From, agtSP, Divya-nama Das, Temple President, ISKCON RichMond, Virginia, USA.

Respected Srila Hanumat Presaka Swami Maharaj,

Please accept our humble and respectful obeisance at the dust of your lotus feet. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!!

HpS - In this body, agtSP, we are aspiring for maybe properly tended human feet, yet in our Svarupa I guess that both you and I may have lotus feet, if not lotus hooves.

Maharaj, your mercy, blessings, and guidance is always a beacon for our services to Srila Prabhupada at ISKCON Richmond Yatra. We often remember your clear and exact prediction for us to have a full-fledged beautiful Temple that will serve and nourish tens and thousands of people in Richmond and near-by areas, in their spiritual journey.

For your pleasure, we would like to share some of the major developments that have happened in the past 8 months or so, since the last visit of your Holiness.

HpS - Thank you, THANK YOU, T H A N K Y O U! Our visit was a landmark in our life. After that we posted into our Base Camp at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and then we have ended up for eight months, Camped here in ISKCON Houston.

Tomorrow we will be back in Tennessee for three weeks.

Then we have a Campsite reserved 13th September until maybe 23 December.

1. Since for any major project, the first thing that is required is water. We had a well with limited supply of water. We recently completed a well project which took us about four months to acquire permits, drill a new 350 feet well, install a commercial grade water pumping system with 119 Gallons of Pressure tank and 500 feet of pipeline with water outlets in our residential building, barn area, and garden area. Now we have enough water supply all over the property. 

HpS - Does it pump continuously or do you pump for some time and then have to let the water build up at the bottom again? How much can you pump a minute if you are pumping continuously??? Thank you.

What is the seasonal rain like?

2. Since our Temple inventory has grown exponentially, we recently added a 10x40 feet storage container, which will house all our festival related items, books, gift shop and other inventory. We are constructing 80 feet wide storage racks for the same.

3. In preaching and outreach activities - HG Radheshyam Prabhu visited us in April this year and under Prabhu's guidance, since then, we have conducted multiple outreach events, which attracted over 200 potential new devotees from the Richmond area. With that we are planning to start two new weekly programs in Mechanicsville and Westend areas. HG Radheshyam Prabhu will be coming again in September.

HpS - Super. I have one associate in Santiago, Chile, he has been working professionally in Social Media for years, and apparently he never had any trouble getting a lot of new people to come for events in the city of santiago, but the bottleneck was receiving them properly once they came for the specific event and then later programs.

Your news is great.

4. We have also reinitiated the college preaching at VCU. On average monthly twice a group of devotees goes on Book distribution in the university area and connects with VCU students. We are also in process of starting a Bhakti Yoga Club there under guidance of HG Radheshyam Prabhu.

5. Maharaj, this year we had one of our grandest Janmashtami Festival, where we served around 2500 guests. Some of the highlights of the festival are:

 - Around 500 of Srila Prabhupada Books were distributed to include 119 Bhagavad Gitas and 1 SB set

 - Around 2500 plates of free Prasadam was distributed

 - Around 100 families did some sponsorship for the festival and participated in Kalash Abhishekam, Aarti and Archana

 - Around 250 platters were served at Govinda's

 - Other highlights included Diorama Radha Krishna Deities, Gopi Dots, Gift Shop, Jhulan, Cultural Program by kids etc.

6. Recently, one devotee from Phoenix AZ, who is a professional Architect came to visit us and look upon the Temple Property. He will soon start to work on a conceptual site plan, to provide a vision of our Temple Project.

Maharaj, all of this was possible because of Srila Prabhupada's mercy, blessings of your holiness and other senior Vaishnavas, and collective devotion/selfless service of the devotees here at Richmond. We sincerely pray at your lotus feet to keep us under your divine shelter and empower us to be an instrument of our Acharyas. We have a long way to go..

We beg your blessings that we can sincerely take shelter of the Holy Names and avoid all offenses, especially Vaishnav Aparadh.

your servant,

Divyanam Das

HpS - Jaya! 😃 Jaya! Jaya!

Srila Prabhupada's voice boomed through the Temple-room in Berkeley, San Francisco, "The magic will not be done by me, nor you, nor any living being. The magic will be done by Krsna when we become pure devotees of KRSNA!".

Hare Krsna. Hare Krsna!!!

May this movement fulfill in great abundance the mission of Lord Caitanya: https://vedabase.io/en/library/noi/preface/#bb5769

asa[e] silas, worshipping

From WhatsApp:

I have 3 Shalagrams from Jaya Guaranga Prabhu (we had the program at his house when you visited) currently. I am asking for your permission to receive them and worship them. What do you think?

HpS/ASA - 🤔 Hmmm.

We, agtSP, get this question a lot.

I hope that Srinatha and SriRamaKrsna Das's get Monkey's Encyclopedia organized so that we can refer folk to his, our, answer there.

1. as far as we understand it is very serious. it is like having a child. it is not that we can accept them and then later put them in a drawer and forget them.
2. the govardhana silas are exceptionally dangerous. if offended they can even kill family member.
3. not being born of brahman fathers, we are not accustomed to the standards that are required by our cultural heritage, but if we have developed these, then srila prabhupada cautiously approved of the worship.
4. they are worshiped more by the character of the pujari, than the sophistication of the paraphernalia. guess you can search vedabase.io for key words: raghunatha / govardhana / sila. you know this? nice description of the worship of the zilas that lord caitanya gave to raghunatha das goswami. so, must be very strict in brahminical habits such as four principles, brahma muhurta etc.

for some devotees it can be very nice.

maybe better to stick to the household worship of gaura nitai and join the temple worship of Radha and Krsna!

Keep a picture of Them on your altar with your Deities of Gaura Nitai.

Hope to hear of any thoughts you have.

Thank you!

¡Hare Krsna! Querido Guru Maharaja, por favor acepte mis humildes reverencias.

Todas las Glorias sean a Srila Prabhupada y todas las Glorias a sus fieles seguidores, manifestaciones de la ilimitada misericordia de nuestro Divino Acarya. 🌻🌻

Querido Gurudeva, orando siempre porque su energía sea buena y favorable a su sankirtan, con el corazón lleno de agradecimiento hacia usted, escribo después de algún tiempo de no hacerlo. Antes que otra cosa, quisiera agradecer por el maravilloso chat grupal “anveSaka” además de practico es sumamente inspirador, nos recuerda constantemente nuestra relación con Krsna.

Por otra parte, felizmente, enviamos en tiempo y forma nuestra insignificante aportación para la compra de los audífonos (Un amigo lo envió directamente a Devendra Prabhu por Zelle). Siempre estamos deseosos de poder hacer algo para usted, muchas gracias por darnos la oportunidad. ¿Usted, se ha adaptado favorablemente a usarlos? ¿Están facilitando su comunicación?

Aunque sabemos que a cierta edad la pérdida auditiva es apenas normal, también observamos que en ocasiones el volumen del kirtan (especialmente en espacios pequeños) puede poner en riesgo la audición clara, quizá es algo que debemos cuidar en nuestra sociedad. 🤔

Cambiando de tema, celebramos el Vyasa Puja de Srila Prabhupada, escuchamos con especial atención las memorias de varios devotos. ¡La misericordia de Srila Prabhupada nunca deja de sorprendernos y nos motiva a actuar desde la posición en la que estamos! Me maravilla que por el afecto sincero y mutuo que él y sus discípulos tienen, sus discípulos fueron capaces de llevar a cabo tareas hercúleas e imposibles para cualquiera. ¡Guru es la expresión de la misericordia de Krsna! 🙌

Escuchamos con el corazón algunas ofrendas, que esta vez dedicaron algunos Maestros espirituales y devotos, me sentí reflexiva, conmovida y motivada. ¡Nuestra bendita deuda es infinita! Por mi parte, tal como usted indicó, tan solo trato de fortalecer mi relación personal con Srila Prabhupada y sus fieles representantes. Apreciamos que el proceso que nuestro Acarya nos entrego es fidedigno y funciona, en nuestros momentos más oscuros, hemos escuchado a Srila Prabhupada decir “¡canta Hare Krsna!” y ha sido como revivir. También frecuentemente le recordamos a usted diciéndonos “¡Haga lo que le corresponde y Krsna se hará cargo!” y por su misericordia sin causa, siempre ha sido así. Muchas gracias. 🙇

Gurudeva, en la ofrenda que usted dedico a nuestro Fundador Acarya dijo: “Quizá la próxima vez que nos encontremos, Su Divina gracia y todos los miembros de ISKCON estén en Navadvipa con Nimai” Y yo solo puedo orar para poder ser parte de ese coro, oramos por vuestra misericordia para siempre ser empeñados en esta trascendental misión, siendo útiles, cerca de usted, cerca de Prabhupada. 🙏

Muchas gracias querido Gurudeva, siempre a sus órdenes

Karuna-Sakti Devi Dasi.

-0-0-0-

Hare Krishna! Dear Guru Maharaja, please accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada and all glories to his faithful followers, manifestations of the boundless mercy of our Divine Acarya. 🌻🌻

Dear Gurudeva, always praying that your energy be good and favorable for your sankirtan, with a heart full of gratitude toward you, I am writing after some time.

First of all, I would like to thank you for the wonderful "anveSaka" group chat. Besides being practical, it is extremely inspiring and constantly reminds us of our relationship with Krishna.

On another note, we happily sent our insignificant contribution for the purchase of the hearing aids in a timely manner (a friend sent them directly to Devendra Prabhu via Zelle). We are always eager to do something for you. Thank you very much for giving us the opportunity. Have you adapted favorably to using them? Are they facilitating your communication?

HpS - We feel so guilty that devotees are investing so much time and monkey (money) into our body! We can only hope that it is useful.

Yes, the hearing aids do help.

We are 90% more effective in personal conversations and questions and answers in classes.

It is also a good system for telephone calls and teleconferencing, but a good set of headphones might have handled that also.

We only agreed to this system after three doctors and two software engineers promoted it.

Thank you!!!

I wish we could just use a WhatsApp Group that Tom Brown could manage but we have to burden Steve White, his cousin, because you can't hide phone numbers and real names of people on WhatsApp groups.

Although we know that hearing loss is only normal at a certain age, we also observe that sometimes the volume of kirtan (especially in small spaces) can compromise clear hearing. Perhaps this is something we should be more aware of in our society. 🤔

HpS - Yes, Jaya advaita Swami sent a whole essay around to all the Temples a few years ago. I have ear plugs and leave the room if it is too loud. 😃

Changing the subject, we celebrated Srila Prabhupada's Vyasa Puja, listening with special attention to the memoirs of several devotees. Srila Prabhupada's mercy never ceases to amaze us and motivates us to act from the position we are in! I marvel that because of the sincere and mutual affection he and his disciples have for each other, his disciples were able to accomplish Herculean tasks impossible for anyone. Guru is the expression of Krishna's mercy! 🙌

ASA - Srila Prabhupada says that anyone who follows the discipline of another person is that person's disciple! So in that very practical sense if we are chanting 16 enthusiastic rounds daily and following the four principles strictly, we are all Srila Prabhupada's disciples. Of course, 99.999% unless we are hearing, reading, studying, Srila Prabhupada's books properly we are not chanting enthusiastic rounds. From that and the chanting! We will learn how to relate to other siksa disciples of Srila Prabhupada in siksa, administrative and diksa roles.

We listened with our hearts to some offerings, which this time were dedicated by some spiritual Masters and devotees. I felt thoughtful, moved, and motivated. Our blessed debt is infinite! For my part, as you indicated, I am simply trying to strengthen my personal relationship with Srila Prabhupada and his faithful representatives. We appreciate that the process our Acarya gave us is trustworthy and works. In our darkest moments, we have heard Srila Prabhupada say, "Chant Hare Krishna!" and it has been like coming back to life. We also frequently remember you, telling us, "Do your part and Krishna will take care of it!" and through your causeless mercy, it has always been that way. Thank you very much. 🙇

Gurudeva, in the offering you dedicated to our Founder Acarya, you said: "Perhaps the next time we meet, His Divine Grace and all the members of ISKCON will be in Navadvipa with Nimai." And I can only pray that I may be part of that choir. We pray for your mercy so that we may always be engaged in this transcendental mission, being useful, close to you, close to Prabhupada. 🙏

Thank you very much, dear Gurudeva, always at your service.

Karuna-Sakti Devi Dasi.

HpS - Thank you so, so much. We added our favorite dog/salute photo. Even dogs were joining Nimai's kirtan, no?

Srinatha Krsna Das and his brother are working on the ASA(e). Maybe the fifth time it will get a practical step forward. Then we can have an encyclopedia of Tom Brown's view of life. I will have hime contact you if you have any work in progress!

Support you right arm bears.

Dear Maharaja and devotees;

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. All glories to Guru and Gauranga.

On Sunday, August 24, 2025, at 7.30am, Houston time (CST ~~ time zone), we will continue reading Chapter 15 (Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya offers Parsadam~~Madhya Lila); verse 15.128 onwards and we might be able to cover about 40 verses.

For August 24th class H.G. Nikunja Bihari Prabhu has graciously agreed to do translation for CC notes and Lakshmana Prabhu has graciously agreed to do translation for Maharaja's class. Thank you to H.G. Mitravinda Mataji for always joining session to be back up translator if there are technical issues.

Maharaja, thank you for engaging everyone in reading systematically books of Srila Prabhupada.

Your Servant

Upendra Dasa

HpS/ASA - 🐵!!

Please accept my reverences to your wonderful lotus feet and the entire parampara chain!

All Glories to Srila Prabhupada!!!

I want to share a song that was born to me recently:

To the Gopis

💖🎶💃🏻💐🙏🏻🙇🏻‍♀️

choir:

🎵Gopis, Gopis Gopis, Gopis

Gopis, Gopis , Gopis, Gopis

where are they?

where are they going?

Are you by the Yamuna River?

Bathing for your great fortune

where are they?

where are they going?

Repeat choir

Are they walking?

Carrying their dairy products?

where are they?

Where are they going?

Repeat choir

They will be dancing!

in the rasa lila singing!

with Govinda. ,

Parāmesvara!!!

Repeat choir

They're walking!

Along the cobblestone paths!

Where are they?

I want to see them!!!

Repeat choir

I want to see Their little feet,

surrounded by Their linen saris

Where are they?

Where are they going?

Repeat choir

Where are they?

Let me in!

Where are they?

I want to help them!!

Where are they?

Parāmesvara!!

Hare Krishna

Hare Krishna

Krsna Krsna

Hare hare

Hare Rama

Hare Rama

Rama Rama

Hare Hare

I want to follow in his footsteps.

Forever in love with Govinda,

Parāmesvara !!!!🎵

End

I hope to be able to sing it soon and record it, with Your blessings Gurudeva

Trying to please her adorable lotus heart, but always first the blessed dust of her lotus feet:

Japa Prati Jalpa Radha Devi Dasi

HpS//ASA - Hare Krsna!!!!

Please accept my humble obeisances to your lotus flower feet pushpanjali to them 🌺🪻🌹💐🌷🌺🪻🌹💐🌷🙇🏻‍♀️💖🙏🏻🎵

HpSwami - In our present existence, level of spiritual development we do not have lotus feet. Confuses us when you say these things! Wonder about the perspective of the rest of your questions and comments!!!!!

All Glories to Srila Prabhupada!

All glories , all Glories, all glories !!!!!

All Glories to You my adored Spiritual master eternal!!

Here I just wanted to tell you that:

I've found a way to bring the signal from outside to inside the house, so I feel very happy!

Franco actually made a system that uses a car battery to charge our phones and provide some light in our home at night. We live without electricity, and I've always wanted to live this way, very simply. Because of where we are, sometimes when there's a very thick cloud cover and it's overcast, I don't get a signal, not even outside the house.

I just hope there aren't any cloudy days so I can connect with Your lovely person. You help us so, so much!!! If I don't return to God, I'm a big fool!

I could do you some service, please ask me: Your attempt at being a servant:

Japa Prati Jalpa Radha Devi Dasi

HpS - AgtSP. Your public contact is already so nice. Service for Gopal and Franco Swami. Send a clip of 25-maha-mantras of Japa kirtan.

Congratulations on your advance in the cellular connection!

Living simply like that sounds very nice.

Have you got a garden?

Neighbors?