Gaurasundara dasa and Lavanya-Keli devi dasi

om ajnana-timirandhasya jnananjana-salakaya
caksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri-gurave namah

mukum karoti vacalam pangum langhayate girim
yat-krpa tam aham vande sri-gurum dina-taranam

vancha-kalpa-tarubhyas ca krpa-sindhubhya eva ca
patitanam pavanebhyo vaisnavebhyo namo namah

namah om visnu padaya krsna presthaya bhu-tale
srimate romapada-svamin iti namine

nama om visnu-padaya krsna-presthaya bhu-tale
srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine

namas te sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracarine
nirvisesa-sunyavadi-pascatya-desa-tarine

Dear Guru Maharaja,

Please accept our humble obeisances at Your divine lotus feet. All glories all glories to You and Srila Prabhupada.
On this auspicious day, celebrating Your divine appearance on this planet, we are very fortunate to have Your association in our lives in a deeply significant way. Your exemplified spiritual qualities encourage us, uplift us, and keep us on the path of krsna-bhakti given by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada. You are our true leader and our beloved father who belongs to the glorious Gaudiya Vaisnava tradition of Sriman Mahaprabhu, Sriman Nityananda Prabhu and the six Gosvamis. A Vaisnava acarya is known for both his acar and pracar. We see You as an accomplished Vaisnava acarya who has been kind to us by giving the omnipotent and most merciful maha-mantra – hare krsna hare krsna krsna krsna hare hare hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare.

It is said in Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.12.12 that “…mahat-pada-rajo-‘bhisekam…” which means that a conditioned living entity who wants to advance in the path of bhakti to the Supreme Lord Krsna should smear his body with the dust of the lotus feet of great souls. It means he should follow the instructions of great souls without imitating them. Such great souls who are devotees of Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna, are the storehouse of all spiritual qualities necessary to advance in bhakti. Associating with such great souls like Your divine self bestows upon the conditioned souls the auspicious gunas, or qualities, for our spiritual advancement.

In this 50th milestone year of ISKCON, it is impossible to ignore the contributions of sincere servants of Srila Prabhupada, like Your Holiness, in taking forward the vision and mission of His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada. This became very evident to me while reading Her Grace Yamuna Mataji’s memoirs. The book traces through the journey of the Hare Krsna movement through its ups and downs – the beginning, the explosion during the manifest presence of Srila Prabhupada, the decline after his leaving this world, and then the resurgence. Such a revival would have been impossible without the dedicated services rendered by You in co-operation with a few other disciples of Srila Prabhupada. This is proof of what can be achieved amidst all external disturbances if one is simply attached to fulfilling the instructions of his spiritual master. Thank You for being such an example and thus inspiring us to develop simiar attachment to Your instructions.
A tree is appreciated by the fruits and shade it gives unconditionally to those who take shelter of it. Such is the great quality of a tree. Your dear disciples like His Grace Krsna Smarana Prabhu (Sir), His Grace Nityananda Pran Prabhu and Her Grace Hemangi Mataji, and His Grace Bhayahari Prabhu and Her Grace Indulekha Mataji, with whom we have closely been associating, are the treasure house of bhakti. They are the ripened, sweet fruits of Your tree who are giving the nectar of krsna-bhakti to so many people like us. They are doing wonderful service to You in Your mission of fulfilling Srila Prabhupada’s desire to spread Krsna consciousness in every town and village of this planet. We are very happy and fortunate to serve Your disciples who are very dear to You.
Your tireless service to Srila Prabhupada is very inspirational and keeps us fixed in bhakti and the association of devotees. We pray for Your well-being.
Thank You very much for Your care and encouragement.

Your aspiring servants,
Gaurasundara dasa and Lavanya-keli devi dasi