mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
oṁ ajñāna-timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākayā
cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ
nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate jayapatāka svāmin iti nāmine
nama ācaryapādāya nitāi-kṛpā-pradāyine
gaura-kathā-dhāma-dāya nagara-grāma-tāriṇe
My dearmost spiritual father Śrīla Guru Mahārāja,
Please accept my respectful obeisances, all glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda
All glories to Your Divine Grace.
Śrīla Guru Mahārāja, please allow me to make this humble offering on the most auspicious and glorious occasion of Your Vyāsapūjā.
titikṣavaḥ kāruṇikāḥ
suhṛdaḥ sarva-dehinām
ajāta-śatravaḥ śāntāḥ
sādhavaḥ sādhu-bhūṣaṇāḥ
The symptoms of a sādhu are that he is tolerant, merciful, and friendly to all living entities. He has no enemies, he is peaceful, he abides by the scriptures, and all his characteristics are sublime.
(Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.25.21)
Guru Mahārāja, Your Divine Grace is the living Bhāgavatam. When we read Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, we can see how Śrīla Guru Mahārāja exemplifies the words of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
bhavad-vidhā bhāgavatās
tīrtha-bhūtāḥ svayaṁ vibho
tīrthī-kurvanti tīrthāni
svāntaḥ-sthena gadābhṛtā
My lord, devotees like Your good self are verily holy places personified. Because You carry the Personality of Godhead within Your heart, You turn all places into places of pilgrimage. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.13.10)
“It is the duty of a sannyāsī, therefore, to go and awaken the forgetful souls with enlightenment of their eternal relationship with the Lord and to engage them in devotional service. The devotee should show mercy to the fallen souls and also give them the assurance of fearlessness.”
(Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.21.31, purport)
Gurumahararaj, who can fathom Your ocean of compassion? Your Divine Grace physically travelled all over the world nonstop for 40 years trying to give mercy of Lord Nityānanda to the fallen souls. Many people like me, completely immersed in illusion, didn’t even realise the mercy. In a wave of adoration and hero-worship, we sentimentally discussed how Guru Mahārāja gave us a flower, how Guru Mahārāja smiled at us, how Guru Mahārāja gave us prasādam, how Guru Mahārāja gave us blessing, how Guru Mahārāja answered the question we had in our mind, how Guru Mahārāja called us by our name etc etc.
Then on 23rd October 2008, in a stroke, Your Divine Grace withdrew all that. When Guru Mahārāja was in ‘coma’, devotees all over the world were praying and chanting extra rounds and doing various austerities. In Māyāpur, I was crying to His Grace Paṅkajāṅghrī prabhu how much we are missing Guru Mahārāja. Then prabhu asked me ‘why do You want Your Guru Mahārāja to be in good health?’ I thought about it for a few minutes, and I said ‘selfish reasons'; the reasons why I was praying for Guru Mahārāja’s health was because I wanted Guru Mahārāja to speak to me, to give me mahā flowers, to give me mahā prasādam, to call my name again… I was completely on a sentimental platform.
It took me another 5 years to come out of that mental plane and understand that Guru Mahārāja is giving mercy in other forms. The relationship is, as Guru Mahārāja says, is heart to heart and completely independent of material circumstances. Through the few ups and innumerable downs of my life, I could deal with those situations only because I kept telling myself, ‘Guru Mahārāja knows what I am going through, and Guru Mahārāja is always there for me’. Whenever I saw no ray of hope, when I felt there was no escape route, and felt completely stuck, I remembered Draupadi. Draupadi called out ‘Govinda’; I call ‘Guru Mahārāja!!!!’ and always, Guru Mahārāja saved me. Thank You Guru Mahārāja, for being there for me always. I wouldn’t have made it till now, without Your saving grace.
Thank You Guru Mahārāja for giving us Your mercy, even when the whole world was under lockdown. Thank You for the nectar of Caitanya Līlā and for answering various questions. Thank You for visiting our house every single day and accepting our insignificant offerings.
Guru Mahārāja, You have given me life. I was living like the blacksmith’s bellows. Guru Mahārāja’s mercy has enabled me to at least theoretically understand that I am a spirit soul, part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, completely different from the gross and subtle body. It was a great relief to know I am not this body!
Thank You for giving us the association of wonderful devotees who keep us engaged in Guru Mahārāja’s service. Thank You for giving us the amazing and continuously growing spiritual family. Thank You for sending us wonderful and sincere souls.
Guru Mahārāja, many times when things happen, I reflect that I had desired it a long time back. I am not sure what all I have desired in my millions of lifetimes and how many of them are good for my spiritual progress and how many of them are entangling me in this material world. Please bless me I can get rid of all the unwanted desires and that all my desires will be in line with Guru Mahārāja’s plans and the purpose of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s mission.
Guru Mahārāja, I am so scared of this material world and the material energy. Please award me fearlessness. Guru Mahārāja, please bless me to be always humble and tolerant even amidst the most provoking situations.
Guru Mahārāja, please bless me that at every moment, I do only what Guru Mahārāja would like me to do. Please don’t let me stand in the way of Your mercy, please let me be Your instrument. Please allow and empower me to execute Your plans.
Please bless that everyone who comes in contact with us becomes an empowered soldier in Lord Caitanya’s army.
By Your blessings and mercy, You are kindly allowing me to be engaged in Your service. Please empower me to do all the services that Your Divine Grace has kindly assigned me, in exactly the way Your Divine Grace would like it to be done.
Guru Mahārāja, I am very grateful and indebted to You for Your mercy. I am also living a life of guilt every moment, repenting for the countless mistakes and offenses that I have committed at Your lotus feet. Considering me as Your servant, please forgive me for all the offenses. And please help me to overcome my anarthas so I can progress in my spiritual life and I can offer a better version of myself at Your service. As Kuntī Maharani prayed, as the Ganges forever flows to the sea without hindrance, let my attraction be constantly drawn unto You without being diverted to anyone else. Let every moment of my life be focused on how to serve Guru Mahārāja better.
Guru Mahārāja, please bless that the whole world becomes blissful and peaceful by taking shelter at Your Lotus Feet. Please use us as instruments in achieving this goal, Guru Mahārāja. Please bless that very soon, I can report to Your Divine Grace that the market is saturated!
Your insignificant spiritual daughter,
Amala Mañjarī devī dāsī (dīkṣā)
Reading, UK