Dear Guru Mahārāja,
Please accept my respectful obeisances unto your lotus feet,
All Glory to Śrī Guru and Śrī Gaurāṅga,
All Glory to Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Śrīla Gurudeva, on the occasion of your Vyāsa-pūjā this year, I pray to Śrī Śrī Rādhā Gopīnātha, Gaura Nitāi, Jagannātha Baladeva Subhadrā and Narasiṁhadeva to protect you and bless you with good health. Yet another year of your selfless dedicated service to Śrīla Prabhupāda’s mission of spreading Lord Caitanya’s saṅkīrtana movement throughout the world.
Everyone is amazed at how you continue to serve with various ailments and your determination to serve only keeps getting stronger and stronger. Those who do not understand the concept of soul and body will only be bewildered looking at you. Due to your causeless mercy, we can at least theoretically understand the difference between the body and the soul.
You are showing us practically that no situation can be a deterrent to serving Guru and Gaurāṅga if we have the desire to do so. Even at a very old age, Śrīla Prabhupāda showed practically how to perform devotional service perfectly. Imbibing the mood from your spiritual father, you have taken that responsibility to show your spiritual children. We can truly understand the meaning of the term “Like Father, Like Son” by seeing you.
Another wonderful quality of yours is you inspire/engage devotees in loving service of Lord Caitanya as per their interest and level of surrender in par with their current material designations/conditioning as illustrated in the verse:
gṛhe thāko, vane thāko, sadā ‘hari’ bole’ ḍāko sukhe duḥkhe bhulo nā’ko, vadane hari-nām koro re
“Whether you are a householder or a sannyāsī, constantly chant “Hari! Hari!” Do not forget this chanting, whether you are in a happy condition or a distressful one. Just fill your lips with the Harināma (Śrī Nāma Verse 2, Gītāvali by Bhativinoda Ṭhākura)”. You encourage everyone to chant the holy names of Lord Kṛṣṇa – the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra beginning from one, four, eight and sixteen rounds and have developed systematic steps: Śrāddhavān, Kṛṣṇa Sevaka, KṛṣṇaSādhaka, Śrīla Prabhupāda Āśraya and Śrī Guru Carana Asraya for people with different maturity levels in spiritual life to be able to stably advance in Kṛṣṇa Consciousness. Furthermore, you encourage everyone to share the jewel of bhakti Yoga to general people in their work, study, recreation via varieties of out-reach programs as delineated by the Congregation Development Ministry (CDM): Bhakti-vṛkṣa, Nāmahaṭṭas, Mantra Lounge, University (Yoga) Clubs, etc.
On this auspicious day, it is my sincere prayer that please help us to remain in the service of your lotus feet without succumbing to the materialistic pleasures. I also sincerely pray to Lord Narasiṁhadeva to always protect you so that more and more conditioned souls can be delivered by your mercy.
Yours Insignificant Servent
Caitanya Simha Das