My dear Guru Mahārāja,
Please accept my humble obeisances unto your lotus feet.
Back in April 2022, I still have that memory fresh in my heart, when I saw you for the first time Guru Mahārāja. ISKCON and this path of devotional life in Kṛṣṇa consciousness was very new to me. I was in Māyāpur and it was for the first time that I was attending any Vyāsa-pūjā, I did not even know the meaning of it and the devotees were explaining it to me when I asked them.
I saw the devotees gathered on such a huge scale and I saw them looking at you with so much love. I still remember that time when all of this was very new to me and I asked one Mātājī if she could kindly tell me something about you. And so she did, she told me how compassionate you are, how merciful you are. And that was the time when I first saw you in Māyāpur and prayed to you that please kindly shower your mercy on a fallen soul like me as well, I used to think that chanting 16 rounds and following the standards everyday for a person like me is may be not possible in this lifetime, and I prayed to you to please help me in this.
Since then to now 2024 it is Gurudeva, when I look back, I firmly believe that it was only to that prayer which you reciprocated that made the impossible turn possible for me. I still cannot believe at times that how am I chanting 16 rounds and following all the standards, you changed my life miraculously.
An ocean of compassion and mercy is what I see, when I see you Guru Mahārāja. It is said that on the day of Vyāsa-pūjā, the guru is even more merciful. So on this occasion, once again I pray to you Guru Mahārāja that please give me the strength to dive deeper and deeper in bhakti, to live by your instructions, to make my life an offering to you Guru Mahārāja. When I think of this, I doubt myself that will I be able to live a life like this, I am just an aspiring disciple of yours not even initiated and it scares me what if I waste this life by practicing superficially and going behind mundane success and materialistic things. It seems impossible but only you can make the impossible turn possible for me. Please please give me the strength that I become strong enough to make this lifetime an offering, a beautiful offering to you my dear Guru Mahārāja.
Your servant and spiritual daughter,
Sakshi Sharma (aspiring disciple)
