O Prabhupada, brilliant moon in the firmament of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s glorious disciples, I offer you obeisances again and again and again.

1

You are like the Ganges water, emanating from the lotus feet of the Lord, which cleanses the mind, removes the sins of countless births, and brings joy. Unlike Ganga Devi, whose flow is limited to a single continent on earth, you spread unmatched mercy everywhere, fulfilling the astonishing prediction of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

O Prabhupada, brilliant moon in the firmament of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s glorious disciples, I offer you obeisances again and again and again.

2

You left Vrndavana to take the Hare Krishna maha-mantra around the world, and you returned to Vraja to enter into Krishna’s lila after bringing thousands of sincere chanters to the dhamas. One of your Godbrothers, while visiting Mayapur during a Gaura-purnima festival that you presided over, on seeing hundreds of Westerners with tilaka and japa mala in Vaishnava dress sincerely serving, chanting, and dancing, exclaimed, “Inconceivable. Inconceivable. He has done the inconceivable!”

O Prabhupada, brilliant moon in the firmament of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s glorious disciples, I offer you obeisances again and again and again.

3

You illuminated the black night of Kali by spreading the immortal sweet nectar of Krishna’s holy names. Like Prabhu Nityananda, you boldly called out everywhere, “Please chant! Please chant!” You are very dear to Bhaktivinoda Thakura and Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, the celebrated acaryas who resurrected Gaudiya Vaishnavism from disrepute and misunderstanding. Kindly place your lotus feet in my heart and take me forever into your service at the lotus feet of Krishna-Balarama. I have no other desire.

O Prabhupada, brilliant moon in the firmament of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s glorious disciples, I fall at your feet again and again and again.

4

O topmost swan of transcendentalists who are worshipable by the demigods and realized saints, taking the order of your guru on your head, you blessed the most fallen with entry into Srila Rupa Gosvami’s unparalleled raga-marga for the price of sincerely chanting Krishna’s names, and you invested us with your unprecedented faith in Nama Prabhu and devotion to guru. Nityananda Rama endowed you with His personal potency, inspiring you as a shaktyavesha-avatara extraordinaire to give the highest treasure to the lowest people.

O Prabhupada, brilliant moon in the firmament of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s glorious disciples, I offer you obeisances again and again and again.

5

At night, you tirelessly picked the ripened fruit of the amala-purana. Handing it to us with great care, you made us drink the sweet nectar over and over to cure the jaundice of our material existence. When you saw that Gaura-Nitai Deities awaited you in places you had never before visited–served by sincere souls in mleccha lands who were changed by your books–you cried in ecstasy. You are my prana, my life force; you are the very life of my life. I’m drying up in the fire of separation from you. Without your mercy I cannot go on.

O Prabhupada, brilliant moon in the firmament of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s glorious disciples, again and again and again I offer obeisances at your lotus feet.

6

The ocean of nescience is infested with the dangerous timingila fish of desires for enjoyment (karma), desires for material perfections (yoga), desires to renounce the world and merge into Oneness (jnana), the denial of the self, the world, and the Lord (shunyavada). With ease you destroyed all these monsters who were ready to swallow us and placed us in the boat of the lotus feet of Radha-Krishna to take us across the treacherous ocean. We live only by your mercy.

O Prabhupada, brilliant moon in the firmament of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s glorious disciples, I fall flat at your lotus feet again and again and again.

7

Jagannatha, Baladeva, and Subhadra Devi’s astonished expressions exclaim the glories of the gopis’ unmatched love for svayam-bhagavan Kishor Krishna, the charming prince of Vrindavana. Those with adhikara could understand how you broadcast this confidential truth through elaborate Ratha-yatra festivals, enticing thousands to pull the ropes and take prasada, thus giving them bhakti-sukrti. On the ratha, you took your seat at Subhadra’s lotus feet, surrounded by hundreds of wildly chanting disciples, and triumphantly followed the Lord of the Universe down Fifth Avenue in the same city where you sometimes went hungry ten years earlier, having arrived as a pauper of pocket but not of heart.

O Prabhupada, brilliant moon in the firmament of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s glorious disciples, I offer you obeisances again and again and again.

8

You introduced us to our Friend, Maintainer, and Protector and filled us with hope and confidence that we could do the impossible and achieve our ideal in this life. Bolstered by you, as we walk through the inevitable acid tests and suffering in this world, we repeatedly take shelter of your vani and the association of devotees you created. Holding tight to the holy names, we constantly remember the import of the verses tat ’te nukampam and yasyaham anugrihnami. After returning to the rasa dance, Krishna told the gopis, “Some people think I wish to create calamities for My devotees. These complaints bring Me great sorrow.” May I fully trust; may my vision be clear and steady.

O Prabhupada, brilliant moon in the firmament of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s glorious disciples, I fall again and again and again at your lotus feet.

9

Your powerful eyes locked onto mine and said, I am your old friend. In the next second, you showed me the eternal future and forever derailed my ill-fated trajectory. Your penetrating gaze has become the indestructible adhesive that binds us together. Such is the power of even a fraction of a second of your glance. O Prabhupada, when will you again cast your glance on me?

O Prabhupada! O Prabhupada, my friend, my master! You are the brilliant moon in the firmament of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s glorious disciples, I fall again and again and again at your lotus feet.