Hare Kṛṣṇa Dear Gurudeva,
Please accept my respectful obeisances. All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda and Lord Gaurāṅga!
All glories to You on this joyous and auspicious Vyāsa-pūjā day of Yours, my dear father! I am eternally grateful to Śrīla Prabhupāda, Gaurāṅga and Lord Kṛṣṇa for giving me the greatest gift of my life: You, my Gurudeva. I am eternally indebted to You for so mercifully giving me Your association and showering me with so much love and affection.
Since Your last Vyāsa-pūjā, the greatest and most momentous occasion for me without a doubt has been the day You so mercifully accepted me as Your spiritual daughter! This was one of my strongest desires for the past 6 years - that I am accepted by You as Your spiritual daughter. I know I have no qualification at all for You to accept me, it is pure causeless mercy. Your mercy, Śrīla Prabhupāda’s mercy and Gaurāṅga’s mercy. No one has and will ever inspire me the way that You do Gurudeva - not just in Kṛṣṇa consciousness but also in my day-to-day dealings. You remain my pillar of strength and it is only Your love that carries me in this world. Even the beautiful name You gave me, Gurudeva – 13-year-old me would not have ever believed the amount that You listen to every single thought that goes through my head. Thank You so much, my dear father, for accepting me despite all my faults and for being so merciful to me.
This year, Your continuous efforts into the TOVP construction over many years are now being seen by the entire world. It was such a wonderful opening of Śrīla Narasiṁhadeva’s Altar! I was unfortunately unable to come to Māyāpur, but watching it live itself was sending goosebumps. I can’t imagine how majestic it will be when it is done! This is all due to Your never-ending efforts in fulfilling Śrīla Prabhupāda’s vision and mission, and You are doing it to such perfection, Gurudeva! All glories to You, Gurudeva, and Your dedication to Your Guru Mahārāja!
Gurudeva, You inspire and facilitate everyone in the service of Śrīla Prabhupāda with so much enthusiasm through Your round table book distribution regularly. A great highlight of this service of Yours is the grand book-distribution at Ayodhyā this year! What an impact! I saw His Holiness Bhakti Vijaya Bhāgavata Mahārāja’s message of the saṅkalpa to distribute 3 lakh Bhagavad-gītās along with 5 lakh small books within the month. Guru Mahārāja, You inspired us to become the best version of ourselves and this roundtable book distribution feat in Ayodhyā is a big achievement in Your service to Śrīla Prabhupāda! All glories to You, Gurudeva, and Your dedicated disciples, who are also merciful enough to encourage and enable me to serve You in some little way.
And yet again, throughout this year, You never failed to surprise me with Your interest and enthusiasm in the lives of each and every disciple of Yours. The amount of care and love You shower into Your conversations with us - be it in person or through emails or through Your regular classes - is what I see as a loving father trying to help each and every child of His. Despite all Your health issues, Your detailed replies to personal queries is what I see as unconditional love. You have shown me what unconditional love means - Your love to Your guru is seen through Your loyalty and determination to fulfil His instructions despite Your material bodily problems, and Your love to Your disciples is seen with Your efforts to reach out to them whenever and wherever they are - be it through Your app, daily classes (even when You are extremely tired and sick!), personal conversations through emails or in person, Your daily blessings after Your classes and what not! All glories to You, Gurudeva, and Your causeless love for Your disciples!
Congratulations on Your Bhakti-vedānta Degree, Gurudeva! Of course, this is not at all required for You since You are a pure-devotee of Kṛṣṇa, but You still endeavor to do these courses and attend their examinations just to set an example to Your disciples to follow Śrīla Prabhupāda’s wishes! Your greatness is immeasurable, Gurudeva, and You are distributing mercy so freely, I am a fool to not make the right utilization of this. I am so grateful to You and Śrīla Prabhupāda for giving me such a loving congregation here in ISKCON South Bengaluru. The deities are so powerful and benevolent, and the devotees are so merciful and welcoming. It is all Your mercy, Gurudeva. Thank You. Thank You for showering so much love and affection, Gurudeva. Thank You for showing me what love means. Thank You for continuously teaching me and helping me grow every single day. Thank You for always keeping me under Your shelter even though I don’t deserve it. Thank You for correcting me whenever I am wrong and encouraging me in my services to Kṛṣṇa. Thank You for being present at every single point in my life - I feel Your presence so strongly every single day, and I am so grateful for it. Thank You for always being there whenever I needed You the most. Thank You for being You. All glories, All glories, All glories to You Gurudeva!
I am so fortunate to call You my Spiritual Master, and this fortune has been created by You and Śrīla Prabhupāda only! I pray to You to please constantly keep me under Your lotus feet, and to always give me the strength to constantly please You, Śrīla Prabhupāda and Lord Gaurāṅga with my words and actions. I pray to You to please allow me and enable me to serve You in whatever way possible.
I fervently pray to Rādhā-Mādhava, Hṛṣīkeśa, Jagannātha-Baladeva-Subhadrā, Śrī Narasiṁhadeva, and Pañca-tattva that You are kept in the best of health possible so that You are able to continue preaching Lord Caitanya’s movement and achieving Śrīla Prabhupāda’s vision, and so that I along with the rest of the devotees may continue being blessed in associating with You and serving Your lotus feet. I once again offer my respectful obeisances unto your lotus feet on behalf of my father Varada Gopāla Dāsa, my mother Sukṛti Subhadrā Devī Dāsī and myself. Thank You for being the loving father You are. With so much love and eternal gratitude,
Your Daughter,
Rādhikā Premī Devī Dāsī