Srila prabhupada disappearance day | 26 Nov 2015 | Vrindavan | Srila Gopal Krishna Goswami

English. So today we are celebrating our Prabhupāda's disappearance from this planet. Śrīla Prabhupāda appeared on the planet to fulfill Caitanya Mahāprabhu's prediction. Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who is described as the most merciful of all incarnations, had predicted that the Holy Name would be chanted in every town and village of the world. Many ācāryas tried, and the Vaiṣṇavas were thinking, "Yes, it's a prediction, but it may not come true." But Bhaktisiddhānta ṣrī had full faith, and Prabhupāda appeared to fulfill that prediction. So in Prabhupāda's life, these opportunities like today, give us an opportunity to meditate on Prabhupāda's pastimes and his teachings. We saw how Prabhupāda struggled to establish Kṛṣṇa consciousness, how he struggled in India to publish his books. On one occasion, Prabhupāda had, was, had gone to Bombay to collect funds for printing first Kṛṣṇa-caritārāṇḍa Part 3. Someone in Bombay told him that there was a very pious lady called Śrīmatī Mrājī who likes helping sādhus. Prabhupāda proceeded to her office, but her secretaries would not let Prabhupāda get an audience with her. Prabhupāda was determined to see her. So he sat down on the staircase from where she was going to exit, and he stayed there for 5 hours chanting the Holy Name. And in the evening— because he said, "This is the only route through which she can go home." And then in the evening when she was going home, She saw Prabhupāda sitting there. She asked her secretary, Choksi, "Who is this Swamiji?" And he said, "He is that Swamiji from Vrindavan." Then she gave Prabhupāda an appointment for the next day, and she agreed to pay for the printing of the whole Hoi Skandapaṭṭhī. But this example just shows how determined Prabhupāda was. Finally, when Mrs. Murariji agreed to facilitate Prabhupāda's trip to America, he would walk from the location of the residence of the Scindia Company to the Andheri station. 3, 4 kilometers every day just because he didn't have money for the bus fare. So we see how Prabhupāda made so many sacrifices to establish this Kṛṣṇa conscious movement. And Prabhupāda opened vaikunṭhas all over the world. After Prabhupāda had come to India with his Western disciples for the first time, The city of Vrindavan hosted a big reception, and in the reception they said, "Prabhupāda took Vrindavan to the whole world." So Prabhupāda not only took Vrindavan to the whole world, but he established Vaikunthas all over the world. Prabhupāda said, "These temples of ISKCON are not in Bombay, London, New York. They are in—" Vaikuntha. So Prabhupada created Vaikunthas all over the world, and as we expand the movement, Prabhupada's glory also expands. So I wanted to share with you all some of the new statistics that we have on ISKCON activities around the world. Would you like to hear that? Okay. So as of some recent data, There are now 602 ISKCON Vaiṣṇṭhas all over the world. When Prabhupāda left the planet, there were about 140 ISKCON Vaiṣṇṭhas all around the world. There are 65 farms and villages, 65 farms all over the world. There are 54 educational institutions around the world, ISKCON has. That includes schools. And you want to know how many restaurants? There are 110 ISKCON-related restaurants around the world. There are about 75,000 initiated devotees. 7 million worshipers attend an ISKCON program annually. 7 million. And there are over 30,000 devotees participating in Bhakti-rakṣa programs. 516 million books have been distributed all over the world. Sitting here, Prabhupāda used to give darshan. We saw in Vrindavan, in his last few months on the planet, Prabhupāda was so weak, he couldn't even sit down. He could barely speak. But he had a devotee, Pradumna, reading out the Sanskrit. He had another devotee reading out the commentary of the ācāryas. And Prabhupāda was whispering the translation and purport. This just shows you how compassionate Prabhupāda was and how determined he was to save humanity. And sitting here in Vrindavan in his quarters, he said, "As long as book distribution goes on, I will never die. Through these books he is preaching and distributing. So, on this auspicious day, our meditation should be, how can we expand Prabhupāda's glories further? And you can expand Prabhupāda's glories further by getting dedicated to his teachings. So 516 million books have been distributed. And Prabhupāda's books have been translated in over 70 languages of the world. Today you can have Prabhupāda's books in virtually every language of the world. Every major language of the world, you have Prabhupāda's books. 3 billion plates of prasādam have been served by ISKCON devotees all over the world. And 1,000 Hainam chanting parties go out in different parts of the world. So the reason I read these figures out was just to make you realize that Prabhupāda is continuing to expand the movement. Those devotees who remain loyal to Prabhupāda's instructions, we do what Prabhupāda wants us to do. Everything that Prabhupāda wanted us to do is clearly revealed in his letters, books, etc. There's no secret, or there's no new formula that we need to invent. So on this auspicious day, we should all dedicate ourselves to Prabhupāda's teachings. Prabhupāda dedicates the Purushottama, the Bhāgavatam, to his guru Mahārāja and says, "He lives forever by his divine instructions and the follower lives with him." So Prabhupāda's instructions are very clear and we should follow these instructions and dedicate ourselves to his instructions. Everything we need to know is there in Prabhupāda's books. We don't need to go outside. And by remaining dedicated to Prabhupāda's teachings, we'll make advancement and Prabhupāda's glories will continue to expand. So let us all dedicate ourselves to Prabhupāda's teachings. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Hare, Hare. Hare, Hare, Hare, Hare. Malama e are.