Dear Guru Mahārāja,
Please accept my most respectful obeisances at your lotus feet
All glories to Śrī Śrī Guru and Gaurāṅga
All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda
All glories to Your Holiness
Śrīla Gurudeva, on this most auspicious occasion of your Vyāsa-pūjā, I pray to Śrī Śrī Rādhā Madhav, Pañca-tattva, and Lord Narasiṁhadeva to keep you in the best health. It always amazes me how you have an immense flow of enthusiasm for preaching, despite the physical challenges that you are facing. Your determination to spread the Saṅkīrtana movement and fulfill Śrīla Prabhupāda’s desire is unbounded. Personally, whenever I see you immersed in joy while blissfully speaking on Caitanya-līlā, it motivates me to follow in your footsteps. You are truly a leader who sets an example for your followers.
Last year in September I moved to the UK to pursue higher education at the University of Exeter. Coming to a new country and settling into a new environment was challenging. On top of that, for the first few weeks, I did not find any kind of devotee association, so I just clung to my small travel altar, chanting bag, and listened to kīrtana. Honestly, I started questioning myself if I had made the right decision of leaving behind a great community of devotees in Kṛṣṇa Kathā-deśa and coming to an unknown small city where Kṛṣṇa Consciousness was nowhere to be seen. Then one day, while I went grocery shopping, by your unlimited mercy I was fortunate to meet a devotee on the streets doing book distribution. I was immediately overjoyed to find association and the prabhuji directed me toward the Exeter Nāmahaṭṭa that takes place every month. This incident hit me with two huge realizations: regardless of the circumstances, the absence of devotee association should not serve as an excuse to neglect Sādhana. It also reminded me that Guru and Gaurāṅga are always with me, urging me to maintain patience and faith, because, with your grace, I trust that all the pieces of the puzzle of my Kṛṣṇa Consciousness journey will eventually fall into place, revealing the bigger picture.
Guru Mahārāja, as per your desire, I have tried to take a small step forward in supporting our preaching endeavors. Along with two great devotee friends that I’ve made here in Exeter, we have started a weekly ‘Kṛṣṇa Sanga’. We invite a few interested university students and discuss about Kṛṣṇa consciousness and we even try to end with some prasāda. Moreover, to spread the divine wisdom of Kṛṣṇa Consciousness further and for the benefit of everyone, not just a few, we are trying to set up a Kṛṣṇa Consciousness society (KCsoc) at the University of Exeter. On my own, I have no qualification, therefore I seek your blessings that if you so desire, please empower me with some strength and confidence to preach without any deviation and to present the teachings of Caitanya Mahāprabhu as it is.
I pray at your divine lotus feet again and again to always help me stay focused and to properly and consistently perform my sādhana. Please forgive me for my offenses and please bless me to serve you more and more.
I pray to Śrī Śrī Rādhā Mādhava to continue to help you stay in your best health and also to provide me with more opportunities to serve you in person.
Your Insignificant Disciple,
Muthulakshmi Avudaiappan
