Hare Kṛṣṇa, Śrīla Gurudeva,
Please accept my daṇḍavat pranam at Your lotus feet,
nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya Kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate jayapatākā-svāmin iti nāmine
namo ācāryapādāya nitāi-kṛpa-pradāyine
gaura-kathā dhāma dāya nagara-grāma tāriṇe
nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya Kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāmin iti nāmine
namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe
nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe
Gurudeva, though I am utterly unqualified to glorify You, still I desire to try to use my senses thinking about Your pastimes in the service of Your Spiritual Master, Śrīla Prabhupāda and eventually try to glorify Your Holiness.
"śrī guru caraṇa padma, kevala bhakati sadma, bando muñi sāvadhāna mate, jāhāra prasāde bhāi, e bhava toriyā jāi, kṛṣṇa-prāpti hoy jāhā ha'te"
Śrīla Gurudeva, through Your Service to Śrīla Prabhupāda, You are this verse personified. You always have immense faith in the words and instructions of Śrīla Prabhupāda. Just on His instructions, You gave up your material life, joined the movement of Śrīman Mahāprabhu, came to India, learnt Bengali, started preaching, and began working on a multitude of projects that Śrīla Prabhupāda had envisioned. Śrīla Prabhupāda was the center of all this. Your surrender to Your Spiritual Master teaches generations together what relation a disciple must share with his Spiritual Master.
"guru mukha padma vākya, cittete koriya aikya, ār nā koriho mane āśā, śrī guru caraṇe rati, ei se uttama gati, je prasāde pūre sarva āśā"
During Your Service to Śrīla Prabhupāda, You sometimes perform the pastimes of bad health, but even then You pray that if Kṛṣṇa so desires, may he give You the strength to fulfill the tasks Śrīla Prabhupāda has assigned unto You. You have taken the words of Śrīla Prabhupāda as Your one and only mission. Therefore, You have exemplified, Śrīla Gurudeva, that the instructions of the spiritual master is the only right way.
"cakhu dān dilo jei, janme janme Prabhu sei, divya jñān hṛde prokāśito prema bhakti jāhā hoite, avidyā vināśa jāte, Vede gāy jāhāra carito"
Śrīla Prabhupāda had particularly spoken about Your Holiness that one day, You would have more than fifty thousand disciples. You have fulfilled that, Śrīla Gurudeva. You have drawn out thousands from the darkness of their ignorance and have given them the light of knowledge. When You glorify Your spiritual Master, it is as if the Vedic Scriptures glorify Him, as Śrīla Narottama dāsaṬhākura mentions in this verse.
"Śrī Guru karuṇā sindhu, adhāma a janāra bandhu, Lokanāth lokera jīvanā, hā hā prabhu koro doyā, deho more pada chāyā, ebe jaśa ghuṣuk tribhuvana"
Taking the words of Śrīla Prabhupāda in Your heart, You are saving the Jivas entangled in material bondage. You are the saviour of the most fallen Jivas. Always keeping Śrīla Prabhupāda in Your heart, Your heart is like an ocean of mercy - the ocean in which the mercy of Nityānanda Prabhu flows.
Śrīla Gurudeva, on Your 75th Vyāsa-pūjā, I am trying to make a humble effort to glorify Your Holiness and Your Surrender to Your spiritual master, Śrīla Prabhupāda.
If Kṛṣṇa so desires, may I receive a drop from the ocean of mercy that You are and may I develop complete surrender unto Your lotus feet lifetime after lifetime.
Your aspiring servant,
Aritra Hazra
(an aspiring disciple of Śrīla Jayapatākā Swami Gurudeva)
Kolkata, India