Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept my humble obeisances.
I have been reflecting on just how fortunate I am to have received the gift of being able to
engage in devotional service. Lord Caitanya instructed Rūpa Gosvāmī (Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya 19.151):
brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva
guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja
We come to Kṛṣṇa consciousness after many lifetimes in this material world, and by the mercy
of Kṛṣṇa we get a spiritual master, and by the mercy of both guru and Kṛṣṇa we can go back to
Godhead.
How we get this mercy is explained in the Mādhurya-kaḍambinī, where it references Śrīmad-
Bhāgavatam 11.20.8: “If somehow or other one develops faith in hearing and chanting my glo-
ries.…” “Somehow or other” is also explained as good fortune, and that good fortune is coming
from the mercy of a devotee.
In my case, it was by your mercy that I became fortunate – by reading one of your books. By
reading we get your personal association. You set the standard for all devotees as para-duḥkha-
duḥkhī. This is mentioned in the purport to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 8.7.39, where it says, “A Vaiṣṇava is
always unhappy to see the conditioned souls unhappy.”
I was unhappy, Śrīla Prabhupāda, and by your mercy I am now becoming happy.
Another point, Śrīla Prabhupāda, is that many times you said, “Devotional service is so nice.”
I have appreciated this point especially when listening to your lectures. para-duḥkha-duḥkhī – you
tirelessly preached the philosophy of Kṛṣṇa consciousness at every opportunity. “Kṛṣṇa con-
sciousness is so nice.” (Morning walk, December 25, 1976, Bombay) In this respect my realization
is that, “It is so nice that just by hearing your lectures every day, one will become firmly fixed in
the process of devotional service.”
Another way you exhibited the mood of para-duḥkha-duḥkhī is when you first arrived in the
USA at Commonwealth Pier, Boston Harbor. You had come to the conclusion, after visiting the
city, that the people were too absorbed in the mode of passion and ignorance, and how then
would they be able to understand the message of Kṛṣṇa consciousness? Yet you still underwent
the enormous sacrifice to give them Kṛṣṇa consciousness. I sometimes ask your disciples what
they found attractive about you, Śrīla Prabhupāda. Usually, they don’t answer straightaway, as if
they don’t know, and what I have understood from their answers is that everything about you was
and is still attractive.
If I ask myself what I find attractive, I would say that your mercy is the most attractive qual-
ity. My life has changed so much, and I am in a position to fulfill my deep desires to work in
a certain way according to my nature while at the same time take credit for service rendered,
although I am completely unqualified. You said, “Chant and be happy.” That is what is happen-
ing. The Christian faith has a Psalm (23:5–6, of the King James Bible): “My cup runneth over.”
in other words, because of your compassion, I have no need for anything. This is your quality of
para-duḥkha-duḥkhī.
Your humble servant,
Dayānanda Swami