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Vyāsa-pūjā 2025

Akṣara Govinda Dāsa (Ujjain - India)

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Guru Mahārāja,

Please accept my respectful obeisances at your divine lotus feet.

All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda and Your Divine Grace.

nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate jayapatāka svāmin iti nāmine,
nama-ācārya-pādāya nitāi-krīpā-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.

guru-mātā guru-pitā guru-hana pati,
guru vinā e samsāre nāhi āra gati.

(Guru is mother, guru is father, guru is lord and master. Without Śrī guru there is no recourse in this saṁsāra. — Ref. Āśraya Kṛtya Bandho Śrī Guru Caraṇa song by Śrī Sanātana Dāsa)


Dearest Guru Mahārāja,

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.7.46 states:
"For the welfare of the conditioned souls who desire real happiness, a saintly person may accept the worshipable position of spiritual master, and thus like fire he burns to ashes all the past and future sinful reactions of his worshipers by mercifully accepting their offerings."
Guru Mahārāja, as my spiritual master, you have accepted and continue to accept the sins of a miscreant and wretched soul like me, even though I fail to strive for real happiness.

On October 4, 2019, in Chennai, Your Divine Grace said:
"By hearing about Śrīla Prabhupāda, hearing about your spiritual master, you can develop this intensity: 'I too want to please Kṛṣṇa with all my heart!!'"
Guru Mahārāja, HG Arvindaksha Govinda Prabhu organizes the monthly JSSS glorification, and a few of us try to read Gaurāṅga – The Golden Incarnation of Divine on a weekly basis to develop the desire to please Lord Gaurāṅga and deepen our relationship with Your Divine Grace.

In the evening Caitanya-śikṣāmṛta classes, you often mention:
"Śrīla Prabhupāda gave us sādhana, chanting japa every day, reading Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Bhagavad-gītā... We chant the holy name, and we go up step by step. We should chant all our life!"
But Guru Mahārāja, I have no taste for chanting, and the most probable reason for this is that I have not duly worshipped your lotus feet. As mentioned in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.5.3:
"Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura has pointed out that the original cause of offending the Lord and falling down from one’s position is not learning how to properly worship a bona fide spiritual master."
So, this Vyāsa-pūjā is an occasion when, by desiring and trying to offer prayers at your lotus feet, I can give up deceitfulness, anarthas, and unwanted habits.

Guru Mahārāja, during your Nityānanda Trayodāśī lecture, quoting Śrīla Prabhupāda, you said:
"The mercy of Nityānanda is Unnnnnlimited."
Being Nitai-krīpā-pradāyine, your mercy is also Unnnnnlimited, because you offer prayers for your fallen disciples like me, so that I can follow my initiation vows. When I fail to follow and fall into māyā, you pray to Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Gaura-Nitāi to kindly forgive me.
As a manifestation of your unlimited mercy, we receive your daily updates and overwhelming monthly messages through the Jayapatāka Swami App, YouTube Live Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Caitanya-śikṣāmṛta classes, Zoom darśans, replies to our mails, Local Care Coordinators, and many other services.

By your mercy, I am currently serving as an assistant to the Executive Committee (comprising three Co-Presidents) of ISKCON Ujjain and also overseeing some construction services at the temple. I have completed my Bhakti-śāstrī, regularly read Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books, and attend morning programs. I am fortunate to receive the association of many of your godbrothers, like HH Trivikrama Swami Mahārāja, HH Radhanath Swami Mahārāja, HH Candramāuli Swami Mahārāja, HH Bhakti Caitanya Swami Mahārāja, HG Daivī-śakti Māta-jī, etc., who act as extensions of your mercy.
I am aspiring to serve as a Brahmacārī, but my anarthas continue to haunt me and diminish my conviction. In the Krishna Book, Chapter 80, Śrī Sandīpani Muni says:
"It is the duty of the disciple to dedicate his life to the service of the spiritual master."
Guru Mahārāja, it would be a great blessing if, by your mercy, I could stay full-time as a Brahmacārī.

In December 2024, I had the great fortune of visiting Śrīdhāma Māyāpur. It was nectar to get your darśan, hear the classes in your personal presence, and render some service at the rooftop of the Lotus Building. But alas, forgetting all these blessings, I again indulge in nasty sense gratification.
So, I pray at your lotus feet:
"kṛipayā tava pāda-paṅkaja-sthita-dhuli-sadrīśam vichintaya."
(Śikṣāṣṭaka 5)
Please help me to always remember that I am Yours and the servitor of His Divine Grace Śrīla Prabhupāda and his representatives.

Concluding my offering with the words of Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura:

"O Śāragrahi Vaiṣṇava soul,
Thou art an angel fair;
Lead, lead me on to Vṛndāvana,
And spirit’s power declare."


Your unworthy and unfortunate servant,
Aksara Govinda Dāsa (Dīkṣā)
ISKCON Ujjain Temple, Madhya Pradesh, India