India 500 years ago and propagated the Hare Krsna mantra as the means of God realization for the present age. A book called  Nectar of Devotion , an authorized summary study of Sri Rupa Gosvami's  Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu , will also soon be published. Prabhupada is presently writing a several volume work called  Krsna , which contains all of the pastimes of the Supreme Lord when present on this planet 5000 years ago. Translations are also underway of the  Vedanta-sutras ,  Caitanya-caritamrta  and his 12 volumes of  Srimad-Bhagavatam . The literatures compiled by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami are authorized by the discipline succession, which is descending from Krsna Himself; Prabhupada's whole life mission is to faithfully pass on the original understanding of Krsna consciousness without distortion. According to the Vedic literature this descending process is the only way to realization of the Absolute Truth, as the Absolute Truth is beyond the reach of our mundane speculation or scholarship.
The author is not a retired personality, despite his prodigious literary output. He personally and very intimately guides his disciples through the most practical problems of daily life. Spiritual life is practical and, due to the predominant material atmosphere of  Kali-yuga , often problematic. As spiritual master, Bhaktivedanta Swami is the last recourse and the ultimate standard of Krsna consciousness, and he writes some twenty-five letters a day to leaders and students of his various worldwide centers. He himself resides in no one place but travels from center to center and regularly lectures. The spiritual master is responsible for his devotees; when he accepts a sincere soul as his disciple, he promises to take him back to home, back to Godhead. No one should think, "Oh, everyone is taking a spiritual master; let me take one." The spiritual master as a style or as a pet is useless. Rather, his order is to be taken as one's life and soul. By taking shelter at the feet of the bona fide guru and serving him 24 hours a day, the fallen soul can be lifted to the spiritual sky. It is said that if the spiritual master is pleased, then one can make great advances in spiritual life. And one pure convinced devotee can make many pure devotees by his example and teachings. Those serious students with an understanding of the absolute value of the spiritual platform of life therefore honor the spiritual master with the honor due to God, because the guru is the transparent via media or representative of God and is distributing unalloyed love of God. The intelligent reader is invited to take to this philosophy with the utmost seriousness.