By Satsvarupa dasa Goswami
The arduous sea voyage from Calcutta to Boston was finally over. The lone passenger aboard the cargo ship Jaladuta, a seventy-year-old Indian holy man, had been given free passage by the owner of the Scindia Steamship Company. His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada arrived at Commonwealth Pier on September 17, 1965. For thousands of years krsna-bhakti, love of Krsna, had been known only in India, but now, on the order of his spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada had come to awaken the natural, dormant Krsna consciousness of the American people. On his arrival day onboard the Jaladuta, he wrote in his diary the following words: Absorbed in material life, they [Americans] think themselves very happy and satisfied, and therefore they have no taste for the transcendental message of Vasudeva [Krsna].... But I know that Your causeless mercy can make everything possible, because You are the most expert mystic ... How will I make them understand this message of Krsna consciousness? ... O Lord, I am simply praying for Your mercy so that I will be able to convince them about Your message.... I am seeking Your benediction ... I have no devotion, nor do I have any knowledge, but I have strong faith in the holy name of Krsna....