Ramakanta dasa

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

nama om visnu-padaya krsna-preshthaya bhu-tale
srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine

namas te saraswate deve gaura-vani-pracarine
nirvishesha-sunyavadi-pashchatya-desha-tarine

My dear Guru Maharaja,

Hare Krsna.

Please accept my most humble obeisances at your lotus feet. All glories to Your Divine Grace and Srila Prabhupada!

This year, again, by the kind mercy of devotees, I have been given the rarest opportunity to write a few words on the most auspicious occasion of Your Divine Grace’s Vyasa-puja celebration. Honestly, I don’t have the words to express my shallow appreciation for you at your lotus feet. I am praying to Your Divine Grace and to Krsna to give me the intelligence to render this service according to my capacity and level of surrender.

I am very, very fortunate to have your presence in my life. Just by the presence of the spiritual master, who is none other than descendent of Lord Nityananda, all inauspiciousness on the path of devotional life is eradicated from its roots. Lord Nityananda is very kind and merciful to the conditioned living entities, but His expansion in the form of Guru is the most merciful personality in the life of a disciple. Krsna is the supreme father of every living entity. The spiritual master, as the confidential associate of Krsna representing the bona fide disciplic succession, is the spiritual father of his disciples. He extends his loving, genuine care and engages his disciples in pure devotional service unto Krsna.

Certainly, by the mercy of Krsna, I have received shelter of a bona fide spiritual master and father who is showering tons of descending mercy every day in my life through various arrangements. I am very grateful to Your Divine Grace for extending your association through audio and video recordings, transcendental letter replies, phone calls and showering tons of blessings. Though I am thousands of miles away from your personal association, sometimes I don’t feel separation from you, and this is because of your special mercy.

In Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya-lila, verse 22.54 it is stated:

‘sādhu-saṅga’, ‘sādhu-saṅga’ — sarva-śāstre kaya
lava-mātra sādhu-saṅge sarva-siddhi haya

“The verdict of all revealed scriptures is that by even a moment’s association with a pure devotee, one can attain all success.”

By Krsna’s descending mercy, I am very fortunate to receive your association – not just for a moment, but for a prolonged period of time. By Your Divine Grace’s mercy, I shall continue to receive your association for rest of my life.

Last year, I was very fortunate to receive your association through a phone call in India. Your answers to my immature questions were so deep and profound that I didn’t have any follow-up questions. I was feeling the showers of descending mercy, which tranquilize the burning fire of material attachment, in my heart.

Whenever I visit a nearby temple and pay obeisances near to Srila Prabhupada’s vyasasana, I express my gratitude to him for introducing you in my life and giving me Krsna consciousness through his genuine followers. On this auspicious day, I am grateful to Srila Prabhupada for giving me Krsna consciousness, which is very simple to miss. If one perfectly follows the varnasrama system for one hundred births, one can attain the position of Lord Brahma. If one perfectly glorifies spiritual master with choicest prayers from scriptures for one hundred births, even then one may not be able to completely glorify Him. As Krsna and His pastimes are unlimited, so are the pastimes, activities and glories of the spiritual master.

I am aspiring to become your divine grace’s humble and meek servant for births after births. I am fortunate enough to have your personal presence in my life. I don’t have much to share, as I don’t have deep realizations and choicest prayers to glorify Your Divine Grace.

I am eagerly waiting to attend the 2016 Dvaraka yatra and have association of Your Divine Grace and the devotees.

Your aspiring servant,
Ramakanta dasa