Sankhadhari dasa and Paramesvari devi dasi

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-presthaya bhu-tale
srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine

namas te sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracarine
nirvisesa-sunyavadi-pascatya-desa-tarine

Our most dear and respected Guru Maharaja,

Please kindly accept our most humble obeisances in the dust of your divine lotus feet. All glories to your Divine Grace. All glories to his Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada!

On this most merciful and auspicious day of Your Vyasa-puja, we are very grateful for the opportunity to express our insignificant appreciation with all our sincerity gathered. As Krsna’s glories are unlimited, His pure devotee’s glories are also countless. Being insignificant servants of the servant of the servant of your sincere servants, we did not know your glories until we heard them from your merciful and sincere devotees. Thank you so much for giving us this wealth of the association of your loving devotees. We really do not know what is good for us. By your causeless mercy, you are showing us the right path by your own example and by the examples of sincere devotees. We are grateful to you for carefully guiding all of us to establish loving relationships to practice Krsna consciousness by helping each other to increase our faith in Guru and Krsna and set an example for others to take shelter of this wonderful process of Krsna consciousness, which is the desire of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

Guru Maharaja, this reminds us of how His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada established ISKCON by selflessly sacrificing everything for all conditioned souls to take shelter of Krsna and practice Krsna consciousness happily. You are purely representing the associates of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu in the parampara system with your unflinching commitment and dedication to the service of your beloved spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada. Your selfless sacrifices on behalf of Srila Prabhupada are inspiring to all sincere followers. We can witness the enormous gratitude you carry in your heart for the mercy received from Srila Prabhupada. We are striving to capture this spirit of your exemplary instructions.

We are reading Yamuna devi’s biography, “A Life of Unalloyed Devotion,” as a group under the guidance of Her Grace Prema-tarangini Mataji. First of all, we’re very grateful to her for suggesting this wonderful book, which is nothing but the glory of Srila Prabhupada! Yamuna Mataji’s life is dedicated to glorifying Srila Prabhupada through each and every action and speech. We see the same in you, Guru Maharaja. As the tortoise which draws his limbs when not required, you never do anything which is not in service to Srila Prabhupada. Yamuna Mataji is the emblem of all wonderful Vaisnava qualities. I am sharing a very simple one: though Yamuna Mataji herself is a perfectionist, she never demanded that same perfection of anyone else. Rather, she appreciated so much even the littlest service done by insignificant persons like us. And the most amazing thing is that it did not boost the pride in the other person but made them perform better. Once, in Saranagati, the milkmaids were given some service by Yamuna Mataji. After they rendered the service, she appreciated them by saying that, without their help, they wouldn’t have managed all these services to Sri Sri Radha-Banabihari. This made them become more determined in their services. As I was reading through her glories, I was reflecting on your divine qualities. Being so kind and merciful as you are, giving your association to us, we serve you with bare minimum facilities, but you never complain about anything – rather, you are appreciative of everything. I remember, once your luggage didn’t arrive, so you asked for tilaka, and I, being so foolish, gave you the one in use instead of a new one. As soon as you saw it, you commented, “Look at that tilaka – how neat it is.” It takes real heart work to see good in everything. I never appreciate when I see something good. This incident disclosed to us that one quality of a devotee is he is appreciative of others, even for the little things which have genuine quality in them. It made us feel loved and inspired us to become better in serving others. We understood that this is purity. You have such a simple and pure heart that sees only the good in others, and ignores the bad. Thank you so much, Guru Maharaja, for always setting an example through your actions and speech. We are slowly able to understand the meaning of “purity is the force” through your Divine example.

Guru Maharaja, you are the ocean of patience and tolerance. Thank you so much for patiently tolerating us. Even though we are very poor in our communication, you never point this out or show your displeasure – but rather tolerate all our inabilities and gently encourage us to grow in this area so that we can be more connected to our superiors. We are especially very grateful to Her Grace Prema-tarangini Mataji and His Grace Sacikumara Prabhu for tolerating our false ego and patiently helping us to grow in our service to Guru and Krsna. We beg for mercy and humbly pray at your divine lotus feet to please bless us that we can grow in this area to please our superiors. Your mercy and blessings are the only shelter for us. We are slowly able to understand why it is said that the spiritual master sheds gallons of blood to reclaim one conditioned soul. How many sacrifices you are taking to bring such conditioned souls to the Lotus Feet of Krsna, especially strongly conditioned ones, like us! Only by your causeless mercy may we grow to the level of transparently serving the parampara.

Even though you are very busy, you spend time personally caring and supporting many devotees. When we were going through the most challenging situation in our life, your loving words, “How has this misfortune come upon you?” made us realize how you are seeing us as spirit souls, completely different from situation. This transcendental vision of yours, accepting us as we are, gave us strength to come out of that dark well and return to normality. We are ever-grateful to you for all your support, care and love, without which we cannot imagine surviving the force of maya. It is very clear now what is meant by Guru and Krsna’s shelter in devotees’ lives. Life situations, along with your support, love and care, taught us many lessons, particularly of extending to others to provide support in their Krsna conscious journeys. Thank you so much, Guru Maharaja; you are the ocean of love and mercy.

Guru Maharaja, we are still in the mood of a child – receiving, receiving and receiving, but not offering anything to you to show our gratitude. I am realizing that even to offer anything, we have to receive from you, otherwise there is no way for us to offer. As everything belongs to Krsna, what is there for me to offer to Him? But out of His causeless mercy alone, He lets me offer something little and accepts it with so much love. So, if you so desire, please kindly bless us that we can render a tiny drop of selfless service at your lotus feet for your pleasure. I know this requires purity. Your answer to all our questions is “cultivating purity.” Every day we associate with the “Supreme Pure” through the chanting of the holy name, but do not seem to go anywhere near to that purity. We are helpless. Our only hope is the mercy of your lotus feet. We are completely dependent on your mercy to come to the stage of at least attentive chanting.

 
gurudeva!
krpa-bindu diya, koro’ ei dase, trnapekha ati hina
sakala-sahane, bolo diya koro nija mane sprha-hina

jogyata-vicare, kichu nahi pai, tomara karuna sara
karuna na hoile, kandiya kandiya, prana na rakhibo ara

Thank you so much, Guru Maharaja, for giving these insignificant souls the opportunity to be purified on this auspicious occasion of your Vyasa-puja. We sincerely pray to all the Vaisnava acaryas and the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna, to bestow upon Your Divine Grace a healthy and long life to save so many conditioned souls like us.

Kindly forgive us for offences and mistakes committed, knowingly and unknowingly.

Hare Krsna!

Your humble, aspiring servants,
Sankhadhari dasa and Paramesvari devi dasi