My most wonderful Spiritual Father,
Please accept my most respectful obeisances unto Your Divine lotus feet. All glories to Your Divine Grace! All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Seventy glorious years of your appearance today dear Acharyapada! You have appeared here only for the purpose of serving the mission of Srila Prabhupada and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu! Hence your joy and happiness is in delivering fallen souls like me!
Who can be so focussed in this mission but you, whose heart is ever filled with Krishna Prema and is seeking only that every moment! Your Pranama Mantra describes your mission and activities so perfectly!
It is such a pleasure to even have a glimpse of Your Holiness leave alone hearing from you and communicating with you.But what stands out most in my heart is your instruction that a disciple comes close to the Guru only through selfless service rendered to his instructions.
Somehow from the very beginning of my spiritual life, my motivation was to come close to Your Holiness. I started being very serious in my spiritual life- in my sadhana, services and preaching just to have your association and become close to you.And in the beginning Your Holiness indulged me with your personal attention and association. In those times I could never understand how serving in separation is even possible.
I remember one time you were visiting Dubai and I was begging you to come to Muscat as well. You did so mercifully try to fit in the visit. But it somehow did not work out. And out of deep compassion and understanding you told me on the phone that Krishna is right in your heart! I really value and cherish that instruction to me.
For the last so many years I had to do with no association with you. But I was absorbed instead to serving your mission.You had also told me once that you should serve only for the pleasure of Krishna and not your own .I have been struggling my best to do just that so that one day you will be pleased with me and give me again your personal association and instructions.This gift of the Bhakti Vriksha program from you is so helpful in honing our mood better and better for the pleasure of Guru and Krishna.One cannot touch people's hearts or develop close spiritual relationships unless one is in sync with Guru's desires. But during these years I hardly got any Vapu seva or association of you and it seemed that you were punishing me.
But I continued services based on Sadhu, shastra and Guru, and it is only by your mercy that I could slowly understand how Gurudev is always in one's heart.- and that there is no separation from him.
You used to advise me- "do not be in anxiety about having my visits to Mathuradesh".You used to be amused and keep laughing at my greed for your association that I used to even argue with other Yatras about giving up even one day for someone else! You also used to make us all compete in the Middle East to get your visits! And now I know Gurudev that Krishna is controlling everything!
Even regarding your health, I used to worry so much.My husband had brought an Ayurvedic doctor from Bangalore to Coimbatore to see you and you did take his medicines for 2 weeks and then stopped it for some reason. I spoke to the Ayurvedic doctor about it and he told me, "Why do you worry? Your Guru Maharaja 's body is completely taken care of by Krishna!" Just to be sure, I shared his observation with you and you expressed your unlimited happiness on hearing this! After that moment, my anxiety stopped. I again understood that I am not the controller!
These are happy days Gurudev, as your health will hopefully keep improving and that you will start walking soon. Many devotees are waiting eagerly for your visit around the world, due to this hope!
The sweetest relationship in this world is between the Guru and disciple because it is completely from heart to heart. I beg to you on this most auspicious occasion, please fill my heart with Krishna Prema and give me infinite services to please You and Lord Gauranga Mahaprabhu! Your mercy is all that I am made of. I know no one but you as my savior, my role model and teacher.
Please bless my husband Vijay Venugopal das and my two sons Pradeep and Ananth with your complete shelter, Krishna Prema and many many services for your mission.
Please bless all the devotees that I am guiding on Your behalf to also get your complete mercy, Krishna Prem,and wonderful services!
Seeking the dust of Your lotus feet,
Your Spiritual daughter,
Prema Padmini dd