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Vyāsa-pūjā 2025

Nīlotpala Kṛṣṇa Dāsa (Guwahati - India)

oṁ ajñāna-timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākayā
cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ

nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate jayapatāka svāmin iti nāmine
nama ācārya-pādāya nitāi-kṛpā-pradāyine
gaura-kathā-dhāma-dāya nagara-grāma-tāriṇe

All glories to Śrī Guru and Gaurāṅga! All glories to Śrī Śrīmad Jayapatākā Swami Guru Mahārāja! All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda!

More than 25 years ago, I had the rarest opportunity of my life—to meet my spiritual father after wandering through countless lifetimes in different bodies. That fateful day, ISKCON Guwahati was organizing a Ratha-yātrā, and I had been invited to attend. However, I had a seminar at IIT Guwahati on the same day. As the time for the Ratha-yātrā approached, my mind became restless, and I could no longer focus.

I confided in a senior colleague that I needed to leave, but I feared that the Ratha had already started. She reassured me, saying, “Don’t be disheartened. You may still catch it somewhere.” Encouraged by her words, I rushed with full speed. As I neared the procession, the transcendental echoes of harināma-saṅkīrtana filled the air, flushing my heart with an indescribable joy. Overwhelmed, I felt as if I had gone mad with ecstasy—at last, I had made it!

From a distance, I caught my first glimpse of the magnificent Ratha, upon which Their Lordships Jagannātha, Baladeva, Subhadrā Mahārāṇī, and Sudarśana bestowed Their most merciful glances. But what captured my heart the most was something else—something divine. Standing atop the Ratha, I saw a radiant, glowing, transcendental personality. His smile was captivating, his presence effulgent, and his body radiated an aura of divine love unlike anything I had ever seen before.

I could not take my eyes off him. Who was this heavenly, loving, divine person?

As the procession moved forward, I instinctively followed, keeping myself as close to the Ratha as possible. I did not want to be separated from him.

After about a kilometer, the Ratha came to a halt. I watched with great anticipation as that divine personality prepared to descend. Just then, a saffron-clad devotee—who later became my dear friend, His Grace Karuṇāpati Prabhu—approached me and commanded:

“What are you looking at? Hold the pillar with your hand!”

Confused, I asked, “Why?”

Pointing to the same radiant personality who had mesmerized me, he said:

“Guru Mahārāja wants to get down. Hurry! He needs support to climb down.”

I was stunned. Me? Holding the pillar for Guru Mahārāja? How could my weak hands possibly bear the weight of such a great soul? For a split second, I thought of stepping back. But I was young, and I felt hesitant to admit my own physical inability.

Closing my eyes, I firmly gripped the pillar and prayed to the Lord that nothing should go wrong. At that moment, I felt something soft like a lotus flower touch my hands. I thought perhaps a flower had fallen from the Ratha. The next moment, a gentle feather-like touch landed on my shoulder.

Still waiting to support Guru Mahārāja, I kept my eyes closed. Then suddenly, I felt a gentle clap on my back. As I opened my eyes, I saw that divine personality smiling at me with lips as soft as a rose, saying just two words:

“Thank you.”

I was speechless. Completely overwhelmed. I did not know how to respond. Tears of joy, gratitude, and respect streamed down my face. With folded hands, I paid my heartfelt obeisances, and as I walked away, I felt like a madman—running home as fast as I could, shouting to my family:

“I am bringing something precious!”

Upon reaching home, I called my wife, daughter, and little son. I carefully touched their heads with the back of my palm—on which I had carefully carried the dust from Guru Mahārāja’s lotus feet. With great emotion, I told them:

“This is the blessing of Guru Mahārāja.”

At that time, I was not initiated. I did not even fully understand the meaning of the divine word guru. But I clearly remembered the name “Guru Mahārāja” from that saffron-clad devotee. From that day on, we became deeply serious about spiritual life. Of course, my wife had already been serious even before me.

Even though I was ignorant and unqualified, I continued to address him as Guru Mahārāja. And by his causeless mercy, within a year, both my wife and I received harināma-dīkṣā. It was the greatest joy of my life—knowing that even the most fallen souls like us were now allowed to call him Guru Mahārāja.

But his mercy did not stop there. With his unlimited, unconditional grace, Guru Mahārāja later gave initiation to my mother, my children, and even my son-in-law—though none of us were truly deserving.

In the past three decades, we have been blessed with countless transcendental pastimes with Guru Mahārāja. Due to space limitations, I cannot share them all here, but I eagerly wait for the opportunity to write about them in the future.

Finally, we offer our daily prayers to Their Lordships:
Śrī Śrī Gaura-Nitāi,
Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava,
Śrī Śrī Prahlāda-Nṛsiṁhadeva—
that they keep our beloved Guru Mahārāja always happy and healthy.

We also beg Guru Mahārāja’s forgiveness—for all the offenses we may have knowingly or unknowingly committed at his lotus feet.

Guru Mahārāja, please forgive us for our shortcomings in serving you and Śrīla Prabhupāda’s mission.

Jaya Patita-pāvana Guru Mahārāja kī—Jaya!

Your most fallen servant,
Nīlotpala Kṛṣṇa Dāsa (Brahmin-initiated)
ISKCON Guwahati, Assam, India

(Dr. N. Saikia, Reader, Faculty of Physics, Cotton University
Director, Auniati University – Guwahati Campus)