Madhumangala dasa and Prema-rasa devi dasi and Hari Charan

nama om visnu-padaya krsna-presthaya bhu-tale
srimate romapada-svamin iti namine

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

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

My dear and respected Guru Maharaja,

Hare Krsna. Please accept my humble obeisances unto the dust of your divine lotus feet. All glories to Your Divine Grace. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

The spiritual master is the representative of Srila Vyasadeva. In the first canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, we understand that when Vyasadeva himself was under despondency, just by coming in contact with his spiritual master, Sri Narada Muni, and hearing from him, all his despondency was at once eradicated. Srila Vyasadeva prays:

sa vai bhavan veda samasta-guhyam
upasito yat purusah puranah
paravareso manasaiva visvam
srjaty avaty atti gunair asangah

tvam paryatann arka iva tri-lokim
antas-caro vayur ivatma-saksi
paravare brahmani dharmato vrataih
snatasya me nyunam alam vicaksva
[Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.5.6-7]

“My lord! Everything that is mysterious is known to you because you worship the creator and destroyer of the material world and the maintainer of the spiritual world, the original Personality of Godhead, who is transcendental to the three modes of material nature.
[Translation Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.5.6]

Like the sun, Your Goodness can travel everywhere in the three worlds, and like the air you can penetrate the internal region of everyone. As such, you are as good as the all-pervasive Supersoul. Please, therefore, find out the deficiency in me, despite my being absorbed in transcendence under disciplinary regulations and vows.”
[Translation Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.5.7]

A greatly empowered soul and the incarnation of Lord Sri Krsna Himself, Srila Vyasadeva teaches us through his personal example about the most important necessity of life – having the shelter of the lotus feet of a spiritual master.

Srila Prabhupada writes in the purport to Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.11: Only by the grace of the divine personalities, the pure devotees of the Lord, can one achieve pure devotion, which is the highest perfection of human life. Only a pure devotee of the Lord can show one the right way of progressive life.

Although undeserving, it is by your kindness and causeless mercy that we received shelter at your lotus feet in this lifetime. Of the many gifts you bestowed on us, chanting of the holy name, Srimad-Bhagavatam, devotee association, deity worship, and book distribution are among some of the most important that we try to meditate on and appreciate regularly. Even then, how can we properly understand their slightest significance if we do not have your personal example in our lives?! Due to our impure hearts and faulty behaviors, we not only lack the full understanding of the real value of these gifts, but also keep squandering them repeatedly. Yet, through your most patient, compassionate, relentless, and selfless efforts, you constantly give us access to these gifts in abundance.

We pray at your merciful lotus feet that somehow or other, we remain sheltered under Your Divine Grace through the medium of service – starting with chanting of the holy name. 

In the words of Prahlada Maharaja (Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.9.24):

tasmad amus tanu-bhrtam aham asiso ’jna
ayuh sriyam vibhavam aindriyam avirincyat
necchami te vilulitan uruvikramena
kalatmanopanaya mam nija-bhrtya-parsvam

“My dear Lord, now I have complete experience concerning the worldly opulence, mystic power, longevity and other material pleasures enjoyed by all living entities, from Lord Brahmā down to the ant. As powerful time, You destroy them all. Therefore, because of my experience, I do not wish to possess them. My dear Lord, I request You to place me in touch with Your pure devotee and let me serve him as a sincere servant”.

Kindly accept our gratitude for the wonderful gifts you have bestowed upon us despite our disqualifications. We beg that if you so desire, kindly engage us in your service which is the only means of real happiness, satisfaction, peace, and perfection in this world for us. We sincerely beg for your empowerment to receive these gifts fully, and if you so desire, keep us in your service of passing these gifts on to others, as a means of our own purification and for your pleasure. For by pleasing you, our lives may become successful.

Thank you very much!

Your aspiring servants,
Madhumangala dasa, Prema-rasa devi dasi, and Hari Caran Karri