devotional service with mercy and
compassion. When I’m moving in the right direction, you’re always eager to
reciprocate.
Your individual attention is evident in our letter exchanges where you draw upon
our common backgrounds and interests to nurture me along. Engaging the reader
is the hallmark of your writing style, which I witnessed when proofreading your
books. Some of my correspondence may appear to be materialistic but all topics
become spiritualized when discussed with you. As you once observed, “We are
not just engaging in mundane exchanges but giving a little sauce and chutney to
the real maha-prasadam of Krsna conscious exchanges.”
I also appreciate that you’ve been lenient with me, though never indulgent or
compromising, always serving as the perfect spiritual master, ever-encouraging me
to become more mature in my spiritual life. You caution me not to be lackadaisical
but to strive for a higher attainment in Krishna consciousness. You generously
offer to tackle this challenge together.
Guru Maharaja, I’m eternally grateful to you for providing me with this loving
connection to yourself, to Srila Prabhupada, and to Lord Krishna.
Your unworthy disciple,

Radha Ramana dasa

Dear Guru Maharaj,
Please accept our humble obeisances.
All glories unto you on this most auspiscious occasion of your Sri Vyasa Puja.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Guru Maharaj, your appearance day is most important to us, your disciples. You in
guru parampara are our link to Godhead.

You, the representative of Srila Vyasadeva exemplifies by words, actions and

deeds, what is expected of us,to become advanced and ultimately a pure devotee.
Your literary and poetic ability is just a little glimpse of your dedication to glorify
the Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna and Srila Prabhupada.

Guru Maharaj, you are showing us the art of living spiritually in the material world
daily, in Krishna Consciousness. As a young person,one of Swamiji’s early boys, to
this mature physical age of eighty years thus far. Our Swamiji.

Writing your memories and realizations to inspire and help us. We thank you.

“Our Spiritual Master is the ocean of mercy, the friend of the poor, the Lord and
master of the devotees. Oh master be merciful unto us, give us the shade of your
lotus feet. Your fame is spread all over the three worlds.”
We pray for your health.

We are grateful, for your causless mercy .Praying to always be

sheltered at your lotus feet.

Happy Sri Vyasa Puja.

Your Servants,

Visvarūpa Dasa and Sathira Mata Devi Dasi

nama om visnu padaya krsna presthaya bhu-tale
srimate satsvarupa das goswamin iti namine
Year: 1986. One year of brahmacari ashram,I was in list to be initiated, under
advice of temple authority, by zonal guru, with a magnificent ceremony.But that
year, something appended,like a earthquake, Bhagavan das, fall down.

Some devotees disappeared, others more determined keep their services. The
initiated was advised to take re initiation,and those like myself was encouraged
to choose a guru. At that time our temple was frequently visited by many gurus,
all of them was good preacher of Krsna consciousness and had good realizations
about the mission of the Founder-Acarya Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
From all of them, I got advice, and I was able to keep my weak faith alive. But still I
wasn’t sure who to take shelter of .

After 7 years and after reading Prabhupada, a Saint in the Twentieth Century, I had
no more doubts. But I was not sure to be qualified to be his disciple.

Thank you,Guru Maharaj, for accepting me.

Thank you Guru Maharaj,to give me access to Srila Prabhupada.
Thank you Srila Prabhupada, for giving me Sri Krsna.
Thank you Sri Krsna for giving me my Guru Maharaj and Srila Prabhupada.
Bless my Guru
O Lord,I pray
make him safe
by night and day.

Your unqualified servant

Stoka Krsna das from Italy

nama om visnu-padaya krsna-presthaya bhu-tale
srimate satsvarupa dasa gosvamin iti namine
satsvarupa bhidam vande vinitam sadhu-bhusanam
bhakti-granthana-naipunyam bhaktivedanta siksitam
On this most auspicious occasion of your divine-like appearance day, I am
enthusiastically writing this Vyasa-puja Offering for your pleasure!
Here in Vrindavan as I write this, the Kartik Festival is in full swing and very,
very crowded with pilgrims and devotees of all kinds, and godbrothers
and godsisters such as: Nitai, Pradyumna, Sastra, Rama Raya, Surabhi, Gopi
Manjari and HH Dhanudhara Swami. All are taking advantage of this holy month,
and offering its spiritual benefits unto your lotus-like feet!
Your eighty years of youthful discipline and KC bliss in the Sankirtan Mission of
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, is just the begging of your eternal service unto our
Founder-Acharya Srila Prabhupada, who gave ISKCON to the world. It’s a big
world, but the spiritual world is even bigger and the eternal roadshow is going
on simultaneously in each and every universe, because everything is constantly
expanding exponentially.
Similarly, by the kind grace of Srila Prabhupada, your Krishna conscious writing is
increasing and continuing by spiritual increments. 
Your servant,
Bhagavat Purana Das
H@ré Krishn@ H@ré Krishn@ Krishn@ Krishn@ H@ré H@ré H@ré R@ma H@re R@ma R@ma R@ma H@ré H@ré!
Shack Notes. 
And I am so happy that you are happy writing them, and it is a real joy
and  surprise to see them appear in my inbox. 
Because we spent a lot of time together in Ireland I also feel you present in my
current service. 
This is a great gift. 
I walk by Trinity College every day where I first met you and 
what  you spoke then changed my life forever. 
So this is like my personal pilgrimage site to you. 
Thereafter, you kept me close to Srila Prabhupada by giving Japa Reform,
Reading Reform, Guru Reform, Prabhupada Meditations and of course Lilamrta. 
And your defense of the individual from being submerged by the institution has
always been your sacred message. 
And I loved your art, both writing and painting (and the sculptures!)
And you always kept your artistic themes sacred, despite the pressure from your
writing contemporaries to be secular, thus closely following Srila Prabhupada’s
mood in Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.5.22 purport. 
So on this auspicious day Guru Maharaja, I am praying for you to always keep me
close to your lotus feet and I pray I may be able to do something pleasing to you. 
Your servant, 
Manu das
 Dear Guru Maharaj!

   Hare Krishna!

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

   Please let me express my love and gratitude on this day of your appearance.
   
The first book I read in spiritual life was yours – Readings in Vedic Literature. That
was in 1990. It flipped my mind forever! How to express my gratitude for this in
words? It is very difficult! Thank you, thank you !!! You saved thousands of souls
and I among them. Please accept my obeisances!

   A little later I read your book Prahupada-Lilamrita. It was real nectar! You have
opened Srila Prabhupada to thousands of souls, and I among them. Please accept
thousands of my obeisances!

   In 1995, in Vrndavana Dham, you accepted me as your spiritual daughter and gave me
the holy name of Krishna—Mahamantra dasi. Please accept my humble obeisances of
gratitude again and again.

   You have graciously allowed me to live in Vrndavana and serve Krsna and devotees
under the guidance of Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhu. It was 9 year old nectar.

Thank you very much for your very personal books. They are an invaluable gift for
many generations of devotees. In your books I find all the answers to all existing
questions about bhakti. The description of your personal experience is the most
invaluable knowledge for me. Please accept my humble obeisances!

I humbly pray to Lord Krishna that your health be good.

You are a great preacher, and very, very dear to Srila Prabhupada and Lord Krishna!
All glories to you, my dear Guru Maharaj!

Please accept my humble obeisances at your lotus feet.

Your servant,

Your disciple from Russia,

Tulasi Devi Dasi
Dear Guru Maharaj,

   Hare Krishna!    Accept my humble obeisances.  All glories to Srila

Prabhupada!

   On this most auspicious day of your holy appearance I want to say that I
love you very much, and I am in unpaid debt to you.

Thanks to your books, I get a lot of communication with you. By your mercy,
I distribute your books mainly among devotees, and this is very unusual.

Through this process, I get a lot of nectar, and I want to pass it on to you. I
am delighted to feel connected with you and Srila Prabhupada, telling the
devotees about you and your books. Here is one of many amazing stories:

Once Mataji Lila Madhava from Novorossiysk said to me, “I have all the
books of your Guru Maharaj, but I want to purchase one more book, A Visit
to Jagannatha Puri, because I read the old one until it was full of holes. I
read it very often and cried every time, I couldn’t hold back my tears. Many
thanks to Satsvarupa Maharaja for his books.”

   At every festival, I associate with my friend and old devotee Vrindavan
Prabhu. He is our Russian legend. He was twice in maximum security prison
(a total of 7.5 years) for Krishna Consciousness. We talk with him for a long
time about you. He reads all your books, loves and respects you very much
and is grateful to you for your work.

   I always remember and keep in my heart your fatherly love, which you
shed on me in Vrindavan in 2009, the morning japa on the roof in the thick
fog of the dhama, your notes to me and the moment when I was late with
prasadam, and you had guests — devotees with mahaprasad from the
Deities of the main temples of Vrindavan,
and your words: “Let’s wait, Srikant should come now with prasadam.”

   Many years ago on your site you published your drawing of loud chanting
of holy names in the streets, where you called for this activity. You said
that this is the highest priority of devotional service, and you would like to
participate in it, but physically you do not have this opportunity.

I took this as a personal instruction to me. I thought: “My spiritual teacher

gave this instruction in the form of a drawing, probably to me. Since I am
not English speaking, he gave it to me in an accessible way for me—in
the form of a drawing.” And I accepted this instruction with all my heart.
Since then, I have considered participating in harinama as your personal
instruction.  My dear Guru Maharaj, I am very grateful to you for this
grace. Every harinama is very important to me. Your books give me a true
understanding of this activity.

Your love extends to our whole family: to my daughter Tulasi, who carefully
preserves the warmth of your fatherly attention and rereads Prabhupada-
lilamrita with her husband Nandai and daughters Chintamani and Subhadra
with special feeling; to my wife Yadurani, who always translates your
letters and books for us with great immersion in your mood. She always
helps me when traveling to harinama.

I really want to read all your books and meet you again

Your insignificant disciple from Russia,

Shrikant das,
who wants to be
a servant of the servant of your servants.
Letter of Vyasa Puja to H.H. Satsvarupa Das Gosvami:
I am in Vrindavan trying to get into Vrindavan’s mood and now trying to get into
the mood of the mercy it gives me. As His Holiness Indradyuma Maharaja said
when Srila Prabhupada went to Paris in 1973:
“We made an effort to have the temple ready and Srila Prabhupada said,
‘I thank you for all the inconvenience you have taken for me.’ After a pause, he
said: ‘In reality it is not annoyance, everything is mercy—it is the grace of the
eternal father, spiritual master who occupies us in the service of Krishna and
purifies us.’”

Here in Vrindavan the grace of Srila Prabhupada is more strongly appreciated,

as he defined it: “Bombay is my office, Mayapur is my place of worship and
Vrindavan is my house.”
One of the things that has impacted me the most is that so many Hindus want to
serve Srila Prabhupada. When he was in India he asked his friends for one of their
sons in order to make them brahmanas. He did not get any, and his preaching was
not successful; but he had firm faith in the instructions of his spiritual master. That
is why everything developed surprisingly and wonderfully—all due to the mercy of
his guru.

The greatness of the spiritual master is unimaginable. He takes you out of the
darkness of ignorance and brings you to the light. Ignorance is that you will have
to take one material body after another and satisfy your senses in human, animal
life, etc. Light is that you will see clearly who you are, Krsna’s eternal servant, and
be able to go to His abode full of eternity, happiness and knowledge. That is the
grace of the spiritual master.
I, praying for his mercy without cause so that I may become a servant of the
servant of the servant of Krsna.
Your aspiring servant,

Adi Rasa das

Hari Hari, Aloha,
Remembering you at 80 years complete.

We first meet in Boston Temple. You were leading Srila Prabhupada’s Library Party.
 And we met again in LosAngeles Temple 1977. I was doing the shipping for the
BBT while helping Yadubara das and Visakha dasi with films.

I could spend all day filling Library Party orders for full sets of Books shipping all
over the world. I remember when you saw me at the BBT for the first time and you
expressed your happiness to find I was doing the shipping. I have had the great
fortune to assist Srila Prabhupada’s Mission over the years, but hands down that
was the best. 

Always remembering Rameshwara Swami relating to us all in Srimad-Bhagavatam

class how Srila Prabhupada told him, “Anyone who does anything for the BBT, I will
take them back to Godhead in this life!”

Praying to always remember His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami

Prabhupada—

“I am present in my books.”
“Just by reading my books they are initiated.”
“Anyone who follows my instruction is my disciple.”
A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Chaitanya Charitamrita Adi 12:10
PrabhupadaBooks.com

Jonathan
Dear Guru Maharaja,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
I’m sorry that your mobility has been restricted in recent years, but am glad how
well you have adjusted to it, remaining absorbed in Krishna consciousness through
hearing and chanting and worshiping Radha Govinda. Your ashram is a sanctuary
centered around such activities, and I feel blessed by that atmosphere each time
I visit. It’s like a cooling balm that for the time being washes away frustrations I
experience in my regular daily life. Thank you for having me on as an occasional
assistant at your ashram.
Your servant,
Sankarsana das
Dear Guru Maharaja
Please accept my humble offering on the occasion of your auspicious appearance
day. May you have a blissful ceremony in the association of your disciples and
well-wisher friends.
The scene of the first time I saw you at the Stanley Park, Vancouver BC, is still
fresh in my memory. I can vividly see you performing a fire sacrifice. I was very
much impressed by your personality, seeing you like a mystic yogi. By the will of
Providence, that day you planted the bhakti lata bija in my heart as the mantras
kept resonating in my mind without knowing their meaning. Years later, you
accepted me as your disciple, even though I was serving in another guru’s zone,
establishing our spiritual relationship within the heart.
Deep impressions from your good association is what kept me in spiritual life
despite so many tribulations and obstacles. The most memorable period was
at Gita Nagari, where I had the good fortune to be blessed by your personal
association. After leaving the farm, it took me many years to learn how to serve in
separation. By your mercy, I took shelter of Srila Prabhupada, connecting with him
and all the guru parampara.
Of your books, your masterpiece, the Prabhupada lilamrta, that you later
extended in the volumes of Remembering Srila Praphupada, give the opportunity
to the new generations of devotees to know, become attach and love His Divine
Grace. In this way, you facilitate the beginning of their path in devotional service.
In many books, you expertly expressed your love for Srila Prabhupada and Krishna,
inspiring your readers to practice their sadhana seriously with the hope to attain
your stage of Krishna consciousness.
Among your many good qualities, I very much admire your straightforwardness,
your down to earth honesty that brings about your humility. You pioneered the
japa reform long before the now popular japa retreats. You were the first to step
down from guru puja in the zonal acarya period. You are now the most senior
devotee of ISKCON. There is a long list of your achievements and services in
ISKCON of which writing books is your most prominent.
Your dedication for preaching is a great source of inspiration and admiration.
I pray to follow in your footsteps.

Your aspiring disciple,

Narayanajvara das
Dear Guru Maharaja,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. All glories
to you!

This year’s theme for your Vyasa Puja is how you have impacted my life
positively.
 
Srila Visvanatha Cakravati Thakur explains that “... Just as a cloud pours water
on a forest fire to extinguish it, so the Spiritual Master delivers the materially
afflicted world by extinguishing the blazing fire of material existence...”
 
The impact you have had on my life is incalculable! 

Because I am immature, because the path of bhakti is alive and unfolding,

in time as my understanding deepens (I pray) more spiritual dimensions
will becomes clearer to me. Still in the present moment I can understand
that through your agency I have made the acquaintance of an infinite set of
transcendentally sublime and merciful personalities appearing in the line of
disciplic succession that give me their association through their realizations,
what to speak of the lila of Sri Krsna Caitanya!

You have  most tenderly provided so many aspects of Srila Prabhupada

while  allowing me to travel back in time,  bringing his profound compassion,
dedication, erudition and devotion in your frank diaries, biographies, poems,
paintings and anecdotes. This most precious gift is most gratefully received and
deeply cherished by my heart.
 
By your grace, I have a positive blueprint for a compassionate society with
spiritual life and connectedness to Sri Krsna at its core. I have been given a
passport out of material life and its bondage, with the bonus of being able to
bring generations of family members (forwards and backwards) back to home!
I have been given a source of spiritual strength and a clear lens  to perceive this
world. These positive gifts will only appreciate in value and dynamics as old
age overtakes me. I thank the Heavens that you have given so generously. Our
bond is eternal. 

How fortunate am I?  My fortune is truly incalculable. On this most blessed and
auspicious occasion of your appearance I rejoice. 

Your fallen servant,

Ekayani dd 

Cardiff, California 
Dear Guru Maharaja,
Please accept my humble obeisences. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

nama om visnu-padaya krsna-presthaya bhu-tale

srimate satsvarupa dasa gosvamin iti namine
satsvarupa bhidam vande vinitam sadhu-bhusanam
bhakti-granthana-naipunyam bhaktivedanta siksitam
nama om visnu-padaya krsna-presthaya bhu-tale
srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine
namas te sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracarine
nirvisesa-sunyavadi-pascatya-desa-tarine
     Dear Guru Maharaja, on the blessed occasion of your Vyasa-puja,I would
like to try to express my deepest gratitude and appreciation ...The appearance
and activities of His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada is of course most extraordinary
,rare and unlimitedly praiseworthy...His dedication and determination to fulfill the
order of Srila Bhaktisiddanta Saraswati Thakur against all odds ....to start and bring
the long heralded and desired flood of Lord Caitanya’s Sankirtan movement of
Love of Godhead to the west and hence all over the world ; has firmly established
the most powerful disciplic line with Srila Prabhupada at the center as the
preiment Shiksha Guru for the next  10,000 year period; the Golden age of Lord
Caitanya..  “My books will be the law books for the next 10,000 years … “ Srila
Prabhupada...

.....How the Lord helps reclaim the conditioned souls :

“...Unalloyed devotees of the Lord appear on the earth just to execute the mission
of the Lord.The Lord desires the conditioned souls hovering in the material
creation to be reclaimed to go back home , back to Godhead, and thus he helps
them by preparing the transcendental literatures like the Vedas,by sending
missionaries of saints and sages and by disputing his representative, the spiritual
master.....” Bhagavatam 1.12.16

From the moment you met Srila Prabhupada in the summer of 1966, your
full dedication of your body, mind words, wealth, reputation and your whole life
and soul ; were quickly,firmly and permanently established ! You became one of
Srila Prabhupada’s most trusted and capable sons ; a pillar for His Divine Grace to
build his movement upon.Over the more than five decades you have undergone
countless personal sacrifices and austerities for the sake of Srila Prabhupada, the
devotees ,your disciples and the people in general.

You were one of the core members of the very first temple at  26 second
Ave. You most practically and  importantly ,upon Srila Prabhupada’s instruction
kept your job at the unpleasant welfare office, providing along with  Brahmananda
prabhu the only two sources of steady income to pay the rent and other expenses
. Practically immediately you took up the most beloved service to his divine grace
of transcribing his life’s work ...the English Sriman Bhagavatam, and later the
foundational books for the whole Movement, TLC, NOD and The Krsna book...

You started the temple in the important (and tough ) city of Boston; where
the forerunner to the BBT, ISKCON Press was based.  You became one of the
first GBC members, headed the first gurukula in Dallas; Accepted sannyasa and
became the editor-in-chief of Back to Godhead magazine; which were the first
writings of Srila Prabhupada in pursuance of the order he received from Srila
Bhaktisiddanta Saraswati Prabhupada to preach in English.

        After serving Srila Prabhupada as his servant-secretary in 1974 ,you headed

the Library Party; a service most wanted done by Srila Prabhupada. I attribute
my coming to Krsna consciousness by the efforts of the Library Party. I found a
few of Srila Prabhupada’s books in an upstate New York -SUNY Potsdam college
library !...I found the address for 340 W. 55th street, went to the temple and joined
forever two days later ! You as my spiritual master rescued and saved me by
coming to me initially in that way by placing Srila Prabhupada’s books in that far
away and forgotten place some 3-4 years earlier.

When I moved into the temple in December of 1978 , I was told immediately
after being informed of Srila Prabhupada’s departure one year earlier that I you
would be my spiritual master....I accepted this right away, that you would be
my spiritual master and my service to Srila Prabhupada in separation would be
solidified, by being linked to him by receiving initiation from you....I have great
conviction that this was the arrangement of the Lord to make everything very easy
for me.With every year that passes (now going into our 42nd year together) that
conviction, faith and happiness only grows more and more.

   Of course our relationship is eternal, and as Siksastakam Verse One

says....devotional service is an ever increasing ocean of transcendental bliss;
that conquers and surpasses over all conditions of this material world, going
beyond time and even death itself. I am very encouraged to rejoice in that
eternal truth and reality of our relationship !

    Thank you for the monumental Srila Prabhupada Lilamrita,which

is one of the most important ways for all devotees who will come in the
future to meet and get to know Srila Prabhupada. Your final blessing at the
end of Volume 6 states  that by repeated reading, the reader can become a
prabhupadanuga, the greatest blessing one can wish upon anyone !

Thank you for leading the way in remembrance and glorification of

Srila Prabhupada thru your so many books .Thank you for giving us your own
association thru all your books in all the various genres. Your  books are all
in pursuance of the Vedic version ; encouraging everyone to get on the path
stay on the path ! Thank you for giving us your association thru your artwork.
One of your many sweet exchanges  with me,was when you were making a
daily drawing of harinam dancers and an accompanying written meditation.

Thank you for being the champion of the individual and individual
expression. Thank you for  helping and encouraging your disciples and
devotees in general to fully engage all that they have in Their Lordships’
service with full personal application and ultimately pure love.That love for
the Divine Couple Sri Sri Radha Govinda is the most precious treasure to be
achieved in the entire creation !Thank you for leading the way to achieve that
precious love.Thank you for safeguarding  the  path of pure devotional service
and giving all encouragement on that topmost path back to home, back to
Godhead!
Your servant,
Rama Raya dasa
Dear Guru Maharaja,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

I cant help but remember all the services you did for Srila Prabhupada. Right from
the beginning you worked and gave your money, you typed, did the Boston temple
and started the first ISKCON press. You served as GBC man and Guru. The Library
Party. Editor of BTG. Dallas Gurukula. Wrote the Lilamrta and so many other books.

When your health did not permit you to paint, you posted a journal on your web-
site and at the age of 80 you are still writing and following a very strict schedule
including an intense meditation on your Radha Govinda.
Wishing you all the best on this very special day.

Begging to remain your servant,

Bala (Trinidad)
Dear Guru Maharaja,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

om ajnana timirandhasya
jnanajana salakaya
caksur unmilitam yena
tasmai sri gurave namah

Happy birthday, Guru Maharaja! Please allow me to express my deepest gratitude

for your special compassion and love. Only by the mercy of a bona-fide spiritual
master can one cross the ocean of material existence.

Yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasado: “By the mercy of the spiritual master, one
receives the benediction of Krsna. Without the grace of the spiritual master, one
cannot make any advancement. Therefore, I should always remember and praise
the spiritual master. At least three times a day I should offer my respectful obei-
sances unto the lotus feet of my spiritual master.”

You engage me in the service of dressing your worshipable Deities Sri-Sri Radha-
Govinda every third day. You refer to that as “an exciting day.” You wait in anticipa-
tion to take darsana of Radha-Govinda in Their new outfits. Oh! How fortunate I
am!

You smile when you see me enjoying prasadam, and you share memories of be-
ing with Srila Prabhupada. You are giving us what Srila Prabhupada gave to you—
his compassion, his kindness. Oh! Please allow me to realize how fortunate I am.
 You allow me to be one of the out-loud readers of Srila Prabhupada’s books
during breakfast and again at lunchtime. You listen to and meditate on every word
of Srila Prabhupada’s purports. Please help me to develop more faith and a taste
for the sastras and writings of the acaryas, and to follow your instructions and
example.

Desiring to be your eternal servant always,

Krsna devi dasi

Dear Guru Maharaja,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to you and Srila Prabhupada.

To have a Guru Maharaja or a spiritual master is the most wonderful thing in life.
Without a spiritual master, one misses the purpose of life. Today is Vyasa Puja day,
so the feelings and the atmosphere are nice. Although we worship our Guru every
day, today is special. Thank you, dear Lord, for me having a Guru in this lifetime.
I got initiated one month after my husband died. But Guru Maharaja, I saw you
one year later after I got initiated, when you came to Trinidad.

Guru Maharaja, I worshiped Deities, I cooked, I went all over the country on hari-
nama with devotees and I live in the temple. My spiritual life is pleasurable.

Thank you Guru Maharaja, you have helped me so much in this life. I had no one
else to turn to except you. One day I came to speak to you, and you mentioned
that Mother Saci is wearing white. So I realized you wanted me to wear white. To
this day I am still wearing white.

When I went to America, in seven temples I cooked and worshiped Deities. In

Brooklyn temple I was asked to do arati. It was only after that the president told
me I was the first lady to do arati on Sunday evening. I also went to India and
stayed in the Krishna Balaram temple.

Now I am walking with the aid of a walker, but I am thankful for the good life I had.

Your humble disciple,

Mother Indira Devi Dasi
My dear Guru Maharaja,

On this most auspicious occasion, I wish to confess my sincere heartfelt gratitude

to you as my spiritual master, to whom I never lose faith in; and on the contrary,
I am convinced that you are the most transparent and surrendered Personality
to Srila Prabhupada and the Supreme Lord. You may have gone through many
challenges and trying times, just as all saintly personalities do, but you came out
victorious and resolved to enhance your surrender and determination to perse-
vere on the highest path of Bhakti, as proclaimed through the siddhanta of Vedic
literatures. You have indeed set the realistic example for all of us in the modern
era, and more so, after the departure of Srila Prabhupada.

In all of your writings, despite their diverse presentation and unique characteriza-
tion in prose and poetry, and artistry, you sought to impress upon all of us and its
broad readership the inherent conditioning of human life, our distinct individual-
ity, but nevertheless pointing the way to our ultimate goal. You have shown and
proven that despite our many trials and errors, struggling health and deficiencies,
our lives can be utilized effectively. Your writings have certainly captured the mo-
ments and stigma of such endurance. I’m most impressed by it all and it has given
me more reasons to indulge my already expressed trust and conviction in your
standing as one of Srila Prabhupada’s outstanding representatives.
I’m really happy and delighted that the Lord is making what I see as timely ar-
rangements for your writings being delivered to a wider public and are finding a
place in the hearts of seekers of the absolute truth and nature; and oh!, seekers of
honesty, tangible integrity and invigorating spiritual wisdom.
Over the years, I tried to take the opportunity, whilst you are here in your vapuh,
to render some personal and sometimes intimate service to you, with the belief
and understanding that by so doing I can please the Supreme Lord via his bona-
fide representatives. It’s part of our Vedic culture and dharma and undoubtedly
is an integral part of my relationship with you, as my spiritual master who has the
esteemed intimate service to Lord Krsna’s empowered parivrajakacharya HDG Srila
Prabhupada.

My dear Guru Maharaja, whilst my attempt is to glorify you on this revered cele-
bration of your Vyasa-Puja, I would also wish to seek your kind and compassionate
forgiveness for my many offenses; your tolerance of my many shortcomings and
to continue giving me the opportunities to serve in your sacred ashram at Viraha
Bhavan. Although your vani provides the most essential element and concept for
our spiritual advancement, your vapuh provides added opportunities and substan-
tial spiritual gains once executed with proper diligence, sincerity and surrender.
I pray that in my lifetime, I can be of some meaningful service to you in my at-
tempt to serve in this mission of Srila Prabhupada and Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
I beg to remain
Your most insignificant servant
Hari dasa
My dear Gurumaharaja,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to you, and all glories to Srila
Prabhupada.

This year, on the Vyasapuja celebrating your eightieth birthday, I was told the
theme should be a remembrance of a time when you or your art or writings in-
spired me in a significant, life changing way. I would not exaggerate if I said, every
book you have written, every lecture and essay, every painting, and every word
you have spoken to me or to another in my hearing has in one way or another, at
one time or another, been a lifeline that has saved me and inspired me to follow in
your example.

I thought I might try to remember the first time I met you. It was in Dallas, Texas,
in November of 1977. You had just come from India, where you were with Srila
Prabhupada in his final days.

In my life, I was toying with hatha yoga and I had become a vegetarian. A school
friend told me about the vegetarian Sunday feast, and I decided to try it. The Dal-
las temple was in an old church. You had purchased it for the ISKCON Gurukula.
And, it also happened to be the church my mother attended with her family, in
her youth. Next to the church, they had built a cinderblock gymnasium which was
painted lime green on the inside. It was into this rather stark gymnasium, trans-
formed into a temple room, that I was ushered and told to sit on the floor.

You sat on a low seat against the opposite wall, facing the audience. At one end
of the gym, on a big ornate chair was a large framed photo of a saintly looking
Indian man (I learned later that he is Srila Prabhupada); and at the other end were
two near life-size people standing on a stage. (I learned later they are Radha and
Kalachadji). Black, long-limbed, strikingly handsome, Kalachandji was holding a
flute, with his head tilted slightly to look at us and Radha, white, stunningly beauti-
ful, gorgeously dressed and adorned, with a look of serene compassion, stood by
his side. What struck me most was seeing you turn from time to time during your
talk to look on them. As ignorant as I was, I could still see a great devotion passed
between you.

Your lecture was more than I could understand, but it seemed to flow from you as
if it was all unquestionable, naturally evident truth. The little I could understand
made it clear to me, you were not from the world I knew.
You were a young man, then, thin, effulgent and serious. I had seen monks in black
robes, but I had never seen anyone who looked like you. You were aglow, I couldn’t
take my eyes off you.

After the lecture, they filed us into another room, where we sat on the floor in
rows, with paper plates before us. You sat next to me. I was impressed by how
you easily you made such extraordinary statements. You offered answers to
mysteries, I had been seeking to understand all my life, as easily as one might tell
a child of the big wide world outside his door. You had convinced me to become
your follower back in the temple room, when I saw the way you looked at Radha
Kalachandji and Prabhupada. But, what you said in those few minutes together, sit-
ting on the floor, was the revelatory event of my life. It was like having the curtains
drawn back and finally seeing the truth, the meaning of life. And yet for you it
seemed almost a background that you effortlessly filled in, while pursuing a more
important question.

You were very serious. It wasn’t a casual conversation. Looking back, you seemed
to take for granted that I would become your follower. You were conducting an in-
terview by asking me questions about my life. Not general questions, you wanted
to know what skills I had. I told you I was an engineering student at the University
of Texas, and some other things, that likewise didn’t interest you, and finally, I said
I had sold encyclopedias in Mexico. That was it. This, you were interested in. You
were the leader of the famous library party that distributed sets of Prabhupada’s
books all over the world, but I knew none of this at the time. I only knew that
whatever was important to you, I wanted to pursue.

You explained the spiritual master and disciple relationship. You wrote later in
Remembering Srila Prabhupada that you met a boy who didn’t even know what a
spiritual master was. I didn’t know, but in the space of fifteen or twenty minutes,
while sitting on the floor taking prasadam, I learned that my spiritual master was
you. You changed the course of my life, in those few minutes. You plucked me out
of the material world and gave me a place at your feet. You were, so confident,
powerful, and charismatic, I just did what you said, I never thought to refuse.
The story goes on for another forty plus years, so far. I can never repay you for the
mercy you have given me, but I intend to keep trying.

Your humble and affectionate disciple,

Narayana kavaca dasa

Dear Guru Maharaja,

Please accept my most humble obeisance, all glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Thank you for the opportunity in presenting a humble offering to you.

Having heard of your name, Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami Maharaja, over a decade
ago, I had a positive impression of you in my mind, without knowledge of your
mercy. On seeing you for the first time at Viraha Bhavan, I fell in love with your
simplicity and humility, and I always used to look forward for that heartfelt “Thank
you,” you gave to us after a day of rendered service.

When I think of Srila Prabhupada’s famous quote, “Simple living and high think-
ing,” you are a living example of that quote. Your presence always put me in the
mood of goodness and desire to serve you more and strengthening my faith in
Krishna Consciousness.

I was never a fan of chanting, it was a mechanical thing I had to do every day, but
your book on Japa Transformations had transformed my mentality to chant with
attention, faith, and just listen. I have made great progress in chanting since. Thank
you very much Guru Maharaja.
Your weekly Free Write Journal keeps me charged up in thinking of Krishna and
looking at ways in which I can better serve guru and Krishna.

I am very happy and content under your guidance, and your disciples’ guidance.
Please continue to accept my little service that I offer to you.

Your dear servant,

Nimai Ananda Das

Dear Guru Maharaja,

There are so many ways that I have messed up, gone awry, wasted my time in this
world, but one thing I did get right was I got initiated by you. For accepting me as
your disciple, dear Satsvarupa Maharaj, I am eternally grateful and indebted. I am
continuously inspired by your love for and dedication to Srila Prabhupad and am
enlivened in my spiritual pursuit by your wonderful writings, from the unabridged
magnificent Lilamrta to your Free Write Journals which recharge me week after
week. I know whose spiritual values I am aligned with by who appreciates and
praises you. May I have the strength of character and mercy of the Lord to serve
you nicely and follow your instructions and chant sixteen attentive rounds each
day for the rest of this life.

Your unworthy disciple,

Laulyam d.d.
Dear Satsvarupa Maharaj,

I have never met you, but the day I first read Srila Prabhupad Lilamrit, I knew you
as someone really close to Srila Prabhupad. We can only understand our Founder
Acharya thru the vision you created with your pen. If it wasn’t for you, I would
never have felt the connection to Srila Prabhupad. I was born in 1977, the year
when His Divine Grace left the planet. I always thought I will meet you one day to
thank you, but that opportunity came today, thanks to the technology.

My prayers on your glorious 80th birthday. May you remain in good health to write
more and more.Please accept my humble obeisances.

Your insignificant admirer,

Vahini singh,
Gurgaon,
India
Dear Satsvarupa Maharaja,
Please accept my most humble obeisances, all glories to Srila Prabhupada.

I have not kept in touch much over the years & have not written you a Vyasa Puja
offering in a long time. Yet, I wanted to write you a offering for your upcoming
80th birthday.

Where to begin?

Life has taken me on a journey since I joined over 20 years ago. Not how I imag-
ined things to turn out but somehow I am still here.

Your books have been a big inspiration for me. I have recently started reading the
Lilamrta again. The depth with which you write & your vivid descriptions makes
the reader feel she has dived right into the pages, the very essence. I feel I am
right there in what is happening. I have read many of your books over the years.
I was delighted when Radhanatha bought a series of the Nimai Mouse books for
our son Balarama.

I have been very fortunate to be able to personally serve you over the years by
cooking for you & doing service for your beautiful Deities.
I have not kept in touch due to my busyness in life & the path & direction my life
has taken me in.

The first time I saw you Guru Maharaja, I just knew you were someone special.
I felt it. I was blown away by your humility & meek personality. Your kindness of
heart. You touched my heart. Even thought I was told you would not be initiating
anyone else, I did not give up. I wrote to you & took shelter & within a few years I
was initiated. You saw the spark in me. You gave me my name which means “ The
Deliver of Happiness” to live up to it.

Thank you for all you have given me over the years. No words can say how deeply
indebted to you I feel. To describe what you have given me.

Your very fallen Servant

Sukhada dd
Dear Satsvarupa das Gosvami,

We met for the first time in 1974. I was on again-off again in my interest in Krsna
consciousness. I knew you before that only by your reputation—a devotee close
to Srila Prabhupada, serious, sincere, completely committed. We spoke only
briefly. You asked me to do some editing of Prabhupad’s tape-recorded comments.
I didn’t really pursue it, to my eternal regret. Ironically, I was able to somewhat
make up for it. I met you again a few months ago through Dhanurdhara Swami’s
introduction. When I found out you were still a prolific writer, I offered my service
and now I help Guru das with the proofreading of the weekly Free Writes. I enjoy
it very much. I also sought out your friendship and advice, and you were generous
and we now have a very enjoyable e-mail correspondence. Your comments on my
problems and my own writing are always penetrating and encouraging.

For me, you are a connection to the very earliest days of the Movement, an exam-
ple of great faith, and always a good listener. I have visited and you and Baladeva
are ideal hosts. Your home is an example of complete Krsna consciousness. Some-
one reads from the Krsna book or Srimad Bhagavatam during meals, and the Dei-
ties are given wonderful care. I can still see your warm smile as you watched me
depart one day. I am very happy that I finally established a relationship with you. I
wish you a very Happy Birthday!

Jan Potemkin
Dear Gurudeva,

Bhakti rasa and I were living in the Vancouver temple waiting for initiation when
Srila Prabhupada left his body. It was a very emotional time, and we thought we
had missed out on getting initiation. When we met Srila Satsvarupa das Goswami,
we fell in love with his gentleness and kindness. He gave us a lot of love, affection
and advice over the years and we were his first married devotees. A lot has hap-
pened since that time 40 years ago. We are in our sixties and Gurudeva is turning
80. Although we are no longer living in an ISKCON temple, both of us have blessed
memories of our experiences, learning and the way that meeting you changed our
lives for the better.

Happy Birthday to Srila Satsvarupa das Goswami!

from Bhakti rasa and Sraddha

Dear Guru Maharaj,

Even if its nearly 30 years ago that I left the Hare Krshna Movement, its one of my
fondest memories to have you as my guru at that time, when I was initiated in
Dublin Temple as your disciple.

At that time I was married to Vidura das and my Name was Subhalaksmi devi dasi.
I am not with the Movement anymore, but some things out of that time are in
good remembrance to me, and you are the best of those memories.
Have a wonderful Vyasa-puja and Greetings from Germany,
Subhalaksmi devi dasi/Susanne Zilz
Dearest Satsvarupa,

Hare Krishna! All glories to Srila Prabhupada! Please accept my humble obei-
sances.

Almost twenty years ago Haridas Das introduced me to ISKCON and took me to the
Potomac temple for the first time. During our discussions about Krishna, he told
me about his spiritual master, Satsvarupa dasa Goswami. Although I was already in
my 60s and had never been attracted to any religion in particular, Krishna stole my
heart pretty quickly. Much to the initial chagrin of my wife Ortrun.

Being an artist myself, it intrigued me to find out that in addition to being a guru,
you are also a writer and painter. After reading a number of your books, I was
drawn to you because of the forthright manner in which you discuss your own
personal struggles with your faith. Knowing this made trying to live a Krishna con-
scious life much easier for me.

I started to attend your yearly disciple meetings in New Jersey and had the oppor-
tunity to speak with you one on one, and we started to correspond on a regular
basis.
I was saddened when you went to live in Ireland. Imagine the great joy I felt when
Baladeva called in 2002 and relayed your message to come to Ireland to be initi-
ated. To add to my delight we were surprised to find Mother Kaulini already at
your residence along with her dear friend Steve, who was to become Saci Suta.

It has been seventeen years and I am thankful daily to have this spiritual and artis-
tic connection with you.

The happiest wishes on this occasion of your 80th birthday.

With much affection, your obedient servant

Hemagaura
Dear Guru Maharaj,

Hare Krsna. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. My humble obeisance to your lotus
feet.

Bhagavan zone
Bhagavan disciple
distribute books books books
great enthusiasm
but.........
quantity!!!
quality???
important for all!
Then:Japa reform note book
Reading reform
was forbidden to read,
others Gurus,
attractions,
feeling
I need absolutely
I read
relationship borne
in pages of Your books
keep alive,
nourished,
my relationship
whit Srila Prabhupada,
and His mission.
Thank you
forever grateful
forever in debt

servant of servant of servant

of Your wonderful servants
Nanda Kishora das,
Italy

Dear Guru Maharaja,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

You are such a great disciple of Srila Prabhupada, and devotee of Lord Krsna! It
can’t be said too strongly.
When I’ve read the Krsna book to you recently, I couldn’t help but think how you
were first one to hear the Krsna book from Prabhupada, and how 52 years later
you are hearing the same words, for the umpteenth time, and you are so attentive
and absorbed in His pastimes. The only explanation for that kind of hearing is pu-
rity of heart for Krsna. All day long—each and every day—you only hear and chant
and write, and think, and talk about Krsna. Only a pure devotee can do that. You
say many deprecating things about yourself, but we—your disciples and admir-
ers—know the truth.

Here is one of the most valuable things I ever heard from you: You were talking
about why we shouldn’t be envious of other devotees. You said that the purpose
of everything that we do is to please Krsna, so if another devotee is pleasing Krsna,
then they’re more advanced than me, and I should be happy. The common goal is
being accomplished, so how can I resent them? I think about that every time I feel
envy for another devotee.

I hope to have more association with you for years to come.

Your eternal servant,

Muktavandya dasa
Dear Satsvarupa Maharaja,

I have learned so much through the books written and more recently his guid-
ance, instruction and recollections within his email writings. I’m very grateful for
the skill prabhu has in the written word.
Happy 80th birthday.

Bhaktin Kathe

Dear Maharaja,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and the Vais-
navas.
On the occasion of your Vyasa-Puja,I send my deep appreciation,respect and love.
Your life of service, especially in demonstrating writing as a spiritual practice has
inspired countless individuals to search for their authentic self. You’ve shown us a
path that is wide with joy, and invited us to discover the many ways to give thanks
to God along the way.

Despite my disappointing silence, I pray to remain a life long student of your books
and your creative life of service.

your servant,
Matthew Wheelock
Dear Guru Maharaja,

Please accept my humble obeisances again and again. All glories to Srila Prabhu-
pada.

Thank you for connecting me with Srila Prabhupada by giving me spiritual initia-
tion and by revealing so many inspiring details about his life through your books
and your classes.

While I lived in San Diego over 25 years ago, I wrote you that I always finished my
japa by 10:00 a.m. every morning, and you responded telling me to always be
like that, reminding me that Raghunatha Dasa Goswami’s sadhana was like lines
grooved in stone that cannot be erased at any time. These days I usually finish
japa by 6:45 a.m., and your personal example of rising early and chanting and your
many books on japa are the main reason for this. When I see people struggling to
complete their quotas later in the day, I felt gratitude toward you for training me
up to chant early in the day and for reminding us that Srila Prabhupada considered
doing the japa quota to be the most
important instruction of the guru.

In your Reading Reform Notebook, you summarized Srila Prabhupada’s instruc-

tions on reading, saying he wanted us to attend a morning class, an evening class,
and tread his books on our own for an hour. That instruction stuck with me, and I
try to do like that.

Even though I am not always successful, I do not minimize the instruction but keep
trying.

When visiting the Philly temple for Ratha-yatra this September I saw the staircase
we were ascending after guru puja one day, when you told me that I should dance
more in the kirtana. Previously I did not dance in kirtana because I did not feel like
it, but because of your instruction, I had to figure out how to become inspired.
Now I find myself dancing from the beginning of the kirtana to the end, even if I
am the only one dancing. I also tend to praise the other dancers for their contribu-
tion, and I take videos of people dancing in kirtana.

You are an ideal example of faith in Srila Prabhupada, faith in the holy name, en-
gaging one’s talent in Krishna’s service, and tolerating inconveniences of the body
and mind and difficulties caused by others.

Thank you for allowing me to assist in your book production and thus feel a per-
sonal
connection with you.

Your aspiring servant,

Krishna Kripa Das
Dear Guru Maharaja,

nama om visnu-padaya krsna-presthaya bhu tale

srimate satsvarupa das goswamin iti namine
satsvarupa abidam vande vinitam sadhu-bhusanam
bhakti-granthana naipunyam bhaktivedanta siksitam

MY LORD AND MASTER

your ever-fresh dynamics

and perseverant Prabhupadanuga way,
mellow yet raw – sugar-free
sober, tangible
realistic
strikes my heart
vitally inspiring my KC

Jaya Govinda dasa

Dear Guru Maharaja,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. All glories to
your auspicious appearance day.

Of all the most valuable possessions we have, arguably the most precious, is time.
A birthday celebration is a reminder of this. In gratitude on this day we acknowl-
edge the years you have been with us, with wishes for many more.

A self-help guru once said, we do not manage time, we manage ourselves with
regard to it. Nobody starts out with twenty-four hours, manages their time well,
and ends up with twenty-seven. No matter how efficient we are, we each have the
same 86,400 seconds as every other jiva.

One of the qualities I most admire in you, and perhaps the one I most egregiously
fail to emulate, is how you manage yourself with regard to time. In the purport to
Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.24 56, Srila Prabhupada, referencing Bhagavad-gita, writes,
“It is said that the Lord in the shape and form of death destroys all a person’s pos-
sessions. Mṛtyuḥ sarva-haraś cāham: ‘I am all-devouring death.’ The Lord in the
shape of death takes away everything that is created by the conditioned soul. Ev-
erything in this material world is subject to perish in due course of time. However,
all the strength of time cannot hamper the activities of a devotee, for a devotee
takes complete shelter under the lotus feet of the Lord. For this reason only is a
devotee free from formidable time.”

How is it possible for a devotee to conquer time? By worshiping eternal time in the
form of krsna-smaranam and guru-smaranam. In Part Four of the Volume Two of
Prabhupada Meditations, you write, “In our own little way, we are also worshiping
the hours and minutes when we were with Srila Prabhupada. One way to wor-
ship sacred time is to ask it, ‘Please come forward so that we may praise you with
words and tell the world what it was like. Kindly come forward and reveal yourself,
minutes and hours in which I was with Srila Prabhupada.’”

In this passage you are “riffing” off of the words of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who
in the mood of Srimati Radharani is saying,“If by chance such a moment comes
when I can once again see Kṛṣṇa, then I shall worship those seconds, moments and
hours with flower garlands and pulp of sandalwood and decorate them with all
kinds of jewels and ornaments.”

You have been decorating the moments and hours, the days and the years—in-
deed, an entire lifetime—with the ornaments and jewels of your heart, the words
you accepted from your Guru Maharaja, and which you place in various settings
and bequeath to your readers.

Earlier in the chapter, Mahaprabhu, again quoting Radharani, says, “. . . When

I again see His form, I shall decorate the phases of time with many jewels.” The
phases of time makes me think of the phases of the moon. The light you have
reflected from Krishna and Srila Prabhupada is such soothing and invigorating il-
lumination, both in the darkness of Kali-yuga, and in the darkness of what remains
of my own ignorance. Through all the phases of time, may your words shine on.
Please bless me to also become a clear reflection of that light by properly worship-
ing Krishna in His form of time.

Your aspiring servant,

Tulasi-Priya dasi
Dear Guru Maharaja,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and to you.

Happy birthday, Guru Maharaja! This is a special day for you and also for me be-
cause on this special occasion I think deeply about our spiritual relationship.
During this year, for some moments, I thought that I understood what to do in my
life to be Krishna conscious. But soon I found myself running after things that have
no real value and I saw that, unfortunately, my priorities are far from what I would
like.

To be honest, in those moments I feel a bit lost, but I know that I can think of you
and your example. I think about the days I spent with you last Easter: an island of
peace and tenderness for my mind.

The morning routine when I see you for the first time in the day, I bow down and
tell you, “Did you sleep well, Guru Maharaja”? And you smiling and quickly an-
swering: “Yes”!

The breakfast with readings, your naps and the precious moment during lunch
when we stayed together listening to one of your books on Srila Prabhupada. The
evening snack, the last offering to Sri Sri Radha Govinda, and my “Good night,
Guru Maharaja” and your “Good night, Ananda Kishora”.

I carry this last blessing in my heart because my name on your lips acquires a pro-
found meaning.

Then, I remember your intimate disciples who spend their time in serving you at
Viraha Bhavan.

I understand that your priorities are clear and you move from one devotional ac-
tivity to another with elegance and simplicity.

I think of your pure and innocent smile and also your gravity and silence.
I think of your gestures of generosity and attention to your disciples and your great
desire to serve devotees. I think of your commitment to serving Srila Prabhupada
and your rapt and contemplative gaze towards Sri Sri Radha Govinda. In these mo-
ments, the world seems to stop and speak to me in a new language. The disorder
of my outer and inner world seems to disappear and everything has a new mean-
ing and light.

In these moments, I know you are close to me and, like a loving father, you’re ask-
ing Sri Sri Radha Govinda to forgive my shortcomings.
Thank you Guru Maharaja and Happy Birthday!
Your humble servant,
Ananda Kishora das
Dear Guru Maharaja,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Thank you for the opportunity to offer a few thoughts this Vyasa Puja day. I feel
fortunate having had the opportunity to serve the Vaisnavas in this lifetime, and
your steady example has guided me forward through thick and thin. I am particu-
larly honored by the experience of serving in Srila Prabhupada’s disciplic line. And
again, your faithful service as one of his most senior disciples continuing in his line
has shown how that is practically realized. Somehow or other together we have all
shared in that experience, and for that I feel more than blessed, more then I will
ever deserve.

Your humble servant,

Sthita-dhi-muni dasa
My beloved Spiritual Master,

I offer my humble obeisances on your 80th Vyas Puja.

I had opportunity to get initiated by HDG Srila Praphupada but I did not avail that
opportunity.But the day I met you in Baltimore I was convinced there was reason
why I waited and did not get initiated on 6th July, 1976 by Srila Prabhpada.As
Srila Praphupada was always glorifying Krsna, you were always talking about him.
In Srila Prabhupad’s physical absence, who else would have guided towards him
other then you.This thought is very well summarized in your Guruvastakam

sri-krsna -darsaih prabhupadadeva

lilamrtaih sinchayatiha loke
jivan prasuptan karunamayo yas
tam asraye sri guru-satsvarupam

“Let me take shelter of His Divine grace Satsvarupa dasa Goswami Gurumaharaja,
who mercifully sprinkles the nectar of Srila Prabhupada’s pastimes upon the sleep-
ing conditioned souls.That nectar enables those who contact it to understand the
philosophy of Krsna consciousness.” This is my meditation every morning to your
lotus feet.

Whatever I am is because of your causeless mercy,specially getting association of

your esteemed Godbrothers.

Gurudeva, I beg to remain your humble servant life after life only through your
via media we can get mercy of Srila Praphupada and Krsna .Let your pen flood the
world with Prabhupada- and krsna-katha and continue blessing us.

your servant,
Nitaigaursundar das

Your Divine Grace, please accept my dandavats on this very auspicious Day of your
Divine appearance in this world.

Glory to you, a worthy disciple of Prabhupada, a devotee-writer. Here are the lines
from your Begging for the Nectar of the Holy Name:

“...But after such a long time of abusing the practice, I find it hard to chant, al-
though there is mercy here too. Once you get going, it becomes easier.”
and further,
“...On top of five layers of clothes, I place a
heavy chadar and go on writing. I am eager to get back to the japa.”
Since my spiritual life is an attempt to chant 16 rounds, thank you for these hon-
est words. For me, this is only a goal, but thanks to you, I am on the right track.

You also convinced me that Krsna is a person with personality traits. This is
perhaps the most important thing. Thank you for that. I indeed indebted to you.
Please, accept my inept attempt to glorify you:
I look at the shoes
made in China, but for Americans,
therefore durable.
They were worn by the eldest son of Vyasadeva prabhu.
The guy moved to America to live,
but was murdered there.
Shoes handed over to father and he wore them
when he painted the walls,
and then he gave it to me.
Such is material life - to chew already chewed ...
Now they are to me as a father and mother:
carry me from the beach,
where under the starry autumn sky
I felt the mercy of the holy names ...
The spiritual master saved me.
______
Go-das, your mercy in the shadow of your lotus feet.
Bhagavata Acharya
Dear Guru Maharaja,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Thank you for over 50 years of steadfast service to Srila Prabhupada, and 30 years
of kindness to me.
You said in a class back in 1995 that “steady” is better than “peak experience.”
“The process is simple,” you also said, “but only the sincere disciple can achieve
the result.” You’ve certainly proved that point.

You are that mahatma su-durlabhah whose life of dedicated service has become
extraordinary. Writing the Srila Prabhupada Lilamrta alone would have achieved
that. Yet you have done so much more.

For my little life I thank you for so many meetings in Ireland, the UK, Italy and India
and the USA; sweet simple kirtans and wonderful classes over the years.
Thank you for the The Life and Teachings of Srila Prabhupada course at the VIHE in
Vrindavan in 1994(?), which remains the best course I ever attended.

Thank you for your pioneering writing sadhana, each book a testimony to creative
genius engaged in the pursuit of truth. Krishna consciousness sans frontiers, with
now more than 100 titles to your name in many different genres.They will continue
to inspire, provoke and challenge souls to seek truth, Krishna, in all circumstance.
Though I could choose many other books, I thank you particularly for writing En-
tering the Life of Prayer. It embraced interfaith appreciation and expanded bhakti
horizons at a time I struggled to integrate my own Catholic background. It helped
me so much. Thank you for letters that always encouraging and guiding and, de-
spite my many short-comings, for being so tolerant and generous hearted.

As I grow older I appreciate more your cultivated habit of never wasting time.
Still today at Viraha Bhavan, despite the difficulties of age, you carve it up so
carefully into sliced offerings of chanting, hearing, reading, writing, record-
ing reflections,daily darshan, offering and receiving prasadam,dealing with
correspondence,receiving guests and preparing talks amongst so much else.
Nor do you waste words.

I thank you yet again for the few potent words you wrote me many years ago that
continue to answer every difficulty I ever encounter. You wrote in response to a
lengthy mental outpouring I had written. I repeat your words every year to encour-
age new students at Bhaktivedanta College. You wrote : “Krishna is more merciful
than you are dumb.”

And so is his very dear devotee.

Happy Vyasa Puja.
Your servant,
Anuradha d.d.
Dear Guru Maharaj,

Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada! All glories to
you!

We are always fondly remembering time spent with you and Baladeva in Viraha
Bhavan a few years ago.
Since we met Baladeva at the airport, we knew we hadn’t landed at New York; we
landed in Vrndavan dham. It was Ekadashi and he came with the basket full of deli-
cious and opulent prasadam. He immediately conquered our hearts.
When we stepped in to the ashram you could just feel atmosphere from another
world!

Your kind and gentle nature made us feel immediately at home. Your life is com-
pletely centred around Prabhupada’s and Krishna’s service. So trying to stay on
track with you, slowly , slowly we became a little Krishna-ized and we felt so much
joy in our daily routine there. We didn’t do anything extraordinary. Only some
simple housework and some seva with your paintings. Once Dhanudhar Maharaj
came in our ashram and he saw us in a bliss and asked how about that we are so
happy ? We said we didn’t know since we are just doing some manual seva, noth-
ing special and he said: “You are happy because you are serving a liberated soul
and he is giving you so much mercy.” These words will stay with us forever.

But you used to say for yourself: “I am just an ordinary sadhaka struggling with my
sadhana. “ It is impressive how despite your advanced age and big physical difficul-
ties you are so much attached to your seva and bhajan. Every meal we would read
together Prabhupad’s book,s but when the guests would come you liked to put
them in the centre and hear how they were doing in their lives.

It was Krishna’s especially sweet gift to us, to be able to enter in your life, shar-
ing day-by-day many intimate moments, like a family, and observing you in your
bhajan and seva. Satsvarupa das Goswami Guru Maharaj who was already our
spiritual hero for his Guru reform books, for his many sincere writings in a frank
and open manner about all obstacles we meet on our Bhakti path , his creative
and vibrant out-of-this-world paintings , this same devotee completely conquered
us with his gentle and humble nature.

Dearest Guru Maharaj, thank you for just being who you are ! Thank you for your
whole life! Wishing you happy 80th Vyasa puja and a lot of physical strength, good
health for your bhajan and seva.

Our deepest gratitude to all your intimate servants in Viraha bhavan and those
who are generously supporting you in this important stage of your life.

With love and gratitude,

You servants Dinanath das

and Ayatakshi devi dasi
Dear Guru Maharaja,

Please accept my humble obeisances in the dust of your divine lotus feet. All
glories to those feet and to Srila Prabhupada. All glories to Their Divine Lordships
Sri-Sri Radha-Govinda of Viraha Bhavan.

nama om visnu padaya krsna presthaya bhu-tale

srimate satsvarupa dasa gosvamin it namine
satsvarupa bhidam vande vinitam sadhu-bhusanam
bhakti-granthana naipunyam bhaktivedanta siksitam

Happy 80th birthday, Guru Maharaja! You have often written how your real
life began when you met Swamiji fifty-three years ago and surrendered to his lotus
feet at 26 Second Avenue in New York City. You were instantly attracted to Prabhu-
pada, instantly cleansed of desires for meat, illicit sex, intoxication and gambling
that bind conditioned souls to the material world. You began to serve Krsna’s pure
devotee wholeheartedly by typing his manuscripts and donating your income to
his Movement. You immediately developed a strong service relationship with your
spiritual master. Over fifty years later, you continue to humbly accept his vani upon
your head and provide affectionate, confidential loving service to his lotus feet,
despite daunting physical obstacles that would defeat others.

O transparent via media of Sri Krsna! Out of your causeless mercy, out of
your complete cent-percent surrender to the mission of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu,
you engage even the most fallen in service, those with no good qualities or quali-
fications whatsoever. This wretched follower begs for service despite his constant
stream of mistakes, bad choices, deliberate rebellion and misuse of free will. You
engage me in typing work, you have clear expectations that it be done timely and
of good quality, and you expertly inform me of my mistakes. How can I possibly
begin to express my gratitude for this incredible opportunity, this good fortune?
Words fail. O Guru Maharaja! Please allow me always to be reminded of my
eternal debt to you. Although I am totally unqualified to ask, please grant me the
awareness to always fear maya and take her seriously—not because of my fear of
suffering (which is substantial but ultimately illusory) but because any time spent
in maya takes away from serving your order.

Thank you for the life-giving sustenance of your weekly Free Write Journal.
One of my favorite features is when you publish letters you received from Prab-
hupada and your commentary on them. These letters hint at both your intimate
relationship with your Guru Maharaja and his confidence in you to carry out vital
instructions. A letter he sent you soon after awarding you sannyasa in May 1972
(which you reprint in #44) spoke of “boiling the milk”:

“The first business should be to preach to the devotees. It is better to maintain a

devotee than to try to convince others to become devotees. It is the duty of the
GBC to maintain the devotees, keep them in the highest standard of Krsna Con-
sciousness, and give them all good instruction, and let them go out and preach for
making more devotees. Your first job should be to make sure that every one of the
devotees in your zone of management is reading regularly our literatures and dis-
cussing the subject matter seriously from different angles of seeing, and that they
are somehow or other absorbing the knowledge of Krsna Consciousness philoso-
phy.” (Letter of June 12, 1972)

With full faith and surrender you embraced this instruction, and we who are
gathered before you on this Vyasa-puja day are the fortunate result. On Prabhupa-
da’s order, you traveled as GBC/sannyasi from temple to temple to see that things
were going on nicely. This mood of nonstop, selfless giving characterizes your
entire devotional career. The manifestation of your complete ocean of Vaisnava
literatures, especially the superb Srila Prabhupada-lilamrta, sprang from your pure
desire to please Prabhupada by preaching to the devotees, sharing his teachings,
your realizations and explorations of the path of Krsna consciousness. Your books
simultaneously inform and improve the lives of devotee readers. They reach us on
a personal level, encouraging us to struggle for the highest and most worthy goal,
Krsna consciousness. Your books courageously reveal glimpses of your struggles
and successes, your pure devotional aspirations to become the servant of Sri-Sri
Radha-Govinda and how you derive strength from your regular bhajana of japa,
writing, reading, hearing from sastra, and Deity worship.

O Guru Maharaja, O embodiment of Lord Krsna’s absolute knowledge and

infinite compassion, you are yourself a fully pure, exemplary acarya in parampara.
Your lotus feet are fit for the whole universe to take shelter of. May you continue
to remain as healthy as possible for many years to come—as long as you and
Radha-Govinda desire—and compose Krsna literature for the benefit of the entire
world. Thank you, Guru Maharaja, for representing the parampara so splendidly
and so personally. Thank you for the creation of Viraha Bhavan ashram to worship
and serve your Sri-Sri Radha-Govinda Deities. Thank you for your exemplary activi-
ties throughout your devotional life, your many wonderful qualities and attributes,
the eternal kindness of your instructions. Thank you for the open door of your
association, the opportunity to serve your servants, and your warm, compassion-
ate nature that personally saved me and engaged me on the path of devotional
service. Only by your divine grace do I have even the faint hope of escaping mate-
rial existence in some future lifetime.

an aspiring servant of your servants,

guru dasa
Dear Guru Maharaja!
Your Divine Grace Satsvarupa dasa Goswami!

Please accept our humble obeisances to Your lotus feet.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
All glories to You!

Arjuna and I with all our heart and soul congratulate You on the anniversary
Vyasa-puja and Your 80th birthday.

As an offering to You on this wonderful occasion, we place at Your feet this report
on the distribution of Your books in Russia from November 2018 to November
2019:
Obstacles on the Path of Devotional Service – 67
Japa Reform and Reading Reform – 71
Letters from Srila Prabhupada, vol. 1 – 34
Letters from Srila Prabhupada, vol. 2 – 27
Guru Reform Notebook – 42
Prabhupada Meditations, volumes 2,3,4 – 23
My Dear Lord Krishna, vol. 1 and vol. 2 – 46
Truthfulness, the Last Leg of Religion – 26
Entering the Life of Prayer – 78
Japa Walks, Japa Talks – 59
Japa Transformations – 39
Prabhupada Appreciation – 41
The Daily News: All Things Fail Without Krishna – 91
The Qualities of Sri Krishna – 27
Vaisnava Compassion – 8
26 Qualities of a Devotee – 14
Sri Caitanya Daya – 47
Srila Prabhupada Samadhi Diary – 52
Prabhupada Nectar – 16
Nimai das and the Mouse, Nimai’s Detour, Gurudeva and Nimai (in
one volume) – 47
Chota’s Way – 44
Distribute Books! Distribute Books! Distribute Books! – 35
ISKCON in the 1970s – 8
One Hundred Prabhupada Poems – 15
Am I a Demon or a Vaisnava – 23
Ista-gosthi – 19
From Imperfection Purity Will Come About – 18
Vishnurata-vijaya – 59

Sum total is 1076

 And the following books were distributed by the BBT in 2019:
Prabhupada – 19 789
Srila Prabhupada-lilamrita, vol. 1 – 396
Srila Prabhupada-lilamrita, vol. 2 – 847
Srila Prabhupada-lilamrita, vol. 3 – 1191
Readings in Vedic Literature – 651
Narada-bhakti sutra – 407

Thus the total amount of Your books distributed in 2019 comes to 24 357 We
are sending You two books that we published this year - Vishnurata-vijaya and a
reprint of Dear Sky: Letters from a Sannyasi.

For Your pleasure, we are sending an album with the expressions of gratitude from
the Russian devotees who were inspired by Your literary work in Krishna con-
sciousness.

And of course, dear Guru Maharaja, Arjuna and I, Your little children, want to
thank You in the first place.
Although our service to You is not perfect, we try our best to please You.
We are grateful to You in the depth of our hearts for Your mercy and kindness to
us.
Everything that is good in our life, we received by Your blessings.
You are the perfect conduit of Srila Prabhupada’s grace and guidance.
We love You very much!

Our whole life is dedicated to serving You, dear Guru Maharaja, serving Srila Prab-
hupada and, ultimately, serving Radha and Krishna.

The feet of Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is our highest goal, to-
wards which we are walking while holding on to Your feet...

Please be always healthy and happy!

May You live long!
Best wishes,
bowing down at Your feet,
Your eternal servants,
Ishana devi dasi and Arjuna das
Your Holiness Satsvarupa dasa Goswami!
Please accept our humble obeisances.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

We are unlimitedly grateful to You for the nectarean association with Srila Prabhu-
pada thru Your delightfully interesting books.
When we come to the All-Russian Sadhu-Sanga festival, we always buy Your books:
Srila Prabhupada Lilamrita, My Dear Lord Krishna, Prabhupada Nectar...
We are now reading Prabhupada Nectar and become immersed in these wonder-
ful stories that reveal Srila Prabhupada’s personality, and we get personal associa-
tion with him.
We want to know more about this great personality, we want to develop Krsna
consciousness, learn to serve, associate properly with devotees, preach and do
everything as Srila Prabhupada wanted.
Your books, dear Maharaja, are very inspiring and they help us advance on this
path.
Congratulations on Your anniversary Vyasa Puja!
We wish You good health and long life!

Disciples of His Grace Chaitanya Chandra Charana Prabhu,

Leela Jahnavi devi dasi
Hariseva Kunti devi dasi
Your Holiness Satsvarupa dasa Goswami!

Please accept my humble obeisances and my deepest gratitude for your memories
of Srila Prabhupada that you have kept in Your heart.
Your memories about your service to Srila Prabhupada instill in me a taste for the
practice of Krsna consciousness.
I come in touch with Prabhupada thru You.
Your experiences are very confidential.
You write very confidential things.
Thanks to Your books I developed a taste for reading.
I would like to read the books of Prabhupada and Yours again and again.

I wish You strong health, long life and divine joy!

Inna Martvenenko
Ukraine, Lutsk city

Dear Satsvarupa dasa Goswami Maharaja!

Please accept my respectful obeisances.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Let me express my deepest gratitude for Your priceless books that are full
of love for Srila Prabhupada and Lord Krishna!
Prior to reading Sri Caitanya-daya, I had a poor understanding of Lord Cait-
anya’s mercy. However thanks to You this miracle was revealed to me - the
transforming mercy of Lord Caitanya.
Lord Gauranga has come to life on the pages of Your book.
I literally felt like a participant in those events.
Thank You so much!
I have read all Your books in Russian.
I wish you good health, inspiration in Your literary work and happy grateful
students!

Your servant Madhava das

Vaishnava community “Bogolyubovka”

Your Holiness Satsvarupa dasa Goswami!

Please accept my humble obeisances.

I sincerely want to thank and glorify You for your invaluable books, which inspire
spiritual life and help to better understand the value of Srila Prabhupada’s books.
Your personal devotion to Prabhupada and Your writing talent eliminate the
doubts that prevent us from dedicating ourselves to devotional service and sur-
rendering to the Holy Name.
I sincerely adore Your books.
With your books it is much easier to overcome difficulties and anarthas that im-
pede spiritual progress.

With best wishes on the day of Your Vyasa Puja

Vrajendra Suta das
Ivanovo city

Dear Satsvarupa dasa Goswami Maharaja!

Please accept my greetings and congratulations on Your anniversary
Vyasa Puja!

Your writing talent is just amazing.

We are very grateful to You because through Your writing talent we have
an opportunity to get in touch with Srila Prabhupada and Lord Krishna!
Many devotees in Russia wanted to choose You as their spiritual mas-
ter and receive diksha from You because You inspired them very much
through Your books.
We are happy to receive Your shiksha again and again through Your
books.

Sincerely Yours,
Vamana das
Tolyatti city

Dear Satsvarupa dasa Goswami Maharaja!

Please accept my humble obeisances.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for Your deep and sincere books. Espe-
cially for the books Srila Prabhupada Lilamrita, Sri Caitanya Daya, Am I a Demon Or
a Vaisnava...
I hope that You will continue to inspire us to practise pure devotional service.
By Your grace, I have gained spiritual experience.
Your books about Srila Prabhupada are pure nectar.
All our Kazan yatra is delighted with Your books.
We read all Your books.

Best wishes to You,

Acharya Ratna Das
Kazan city
Dear Satsvarupa dasa Goswami!
Please accept my humble obeisances and thanks for the books You write and
publish.

I am especially grateful to You for opening before us Your inner world, Your per-
ception of life. It is very inspirational and gives us a great spiritual taste.
I started reading Your books in the early 90s. The first book was Japa Reform, and
for me it was a great revelation from a practicing devotee. Thank You very much
for conveying the taste for chanting and Your in-depth relationship with the Holy
Name.
There were not so many books in those days, and one devotee made a handwrit-
ten copy of Entering the Life of Prayer to always be able to read it. Then Your other
books began to come out. We are very much thankful to mother Ishana, who at
every festival inspires devotees to read Your books. For me, her example is a great
source of stability in devotional service and desire to satisfy the guru.
I especially thank You for the books about Srila Prabhupada. Your attachment to
the spiritual master is very strong and deep, and You convey this taste to Your
readers.
Your Srila Prabhupada Lilamrita came out in audio format, and this is another way
of spreading Prabhupada’s glory.
I have never seen You or heard your lectures, because I do not understand English
well. However, You are very close to me because of Your books.

Please accept my humble obeisances,

Anjana dasi (desciple of Indradyumna Swami Maharaja)
Rostov-on-Don
Dear Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami Maharaja!
Please accept our respectful obeisances at Your lotus feet.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

We congratulate You on the anniversary Vyasa-puja and sincerely express our end-
less gratitude for Your books in which You mercifully share with us the sweetest
nectar of Prabhupada.
By reading and discussing your books we gradually understand that A.C. Bhaktive-
danta Swami Prabhupada still LIVES, and he is with us.
We thank You very much!
We wish You good health and long life.

Alexey, Ivanna, Maxim, Mira Melnikovs

Vologda city

Your Holiness Satsvarupa dasa Gosvami!

Please accept my humble obeisances to Your lotus feet.

I want to say that You have given us the most important thing - the under-
standing of how to practically concentrate our mind on Krishna.
All Your books, one after the other, are a practical explanation of Lord Krishna’s
words in the Bhagavad-gita - “Think of Me, Become My Devotee.”
In the Srimad-Bhagavatam it is said that only dedicated and thoughtful people
can do this (Canto One).
Your books are meant for the thoughtful people.
 I am indebted to You.
You, as a shiksha guru, showed me the right direction at the right time.
I do not know what I can do to thank You.
Let me express to You my deepest appreciation.

Adideva das
Rostov-on-Don

Your Divine Grace Satsvarupa dasa Gosvami!

Accept my humble obeisances to Your lotus feet.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Please accept my congratulations on Your Vyasa-puja and Your 80th birthday!

Dear Guru Maharaj, I wish You good health and long life!
And I want to express my sincere gratitude to Your disciples Ishana devi dasi and
Arjuna das for the fact that by their grace I have the opportunity to do sankirtana
of Your books.
I would like to continue serving You in this way in Your mission.

With deep gratitude at Your feet

Your disciple Shrikant das
City Novorossiysk
Dear Satsvarupa dasa Gosvami!
Please accept my humble obeisances.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

I am unlimitedly thankful to You for the books that have inspired and supported
me and my friends from the time of our spiritual infancy in the 90s.
At that time I did not have sufficient qualification to appreciate Srila Prabhupada’s
books, and Your works helped me a lot in becoming a devotee.
I greatly appreciate Your lessons regarding chanting japa and reading Prabhupada’s
books, overcoming obstacles in devotional service, and about truthfulness.
It was very interesting to look behind the curtain and see the devotees through
the eyes of the spiritual master (I mean the scenes from the book Nimai Das and
the Mouse).
I especially thank You for the enormous effort of writing the biography of Srila
Prabhupada.
In 1994 a “pirate” translation of Srila Prabhupada-Lilamrita was published in Rus-
sia. Our yatra president was the proud owner of this book and did not allow to
take it out of the house. And every day after class, I ran to his house to read it.
Thank You with all my heart for Your inspiration and support.

I wish You long life and lots of joy!

Respectfully Yours,
Vijay Lakshmi Devi Dasi
Tomsk city
Satsvarupa das Goswami,
Prabhupada’s disciple!
Your books are like a prayer.
You pour nectar into our hearts.

Satsvarupa das Goswami,

Thank You very much!
By reading Your books
We can see Prabhupada.

(Krishna Charan das,

disciple of Partha Sarathi dasa Goswami
Donetsk, Ukraine)
Dear Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami Maharaja,
Please accept my humble obeisances at Your feet.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

I have been blessed by the opportunity to translate into Russian and edit some of
Your books, and I am very much grateful to You for the time spent in devotional
service and in Your purifying association.
Among Your precious gifts to us is Your exemplary practice of the early morn-
ing japa, unbroken service to Srila Prabhupada and Lord Krishna thru Your daily
writing, constant longing for more active service in spite of all physical obstacles,
Your careful internal cultivation of pure Krishna consciousness, Your kindness and
goodwill to your disciples and all living beings.
Thank You very much for these gifts.

I hope that I will have more opportunities to serve You and Your disciples in this
life.

Gopijanavallabha das
Ramenskoe, Russia
Your Holiness Satsvarupa dasa Goswami!
lease accept our humble obeisances.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

I congratulate You on the day of Your Vyasa-puja and wish You good health and
creative success!
I would like to express special thanks for Your book Sri Caitanya-daya. For me, this
book is an instruction for mataji - how to communicate with my husband softly
and politically. When I read this book, I allocated places in the text to learn how to
talk like that. It was unusual for me to express my thoughts with respect. I humbly
ask You to bless me - so that I can learn to speak softly, politically and respectfully.

Your humble servant Karina

Odintsovo city, Moscow region

Dear Satsvarupa dasa Goswami Maharaj!

Please accept our respectful obeisances at Your lotus feet.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

We congratulate You on the anniversary Vyasa-puja and sincerely express our end-
less gratitude for Your books in which you graciously share the sweetest nectar of
Prabhupada.
Reading, discussing Your books, we gradually understand that A.Ch. Bhaktivedanta
Swami Prabhupada is LIVE, and he is with us.
Many thanks to You!
We wish You good health and long life.

Alexey, Ivanna, Maxim, Mira Melnikovs

Vologda city