ISKCON Ujjain devotees express their gratitude to the worldwide Vaishnava community for the support they have been receiving to help cope with the passing of their beloved spiritual master Bhakti Charu Swami. 

“Dear Devotees, Friends and Well-wishers,

Please accept our most humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. 

Earlier this year, on the 19th March, our beloved spiritual master, HH Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaj, came to Ujjain. He gave us his invaluable association for ten weeks, before he departed for America. The tragic sequence of events that unfolded after our Guru Maharaj arrived in Florida took us by surprise. Soon after he was admitted to hospital, the GBC Executive Committee issued a statement to that effect, and requested devotees to pray for his prompt and full recovery. The profuseness and intensity of prayers that were offered worldwide gave us hope that our Guru Maharaj would certainly recover. As such, we were completely unprepared when he departed from this world on the 4th July, the auspicious Guru Purnima day and also the disappearance day of Srila Sanātana Goswami.

Amidst this indescribable sense of loss, despair and emptiness, we have also experienced a unified and unconditional demonstration of support from devotees across the globe. Whilst bearing their own grief, senior devotees and Prabhupada disciples have embraced us with their hearts full of warmth, love, affection and spiritual nourishment. This overwhelming expression of concern for our spiritual and physical well-being has lasted from the time our Guru Maharaj was admitted to hospital until now.  With our hearts filled with gratitude and indebtedness, we bow down to all the Vaishnavas for carrying us through this most difficult ordeal. Srila Prabhupada truly made a house in which the whole world can live.

Our Guru Maharaj always emphasized that we must never leave ISKCON; he had an implicit faith that if we remained under the shelter of Srila Prabhupada, our spiritual lives would be safe. He would often say, “ISKCON is Srila Prabhupada’s family. You have your uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters and cousins. Thus, you are never alone.” We are practically experiencing this now.

For the past month and a half, senior devotees have been giving classes on a daily basis and blessing us with their association. Their words of wisdom, based on their own previous experiences, have brought us closer to Srila Prabhupada and enabled us to understand that the spiritual master lives on through his Vani. Their encouragement and appreciation for our Guru Maharaj have helped to soothe our aching hearts and made it possible for us to look to the future with hope.

Our Guru Maharaj built this beautiful temple of Sri Sri Radha Madanmohan in Ujjain, as an offering to Srila Prabhupada, and he lovingly engaged us in Their service. We humbly bow down in the dust of the lotus feet of all the Vaishnavas, and seek your blessings and continued guidance so that we may humbly serve Srila Prabhupada and his loyal followers, and thus carry on the legacy of our dear Guru Maharaj.

Your humble servants,

ISKCON Ujjain Devotees”