Hare Kṛṣṇa Guru Mahārāja!
My dear most Spiritual father,
Please accept my most respectful obeisances unto your lotus feet! All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda! All glories to Your Holiness!
On this auspicious day of your Vyāsa-pūjā, we would like to offer our gratitude and homage to you. My deepest wish and hope is that Śrī Śrī Rādhā Mādhava keep you close to them, and that Śrī Narasiṁhadeva blesses you with a long and healthy life, so that you may inspire and guide us with your radiant energy and causeless mercy in our spiritual journey. I am dedicated to your mission and humbly ask for your blessings to let go of all unnecessary attachments and fully embrace the transcendental ocean of bliss in which you are immersed.
It is by your mercy that we have a daughter, Nadia, who is wonderfully inclined to everything Kṛṣṇa conscious. I’m learning on every front how to serve her better, and it is only your instructions in your lectures and those of Śrīla Prabhupāda that keep my focused and committed. I have only one child and it sometimes seems so challenging, but you have thousands of children all over the world, I can’t even begin to imagine how you must worry for them. Yet you appear so relaxed, composed and calm handling all of us. You demeanor is so inspiring and a reminder to me that we must give our best and leave the rest to Kṛṣṇa.
Working with a child I understand I have so much to work on, as there are times where I feel what I know isn’t enough. Today as I write this offering this is how I feel:
yogyatā-vicāre, kichu nāhi pāi,
tomāra karuṇā sāra
karuṇā na hoile, kāṇdīyā kaṇdīyā
nā rākhibo āra
“If you examine me, you will find no qualities. Your mercy is all that I am made of. If you are not merciful unto me, I can only weep, and I will not be able to maintain my life.” Everything in my life, is only a manifestation of your mercy! And without that I really cannot live. I cry because I need to suffer yet you only bestow mercy, unconditional love, acceptance, patience, and unending compassion on this lowlife that I am. So please Gurudeva, on this most auspicious occasion of your Vyāsa-pūjā, I beg you again and again - please forgive me for all my ignorance and thank you for tolerating my stupidity, and please keep showering me with all that you do. It is only because of that that I am not sinking in this saṁsāra-sāgara.
gurudev!
kṛpā-bindu diyā, koro' ei dāse,
tṛṇāpekṣā ati hīna
sakala sahane, bala diyā koro’,
nija-māne spṛhā-hīna
“Gurudeva, give to this servant just one drop of mercy. I am lower than a blade of grass. Give me all help. Give me strength. Let me be as you are, without desires or aspirations.”
This is all I ask. And I know you have already provided for this through my entire life regardless of me asking. Just like a father presents his children with their needs even before they feel the need for it. In the same way you have given me so much saṅga of your disciples, that I feel your presence wherever I go. That is your greatness! You make every disciple feel special, cared for, loved without even speaking sometimes.
I have always felt that I had so much of your physical association when I was young and couldn’t appreciate the value of it. Only now when I see my daughter getting so much from birth, I realize that all of that early interaction is what has made me what I am today. And I really am so grateful to have had that association and so much more growing up. I will not trade that for all the money, power, or position in the world. Through you, Lord Kṛṣṇa has actually filled my treasure box and I have just forgotten to look inside. Now when we have to work to nourish and cultivate devotees, all this treasure is where I get my strength and ability from. Thank you, Guru Mahārāja, for my Kṛṣṇa conscious childhood, life, and services. I pray that I always have the cool shelter of your lotus feet!
Last year in my offering I had written about two very important things; one in my social service and one in my personal service.
The former was that we as a family were working with ISKCON Niagara Falls and had just started a center here. In one year the center now has 30-35 regular devotees all sincerely serving in different capacities and strengths. And this time I am seeking your unlimited mercy and blessings for us as we approach our first cultural presentation in celebration of Gaura Pūrṇimā. I pray by the next time I write my Vyāsa-pūjā offering, this place has unlimited devotees, unlimited service and becomes another spiritual capital of the world.
The latter was to bring my daughter to Māyāpur in her first year to Śrīdhāma Māyāpur for the Dāmodara month. By your mercy, not only did we attend Dāmodara month in Māyāpur, but also Janmāṣṭamī, Rādhāstami, Gītā-jayanti, my father’s 60th birthday yajña, and Nadia’s first birthday. Not just that we also got to meet you a few times personally, and you spent some quality time with our family. And again, your compassion has showered us with so much we cannot even begin to understand our fortune. She not only got your blessings but also got to meet some of your godbrothers - His Holiness Śivarāma Swami Mahārāja and a few others.
Such is the mercy of Śrīla Prabhupāda flowing through you, unlimitedly!!
No matter what we do in our life, we will always remain indebted to your shelter!
Your child and grandchild always,
Snigdha Rādhikā Devī Dāsī and Bhaktin Nadia
