The following will establish the truth based on what Prabhupada said.
Letter to: Jayapataka, 26 September, 1969 Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated September 11th, and I have noted the contents. Enclosed please find one photograph of the Radha-Krishna throne, so you may begin constructing it as soon as possible. When the Radha- Krishna Deities are installed, you may turn your main attention to Them, rather than to the Lord Jagannatha Deities. You continue to keep Jagannatha nicely though, and sometimes change His dress. So far as your having already ordered instruments from India, that is all right.
Regarding your question about the verse in the prayers to the Spiritual Master, the Spiritual Master is one of the associates of Krishna. The prayers offered by Visvanatha Chakravarti to his Spiritual Master have a special significance. His Spiritual Master was one of the assistant gopis, so the prayer was offered like that. On the whole, the Spiritual Master is an agent of Krishna.
But either He is assistant to the gopis or assistant to the cowherds boys, He is on the level of Krishna. That is the verdict of all scriptures. Krishna is worshipable God and the Spiritual Master is worshipper God. The exact words are sebya (worshipable) and sebak (worshipper).
And who is his spiritual master?
Lecture – Bombay, April 17, 1976
Daksa sraddadhanah: faithful. Faithful to whom? To the spiritual master. Whatever he says, the brahmacari should take it: "Yes, it is my life and soul." That is the explanation given by Visvanatha Chakravarti Thakura. He is explaining with reference to the verse vyavasayatmika buddhir ekeha kuru-nandana [Bg. 2.41]. He very nicely explains. You have perhaps read it, Visvanatha Chakravarti Thakura's… Visvanatha Chakravarti Thakura has taught very, very nicely about guru. Therefore he has written in Gurvastaka, yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasadah. He is example, practical example of guru-bhakti, Visvanatha Chakravarti Thakura. He accepted his guru, Narottama dasa Thakura. So he said
that "I am not interested for my salvation or going back to Godhead. I am not interested." Interested means it may come; it may not come. "That I don't mind. But I am interested only with the words of my guru." Visvanatha Chakravarti said. "That is my life. Whether I will be successful or not successful, it doesn't matter. I must take the words of my Guru Maharaja as my life and soul." Lecture – Gorakhpur, February 10, 1971 There is another version that Krishna says… These are stated in the Srimad- Bhagavatam while He was talking with Uddhava, Eleventh Canto. Just like Krishna had talks with Arjuna, which is known as Arjuna-gita, similarly, He had talks with Uddhava, another devotee. That is known as Uddhava-gita. So in that Uddhava-gita these statements are there, that acaryam mam vijaniyat navamanyeta karhicit: "Acarya should be known as good as God." That is confirmed in Visvanatha Chakravarti… Saksad dharitvena samasta-sastraih. He also refers to the sastra, not that he is opining by his own intellect. No. That is the speciality of learned scholars and devotees. They should immediately give evidence from the sastra.
Visvanatha Chakravarti said that "Guru is as good as God by the verdict of the sastra." Saksad dharitvena samasta-sastraih. And Krishna says, acaryam mam vijaniyat: "Acarya should be known as good as Myself." Navamanyeta karhicit: "Never become disobedient to acarya." Na martya buddhyasuyeta: "Never be envious of the acarya, considering him to be an ordinary person." Navamanyeta karhicit. Sarva-deva-mayo. By worshiping acarya… And Bhagavad- gita it is said, acaryopasanam. Tad viddhi pranipatena pariprasnena sevaya [Bg. 4.34]. These things are there.
And the proof that Narottama dasa Thakura accepted Visvanatha Chakravarti Thakura as his servitor even though 100 years separated their times on the earth.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta – Adi-lila, Ch. 1, Introduction The direct disciple of Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami was Srila Narottama dasa Thakura, who accepted Srila Visvanatha Chakravarti as his servitor.
Srila Visvanatha Chakravarti Thakura accepted Srila Jagannatha dasa Babaji, who initiated Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, who in turn initiated Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji, the spiritual master of Om Visnupada Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja, the divine master of our humble self.
Also when we worship Srila Prabhupada in Mangal aratrika, we face the Deities and later we offer Guru Puja to Prabhupada in front of the Deities.
Prabhupada's vyasasana is in the temple room and he is on the altar. He is qualified to be worshipped in front of Krishna. Others are not and in fact it is offensive to do so.