nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate jayapatāka svāmin iti nāmine
nama ācāryapādāya nitāi-kṛpā-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
My dear Guru Mahārāja,
Please accept my most respectful obeisances!
All glories to His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedānta Swāmī Śrīla Prabhupāda!
All glories to you, Guru Mahārāja!
On your 76th Vyāsa-pūjā, I feel blessed to be writing a few lines in your glorification. Please forgive my faults, considering me a very insignificant dust particle at your lotus feet.
Guru Mahārāja, I had the good fortune to have your association for the first time in 2004 at Viśākhapatnam when you came for the Russian Safari with 300 devotees. I was assisting in taking care of the devotees, and you were very kind to shower your blessings upon me. Unfortunately, due to my fallen condition, I have been very slow in my spiritual progress and could get initiated only in 2024.
Guru Mahārāja, all glories to your appearance day! The world has been blessed by your appearance, and every day is auspicious because of your presence. We are so grateful to have your darśana when you mercifully appear for evening class every day.
Gurudeva, the more I hear about you from senior devotees, the more I hear your lectures (past and present), and the more I hear your ecstatic kīrtanas with the bṛtālas, the more I realize what a great devotee and powerful preacher you are! I regret not witnessing those lectures, kīrtanas, and pastimes with my own eyes—but I am thankful that they are uploaded on YouTube!
You are undoubtedly the most able son of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedānta Swāmī Śrīla Prabhupāda. Although we do not know who you really are, we can understand that you are not an ordinary person. You are like the shelter of the whole world! Even your Godbrothers look up to you and find courage in your presence—what to speak of your disciples and grand-disciples!
You are the chosen one of Mahāprabhu and Śrīla Prabhupāda to spread the saṅkīrtana movement all over the world. With your deep understanding of śāstra, your ecstatic kīrtana, your dynamism in traveling the world, and your humbler-than-grass demeanor, you have immensely helped Śrīla Prabhupāda spread the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement in many towns and villages across the world, fulfilling the prophecy of Mahāprabhu:
"pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi-grāma
sarvatra pracāra haibe mora nāma"
By your personal example, you enthuse everyone! Your disciples, under your guidance, are continuously spreading the holy name in every nook and corner—even in places where one would normally not dare to approach!
Like a dedicated son, you have remained focused on fulfilling all the instructions of Śrīla Prabhupāda. Out of your compassion, you accept very fallen souls like me as your disciples. With your causeless mercy, you distribute Nitai-kṛpā to everyone you come across. At times, you have expressed that the guru has to suffer when disciples do not follow the vows taken at the time of initiation. Yet you never stop showering your kindness. Despite many physical challenges, you continue to distribute the holy name to all. You always say that you want everyone to get Kṛṣṇa-prema and return back home, back to Godhead.
This reminds me of Śrī Vāsudeva Datta Ṭhākura, one of Mahāprabhu’s close associates, who was so compassionate to the living entities that he prayed to Mahāprabhu:
"When I see the suffering of the world, my heart is torn apart. So I ask You, Lord, give their sins to me. I will take their sins and suffer in hell on their behalf, but please deliver them from their material disease." (Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya 15.160–163)
Gurudeva, you are the personification of that compassion!
Guru Mahārāja, without the mercy of the guru, one has no hope of progress in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. With my tiny intelligence, I am trying to progress on the spiritual journey. I am doing the Bhakti-śāstrī course, as Śrīla Prabhupāda desired and as you always encourage us to do. Please bless me that I may be able to read all the books of Śrīla Prabhupāda and realize the transcendental knowledge.
It is said that one cannot achieve Kṛṣṇa-prema by one’s own endeavor unless one receives the dust of the lotus feet of a pure devotee. I very humbly beg at your divine lotus feet that you may kindly be pleased and shower the dust of your lotus feet upon my head.
In the end, I express my heartfelt gratitude for accepting me as your disciple and assure you that I will always honor my initiation vows. Kindly instruct and engage this most insignificant and unqualified servant of the servant.
Citramālinī Keśavī Devī Dāsī (Dīkṣā disciple)
ISKCON Guwahati, Assam