Our Beloved Spiritual Master and Savior

Your ever well-wisher

His Divine Grace

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Founder-Acarya of the

International Society for Krishna Consciousness

Our beloved spiritual master and savior

CAITANYA CARITAMRTA ADI-LILA

TEXT 46

acaryam mam vijaniyan
navamanyeta karhicit
na martya-buddhyasuyeta
sarva-deva-mayo guruh

TRANSLATION

"One should know the acarya as Myself and never disrespect him in any way. One should not envy him, thinking him an ordinary man, for he is the representative of all the demigods."

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Only out of His immense compassion does the Personality of Godhead reveal Himself as the spiritual master. Therefore in the dealings of an acarya there are no activities but those of transcendental loving service to the Lord. He is the Supreme Personality of Servitor Godhead. It is worthwhile to take shelter of such a steady devotee, who is called asraya-vigraha, or the manifestation or form of the Lord of whom one must take shelter.

Excerpts of statements by George Harrison from an interview in 1982:

Well, Prabhupada's definitely affected the world in an absolute way. What he was giving us was the highest literature, the highest knowledge. I mean there just isn't anything higher.
Srila Prabhupada has already had an amazing effect on the world. There's no way of measuring it. One day I just realized, "God, this man is amazing!" He would sit up all night translating Sanskrit into English, putting in glossaries to make sure everyone understands it, and yet he never came off as someone above you. He always had that childlike simplicity, and what's most amazing is the fact that he did all this translating in such a relatively short time--just a few years. And without having anything more than his own Krishna consciousness, he rounded up all these thousands of devotees, set the whole movement in motion, which became something so strong that it went on even after he left. And it's still escalating even now at an incredible rate. It will go on and on from the knowledge he gave. It can only grow and grow. The more people wake up spiritually, the more they'll begin to realize the depth of what Prabhupada was saying- how much he gave.
“
Nitya-siddha devotees come from Vaikuntha to this material world to teach, by their personal example, how to become a devotee. The living entities in this material world can take lessons from such nitya-siddha devotees and thus become inclined to return home, back to Godhead. A nitya-siddha devotee comes from Vaikuntha upon the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and shows by his example how to become a pure devotee (anyabhilasita-sunyam). In spite of coming to this material world, the nitya-siddha devotee is never attracted by the allurements of material enjoyment.” 
 [Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.10.3, purport]

Excerpt from "Vrindavana days" by Hayagriva Swami

Srila Prabhupada at Radha Damodara

“Srila Prabhupada, are people here liberated even if they don’t have a bona fide spiritual master?” Gurudas asks.
“Yes,” Prabhupada says, “because Vrindaban is directly under Krishna’s supervision. Krishna is their spiritual master.”
“I think it’s better to have you as spiritual master” Gurudas says, ”than to be born in Vrindaban.”
“That’s a Vaishnava attitude” Prabhupada smiles. “I remember that wherever my guru maharaj went, Vrindaban was there also. Since the bona fide spiritual master carries the Vrindaban atmosphere with him, then it’s better to be with him.”
“We’re in the best situation of all, Prabhupada” Shyamasundara says. “We have both you and Vrindaban.”
“I’m simply Vrindaban’s messenger,” he says humbly, his demeanor suddenly very serious and reflective.
“Vrindaban is revealed in the heart of the sincere devotee. In reality, it is not on any map, nor is it part of any country. It was in Vrindaban that I first began writing, not for name and fame, but because my guru maharaj told me, ‘Spread the gospel of Krishna in the English language.’…

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!