Sundarananda dasa and Lavanya Kari

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

My dear Guru Maharaja,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada! All glories to Your Divine Grace!

I am not qualified to understand and appreciate your glorious qualities. I pray for your mercy to appreciate some of your glories on this auspicious occasion of your Vyasa-puja.

I am very grateful for your causeless mercy in connecting me with this process of bhakti and constantly nourishing me through wonderful association with yourself and my mentors (Saci Kumar Prabhuji and Prema-tarangini Mataji).

It is only by the guidance of Your Divine Grace and my mentors over such a long time with patience, care and kindness, I am still continuing to practice bhakti.

Through personal instruction and inspiring examples of yourself and my mentors, I am developing appreciation for the process of bhakti, more specifically – sadhu-sanga, bhagavat sravanam, and nama kirtana. I love your classes very much and love Srila Prabhupada books especially Srimad-Bhagavatam with glorious purports from our Srila Prabhupada.

During the japa retreat in New Jersey that you conducted this year, I am grateful to you for enabling the below understandings and am inspired to apply in my life with your blessings:

• Chanting is the primary activity in bhakti which is critical for my own spiritual progress and as well as the means to help others.
• Chanting in brahma-muhurta time is most beneficial. Chanting all my rounds in early morning is important to prioritize over all other things in my schedule.

I pray for your blessings to sincerely apply these inspirations received from you. I am grateful for years of investment made by yourself and my mentors in giving so many teachings and sharing personal realizations for my spiritual benefit. I’m finding these are coming to my rescue in my personal spiritual practice and when sharing Krsna consciousness with others. I’m also amazed by the clarity, care and depth with which you answer the questions asked by devotees during classes.

I’m noticing that I’m learning a lot in Krsna consciousness when I share with people in the reading groups. At the same time, I am appreciating how wonderful and glorious that Your Divine Grace is in guiding so many people expertly and in helping them take their next step in Krsna consciousness.

I pray that you kindly bless me and engage me in your service to please you and my mentors. I pray on this day that Lord Krsna continues to bless you with wonderful health so we can have your association for a long time.

Kindly forgive me for any offenses I may have committed at your lotus feet due to my ignorance.

Your aspiring servant,
Sundarananda dasa

Lavanya Kari’s offering:

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

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

“I offer my respectful obeisances unto His Holiness Srila Romapada Swami Maharaja who is very dear to Lord Sri Krsna having taken shelter at His lotus feet.”

Dear most beloved spiritual teacher,

Please accept my most humble and respectful obeisances at the dust of your divine lotus feet. All glories to Your Divine Grace. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Human birth is very rare. In this rare form, it is certainly a blessing from the All-good Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna, to find a bona fide spiritual guide who can show the path of light that speaks to the hearts of individuals with different propensities. With little knowledge about who Krsna is and my relationship with my spiritual master, I have set on my path with guidance from Her Grace Prema-tarangini Mataji and His Grace Saci Kumar Prabhu. Their affection towards Your Divine Grace continuously shows in their humble mood of service toward us so we can take up Krsna consciousness in our lives. Having witnessed their deep gratitude and love for Your Divine Grace, we, too, wanted to be in your shelter and take Your Divine Grace’s association. Mataji and Prabhu have been a great source of inspiration for us, encouraging us to visit the temple regularly and gradually introducing Krsna conscious practices into our lives. They would encourage us to attend bhakti-vrksas and their devotional service would impact our thought process thoroughly. We implemented many principles and attained faith in the process. Their continuous mercy and great compassion have given us hope in life and we moved forward to attain the gift of love that we are bereft of in our lives! Thank you so much, dear Maharaja, for continuously helping us to feel grateful to Mataji and Prabhu through Your Divine Grace’s instructions.

Under Your Divine Grace’s guidance, I heard four important textbooks in Krsna consciousness from Her Grace Prema-tarangini Mataji, starting with Nectar of Instruction, Nectar of Devotion, Bhagavad-gita, and Sri Isopanishad in the beginning. Mataji noticed my mother’s keen interest in hearing about Krsna during the bhakti-vrksas and fanned the spark of her interest to take up Krsna consciousness with great care and affection. By Your Divine Grace’s mercy, my mother gives Srimad-Bhagavatam classes in Telugu in India. My husband, though an IT man, has transformed into a saintly person, diving more and more into the topics of Krsna; reading; and explaining the scriptures in his own simple way; and deeply understanding their importance in his life. Many devotees are taking advantage of his association in Baltimore where the temple president is happy that he is starting a new bhakti-vrksa upon the request of devotees.

These success stories in my family give me hope that my Krsna consciousness will blossom in due course of time. I need to practice with enthusiasm, patience, and confidence to attain the fruits of my devotional service.

Thank you so much, dear Maharaja, for your unlimited tolerance in handling me with care without breaking the heart, but gradually melting it by your divine instructions during difficult times.

Happy Vyasa-puja 2022 to Your Divine Grace, Maharaja. I pray that Your Divine Grace will always be happy distributing love of Godhead all over the planet benefitting so many conditioned souls like us.

Your aspiring servant,
Lavanya