Respected Guru Mahārāja,
Hare Kṛṣṇa. Please accept my most respectful obeisances unto your lotus feet. All glories to your Divine Grace. All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda.
On this auspicious day of your 76th Vyāsa-pūjā, I sincerely pray to Their Lordships Śrī Śrī Rādhā Mādhava, Śrī Śrī Pañca Tattva, and Śrī Śrī Nṛsiṁhadeva for your complete and speedy recovery from all health problems and for a long duration of life so that many conditioned souls like me will get your valuable association.
In Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura’s appearance day lecture in Atlanta on 2.3.1975, Śrīla Prabhupāda mentioned:
“We cannot understand Kṛṣṇa without spiritual master. That is bogus. If anyone wants to understand Kṛṣṇa, jumping over the spiritual master, then immediately he becomes a bogus. Nobody can understand Kṛṣṇa without going through His most confidential servant. This is the meaning of this Vyāsa-pūjā.”
“Praptasya kalyāṇa guṇārṇavasya.”
The spiritual master is an ocean of all auspicious qualities. I don’t have sufficient strength to enumerate all your divine qualities. Because by glorifying your divine qualities I will be purified from all types of material contamination, I am doing so. Please forgive me, Guru Mahārāja, for my mistakes.
When your Divine Grace came for medical treatment to the Coimbatore temple, I was fortunate enough to witness some of your divine qualities. Whenever you woke up in the middle of the night, you started chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa on the clicker. I was surprised to see this. This proves that you are deeply attached to the holy name and are possessing the quality of nāma-gāne sadā ruci.
It is mentioned in Kṛṣṇa Book by Śrīla Prabhupāda that:
“One’s greatness has to be estimated by one’s ability to tolerate provoking situations.”
You are the personification of tolerance. When you came to Coimbatore for āyurvedic treatment, you underwent “leech therapy” to suck out poisonous blood. After the end of treatment on a particular day, doctors told you to keep your legs raised to stop the bleeding. You returned from the hospital around 8:45 p.m., but you still waited for 1½ hours and came out to give a Bhagavad-gītā class to the devotees around 10:15 p.m. I was amazed to see your eagerness to preach the message of Lord Caitanya.
Just see the power of your chastity to the mission of Śrīla Prabhupāda, freeing you from any rāga and dveṣa that manifests in those of personal motivation and “I and mine” identification. From the days of construction purchases, Indian citizenship, nāma-haṭṭa preaching, swimming, wrestling, initiations, GBC management, kīrtanas, Navadvīpa-maṇḍala-parikramās, safaris, pāṇḍāl programs, plane travel, one-to-one personal counseling, devotee care, Deity installations, temple construction, book distribution, powering through physical handicap like no other, and maintaining and preserving Śrīla Prabhupāda’s mood—you have demonstrated an inconceivable ability as a father figure and accommodator of all.
In this past year, I remember how in your lectures and messages, you stressed the importance of studying Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books as well as taking the ISKCON Board exams. You also encouraged devotees to teach these to others. It’s known that a great ācārya is one who systematically plans for all his followers. You are constantly guiding us, giving instructions on how to advance and always remain in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Guru Mahārāja, you are the perfect ācārya—one who teaches by example.
Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu was always eager to spread the glories of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. In the same way, you are very keen that conditioned souls should not miss the opportunity of receiving the mercy of Śrīla Prabhupāda and Lord Gaurāṅga. You are trying in all possible ways. So, it is confirmed for me that your Divine Grace is possessing the same divine mood of Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu. I heard in a lecture from one of your Godbrothers that Lord Nityānanda Prabhu delivers the masses and Lord Gaurāṅga delivers the classes. After hearing this, I now realize that your Divine Grace is perfectly matched with your praṇāma-mantra: “Nitāi-kṛpā-pradāyine,” because you also have that divine eagerness to deliver the masses from the clutches of māyā or somehow bring them into the bracket of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Śrīla Prabhupāda wrote in his Bengali poem Mārkine Bhāgavata-dharma (“Teaching Kṛṣṇa Consciousness in America”) the following verses:
“Somehow or other, O Lord, You have brought me here to speak about You.
Now, my Lord, it is up to You to make me a success or failure, as You like.
O Lord, I am just like a puppet in Your hands.
So if You have brought me here to dance, then make me dance, make me dance,
O Lord, make me dance as You like.”
My dear Guru Mahārāja, you are perfectly following this mood of Śrīla Prabhupāda. This was confirmed to me by one of your personal servants recently. When you were repeatedly asked by one of your disciples as to when you will get up and walk, your Divine Grace told her:
“Whenever Kṛṣṇa wants me to walk, that time I will walk.”
This statement gave me an understanding of how deeply you have captured the “make me dance” mood of Śrīla Prabhupāda within your heart. I am amazed by your total surrender. Indeed, we are very fortunate to have such a glorious spiritual master.
My sincere prayer to you on your Vyāsa-pūjā day is that I should always remember this important instruction:
“Guru-mukha-padma-vākya cittete koriyā aikya.”
Guru Mahārāja, please bless me with this spiritual intelligence.
Your insignificant disciple,
Srinivāsa Hari dāsa
Dīkṣā disciple
ISKCON, Śrī Jagannātha Mandir,