Gauracandra dasa, Sri Bhadra devi dasi, and Jahnava

Dear and Respected Guru Maharaja,

Please accept our humble obeisances unto your divine lotus feet. All glories unto you! All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Vyasa-puja is a day for us to once again commit ourselves to the relationship with the spiritual master. It is a special day where one can glorify the spiritual master for one’s own purification. It is also an opportunity for us to express our gratitude to you and pray to you help us stay fixed in this process.

During the July 4th Festival of Holy Name Festival you mentioned that all forms of incompleteness is experienced due to the incomplete knowledge of the complete whole. In our case we can only say that we led a life where we had absolutely no idea of the complete whole nor did we have any desire to inquire about this aspect of our existence. Needless to say, we struggled and relied on false shelters so that we could feel complete. Today, it is by your mercy that we have access to the medium of devotional service. A medium through which one be cleansed of all that is undesirable and subsequently be fixed in our devotion. On this very auspicious day we pray to you that we can receive a drop of this gift of Krsna bhakti that you so eagerly would like to give us. We pray to you to give us the intelligence to understand that what you are giving us is a matchless gift.

In Sri Isopanisad Srila Prabhupada says that the Lord wants everyone to hear and chant His glories. You have very mercifully, by planting the seed of devotional service, given us an opportunity to engage in the activity of hearing and chanting. We see the great effort you have put in delivering the Holy Name and the message of Srimad-Bhagavatam to us. In your lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.10.14, you talk about how Dhruva Maharaja’s determination doubled in the face of adversity. You also give the example of Hanuman’s determination in the same context. We realize now that circumstances around us will always be changing. We also realize that being Krsna consciousness starts with the Holy Name. We pray to you to help us cultivate a sense of humility so that we can approach the Holy Name and the scriptures in correct mood and have the determination to have a strong Sadhana.

Among the five most potent items of devotional service is serving the book and person Bhagavata. If we are honest to ourselves, we can see that we lack any qualifications that are necessary to serve you. Both the quality and quantity of our service is poor. In spite of our shortcomings, you have consistently given us an opportunity to render personal service to you. Our service is full of faults, yet you very compassionately accept it. We are grateful to you for the personal association that you give us and we pray to you to help us cultivate the purity needed to serve you better.

It is said that one must be trained in devotional service by a spiritual master. This offering would be incomplete without us expressing our gratitude to His Grace Jagadananda Prabhu and Her Grace Ananda Vrndavana Mataji. Both Prabhu and Mataji in a very practical way are training us to look within our hearts and work on our shortcomings. It is their support that helps us look within. In addition, they have been a constant source of inspiration for us to be consistent in our hearing and chanting. It is through them that we are learning how to serve the book Bhagavata by the hearing process. We pray to you that this relationship keeps growing and gets stronger with time.

Guru Maharaja, on this day we beg for your blessings to keep us steadfast in this process. We pray to you help us cultivate humility and sincerity so that we are eager to receive your mercy.

Your servants,
Gauracandra dasa, Sri Bhadra devi dasi, and Jahnava