I offer my respectful obeisances to my beloved spiritual father, His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Śrīla Guru Mahārāja.
nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya Kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate jayapatākā-svāmin iti nāmine
namo ācāryapādāya nitāi-kṛpa-pradāyine
gaura-kathā dhāmadhāya nagara-grāma tāriṇe
nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya Kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāmin iti nāmine
namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe
nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe
Dear Śrīla Guru Mahārāja,
Hare Kṛṣṇa. On this sacred day of your 73rd Vyāsa-pūjā, I am offering you my respectful homage.
Śrīla Guru Mahārāja, you live your life by the principle: guru-mukha-padma-vākya, cittete koriyā aikya, ār nā koriho mane āśā, nothing else but executing the orders of Śrīla Prabhupāda to your heart and soul, every second of your life. By exhibiting the 26 wonderful qualities of a Vaiṣṇava, you are setting standards for all of us especially your disciples to learn and follow. You told us to be equally respectful to your God-brothers as how we are respectful to you, you always emphasized that we should treat all Vaiṣṇavas with respect, to be grateful to our elders and you never had criticized any Vaiṣṇavas, but simply encourage them to do their best in any services or talent that they possess. Being in such senior role within the movement as one of the first eleven initiating gurus, you always took the humble position, despite so many leaderships position that you hold and responsibilities that Śrīla Prabhupāda has given to you, you have been always very tolerant, determined in your dealings and do whatever it takes to fulfil the orders of Śrīla Prabhupāda. Most importantly, Śrīla Guru Mahārāja is a life example of “NEVER give up”.
Śrīla Prabhupāda quotes SB 11.20.17 in his SB 4.23.28 (purport):
“When one wants to cross a large ocean, he requires a strong boat. It is said that this human form of life is a good boat by which one can cross the ocean of nescience. In the human form of life one can obtain the guidance of a good navigator, the spiritual master. One also gets a favorable wind by the mercy of Kṛṣṇa, and that wind is the instructions of Kṛṣṇa. The human body is the boat, the instructions of Lord Kṛṣṇa are the favorable winds, and the spiritual master is the navigator. The spiritual master knows well how to adjust the sails to catch the winds favorably and steer the boat to It’s destination. If, however, one does not take advantage of this opportunity, one wastes the human form of life. Wasting time and life in this way is the same as committing suicide.”
I am very grateful to you Śrīla Guru Mahārāja for being the navigator of my life. I am nothing but a foot soldier in this movement, but by your mercy, I was given the opportunity to make some contribution in establishing the book distribution programs in Malaysia that was organized by the BBT, the service that pleases Śrīla Prabhupāda the most. To think of what has happened, it is miraculous. I am also trying my best to help with the cow protection program in Malaysia as Śrīla Prabhupāda very much wanted to establish farm communities. As I was reading the purports of Śrīmad-bhāgavatam and your Gaurāṅga book, a realization that I have is, as a lady disciple the requirements are simple in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the priority is to always have Lord Kṛṣṇa in the center of our activities, to follow the orders of the spiritual master and look after my sadhana, to do preaching in accordance to my capacity and to not be involved in the management and neglect the family responsibilities, which is not in accordance to our nature and encourages a lady to develop male qualities. So, I try my best to be part of any services that I am able to do, especially distributing books on the streets as how Śrīla Prabhupāda has taught us to do, in different places around Kuala Lumpur City.
For the pleasure of Lord Caitanya, Śrīla Prabhupāda and Śrīla Guru Mahārāja, I like to offer my book distribution scores for the year 2021, on this very auspicious day of your 73rd Vyāsa-pūjā:
19 sets of Śrīmad-bhāgavatam
11 sets of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta
251 Mahā Big Books
11 Big Books
78 Medium Books
154 Small books
I seek for your blessings to always serve you in whichever way that pleases you the most. It’s my sincere prayer to my personal Deities, Girirāja Mahārāja Śilas, Śrī Śrī Rādhā Śyāmasundara, to have your guidance always, for your health and many many more years of your physical presence and association with all of us.
All glories to Śrīla Guru Mahārāja!
Your spiritual daughter,
Mālinī Prīti Devī Dāsī (dīkṣā)
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia