Today we celebrate the Arrival of Srila Prabhupada in the U.S.A. 1965 with this poem written aboard the ship the Jaladuta and with a free pdf download the Jaladuta Diary. Just click on link at bottom of post to read or save the pdf file.
Poem by Srila Prabhupada on His First Arrival in the USA
By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Excerpted from Back to Godhead Magazine 1970, Vol. 1, No 34
The spiritual master and founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, is now engaging thousands of men and women in America and throughout the world in the science of bhakti-yoga, transcendental loving service to God. Prabhupada had no personal motive in first beginning ISKCON; he so vigorously preaches the philosophy of God consciousness simply because he has been ordered to do so by his own spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja.
His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada first arrived in the United States in 1965 with seven dollars, a letter of introduction to an Indian family in Pennsylvania, and a suitcase with some volumes of Srimad-Bhagavatam. In the following poem, written in Bengali on the day of his arrival in the USA, Srila Prabhupada addresses the Supreme Lord Krsna, asking Him His purpose in sending His servant to America. The translation from Bengali was done by Srila Prabhupada himself.
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