Dear Śrīla Ācāryapāda, Please accept my respectful obeisances on this glorious day of Your appearance! All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda and to Your Divine Grace!
All glories to You, Śrīla Ācāryapāda, who is filled with the nectar of instruction based on Śrīla Prabhupāda’s teachings. This material body gives us so many false designations, but still Your Divine Grace seems to rise above this material body and continues to preach worldwide the glories of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu! I once asked You, Śrīla Ācāryapāda, if you were frustrated being in a body that is severely limited now in what it is able to do. You replied, “What is there to get frustrated about? Everyday is as an opportunity to do service for Lord Kṛṣṇa and Śrīla Prabhupāda.” Your Divine Grace is simply extraordinary in your faith in Guru and Kṛṣṇa, and You set the example for others to follow in living as a true Vaiṣṇava devotee of the Lord.
Śrīla Prabhupāda states in the Fourth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that, “If there is such a place, from which, having gone, one does not return to the miserable material condition of life, what is the use of jumping like monkeys in the temporary material world and not seeing or understanding that place? What will be the profit?” Guru Mahārāja, you have taught me that I am not this body, I am a spirit soul, and that to focus on material sense gratification is simply a waste of time and energy. If one fully engages in temporary fruitive activities, not understanding how this is taking place, what does he actually gain? Śrīla Ācāryapāda, you have taught me that If a living entity has polluted intelligence, he prolongs his materialistic life therefore we must utilize every second of this life in serving the Lord and his devotees.
Śrīla Ācāryapāda, you have taught me how to discriminate between matter and spirit, and you have explained to me the means of bondage and liberation. Please give me the foresight and knowledge to comprehend Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books and to practice Kṛṣṇa consciousness in my daily life. Please help me work nicely with the Vaiṣṇavas and help me to avoid committing offenses at their lotus feet.
I am very fallen, and I pray for your mercy.
Your daughter,
Kalāvatī Devī Dāsī
New Tālavan