Jayadvaita Swami
nama om visnu-padaya krsna-presthaya bhu-tale
srimate bhaktivedanta-svaminn iti namine
namas te sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracarine
nirvisesa-sunyavadi-pascatya-desa-tarine
Srila Prabhupada, the spreading of your Krsna consciousness movement has brought with it a history of disappointments and triumphs. In the beginning, in India, you faced disappointments so many times - a mission collapsed, the governor�s wife thwarted your efforts in Jhansi, your own wife sold your Bhagavatams for tea biscuits, your �Back to Godhead� was a struggle to sell - and yet you persevered. And later, in America, amidst so many causes for disappointment, you stayed fixed in your course, unaffected by whatever good or evil you might obtain. You were grave, sober - dhira. You knew what the material world is and what can be expected of it. You knew that hardships and reverses in this world are the norm.
You advised us, therefore, not to expect utopia and become fault-finders, frustrated when utopia doesn�t appear. You knew what to expect. As you once told me in Mayapur, from your practical realization, �Anything good you try to do, there will be so many difficulties.� And you quoted a Sanskrit proverb, �Disappointment gives rise to the greatest satisfaction.� In other words, you said, such satisfaction comes �when one�s sentiment or ambition becomes too great and is not fulfilled until after seemingly hopeless tribulation.�
The triumphs are more welcome - and in your Krsna consciousness movement there have been many. But you set the standard: In frustration or in triumph, you remained always fully dependent on Krsna, steady in your determination, alive in pure devotional service.
You set the standard. By your mercy, may we always follow you.
Hare Krsna.
Jayadvaita Swami