Radha-duti devi dasi
nama om visnu-padaya krsna-presthaya bhu-tale
srimate romapada-svamin iti namine
mukum karoti vacalam pangum langhayate girim
yat-krpa tam aham vande sri-gurum dina-taranam
My dear and most respected Guru Maharaja and eternal Father,
Please accept my most humble obeisances in the most merciful dust of Your divine lotus feet. All glories to Your Divine Grace! All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
I feel so blessed to have somehow received Your merciful and loving glance and grace, which has given much meaning and purpose to my existence. It is difficult to express in words the ways Your love and compassion is flowing in my life and nurturing my bhakti-creeper, and yet I would like to make a feeble attempt with my tiny capacity to glorify some qualities which have given me much nourishment and shelter.
Guru Maharaja, under careful guidance, I am trying to observe and learn from You the value and cultivation of genuine loving relationships. Your loving dealings with Your disciples, God-brothers, and other Vaisnavas are so endearing; even a stranger could sense the deep, loving place that they sprout from. Your personally responding to emails, even with Your super busy schedule, simply shows how much You care for every single relationship. Because they come from such a deep, caring, affectionate and compassionate place in Your heart, even a short response from You is very nourishing and uplifting.
Guru Maharaja, I am also trying to observe and learn from You the high qualities of tolerance and patience. Your ways of reciprocating with Your audience by answering all their questions, whether big, small or from a strange land, giving the very high philosophy of Lord Caitanya Maharaprabhu in a simple and practical way with tons of patience and tolerance, always leaves me amazed. In addition, Your being very attentive and fully present with the other person leaves such a beautiful and cherished impression in one’s heart. In this world, many people want to be heard without making much effort to hear others, and yet You hear them all – the questions, the concerns, the anguish, the joy, and even the arguments one may put forth.
Another value that I wish to deeply imbibe by meditating on Your qualities is how every moment of Your life is given to the loving service of Srila Prabhupada and Lord Krsna. By the good fortune of receiving Your darsana and opportunities for personal association every few months, I am trying to observe and learn the importance of carrying a genuine, loving service mood unto one’s spiritual master – which is the foundation on which everything else rests. This mood is so visible in anything You do, from not wasting a single moment to travelling extensively, especially when You do not feel comfortable being in planes.
It is so faith-building for a person like myself to see living examples of the teachings found in the sastra; to find a person who truly loves me as I am, with all my baggage and scars, and yet invests tremendous faith in me and extends to me in all possible ways, helping me to grow and go towards Krsna. I humbly bow down at Your lotus feet and beg for Your mercy, if You so desire, to please bestow upon me the vision to recognize, and a soft-heart to receive with gratitude, the many blessings You are sending my way each day. May I become, by Your mercy, a proper disciple of Yours and a true representative of our parampara.
Thank You very much for very lovingly accepting me and bringing me under Your unconditional, supreme shelter.
Your aspiring servant,
Radha-duti devi dasi