Hare Kṛṣṇa dear Guru Mahārāja - HH Jayapatākā Swami,
Please accept my humble obeisances at your lotus feet. All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda.
On this auspicious day, I would like to glorify two (out of thousands) of your transcendental qualities that have really inspired me in the recent years.
You make devotional service and surrender to Kṛṣṇa fun and easy. By looking at you, we feel inspired to perform devotional service and are enthused to surrender to the Lord. I was fortunate to get your personal association several times (since 2004) in Bangkok, Māyāpur, Nepal, Germany and no matter where you are: in a car, toilet, having prasāda, etc. you are engaged in the service of the Lord. You listen to devotees’ problems and give them Kṛṣṇa Conscious solutions, help figure our managerial differences of a center, temple, Yātrā and give classes on Caitanya Līlā, Śrīmad-bhāgavatam and Bhagavad-gītā. The following verse from Bhagavad-gītā rightly describes you:
mac-cittā mad-gata-prāṇā; bodhayantaḥ parasparam
kathayantaś ca māṁ nityaṁ; tuṣyanti ca ramanti ca
“The thoughts of My pure devotees dwell in Me, their lives are fully devoted to My service, and they derive great satisfaction and bliss from always enlightening one another and conversing about Me (Bhagavad-gītā 10.9).” And the unique thing is, you cherish these services… you are always blissful and Kṛṣṇa Conscious. Many devotees (including myself) opt to give up managerial services due to conflicts/differences associated with it; however, you embrace and tackle these issues for the pleasure of Śrīla Prabhupāda. Amazingly, you are not affected by the lower modes of material nature; it shows how deeply you are connected to the mission of Lord Caitanya, you are able to transcend the upheavals/dualities of the material world.
Another wonderful quality of yours is you inspire/engage devotees in loving service of Lord Caitanya as per their interest and level of surrender in par with their current material designations/conditioning as illustrated in the verse:
gṛhe thāko, vane thāko, sadā 'hari' bole' ḍāko
sukhe duḥkhe bhulo nā'ko, vadane hari-nām koro re
“Whether you are a householder or a sannyāsī, constantly chant "Hari! Hari!" Do not forget this chanting, whether you are in a happy condition or a distressful one. Just fill your lips with the Harināma (Śrī Nāma Verse 2, Gītāvali by Bhativinoda Ṭhākura)”. You encourage everyone to chant the holy names of Lord Kṛṣṇa – the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra beginning from one, four, eight and sixteen rounds and have developed systematic steps: Śrāddhavān, Kṛṣṇa Sevaka, Kṛṣṇa-Sādhaka, Śrīla Prabhupāda Āśraya and Śrī Guru Carana Asraya for people with different maturity levels in spiritual life to be able to stably advance in Kṛṣṇa Consciousness. Furthermore, you encourage everyone to share the jewel of bhakti Yoga to general people in their work, study, recreation via varieties of out-reach programs as delineated by the Congregation Development Ministry (CDM): Bhakti-vṛkṣa, Nāmahaṭṭas, Mantra Lounge, University (Yoga) Clubs, etc. stressing preaching is part of our sadhana and nectarian.
Trying to serve,
Antaraṅga Gopāla dāsa and Sumadhurī Līlā devī dāsī,
Bangkok, Thailand.