Vyāsa-pūjā 2021
nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate jayapatākā-svāmin iti nāmine
namo ācāryapādāya nitāi-kṛpa-pradāyine
gaura-kathā dhāmadhāya nagara-grāma tāriṇe
My dear spiritual father His Holiness Jayapataka Swami Guru Mahārāja,
I offer my respectful obeisances at the dust of your sankirtan lotus feet on the auspicious occasion of your 72nd Vyasa-puja celebration. All glories to your tireless efforts to bless the fallen conditioned souls of Kaliyuga, especially myself.
My most tolerant Guru Maharaja,
Once again we are celebrating your divine appearance and once again, I find myself fallen and inadequate to describe your transcendental position, qualities and achievements. The year 2020-21 was not an easy year for this planet and amidst the darkness of despair (Covid and Vaishnavas departing) you acted like the sun of hope. The deep care and magnanimous concern which you showed for all your disciples, the disciples of HH Bhakti Caru Swami Maharaj and your well-wishers, despite your own illnesses and personal difficulties, melted the hearts of all, deeply touched, transformed, and saved many lives.
This unparalleled devotee care which you exhibited is my inspiration and nourishment in Krishna Consciousness. You are a living embodiment of the "mad-bhakta-pūjābhyadhikā" (SB 11.19.21) principle, which declares Service and Care for the devotee is more potent than the worship of the Lord. You are the ruler of my heart. You are the best gift of Srila Prabhupad to me.
The dear Master of my life,
In the Sri Caitanya Caritamrita (Antya 2.3-4) it is stated
"sarva-loka uddhārite gaura-avatāra
nistārera hetu tāra trividha prakāra
sākṣāt-darśana, āra yogya-bhakta-jīve
‘āveśa’ karaye kāhāṅ, kāhāṅ ‘āvirbhāve’"
"In His incarnation as Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa descended to deliver all the living beings in the three worlds, from Brahmaloka down to Pātālaloka. He caused their deliverance in three ways. The Lord delivered the fallen souls in some places by meeting them directly, in other places by empowering a pure devotee, and in still other places by appearing before someone Himself."
Later in the same chapter, it is said (Antya 2.13-14)
"tā-sabā tārite prabhu sei saba deśe
yogya-bhakta jīva-dehe karena ‘āveśe’
sei jīve nija-bhakti karena prakāśe
tāhāra darśane ‘vaiṣṇava’ haya sarva-deśe"
"To deliver people in regions throughout the universe who could not meet Him, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu personally entered the bodies of pure devotees. Thus He empowered living beings [His pure devotees] by manifesting in them so much of His own devotion that people in all other countries became devotees by seeing them."
From the above, we can conclude that you are the confidential associate of Lord Chaitanya and the dear most disciple of Srila Prabhupada who has come to expand the true devotion to Lord Gauranga for the benefit of the suffering humanity. Your very existence in the mood of a disciple is the greatest treasure within the three worlds. You have shown intense attachment to the holy name of the Lord since your childhood. You were very rightly identified as an “Associate of Lord Chaitanya” – "Gaura Dhana Jana" by Srila Prabhupada. Your every activity is an offering to Srila Prabhupada, and your every instruction is assistance to the people to come to the lotus feet of Lord Chaitanya. In a world full of quarrel, hypocrisy, impersonalism and sense gratification, your devotion shines like the sunshine and you are establishing Bhakti Yoga as the Supreme by giving the Gaura Katha and mercy of the Holy Dham to all villages and cities across the planet.
My dear Guru Maharaj,
Your life is simply meant for the upliftment of fallen conditioned souls like me. Your every act is an instruction for all your beloved followers.
1) Your waking up for mangal aarti and carefully describing the colours of the outfits the deities shows your love-filled meditation on the transcendental form of the Lord. This you are doing despite all physical challenges simply to encourage your followers.
2) Your unwavering desire to speak Caitanya Katha every day simply for the benefit of this world shows your deep attachment to Lord Chaitanya. This activity of yours can be compared to that of Lord Chaitanya Himself. SB 11.5.34 states, “Out of sheer mercifulness You chased after the fallen conditioned souls, who are always in pursuit of the false enjoyment of illusion, and at the same time engaged in searching out Your own desired object, Lord Śyāmasundara.” Being His associate, you are simply walking in His footsteps.
3) Srila Prabhupada’s books are the only saving grace for all. They are the law books for the next 10000 years. You read the books of Srila Prabhupada daily, without fail. In this way, you instruct your followers in the art of being faithfully connected to Srila Prabhupada on the transcendental plane via his books.
4) You are constantly meditating on expanding the movement of Srila Prabhupada. Your pastime of remaining awake for an entire night and simply meditating on how to expand Krishna Consciousness Unlimitedly is your prime instruction for all your followers. You are exhibiting the transcendental anxiety of Lord Caitanya and the Guru Paramapara
5) Your enthusiasm to observe Bhishma Panchak Vrata, Puroshottama Vrata and the Ekadashi Vratas are inspiring millions to follow in your footsteps. Via this pastime, millions of souls are becoming fortunate by following in your footsteps.
Śrī Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has said:
"mādhava tithi bhakti-jananī yatane pālana kari kṛṣṇa vasati, vasati bali parama ādara vari."
Knowing that Mādhava-tithi gives birth to devotion and Kṛṣṇa directly resides in this day, I carefully accept and observe this day with great respect.
Simply by following you and you praying for all of them, they have become recognized by Lord Krishna immediately. In this way, you established Bhakti as an irrevocable truth in everyone’s heart and gave your eternal blessings to all.
6) You have perfectly imbibed the mood of Srila Prabhupada. You simply exist for his pleasure and service and this is your primary teaching. Your attachment to Srila Prabhupada and your daily meditation on his instructions is your very identity and this very fact makes you a crown jewel of this world. In one of your lectures, you confirmed this prime necessity of spiritual life.
“The disciple having the mood of the Guru and the parampara is a sign of a very advanced disciple. We should aspire for understanding the mood of the Spiritual Master. One-time Srila Prabhupada asked, ‘What is the thing you can gain from the Guru?’ And everyone said so many things. Then he replied, ‘Get his vibration. His vibration is the essence.’” - (May 29, 2019, Mayapur)
Guru Maharaja, having fully imbibed the mood and the vibration of Srila Prabhupada and the Guru Parampara, you are at the pinnacle of perfection in your own life, you are now mercifully passing on the same formula into the hearts of your disciples. Srila Prabhupada would be so pleased with you.
My dear saviour,
I am a useless son of yours, who belongs to your transcendental family but has not yet been able to sincerely inculcate the devotional qualities which are an insignia of your committed sons, daughters, and followers. Your unconditional mercy is the only antidote for my eternal ungratefulness and my weakness of the heart. Guru Maharaj although I am unchaste in my surrender towards your instructions still because I am your disciple so following in your footsteps, I desire to develop a spontaneous attraction for the Lord. You have very mercifully also revealed how to do that in one of your lectures.
"For devotees, who have been very careful in chanting and hearing, the spontaneous attraction to the Lord increases day by day." - (25th September 1983, New York, USA).
I will try to focus even more on my hearing and chanting, but ultimately, I depend on your mercy even to do that. Please give me your blessings so that I can take full shelter of your instructions and become your faithful servant and representative and in this way always feel your presence in my life.
My beloved spiritual master,
"We think that we have met Your Goodness by the will of providence, just so that we may accept you as captain of the ship for those who desire to cross the difficult ocean of Kali, which deteriorates all the good qualities of a human being." - (SB 1.1.22)
It was the causeless mercy of Lord Krishna and His devotees, that I met you in the Kartik of 2015. That was the most auspicious day and my fortune started rising since then. And on this auspicious day also, I pray to you for your causeless mercy so that I may always remain fixed in executing your divine instructions and helping to propagate Lord Chaitanya’s Sankirtana Movement. Guru Maharaj, please bless me so that I can preach vigorously. I know this pleases your simple self the most. You have revealed in your lecture that:
“By one particle of dust of the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada, whole universes are delivered. We are simply implementing. Just we are allowed to feel that we are doing some service, although everything has already been done by him. Simply if we can be instruments, surrender ourselves as his puppets, so that he can dance us as he likes according to his sweet will.” - (17th September 1979, Los Angeles, USA)
Guru Maharaj, when you had come to Bangalore in 2014, you had expressed your desire that “Bangalore should become the first Krishna Conscious City of the world”. I want to make this single instruction of yours my life and soul and dedicate my life to it. Please consider my request and kindly accept me in your transcendental army. This will be your favour upon me, and my lowly self will be fully reclaimed in the process of serving you insignificantly in this manner. I know I am not qualified but by your mercy anything is possible.
Please empower me so that your instructions become my only sadhana, my only sadhya and my only livelihood. I wish to never give up these instructions either in the stage of practice or in the stage of perfection. I beg that your instructions remain my only desire and my only responsibility. By your mercy anything is possible, I hanker to get a drop of it.
Yours eternally,
Acyuta Arjunasakha Das,
Śrī Śrī Narasiṁha Giridhari Mandir,
Bangalore, India