Jayadeva dasa, Niyati devi dasi, Satyabhama, Yashoda and Vrndavana
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
mukam karoti vacalam pangum langhayate girim
yat-krpa tam aham vande sri gurum dina-taranam
Dear Srila Romapada Swami Guru Maharaja,
Please accept our respectful humble obeisances in the dust of your divine lotus feet. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. All glories to Your Divine Grace.
Please find our broken words of gratitude at your lotus feet.
brahmanda bhramite kona bhagyavan jiva
guru-krsna-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija
[Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya 19.151]
You are the distributor of such transcendental mercy of Lord Krsna. We are so very grateful from our hearts that despite our shortcomings you accepted us as your disciples.
Your presence in our lives is not just formal but very personal. We wish to share that we receive answers on a very personal level via your recorded lectures and this happens on everyday basis with us. This is a miracle and we find ourselves amazed as to how you and Krsna make this possible. We pray to continue in this close bond with you.
We see that you have dedicated yourself entirely in service to Srila Prabhupada. Many years before in Hyderabad you had shared, “like a dog, I have a chain in my neck and the other side of it is in Prabhupada’s hand, wherever he pulls I move.” So much have you taught us by these words and analogy. So much so that we find in our hearts resounding love towards Srila Prabhupada that you have rooted and grown for all these years.
Over the years we have witnessed and heard about your alertness in living each day very vigilantly fully absorbed in services. This is amazingly commendable Guru Maharaja and speaks for itself that you are not in the clutches of the rules of this material realm.
From Bhagavad-gita you have taught us that in the life of a devotee there is no question of balance between material and spiritual activities, as everything is spiritual.
yat karosi yad asnasi
yaj juhosi dadasi yat
yat tapasyasi kaunteya
tat kurusva mad-arpanam
“Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer or give away, and whatever austerities you perform – do that, O son of Kuntī, as an offering to Me.” [Bhagavad-gita 9.27]
We pray unto you that we can invest and grow in our devotional life minute by minute, activity by activity, service after service with guru and Krsna as center in our lives.
Our humble lives are around children and very often we feel overwhelmed, but we find great inspiration to live it responsibly when we witness your love for our children, which is very-very thick. The way you deal with devotee children is like a Professor with a Ph.D. degree teaching parenting by his own personal conduct. We are very grateful to learn this sensitivity from you. You spoke, “parents have the power to either destruct kids or elevate kids.” We pray for your blessings that we can elevate our own kids and others who we may come in contact with.
Your quality of being extremely merciful towards anyone who comes to your lotus feet is just like Lord Rama’s promise, “I can never reject anyone who comes to Me”. We find the same true for Srila Prabhupada and yourself. Please take full charge of our kids and the energetic young boys of Indore congregation. Your shelter is our hope for them to be saved from the difficult tests they might have to face in their lives.
On this auspicious day, we come before you with folded hands to retake our initiation vows and pray to revive our bond for eternity. Please do empower us to do our parts in helping you to take us Back to Godhead come true in this very lifetime.
Thank you, Guru Maharaja.
Please forgive us for our offenses unto your lotus feet.
Your menial servants,
Jayadeva dasa, Niyati devi dasi, Satyabhama, Yashoda and Vrndavana