Hare Kṛṣṇa dear Guru Mahārāja,
Please accept my humble respectful obeisances at your divine lotus feet.
All glories to you Guru Mahārāja!!!
All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda!!!
On this auspicious day of your Vyāsa-pūjā, I would like to take a moment to pause and reflect on how fortunate I am that you have come into our lives. My beloved father, thank you for being so caring towards all of us, your children, although we are least deserving. It is simply your causeless mercy that you have gone to great lengths for our spiritual upliftment. I can never fathom the depth of the love you have for all of us and the sacrifices you make for us. I am truly truly amazed to see how determined you are in your sādhana and fulfilling the mission of Śrīla Prabhupāda. Your sādhana means so much to you that you are always giving your life and soul into it despite all odds. I want to progress in my sādhana but my determination dwindles at the slightest hiccup in my life and I often find myself taking my sādhana for granted and getting swayed by mundane distractions. I beg you to bless me with a fraction of your firm determination father as I realize that I am so fallen that this can only be possible by dint of your mercy.
I have been listening to your nectarean Caitanya-līlā lectures for a while now and it has deeply influenced me. The narrations of the divine pastimes and insights you share are so beautiful that I feel like I have drifted to another world and when your lecture ends, its as if I am coming back to this world. Everyday I eagerly wait for your lecture and my day feels incomplete if for some reason I miss a lecture. I am in awe of how keen you are to give these lectures everyday even on your sick days. I feel that your lectures and transcendental message in each lecture – whether it is the simplicity of Lord Gaurasundara, Lord Nityānanda Prabhu and Their associates or Their loving exchanges with devotees or display of anger in loving affection or playful sports makes my life so rich and opulent. It gives me something to meditate upon everyday and the desire to practice the beautiful Vaiṣṇava qualities that Mahāprabhu has been teaching us through His examples. I feel so fortunate that the mercy of Gaura Nitāi is pouring on all of us through you and your divine words.
By your mercy Guru Mahārāja, my husband and I graduated from Bhakti-vṛkṣa class late last year. This year, we are both embarking on the journey of Bhakti Shastri. We have felt immensely inspired by your Bhakti-vaibhava degree recently and your constant words of encouragement for your devotees to enroll into these higher degrees. You truly are leading by example. Therefore we have decided to enroll for Bhakti-śāstrī class. There is so much of joy in being a student especially when you have blessed us with amazing mentors who are following your footsteps. It’s like going back to school, except this is so much more of a fun school. But also in all seriousness I do realize that there is a great amount of commitment required on our end. Please bless us so that we can be committed in this learning journey, and we are able to complete it. At the risk of being too greedy for your blessings, I do have 1 more blessing to ask for. By your mercy, my husband and I were blessed with a baby girl (Gītā-priyā) in August 2022. We pray to you to bless us so we 3 can grow in our devotional service and assist you in your mission to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness to all corners of the world.
Your sheltered disciple,
Namrata Konar
Sydney, Australia