Sundar Dinakar Pasupathi

Dear Guru Maharaja,

Please accept my most humble obeisances at the dust of your lotus feet. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

I thank you and all the vaisnavas for giving me an opportunity to offer my prayers at the most auspicious event of your Vyasa-puja.

brahmanda bhramite kona bhagyavan jiva
guru-krsna-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija

“According to their karma, all living entities are wandering throughout the entire universe. Some of them are being elevated to the upper planetary systems, and some are going down into the lower planetary systems. Out of many millions of wandering living entities, one who is very fortunate gets an opportunity to associate with a bona fide spiritual master by the grace of Krsna. By the mercy of both Krsna and the spiritual master, such a person receives the seed of the creeper of devotional service.” (Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya 19.51)

I have heard in many of your initiation lectures where you explain how rare it is to meet a bona-fide spiritual master – it is as rare as a turtle that comes up from the bottom of a water body and sticks its neck through a hole in a wooden plank.

When a student gets a bona-fide spiritual master, he must be very careful to recognize the mercy of Krsna and earnestly try to be an obedient servant for his own welfare. Else, he may not benefit fully from such association (or his progress may be slowed down).

Unfortunately, for a neophyte devotee there may be many impediments in his mind in the path to pure devotional service and if he is not careful, the difficulties may push him away from the path. Laziness, doubts, offensive mentality, pride, ignorance – the list is endless, but to the extent the neophyte is sincere and to the extent he tries to take shelter of the truth (Krsna) he achieves success in awakening his love for Krsna.

In one of your personal letters to me, you gave me a unique blessing- “You are becoming genuinely humble in a transcendental way”. These words of encouragement have become my meditation and my beacon light towards my spiritual upliftment. It has made me unconsciously think -“How can I cultivate more humility genuinely?”

You also instructed me to avoid all other distractions (like recognition, position etc.) and solely and wholly focus on Krsna. These instructions I think are the most essential instructions of the Bhagavatam. Maya is so strong that it can easily cloud the minds of even sincere Vaisnavas if they become careless.

In the purport of Srila Prabhupada from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Antya-lila Chapter 2.172, regarding the chastisement of Junior Haridasa, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Maharaja summarizes, ”He kindly accepts His faithful devotees and teaches them how much tribulation and disturbance can be produced by even a slight deviation from the strict principles of devotional life.” – The tribulations in one’s devotional service are also means of purification (so one must not be unduly disturbed by tribulations) – at the same time one must cultivate very high purity to quickly attain the mercy of Krsna.

Thus, one has to be very careful in his devotional service to go back to Godhead.

By your personal example, you always show the ideal behavior of a Vaisnava – always serving others and your exemplary behavior of maintaining a very humble attitude. To the extent one is immersed in pure devotional service, to that extent one displays Vaisnava qualities. You are an ocean of pure devotional service. You always speak about Krsna in so much detail that my tiny brain cannot even grasp the depth of your presentations.

Being humble than a straw in the street is a very important characteristic for one aspiring to become a pure devotee. In one of your lectures, you summarized how a straw is different from grass – sometimes a grass lifts its head, but the straw always has its head down.

Also, you summarized that unless one is humble, he makes no spiritual progress, whatsoever. This material world offers so much distractions to the conditioned soul, so by means of sincerity and humility one will be able to remember Krsna in all conditions of life without getting disturbed by the various tests that Maya places.

I am gradually seeing that Krsna consciousness has not much to do with externalities – how many disciples one makes, how much recognition one gets or how much influence one has etc. Krsna consciousness is how much sincere service attitude one has cultivated for Krsna.

Gradually, I am able to see by the association of great Vaisnavas like Your Divine grace, Srila Prabhupada etc., how much pride, ignorance and other lower qualities have engulfed my mind – how my progress would have been lot easier if I had a simple mind.

Please bless me so that material disturbances (distractions) in my mind be reduced, I develop more tolerance, and patience and be able to please you in some menial way. Please forgive me for any offenses at your lotus feet so that I get your personal audience sometime soon.

sakale sammana korite sakati,
deho’ natha! Jathajatha
tabe to’ gaibo, hari-nama-sukhe,
aparadha ha ‘be hata

(Bhakti Vinoda Thakura- Gurudeva – song from Saranagati)

Let me be able to offer respects to others and not look for any respect for myself. Only then my offenses will cease and I will be able to genuinely chant the name of Krsna!

Your fallen servant,
P. Sundara Dinakar