Respected Guru Mahārāja,
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Please accept my most respectful obeisances unto your Lotus feet. All glories to Your Divine Grace. All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda.
On this auspicious day of your 74th Vyāsa Pūjā, I sincerely pray to Their Lordships Śrī Śrī Rādhā Mādhava, Śrī Śrī Pañcayattva and Śrī Śrī Nṛsiṁhadeva for your complete and speedy recovery from all health problems and for the long duration of life so that many conditioned souls like me will get Your valuable association.
As mentioned in Upadesamrita, an Uttama Adhikārī Vaiṣṇava will always think about how to spread Kṛṣṇa Consciousness amongst the general public. In this connection, Your Divine Grace is making plans to create many qualified Dīkṣā Gurus in ISKCON so that Kṛṣṇa Consciousness can be spread in every nook and corner of the world. In order to accomplish this, you are encouraging everyone to study and complete Bhakti degrees. In order to inspire all your disciples to study Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books systematically and complete Bhakti degrees, you yourself have studied and completed Bhakti Śāstri and Bhakti Vaibhava degrees in your advanced age and also in your feeble health conditions. Śrīla Prabhupāda had mentioned that an Acarya means, “One who teaches by his example”. This proves that You are a perfect Acarya and a source of inspiration to all the devotees. Guru Mahārāja, you have a very lofty vision and perfectly understood the mood of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. I am very fortunate to have such a glorious Spiritual Master. Please bless me Guru Mahārāja, so that I can be a mere instrument in your broad vision to expand Kṛṣṇa Consciousness everywhere.
It is mentioned in Bhagavad-gītā that one of the qualities of a brahmana is, Arjavam which means simplicity or straightforwardness. One can be simple and straightforward only if he is freed from the false ego. Kṛṣṇa is also explaining in Bhagavad-gītā that a pure devotee is freed from false ego (nirmamo nirahankarah) . Guru Mahārāja, even though you are possessing many many institutional identifications, personally you are completely freed from all the identifications and you are always considering yourself as the servant of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Śrīla Prabhupāda. That is why, Your Divine Grace is able to deal all the matters in a very simple and straightforward way without any complicated thinking. The Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself is very simple and liberal (Dakṣiṇāh). As mentioned in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.18.12, “yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā…..” – all the exalted qualities of the Demigods are automatically manifesting in the body of a pure devotee of the Lord. Since you are possessing Gaurāṇga Bhakti in your heart, all these divine qualities are automatically manifesting within yourself. Guru Mahārāja, by your transcendental behaviour, you are teaching all your disciples in a wonderful way.
As mentioned in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.14.8 Purport, “Although a devotee has surrendered to the Lord’s devotional service, until he is completely perfect in Krsna Consciousness he may maintain a slight inclination to enjoy the false happiness of this world”. From this statement, it is very clear that a conditioned soul raising to the stage of Śaraṇāgati is not so easy and he will be distracted very frequently because of his strong faith on the matter. But, Guru Mahārāja, you are a perfect example of the principle of “anyābhilāṣitā śūnyaṁ”. You don’t have any interest separate from the interest of Lord Gaurāṇga and Śrīla Prabhupāda, which is the essential qualification for reaching Śaraṇāgati stage. You are always aspiring to fulfill only Śrīla Prabhupāda’s instructions. I am strongly learning from your transcendental behaviour that if I have any other desire apart from pleasing Guru & Kṛṣṇa, then I will have to undergo anxieties proportionately. Guru Mahārāja, please give me your blessings to this fallen conditioned soul to always desire only pure Kṛṣṇa Bhakti.
It is mentioned in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.25.21 as, “titikṣavaḥ kāruṇikāḥ suhṛdaḥ…..”. As per this śloka, a sādhu is tolerant. Tolerance is a divine quality. When a person is predominantly under Rajas, he cannot tolerate the mistakes of others. So, tolerance level will be increased proportionate to the level of practice of bhakti. Guru Mahārāja, you are a symbol of tolerance. Even though your health condition is very bad, you are not at all affected by that and you are continuing to spread Kṛṣṇa Consciousness with great enthusiasm as though nothing happened to your body. We, the disciples, should learn this quality of tolerance from your personal behaviour.
Guru Mahārāja, You are a valuable treasure for the entire ISKCON society.
Your insignificant Disciple,
ŚRĪNiVĀSA HARI DĀSA, DĪKṢĀ DISCIPLE
ISKCON, ŚRĪ JAGANNĀTH MANDIR, AERODROME POST,
COIMBATORE – 641 014 PH: 0422 2574812, 8754955815