Sarvabhauma dasa
om ajnana-timirandhasya jnananjana salakaya
caksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri gurave namah
“I was born in the darkest ignorance, and my spiritual master opened my eyes with the torch of knowledge. I offer my respectful obeisances unto him.”
Dear Guru Maharaja,
On the auspicious occasion of your Vyasa-puja this year, I am seeking your blessings one more time as always to write a few words of appreciation unto your lotus feet. I would like to express my profound gratitude to you for carrying the priceless mercy of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Srila Prabhupada in my life. By the causeless mercy of Lord Krsna, I am getting the fortune of associating with you—a very dear devotee of Lord—and as a result, I am getting access to the causeless descending mercy of the Lord, even though I do not have any qualification. Therefore, you are very dear to fallen souls like me.
sei se parama-bandhu, sei mata-pita
sri-krsna-carane yei prema-bhakti-data
sakala janme pita-mata sabe paya
krsna guru nahi mile, bhajaha hiyaya
“He is that ultimate friend, that father and mother who gives loving devotional service unto the lotus feet of Sri Krsna. In every life one gets a father and mother. Rarely however one obtains guru and Krsna.” [Caitanya Mangala, Madhya-khanda]
By getting shelter in a speck of dust on your lotus feet, I have gotten the rarest opportunity to engage in devotional service. Every opportunity I get to engage in devotional service is nothing but a manifestation of your causeless mercy. In our endeavor to get success in spiritual life, we often come across situations when we feel our effort is nearly not enough in achieving our desired spiritual goal. Your mercy is the only shelter since we—the recipients of your mercy—feel helpless otherwise.
You have repeatedly taught us not to be satisfied with even a high grade of mode of goodness but rather, to always try to aspire for transcendence. You have also advised that in this process one has to be very discriminative about matter and spirit, and always lean towards spiritual conception in order to come out of the material conception of life. As we progress in our spiritual path, we do get the understanding about how difficult is it to progress without a live example like you—walking the talk and showing us the path in an outstandingly exemplary way.
We are amazed to see the quality of enthusiasm in everything you do, whether its direct devotional service or taking care of health, following hygiene, or giving guidance to anybody who crosses your path. Your enthusiasm is remarkable since you work relentlessly and exclusively for Krsna. We see in your conduct how you value every moment and make sure it is being utilized exclusively in Krsna’s service in the best possible way.
We are always maintained by your causeless mercy. In our spiritual journey, we often realize that we progress only when we receive your mercy whole-heartedly. You are very dear to the Lord and therefore the Lord’s mercy follows yours. Therefore, let me pray to the Lord so that I can hold on to the mercy coming from you which is the only way to get delivered from this miserable material world.
As you have taught, it is always extremely important to align ourselves with the authentic Vedic teachings coming down from authentic sources, which are very carefully maintained and commented upon by previous acaryas and very carefully referred to by contemporary Vaisnavas. We have learned this lesson in a very practical way by seeing your example of how particular you are in terms of making sure the source of transcendental knowledge is always very authentic. This is very inspiring, and we seek your blessing so that we always remain very cautious in ensuring that we are also following your footsteps and carefully choosing authentic sources for seeking transcendental knowledge.
Srila Prabhupada always emphasized loving relationships and cooperation amongst ISKCON devotees. In fact, he said to his disciples that their love for him would be indicative of how much they cooperate amongst themselves. We can see through your example how nicely you maintain very cooperative and warm relationships with your god brothers, god sisters, and other devotees. We can feel the positivity in the exchanges you have with the devotees and see the devotees getting surcharged with enthusiasm by the grace of your association and guidance.
We are ever indebted to you since you are not only providing us with authentic transcendental knowledge from various reliable sources but it is also quite visible in your effort how much you would like to get engrossed in any specific transcendental topic. By repeating the same topic again and again, through splendid graphical presentations, you give ample opportunities for us not just to get deeper understanding but also deepen our absorption in the subject matter. Thank you for creating such an opportunity for us and helping us to relish and get absorbed in transcendental subject matter, as you do yourself.
Thank you again for accepting us and inducting us as member of Srila Prabhupada’s family in our journey back to Godhead.
Your aspiring servant,
Sarvabhauma dasa