Nama Om Vishnu padaya Krsna presthaya bhutale
Srimate Jayapataka swamin iti namine
Nama Acharya padaya Nitai kripa pradayine
Gaura katha dhaam daya nagara grama tarine
Dear Gurumaharaj, my spiritual father,
Please accept my respectful obeisances at your lotus feet on your auspicious appearance celebration. All glories to His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada. Your divine grace very mercifully accepted and initiated me on 22 August 2010 through Sri Jagannath Mandir, Bengaluru yatra. First of all, I beg your mercy and pardon for all deviations from your instructions over this period. I understand and pray that by shravan and kirtan of glorifications of a pure devotee like your divine grace on this day, I will get inspired and reinforced to follow your instructions/my vows strictly.
One can learn from the spiritual master through Guru’s Vani (instructions) and Acharan (Behaviour). Gurumaharaj, you are a true Acharya and have given simple but deep instructions to your followers.
Learning through Acharan:
As an Acharya, you exhibited dedication to Guru’s orders; Acting on the platform of soul; Determination; broad-heartedness and achieved extra-ordinary feats of fulfilling the orders of Srila Prabhupada like recently crossing the 50,000 disciples. This becomes even more challenging with all material incapacitation and discomforts you are going through.
It is said that a sadhaka devotee suffers due to his past karma and siddha devotees like yourself suffers because Krishna wants to glorify him for his inherent qualities. However, the suffering of a pure devotee (guru) is also due to disciples who have not acted responsibly at times, including me.
By your personal example, you showed how a disciple should be dedicated to follow the instructions of his Spiritual master:
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Your divine grace learnt Bengali, became a Bengali Indian, to preach and develop Mayapur. However, we all know you are an eternal associate of Lord Gauranga as confirmed by Prabhupada. Now, Mayapur has become an example of spiritual world on earth and you are like respected and beloved father figure for all including local Bengalis of Navadeep dham. This I have experienced personally during Navadeep Mandal Parikrama.
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Secondly, you desire to live longer even in your physical situation, wherein ordinarily people tend to just give up. You got changed the body organs in order to live and serve Srila Prabhupada’s instructions. Message is clear- “Never give up serving”.
Learning through Vani (Instructions):
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In one of the article published in magazine Sri Guru Prasanga, I found your instruction, i.e. “Let people try to use their intelligence to expand”. This is your mood, the article said. It means that having given principal instructions, your divine grace give freedom to disciples to use their individuality, skills etc. to work out details (execution). It is essentially a kind of Independence to become dependent on Krishna for spreading Gaura-vani. This is the instruction, how to engage Intelligence in Krishna.
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Another instruction, i.e. How to engage mind in Krishna, goes as follows- “Engage your mind always in thinking that how you can refine your service or improve the quality of service, it will help in controlling the mind.”
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Another beautiful instruction, shared by one devotee, during Navdeep mandal parikrama (given in my own words)- “Dhaams are actually personalities. One should visit them regularly to know them and become more intimate so that gradually they would reveal themselves.”
Dear Gurumaharaj, I learnt few lessons through very limited/few personal dealings also:
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Once, I got the chance of serving you during a lunch in Coimbatore (India), roughly around year 2012. My seva was to wipe the intermittent fluid falling through one side of mouth using tissue paper, while you were honouring the prasadam. I was using one tissue for one wipe and throwing, like that I disposed 2-3 tissues. Then, you very mercifully gestured to stop me from throwing the next tissue and told to reuse it. I learnt the lesson that one should not waste anything unnecessarily as everything is Krishna’s property.
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In year 2017, we visited Mayapur and wished to have Annaprasana of my daughter through your hands, Gurumaharaj. We fixed up appointment with HG Mahavaraha prabhu and reached at designated time at your quarter in Lotus building roof. But, we came to know that you were busy in some meetings as the meetings might have stretched. We were assuming that as soon as you would come back at your residence, you might just feed our baby, the sweet rice prasadam, we brought. However, to our surprise, your divine grace came back for lunch at Lotus building roof, you ensured first proper invocations and worship performed as per prescribed scriptural methodology through your personal pujari while you had lunch. Then, you performed Annaprasana and fed my daughter, Radhika and blessed us.
I found you are very particular that all devotional activities should be performed very methodologically with highest of standards if possible. Secondly, going to details is the sign of love and true care.
Gurumaharaj, I am performing very insignificant service in ISKCON Chandigarh and Mohali preaching center: to assist in organising Discover Yourself course, to follow up and preaching the new devotees.
Gurumaharaj, you carry Lord Gauranga and Lord Nityananda in your heart. You also wish that everyone must carry Them in their hearts. I pray your divine grace to give the shade of your lotus feet upon me so that I can get mercy and blessings of Lord Nityananda and Lord Gauranga and I get strength to follow your instructions with discipline (which is the secret of success).
At last, I pray to Sri Sri Radha Madhava, Panchatattva and Lord Narsimhadev to give you long life to guide us by your Vani and actions and to deliver many souls waiting all around the world.
Your servant
Amrta Krsnanama Dasa
Chandigarh (Diksha disciple)