Nama om Vishnu padaya Krishna preshthaya bhutale
Srimate Jayapataka swamin iti namine
Namaacharya padaya nitai kripa pradayine
gaura katha damadayal nagara grama tarine
Nma om Vishnu padaya Krishna preshthaya bhutale
Srimate Bhaktivedanta Swamin iti name
Namaste saraswate deve gaura vani pracharine
Nirvishesha shunya vadi pashchatya desha tarine
Namo maha vadanyaya Krishna prema pradayate
Krishnaya Krishna Chaitanya namne gauratvishe namaha
Jayasri krsna caitanya prabhunityananda
Sri advaita gadhara sriva adi gaura bhakta vrinda
Hare krsna hare krsna krsna krsna hare hare Hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare
All glories to Sri Sri Radha Madhav, Sri Sri Panchatattva and Sri Sri Narasimhadeva!
All Glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Hare Krsna Dear Gurumaharaj!
Please accept my respectful obeisances unto your lotus feet.
Today, on this auspicious day of your appearance, we disciples take up the most fortunate opportunity to glorify your holiness. To glorify one’s spiritual master on the Vyasa Puja day is the birthright of every disciple. And with every passing year, we get to perceive how your mercy grows and spreads limitlessly. We also utilize this auspicious day to remind ourselves of all the wonderous instances of how you have touched our lives and shown immense love, care & kindness to us.
I’m reminded of the beautiful lines written by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur –
Emona duramati samsara bhitore podiya achinu ami
Tava nija jana kono mahajana pathaiya dile tumi..
It is my utmost misfortune that I have fallen into this ocean of misery, my dear Lord. But one of Your pure and elevated devotees has come to pull me out.
Yes, Gurumaharaj, that personality who saved me is you! You have literally ‘pulled’ me out of the deepest, darkest, and dirtiest cave of self-indulgence. I have been dwelling in that grimy cave for so long that it was unknown to me that there is hope to a sublime & blissful life, free of filth.
Coming to Krishna consciousness was pre-determined (by Lord Krishna’s mercy). Coming under the shelter of your lotus feet was also pre-destined, because Lord Krishna, my chaitya guru, decided to appear as you before me. But being able to serve you in many ways I never thought of, is a dream come true. Lord Krishna really does fulfill one’s desires.
I’d like to share a few instances of how my dreams/ desires have come true by your mercy.
In early 2014, I had a dream in which you appeared, Gurumaharaj. You were seated in a car and had the window rolled down. I approached you with a cake in my hand. It was a carrot cake covered in white cream frosting and had small carrot-shaped decorations all over the top. Instead of taking a piece, you accepted the whole of the cake!
After this you asked me, “Why don’t you take Diksha?...You must take diksha.”
I was of course dumbfounded, but I knew what I had to do. You gracefully accepted me as your daughter in a year’s time, in 2015.
Since that day, I have been trying to learn to make a good carrot cake to offer to you. It took several years and trials. But finally last year I came across the most humble recipe that when baked did not turn to a lump. It was my great fortune that my dream came true. On March 10th this year, I got to bake this cake and offer it to you! Even tried to manage to make those cute carrot decorations. Thank you, Gurdev, for accepting this offering.
I’d like to share another instance when during my earlier days I felt pretty bleak not knowing much about Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, His pastimes, about the 6 Goswamis, important associates of the Lord, our previous acharyas.. Even though I had heard pastimes of Gaur lila before, I never felt I could completely understand them, because I did not know these personalities. Last year, 2020, it so happened that ISKCON Nasik conducted a Caitanya Caritamrta Contest under the guidance of His Grace Krishna Dhana das Prabhu. My senior devotees sweetly asked me to join. Even though from the very beginning, I was unsure if I could fully commit to and complete the study, I was sure of one thing – this was your blessing that Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu let me read and get to know His lilas in a greater depth than I could ever imagine.
Every night that I spend, immersed in reading Caitanya Caritamrta (even though it was only from an examination point of view), I remembered how I got to hear most of the pastimes from you. Gurumaharaj, it was like rewinding and watching a flashback video of sitting by your lotus feet, as a child, and watch you describe and enact Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s Lilas. I am forever indebted to you for this opportunity.
I have even come to the realization that it is your causeless mercy that my insignificant desire to engage in your service was made true. I wanted to somehow engage my creative aspect in your seva. Though being a part of the design team of your official JPS app, with no previous qualifications, I have found myself easily learning the required skills, to do the service. A major part of my thoughts nowadays involves finding color pallets to match your app’s theme, consciously reading every word of your Vani carefully, figuring out new designs… This newfound perspective towards art is definitely because of being engaged in your service, Gurmaharaj.
The general populace is usually obsessed with following their favorite celebrities on social media platforms, to get to know them more closely. And here devotees are subscribed to your Transcendental Social Media, happy to read every single update posted about you, in your own words! We have a sense of contentment to read all your health updates and daily activities. We feel ourselves getting closer and closer to you with every post that we read.
Thank you for engaging such an insignificant person as me. It feels amazing to be a part of your seva team. Please bless us that we may continue to remain in this consciousness, attempting to do our best for your pleasure, Gurudev.
Even though this lockdown situation has stopped us from associating with devotees physically, the best thing to happen during this time is that we get to have your darshan, hear from you, get your blessings and offer prasad to you, every single day! This association with you is the ultimate sweet rice of all reciprocations of Love!
Dear Gurudev, thank you for accepting me as broken and ill-minded as I am. But I also seek your karuna to practice to become a better daughter and disciple to you. Along with feelings of gratitude, I’d also want to beg forgiveness at your lotus feet, Gurumaharaj, for every offense that I have knowingly or unknowingly committed.
Taking this opportunity to pray to Lord Narasimhadeva for your healthy and speedy recovery. Beseeching at the Lord’s lotus feet to take care of you, by offering 108 Narasimha Kavachas and 108 Narayana Kavachas.
Your insignificant and unworthy daughter,
Kamala Hemangi Devi dasi (diksha),
Kerala, India.