Ankur Sorathia (Sydney, Australia)
Hare Krishna dear Guru Maharaj!
Please accept my respectful obeisances at your lotus feet!!!
All glories to you Guru Maharaj!!!
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!!!
I want to first of all thank you for giving me this opportunity to glorify you Guru Maharaj. Though since previous Vyasa Puja I have been unfortunate to receive your personal association but somehow you have kept me in association of your vani and have been guiding, inspiring and motivating me throughout the last one year.
My dear Guru Maharaj, I am fortunate enough to witness a pure vaishnava in my life in your form. You are an embodiment of determination and strong unwavering commitment. The activities that you are doing round the clock seven days a week to fulfill the mission of your spiritual master His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada is beyond my ability to even appreciate. When sometimes I lose enthusiasm or determination and start revisiting the thoughts on purpose of life and whether the activities that I am currently doing are right or not, I see no hope in any material solution that can pacify me. It is just the teachings of Lord Krishna where I find solace and you being a shining example of following the instructions of your guru and Gauranga with single-pointed focus enlivens the purpose of life in me – that I must dedicate myself to please my guru and there should not be any other purpose.
My dear Guru Maharaj, the way you are fixed in devotional service and the way you inspire others in so many innovative ways to take up this process of bhakti is very inspiring. Your tireless efforts, constant preaching, guiding others in all walks of their lives is something that brings fresh enthusiasm in me that there is always a way to help others to grow in devotion. What especially inspires me more is your humble attitude towards all vaisnavas and even non-vaisnavas. You treat everyone with love and care and show personal interest in everyone’s growth which is something unimaginable to me due to my self-centeredness. I beg for your mercy and blessings through which somehow I may become eligible to imbibe your mood, qualities and determination so that I can also remain fixed in the service of your lotus feet.
My dear Guru Maharaj, during this outbreak of Covid-19 when you recommended all of us to chant more and depend more on Lord’s holy name and also mentioned that in this age of kali there is no other solution to end our misery other than chanting Hare Krishna maha mantra, it made me realise how firm your faith is in holy name. I never imagined myself to suggesting someone suffering through this pandemic that he or she must chant, rather my mind would wandered on all material solutions such as using sanitizers, wearing face masks etc. But you made me realise with your causeless mercy that there is no material solution for a material problem and harinam should be the first place of which we must take shelter of regardless of the problem we are put in.
With your causeless mercy Guru Maharaj, I have was able to do some service over past 12 months such as organizing quiz competition for kids at Sri Sri Radha Gopinath temple in Sydney, Australia, conducting few Damodar Pujas during Kartik month, conducting one Introduction to Bhagavad Gita series class and starting one manjari. I desire to do more preaching by conducting more manjaris and Bhakti Vriksha classes in future to please you more Guru Maharaj. This is one service for which I have developed some taste over past few years and I sincerely desire to continue doing it if it pleases you. I have been trying to follow the instructions of my mentor as part of which I listen to your and Srila Prabhupada’s lectures regularly to imbibe the humble mood of serving their Lordship with utmost sincerity, so that it helps those who attend class to come to spiritual platform. Please bless me in my attempt to develop this mood and become as transparent medium as you are so that my material mind does not interfere in preaching Krishna Consciousness.
Dear Guru Maharaj, your unwavering determination and capacity to tolerate so many inconveniences is another glorious quality which I desire to cultivate. Your humble and compassionate attitude towards everyone around you truly reflect the quality of a pure Vaishnava and you truly justify the words of Mahaprabhu – trinad api sunicena taror api sahisnuna, amanina mana dena kirtaniya sada harihi. I on several occasions have fallen into Maya devi’s trap of expecting honour and praise for my preaching efforts for which I have repented later. I sincerely beg from you to please shower your mercy on me to remove this great anartha and follow your footsteps without any deviation if it pleases you Guru Maharaj.
Dear Guru Maharaj, it has now been almost close to two years that you provided your shelter to me. I am now sincerely desiring to get initiation from you as early as I can. I beg you to show some compassion on this underserving soul by giving harinam initiation.
My dear Guru Maharaj, I also sincerely beg you to please bless my parents and my brother so that they grow in Krishna consciousness and atleast understand the importance of this valuable human life and make endeavor to come out of the clutches of Maya devi by firmly serving the lotus feet of Lord Mukunda.
My sincere prayers to Lord Krishna, Lord Jagannath, Baladev and Shubhadra mayi, most munificient Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Nityananda prabhu, to shower their immense mercy on you as you rightly deserve by your tireless activities for pleasing previous acharyas, so that you can again regain physical strength and give personal association to more fallen souls. I sincerely pray for your good health, well-being and long life so that you can guide more souls like me in fulfilling the glorious mission of Srila Prabhupada.
Dear Guru Maharaj, lastly please forgive me for any offense that I have done at your lotus feet knowingly or unknowingly. Please enable me to receive the mercy showered by you Guru Maharaj and bless this fallen soul so that I am always engaged in your service.
Please accept this humble attempt to glorify you Guru Maharaj!
Bhakta Ankur (Shelter)