Hare Kṛṣṇa
My most respected spiritual master, Śrī Śrīmad Jayapatākā Swāmī Gurudeva,
Please accept my humble obeisances unto the dust of your divine lotus feet.
On this auspicious day of the 76th divine appearance day of Your Holiness, I pray to Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Govinda Gaura-Nāṭarāja that They bless me so that I may understand your mood and your love, and develop complete surrender unto you. May you not manifest any pastimes of ill health, as my heart fears. You appeared on this planet to deliver countless fallen souls like this insignificant servant of yours—afflicted with the modes of material nature and anarthas—by giving the mercy of the transcendental wish-fulfilling trees of divine love, Śrī Śrī Gaura-Nitāi, and engaging every town and village in the service of Śrīla Prabhupāda, bringing them all back to the home that is ours, in the eternal service of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava.
You appeared and engaged everyone in service, giving mercy irrespective of their financial, social, or cultural status. When the world goes dark, you raise your hands and say, “Gaurāṅgāāāā!!!! Nityānandāāāā!!” and immediately defeat the perils of Kali-yuga.
In the 1970s, when Śrīla Prabhupāda gave Your Holiness the great responsibility of developing Māyāpur, the land was remote, filled with floodwaters, mosquitoes, and little infrastructure. Once, Your Holiness approached Śrīla Prabhupāda and expressed your concerns, saying, “Prabhupāda, this place is full of challenges. How will we make it successful?”
Śrīla Prabhupāda looked at you with great confidence and said, “If you simply try your best, Kṛṣṇa will help. Do not worry—Māyāpur will become a grand city.” With firm faith in guru-vāṇī, you tirelessly worked to set an example, despite difficulties, and gave us the grand city of Māyāpur.
You always give personal care to every devotee—be it dīkṣā, śikṣā, well-wisher, or otherwise—whenever we have sought guidance. In spite of your external health conditions, you always exemplify care for Vaiṣṇavas.
The past year of my life was no less than a rollercoaster, but you have always been the most caring spiritual father—guiding, caring, and nurturing. In time, I understood, guided by my spiritual counselor His Grace Puridāsa Prabhu, that Guru and Kṛṣṇa are real friends. You eradicated all the obstacles in my path of bhakti to make it easier so that I may understand my priorities.
Gurumahārāja, during the 53rd Kolkata Ratha-yātrā initiations on the 9th of July, 2024 (Gaura Tṛtīyā Tithi of Vāmana Māsa), you accepted this servant of yours, made my life successful, and named my new life as Arunanayana Nimai Dāsa, servant of the most compassionate Lord Gaurāṅga, who has reddish eyes out of compassion for fallen conditioned souls. During that moment, while begging for initiation, I made a promise to you, “Gurudeva, someday I will make you proud.” The moment I came down from the stage, I offered my obeisances unto your lotus feet, and the only thought in my mind was:
cakṣu-dān dilo jei, janme janme prabhu sei
“He who has given me the eyes to see is my Lord, birth after birth.”
That was the most significant day of my life.
Gurumahārāja, you allowed your most intimate association throughout Ratha-yātrā to the devotees of Kolkata, for all eight days, but I feel that the most unworthy and yet the one who received the most mercy was this servant of yours. You gave me three roses on Ratha-yātrā from your lotus hand—the love you gave, I behold forever in my heart. Every day we served on the altar of Jagannātha in Guṇḍicā, and you came, without fail. All those moments are indescribable. Seeing Sūna-vastra of the Lord, you were so happy. For a few days, Kolkata felt like Māyāpur, since you carry Māyāpur in your heart.
Because of your blessings and permission to worship Śrī Girirāja-śilā, we organized a mega Govardhana Pūjā at the Youth Centre in Śibpur, where all the youth, under the guidance of His Grace Puridāsa Prabhu, prepared more than 108 offerings for the pleasure of the Lord.
During the Annual Bhakti-vṛkṣa Convention of ISKCON Kolkata, under the guidance of His Grace Pālaka Pārthasārathī Prabhu, we received your most valuable association in Māyāpur in January 2025. The morning Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam class, the afternoon pāṇḍāl class, and the evening rooftop class—all by Your Holiness—were purely your mercy.
On Śat-tilā Ekādaśī day, in class, you asked all the assembled devotees if we had offered and honored sesame seeds. But no one had done so, and you so caringly arranged sesame seeds for all and gave us your mahā-prasāda. That incident I will never forget. You have so many disciples, yet you never forget anyone—even though we give you pain.
O Gurudeva, you are Śrīla Prabhupāda-kṛpā-śrī-mūrtī, the embodiment of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s mercy for us. My limited senses and incapability are like those of an ant attempting to describe Mount Meru. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu quotes this verse from the Ādi Purāṇa:
"Those who are My direct devotees are actually not My devotees,
but those who are the devotees of My servant are factually My devotees."
Following this example, I desire to be a servant of the servant of your servants—then my life will be successful. Please forgive me for not being a good or obedient servant, but I am trying, and may I never forget your lotus feet.
O Gurudeva, O spiritual master!
Give to this servant just one drop of mercy.
I am lower than a blade of grass.
Give me all help. Give me strength.
Let me be as you are—without desires or aspirations.
Your unworthy son,
Arunanayana Nimai Dāsa (Dīkṣā Disciple)
ISKCON Kolkata, West Bengal, India
ISKCON Kolkata