Bhakti Saranga dasa and Rati Keli devi dasi
Most Respected Guru Maharaja,
Please accept our most humble obeisances at the dust of your divine lotus feet. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
On the occasion of your merciful Vyasa-puja, it gives us so much happiness to see how Krsna consciousness brings so much descending mercy and truly frees one from all the bondages of this world and the shortcomings of one’s own heart. It is even more relishable as to how the dear devotees of the Lord although work so hard to uplift each individual soul, still expect absolutely nothing in return. They give full freedom because ultimately Krsna consciousness must be chosen and practiced freely from the heart otherwise it can at best be Krsna activities and not Krsna consciousness as such. With this free heart whatever is done for Krsna’s pleasure choosing to remain under the guidance of the spiritual master is accepted as service and is so purifying. It is like a mystery for the common man how a pure devotee teaches strictly that one should remain within the guidelines of the scriptures and yet gives full freedom to the disciple. That’s why it is so difficult to understand Guru tattva.
Srila Prabhupada exemplifies this principle so beautifully both as a Spiritual Master, as well as, a disciple. He had regularly visited various centers of the Gaudia matha but eventually had to start ISKCON completely separately, which was almost foretold by Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakura Maharaja. The instructions of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakura remained the guiding light in everything that he did. He dedicated himself completely to helping his disciples even going to the extent of cooking for them, cleaning after their prasadam, and conducting marriages while being a sannyasi. And yet he gave them freedom to develop their vision in serving Krsna’s movement.
Maharaja, you have given all of us so much mercy. You have given your wholehearted blessings and so much mercy to Sir. His heart is full of gratitude for your mercy, which he expresses very lovingly to us also. Being constantly driven by the desire to serve and fulfill the standing order of “bharata bhumite manusya-janma haila yara janma sarthaka kari’ kara para-upakara”, Sir is sacrificing everything in his life to train us, to give us so much love and freedom. This is transforming our hearts, which automatically wants to serve therefore. The heart naturally contemplates the issues of this age and how we must try to share the descending mercy we have received by sharing Krsna and His devotees’ love with others. Only with the spreading of such love can the envy go down and auspiciousness can come to this world.
On this most auspicious occasion of Vyasa-puja, we seek your whole hearted blessings so that our hearts may long more and more to serve, following in the footsteps of pure devotees. Please forgive me for my offenses and mistakes.
Aspiring to be humble servants of your servants,
Bhakti Saranga dasa and Rati Keli devi dasi