nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale 
śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāminn iti nāmine

I offer my respectful obeisances unto His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, who is very dear to Lord Kṛṣṇa on this earth, having taken shelter at His lotus feet. 

I am sitting here in Śrī Māyāpur Dhāma to write my annual offering to His Divine Grace Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda. As we are getting older now and our health is deteriorating, Śrīla Prabhupāda, at the time at a similar age and fragile health condition, set off to the Western world to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness far and wide. This is simply inconceivable. What austerities he had to accept due to lacking any facilities compared to today’s well-established ISKCON temples and congregation communities.

On his first visit to Hamburg, Germany, in 1969, the small temple had only a few devotees, who greeted Śrīla Prabhupāda at the airport. They were sitting on a rug in the airport’s arrival hall and holding kīrtana. When Śrīla Prabhupāda passed by the sitting devotees, they didn’t know whether they should continue chanting or to get up and follow him. They were inexperienced and somewhat confused. No preaching engagements were arranged, except for with one Indology professor
from Hamburg University, who came to talk to Śrīla Prabhupāda. Śrīla Prabhupāda tolerated. He wanted to inspire the few newcomers in their practice of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In a small living room, he sat on his bed with a harmonium and sang the ārati prayers while pūjā was being offered to his small Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa Deities.

On his morning walks, only one devotee or sometimes a few accompanied Śrīla Prabhupāda. One time, when he was accompanied by only one devotee, that devotee, in the middle of the walk, paid his obeisances and said that he had to go to work. When Śrīla Prabhupāda visited Hamburg, it was pretty chilly in the early hours. One morning, after returning from the morning walk, we were waiting for the elevator, and Śivānanda was rubbing his hands together because of the cold. Śrīla Prabhupāda said, “Are you cold?” and touched Śivānanda’s hands. “Feel my hand,” he said. Śivānanda was surprised by how warm they were. Then Prabhupāda put his hands on Śivānanda’s chest and said, “If you keep this part of the body warm, then the rest will be automatically warm.” 

Prabhupāda was so kind and affectionate to his disciples. At the same time, he could be heavy when it was necessary to train his disciples not to become slack and inattentive in their practice of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We greatly miss Śrīla Prabhupāda, and we pray to him for his mercy and blessings to be able to properly continue with our spiritual life and serve his wonderful International Society for Krishna Consciousness. 

Śrīla Prabhupāda’s servant, 
Bhaktivaibhava Swami