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 very special day. It is an opportunity for us to meditate upon your glories more deeply. It is also an opportunity for us to look back on the past year and see how our devotional journey has progressed because of the mercy that is flowing into our lives. We hope that through this offering we purify ourselves and recommit ourselves in our devotional journey.
During last year’s Festival of the holy name, you encouraged us to spend some time reading and absorbing the teachings of Ramayana. While we have not yet made reading and hearing Ramayana a part of our daily lives, we still try to spend time dedicated to this activity. Early in the Ramayana, Sri Valmiki Muni teaches us the etiquette for inquiry from one’s spiritual master. He begins by glorifying his spiritual master, Srila Narada Muni using the following expressions, tapah-svadhyaya-niratam, vagvidam varam, and muni-pumgavam. The commentary on this verse describes that tapah-svadhyaya-niratam, vagvidam varam, and muni-pumgavam, respectively, indicate a person who has completed the three phases of vedic education, namely, learning (sravana), comprehension, and realization. As we read this verse, we felt that you perfectly embody this verse. You have great faith in the hearing process and, while you already have the deepest realization of topics connected to the Lord, you continue to hear Srila Prabhupada’s lectures whenever an opportunity presents itself. You have a deep understanding of every philosophical topic and the writings of our acaryas.
In Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.4.1, Srila Prabhupada, describes someone with realization as follows,
“He must have full confidence in the previous acarya, and at the same time he must realize the subject matter so nicely that he can present the matter for the particular circumstances in a suitable manner. The original purpose of the text must be maintained. No obscure meaning should be screwed out of it, yet it should be presented in an interesting manner for the understanding of the audience. This is called realization.”
In the recent Gita-nagari retreat you demonstrated, for our benefit, the deep realizations you have. Using the example of Dvivida, who appears both in Ramayana and in Lord Krsna’s pastimes, you illustrated to us the cycle of an offense leading to unfavorable association, which then leads to uncontrolled anartha’s. Such was the clarity of your presentation that the message has stayed with us several months after the retreat. Not only did you spend time on the message, but you also gave us a detailed description of who Dvivida was. The thoroughness of your research, the absorption in the teachings, and the simplicity of your explanations were very inspiring to us. While the retreat predominantly comprised of an audience that had some exposure to Srila Prabhupada’s teachings, your ability to convey messages from the scriptures and Srila Prabhupada’s books transcends all boundaries. You have presented Vedic teachings at universities, professional organizations, different countries, and everyone regardless of the age and background can connect to your presentation of the messages.
In the same verse from Ramayana, Sri Valmiki Muni describes his qualification that makes him eligible to receive spiritual knowledge, understanding, and realization from an acarya. He uses the word tapasvi to describe himself. Sri Valmiki Muni has performed excellent austerities to receive spiritual knowledge. We have no such qualification. Your compassionate nature is such that you are willing to teach us the ways of devotional life despite our lack of qualifications. Prahlada Maharaja in his prayers states that any offering to the Lord, by the Lord’s mercy, is for the benefit of the devotee. You do not need anything from us and are fully engaged in serving Srila Prabhupada. On this day we pray that through our offering we develop sincerity and the strength to be truthful on this path.
This offering would be incomplete without us expressing our gratitude to Her Grace Krsna Lila Mataji and many devotees in our lives. You have mentioned several times that devotional service is a series of small steps taken in the right direction. Her Grace Krsna Lila Mataji is teaching us how to dispassionately see where we stand on this path of devotional service and at the same time take a small but firm step that will bring us closer to you and the Supreme Lord. It is through her guidance that we can look within ourselves and see everything that is troublesome in our heart. She is teaching us the art of being aware of our anartha’s and at the same time be dependent on the Lord to take steps on this path. It is because of her guidance that we are learning how to be aware of our shortcomings but not invest consciousness in them. Her ability to see our shortcomings, look beyond them, and give us love inspires us. We take this opportunity to also thank His Grace Jagadananda Prabhu, His Grace Nityananda Pran Prabhu, Her Grace Hemangi Mataji, Penn State devotees and devotees in the Naperville and Chicago area. Their presence in our lives has made this journey a joyous one! I Gauracandra das, would like to thank Syama-kunda Prabhu, Lila-smarana Prabhu, Sundarananda Prabhu, and Ramananda Prabhu for providing me opportunities to associate with them and learn from them.
Guru Maharaja, thank you for giving us the opportunity to be engaged in devotional service and encouraging us to take steps in this process. Thank you for providing resources to help us stay on this path. On this day we would like to pray to you that we develop a taste for reading, be truthful, and sincerely apply in our lives the teachings of our acaryas.
Thank you.
Your servants,
Gauracandra dasa, Sri Bhadra devi dasi, Jahnava