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
Hare Kṛṣṇa, My Dear Spiritual Father,
I beg to offer You my most respectful obeisances at Your divine lotus feet.
All glories to His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedānta Swami Prabhupāda and to You.
I cannot express the right words to describe how fortunate I am to have come to Your lotus feet. In all your lectures, You teach how only a fortunate soul comes to the lotus feet of a bona fide spiritual master by the supreme arrangement of Kṛṣṇa, where he gets the seed of devotional service by both of Their mercy. Though I don’t see myself to be anywhere near fortunate, having come here and to have You as my spiritual master—my spiritual father—I am eternally indebted.
Śrīlā Kānu Rāmadāsa Ṭhākura would sing in glorification of Lord Nityānanda, how He gives His mercy indiscriminately and unlimitedly to anyone and everyone, spreading the holy names of Lord Gaurāṅga. Similarly, my dear spiritual master, You have taken the mercy of Lord Nitāi and touched so many souls with Kṛṣṇa consciousness—especially mine. Your love for Nitāi-Gaura flows through your lectures; your eyes are full of mercy for conditioned souls; your hands, decorated with the Jagannātha stick, are always ready to bless everyone by making Lord Jagannātha’s mercy available to them.
Earlier, I heard from one of Your dear spiritual daughters how distance is no excuse for Your mercy, for Your mercy is so personal and sweet—it touches each and every devotee’s heart, though they may be miles away from You. She related how, my dear spiritual father, You are always so personal to all the devotees, and how being with You every moment is itself a humbling lesson, the sweetest experience, and a forever heart-imprint. Though I am not fortunate to see it myself, hearing from those who have seen is a mystical experience which reveals Your presence and mercy even more in my life. Unlike all the moon-like disciples who are full of so many good qualities, genuine humility and talents that they use to glorify You, I only have words that carry my heart to You always.
Despite Your hectic schedule, Your love for Your disciples is something that always touches my heart. 2025 has already been a year fully blessed—for I got to behold those lotus feet that my heart holds dear in person for the first time on Nityānanda Trayodaśī. Oh, how much I had heard of the nectar emanating from those lotus feet from my godsisters—seeing them in person was life-giving. You are the reservoir of all good qualities, Śrīlā Guru Mahārāja, but Your feature of being so personal to Your children is most dear to my heart.
Your fatherly concern for those disciples who are physically away from You, engaged in Your loving service of preaching—unlimitedly on Your instruction—in that split second, Your one word or two, or simply Your presence, Your loving glance, catches their hearts in a go. When Caitanya-līlā classes would go on, You once said, “Lord Caitanya is so affectionate that He is more affectionate than millions of mothers and fathers.” Though I have never seen Lord Caitanya, I have felt Your love and affection that so naturally flows simply through Your oceanic glance—the reservoir of all affection.
Whenever I had wondered how wonderful it is that every time I fell into some situation, You always saved me from imminent danger—through dreams, through senior guidance, and sometimes in the middle of a live class! Difficult situations in life were no excuse—for simply Your one loving glance on Zoom was the remedy. Your lotus feet are the supreme solace of all Your dear children. Your lotus toes wiggle as if they are dancing in Your saffron-coloured socks when the camera would move to them during an online shelter ceremony, when flowers were offered to You virtually—indicating that they are always alive in our hearts. The chair You rest on while giving class is meaningful, showing all of us that You, my dear spiritual father, are our only lifeline. Your lotus hands rest on them as You raise them to wave at Your disciples—online and offline—as You leave after the Caitanya-līlā class, or when You just unexpectedly arrive for a quick darśana to Your children, like life returning to a lifeless body.
Knowing their hearts, Your simple hand gesture—as in a wave—touches their hearts every single time. Your tall, glowing figure, as everyone falls straight in front of You, offering obeisances with great feelings of love. Your lotus mouth would not let a day pass without speaking about Your beloved Lords, Nitāi-Gaura.
Thank You for giving us JPS Archives, Śrīlā Guru Mahārāja. In one of Your Vyāsa-pūjā lectures in Māyāpur in the early ’90s, You so lovingly and feelingly said, “It is not that we don’t want to care—we want to care. But I am only one, I answer all the letters myself.” You had said how, in the future, You would want to keep in contact with all Your disciples so that they don’t feel uncared for. Now, JPS Media, JPS Archives, Zoom, and so many other efforts have manifested—contacting thousands of Your children back to Your lotus feet. I really pray, Śrīlā Guru Mahārāja, that everyone takes advantage of all the efforts You put in to connect with Your disciples.
It is said that Lord Nitāi-Gaura melted even stones. But my heart is so hard, like iron—it never melted. But if anyone ever saw and realised even a drop of Your mercy, and the efforts You put into each devotee individually by investing Your everything—their hearts would melt. Your lectures are the source of Your vāṇī presence in my life. I pray that just like in the spiritual world, where everything is spiritual in nature and has a form—just like the silver anklet You once described that always holds onto Lord Nitāi’s lotus feet—may my heart always be attracted and fixed in holding onto Your vāṇī presence in my life through Your lectures.
My dear spiritual father, Your moistened eyes, decorated with the love of Lord Nitāi-Gaura and compassion for the fallen souls, are the abode of fatherly affection. Your merciful glance, which is like the sun, keeps the sunflower-like hearts of Your disciples from withering. I really pray and beg at Your lotus feet on this most merciful and auspicious day, Śrīlā Guru Mahārāja: please bless all of us—especially this fallen servant of Yours. For You know our hearts, and with separation and mercy, You mend them. I beg at Your most merciful lotus feet that we may have the strength to fulfill Your instructions, even life after life—and that wherever we may be, we may always see Your loving smile that nurtures our hearts, just like the fish who protect and nourish their little ones simply by glancing over them.
I always fear that Māyā is very strong. Because of the weakness of my heart, I am like a cotton wick that can blow away by her tricks. That’s why I pray at Your lotus feet, my most merciful master—you have unlimited kṛpā-bala, merciful strength—please keep this servant tied to Your lotus feet always and engaged in Your service.
Thank You for Your causeless mercy, Śrīlā Guru Mahārāja, for giving me an opportunity to serve You in whatever way I can. By Your mercy, I am in the wonderful congregation Kṛṣṇa Bandhu, under the loving guidance of H.G. Sundar Vāman Prabhu and H.G. Ratnāvalī Mātajī, and in the association of many like-minded devotees. I am praying at Your lotus feet that You would shower Your mercy on all Your children, and allow all of us together to soon serve You by nourishing our hearts with Your loving presence and words that lead us to Goloka, back to You, in Your service to Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava and Śrī Śrī Nitāi-Gaura eternally.
A very happy 76th Vyāsa-pūjā, Śrīlā Gurudeva.
My deepest and sincere prayers at the lotus feet of Śrī Nṛsiṁhadeva for Your speedy recovery, Śrīlā Guru Mahārāja.
Begging innumerable times for Your forgiveness for my unlimited offenses.
dayā karo ācāryapāda jayapatākā svāmī
tomāra caraṇa-sevā māge ei adhamā dāsī
Your most insignificant servant and spiritual daughter,
Swāhali Swain
Bhubaneswar, India
Kṛṣṇa Bandhu Congregation