Dear Guru Mahārāja,
Please accept my sāṣṭāṅga daṇḍavat praṇāma! All glories to Your Divine Grace! All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda, who painstakingly created ISKCON and whose mercy is protecting it despite many challenges, from within and without!
I have always struggled to write a befitting Vyāsa-pūjā offering to Your Divine Grace. Sometimes I feel like writing a book about you and other times I go blank when someone asks me to write or speak a few words about you! Life in ISKCON has taught me many things that I never imagined I would learn or experience in life. It is your causeless mercy and Kṛṣṇa conscious guidance that have kept me sailing the ocean of the material world where, unlike the spiritual world, obstacles and difficulties are there at every step.
ISKCON has seen many stormy years and this year has been one of them, albeit a little different. Every storm makes the survivors stronger in that they become more experienced, more tolerant, and better equipped to face another storm. Having seen many storms in the past, ISKCON devotees have certainly learnt not only how to survive but also the art of utilising that experience in making their Kṛṣṇa consciousness and ISKCON stronger.
I said this year’s storm was a little different. It is because this year the focus was Śrīdhāma Māyāpur and its management, and you being a GBC and Co-director of the place since its establishment, many ill informed people naturally pointed fingers at you. On this auspicious day of your Vyāsa-pūjā, instead of talking about where and how they were wrong in their assumptions, I would like to say how, once again you proved your rock-solid loyalty to Śrīdhāma Māyāpur, to ISKCON and to Śrīla Prabhupāda, in spite of all odds and oppositions, some guilefully planned and some out of ignorance.
Not undermining the seriousness of the crimes committed by some unscrupulous people in the garb of devotees, and not undermining the dire need of reforms in our society, I want to say that the whole episode brought forth another great quality of Your Divine Grace, that is, perseverance, a quality that cannot be had without other qualities like tolerance, patience, humility, and determination. History is a witness of how in the past also there have been many storms in ISKCON but you, along with other loyal servants of Śrīla Prabhupāda, have steered it to victory.
What amazes me again and again is, no matter how difficult the situation may be, you do not lose your cool. You do not miss Vaiṣṇava etiquette. You do not get offensive. You simply keep trying to make people understand the reality and find ways to overcome obstacles. You tolerate and tolerate and tolerate. Your compassion is genuine, not at the cost of others. If there is any cost involved while you tolerate, it is your own peace of mind. I have seen you not sleeping at night out of your concern for devotees, for our society and for the saṅkīrtana movement. Some people may take it as your weakness but those who know you well know it as your strength.
One thing that cannot be missed amidst all this is, ISKCON, being empowered by Lord Caitanya and blessed by the previous Vaiṣṇava ācāryas, is as much a threat to Kali-yuga as Kali-yuga is to ISKCON. This may sound like an overstatement but seeing how Kali-yuga is constantly working to create troubles in our society, it is evident that he himself is seriously troubled by ISKCON’s growing success and increasing influence in society, especially over the youth, who are the main target of Kali-yuga. Although working relentlessly, both from inside and outside of ISKCON, Kali-yuga, through its different agencies, has been able to harm our society to a good extent, with commanders like your divine grace, who Śrīla Prabhupāda himself called his “victory flag”, we have always been able to survive and continue to succeed.
There is another unique quality of your divine grace that stands out.
We know there are some in our society who pose to be staunch followers of Śrīla Prabhupāda and protectors of the Vedic culture but their acts palpably speak otherwise. They constantly target, provoke, and humiliate one section of society to win debates not realizing that Vedic culture never allows such conducts. They are either bewildered themselves or are extremely deceptive as, knowingly or unknowingly, their deeds foster divisive mentality.
In all this, what impresses me is, although you are observing their acts and I believe you know how damaging they could be, being a true disciple of Śrīla Prabhupāda, for you, following his instruction to cooperate with godbrothers and protecting ISKCON is more important than winning debates. This is not sentimentalism. You know well that the invincible time controls everything in the material world, you know how to avoid over-endeavours, and you know how and when it is prudent to give more energy to preaching than fighting those bent on chewing negatives. This further shows how you are focussed on utilising maximum time in preaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
As I write this, many other glorious qualities and acts of your divine grace come to my mind, but I hope to write about them at some other time.
Last year we went to Bangladesh, twice. It was truly an amazing experience. It helped me lift myself out of an illusion. The illusion was that I thought I knew your greatness. Bangladesh experience taught me that I was wrong. The tremendous amount of preaching that has taken place in Bangladesh under your direct guidance is truly mindboggling. Your popularity among devotees there is simply unmatched. I found many of them very sincere and markedly simple hearted. Their dedication and strong desire to please you despite hardships, their sense of surrender and their eagerness to receive your merciful glance shattered my illusion; the illusion that I knew the value your association.
Solely due to your causeless mercy I have an easy and full access to your personal association but often I fail to recognize the value of it. Seeing numerous other devotees’ yearning for your association and to do some devotional service for your pleasure make me realize beyond any doubt that I have a long way to go before I can claim to be your dedicated disciple who is attached to your lotus feet.
Dear Guru Mahārāja, on this most auspicious day, please forgive my offenses, committed knowingly or unknowingly, and bless me that one day I can be truly attached to your lotus feet, to following your instructions, and spend the rest of my life with enhanced enthusiasm and devoid of Vaiṣṇava offenses in the service of Śrīla Prabhupāda and the previous ācāryas. Tādera caraṇa-sevi-bhakta-sane vāsa janame janame hoy ei abhilāsa.
Hare Kṛṣṇa,
Your stupid servant,
Bhadra Balarāma Dāsa