Laksmi Narayana dasa and Kumarika 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
mukam karoti vacalam pangum langhayate girim
yat-krpa tam aham vande sri gurum dina-taranam
Our dear and most respected spiritual master,
Please accept our most humble and respectful obeisances in the dust of your most merciful lotus feet! All glories to Your divine grace!
We are overjoyed to see you and hear from you directly after three long years of waiting. The treat of Vrndavana yatra is bolstering our spirits. While we are striving to better our sadhana and follow the process of Krsna consciousness to the best of our abilities, doubts and regrets do assail our minds. Oh! We have wasted greater part of our lives and have started devotional service at the very end. Will it be enough?
Recently we came across the Vyasa-puja offering of His Grace Ameyatma prabhu to Srila Prabhupada. His wife left her body some time ago and went back to Godhead. Mataji had conveyed to him in a dream few days after passing away that if someone follows the process of devotional service sincerely and serve the spiritual master in a humble mood, then it is possible for anyone to go back to Godhead, despite the fact that they are insignificant, common devotees without any special talent, position or achievement. This message had a great impact on us. This not only gave us hope but also emphasized the greatness of your gifts to us.
We are totally unqualified and yet because of your causeless mercy you accepted and initiated us. Through your eloquent lectures and patient answers to queries you have removed our ignorance and misconceptions. You are also there for us – so easily accessible, so patient and tolerant – when we approach you with our petty problems. You have given us great boons, the merits of which we don’t deserve or even understand fully. It is absolutely true that debts to the spiritual master can never be repaid. We can only be grateful to you eternally. Yet gratitude can be expressed in so many ways — by striving to follow your teachings and instructions sincerely, by serving you whenever possible, by trying to serve your efforts of furthering Srila Prabhupada’s mission, by trying to become exemplary devotees that you will be proud off and so on. While we aspire for all these and more, we also know our limitations. Please empower us to become your truly grateful servants.
We are happy to have this opportunity annually, to share our thoughts and express our gratitude to you as it would have been sealed in our hearts otherwise.
Your aspiring servants,
Laksmi Narayana dasa and Kumarika devi dasi