HH Romapada Swami

om ajnana-timirandhasya jnananjana-salakaya
caksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri-gurave namah

nama om visnu-padaya krsna-presthaya bhu-tale
srimate bhaktivedanta-svaminn iti namine

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

mukam karoti vacalam pangum langhayate girim
yat-krpa tam aham vande sri gurum dina-taranam

My dear and most respected spiritual master and eternal father,

Please accept my most humble and respectful obeisances in the dust of your most merciful lotus feet! All glories to you, Srila Prabhupada!

Years are passing quickly. Many of your stalwart leaders have already joined you, entering into some form of eternal service unto your lotus feet. In the coming decade, many additional senior disciples and followers will also be joining you – somewhere, also assisting you as your eternal servants. That day is coming for all of us, sooner or later. “Simply a change of service, that’s all” as Kadamba Kanana Swami remarked.

While reflecting on your gifts given so liberally to this dark world in creating and expanding ISKCON, what was the source of your strength? Unflinching faith in guru, Nama Prabhu, and Srimad-Bhagavatam are three sources of your indomitable spiritual strength that I would like to glorify here.

Faith in Guru

Whenever you spoke of your Guru Maharaja, one could easily and palpably feel the strength of your firm dedication to him – displayed abundantly in your life’s work. While fearlessly following his instruction to you to carry the teachings of Mahaprabhu to the English-speaking parts of the world, what was your essential message? From the very beginning, “I have simply come to remind you of that which you have forgotten.” This message was repeated again and again. And yet again.

Your power to awaken conditioned souls to what they have forgotten continues; I experience it nearly every day in worldly individuals of all descriptions who contact your books long after your physical departure!

The disciple and spiritual master are never separated because the spiritual master always keeps company with the disciple as long as the disciple follows strictly the instructions of the spiritual master. This is called the association of vani (words). Physical presence is called vapuh. As long as the spiritual master is physically present, the disciple should serve the physical body of the spiritual master, and when the spiritual master is no longer physically existing, the disciple should serve the instructions of the spiritual master. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.28.47, purport)

From my early college days, I became acquainted with your Guru Maharaja, Sri Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami, through an article printed in an early Back to Godhead magazine, which was my first Krsna conscious literature. That article elevated me to an experience of consciousness I had never known before in my life. By divine arrangement, events occurred whereby my affinity for him substantially grew over the passage of time.

However, when I read a letter you had written to Pradyumna Prabhu on October ,17, 1967, I became particularly motivated to deeply study Brahma-samhita and teach its message to others.

Brahma Samhita is the gist of the Srimad-Bhagavatam. In the Bhagavad gita as well as in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, Krsna is accepted as Supreme Lord & everything about him is nicely described there, similarly in the Brahma-Samhita everything about Krsna is perfectly described. In the very beginning of the book, Krsna is accepted as the Supreme Lord existing eternally in his transcendental form and is the cause of all causes. One who reads Brahma Samhita very carefully & scrutinizingly can understand everything of Krsna without any fault. I recommend, therefore that all my students read Brahma Samhita very carefully–especially because it was translated personally by my spiritual master Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja.

In the course of acting upon your instruction to “read Brahma-samhita very carefully,” and after painstakingly teaching it several times, a strong urge has arisen in my heart to provide a rendering of this awesome book in easily approachable language for today’s reader. Please empower me to carry out this desire with a proper mood, simply as a tiny assistant within your and Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati’s greater mission.

Faith in Nama Prabhu

Once, in your presence, Akincana Krsna Dasa Babaji asked Bon Maharaja, “You went to the West, and Swami Maharaja went to the West. You were both vastly learned scholars, gifted writers, and eloquent speakers. You presented the teaching of Lord Caitanya, and he presented the teachings of Lord Caitanya. You did the same things that he did, but he was successful and you could not do anything. What is the reason?” And then Babaji Maharaja himself gave the answer: “Because he had full faith in the holy name of Krsna.”

In your own words, Srila Prabhupada: “I have no devotion, nor do I have any knowledge, but I have strong faith in the holy name of Krsna. I have been designated as Bhaktivedanta, and now, if You like, You can fulfill the real purport of Bhaktivedanta.”

Please grant this one benediction: may I, too, come to the stage of chanting the holy name with full attention and absorption, filled with faith in Nama Prabhu!

Faith in Srimad-Bhagavatam

In 1961, when provided with your very first opportunity to present the message of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu beyond India to Tokyo, you chose the very theme of Srimad-Bhagavatam itself as your message: “Light of the Bhagavata.”

Today, Srimad-Bhagavatam has spread widely and in many languages, and is continuing to proliferate worldwide – resting upon your strong faith in its spiritually uplifting value, simply by souls giving submissive oral reception to its message.

Although I am very tiny, I am dedicated to continuing to assist you in this upliftment mission to my capacity, as I have been doing for decades. As you well know, my life is eternally dedicated to your service in a feeble yet sincere attempt to assist you in your ongoing mission. By serving you, may these three sources of your spiritual strength be transmitted also to me, at least to some degree, so that I may become a better instrument for you to utilize.

Please accept me as your eternal servant.

Your humble servant,
Romapada Swami