Rajiv Lochan Dasa
Vyasapuja - 2025
nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāmin iti nāmine
namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe
nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe
Dear Srila Prabhupada,
Please accept my humble obeisances at your lotus feet. All glories to you, the one who brought Krishna consciousness to the whole world and gave us everything we need to go back to Godhead.
On this special day of your Vyasa Puja, I want to share how your mercy, your teachings, and your personal example have helped us through a very challenging journey.
In 2013, we began the ISKCON Hubli-Dharwad Temple project with a grand bhoomi puja. With enthusiasm and faith, I imagined the project would be completed in four to five years. But Krishna had a different plan. The journey turned out to be long and uncertain. Especially after COVID struck in 2019, the situation became extremely difficult. We couldn’t even pay the honorarium of devotees on time—sometimes it was delayed by up to two months. The collections from our Devotees LLP team were barely enough to cover the monthly expenses. The construction pace slowed down considerably, and at times, it seemed like the project would come to a standstill.
I was truly at a loss, wondering how this grand project would ever be completed. In such desperation, I sat with the devotees and we decided to cut down the building by one entire floor, making alternate plans to adjust the required facilities into the remaining floors.
When I presented this revised plan to His Grace Madhupandit Prabhu, he paused and said something very profound: “Better not to remove the floor. In future, when the need arises, you will regret it.” That one instruction struck me deeply. I gave up the idea and left it to Krishna, but still didn’t know how things would move forward.
Then, one day your Divine grace inspired me and I remembered how your divine grace, personally wrote letters to big donors, asking for support to build temples in India and abroad. Taking courage from your example, I wrote to one of our well-wishers in the USA and also approached a few local donors to sponsor one- one full floor of the building.
And to my amazement, they agreed. It was nothing short of mystical. When everything seemed stuck, you opened a door. It showed me clearly—this temple is not being built by our effort, but by your blessings. Srila Prabhupada, your presence was felt throughout this entire struggle. This temple is not being built by our intelligence or efforts, but by your mercy alone. We are simply instruments.
Srila Prabhupada, another wonderful thing happened recently that I must mention. After many years of court cases, ISKCON Bangalore received a historic and clear judgment from the Supreme Court of India. This is a great victory—not just legally, but spiritually. It confirms what we have always believed and practiced—that your system of continuing as the initiating spiritual master through the ritvik process is correct and authorized.
On this day, we offer this temple project, this Supreme Court victory, and whatever little service we are doing—all at your divine lotus feet. Please bless us to remain loyal to your mission and never leave your shelter.
Aspiring to remain always at your lotus feet,
Your most fallen servant,
Rajiv Lochan Dasa,
GBC Member & President, ISKCON – Hubli.