Pran Gauranga dasa and Dana-ghati devi dasi

Dear Guru Maharaja,

Please accept our respectful humble obeisances in the dust of your lotus feet. All glories to Srila Prabhupada! All glories to Your Divine Grace!

In Srimad-Bhagavatam first canto, the sages of Naimisaranya, submitted six questions to Suta Gosvami. Through their questions sages expressed their great eagerness to hear krsna-katha from the most qualified Suta Gosvami.

In one of the verses, they expressed:

tvam nah sandarsito dhatra
dustaram nistitirsatam
kalim sattva-haram pumsam
karna-dhara ivarnavam

“We think that we have met Your Goodness by the will of providence, just so that we may accept you as captain of the ship for those who desire to cross the difficult ocean of Kali, which deteriorates all the good qualities of a human being.” [Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.1.22]

The sages of Naimisaranya acknowledges their great fortune in having Srila Suta Gosvami amidst them as a capable captain of the ship, who can help them cross over the difficult ocean of Kali which they mentioned as insurmountable and the destroyer of all good qualities.

The age of Kali as envisaged by the sages has been true to its nature. We are observing how it has deteriorated and is further deteriorating all the good qualities of human beings. The only source of shelter as found by the sages of Naimisaranya is a personality like Suta Gosvami, cent percent absorbed in the devotional service of the Supreme Lord, Krsna, who relishes and can narrate expertly krsna-katha, thereby invoking devotional service in the hearts of others by his saintly speech.

Guru Maharaja, just as the sages found their captain in Suta Gosvami we also have been fortunate to have Your Divine Grace as the captain in our lives. We have been lost in our world, completely victimized by the influence of Kali. By great fortune we came under your shelter and started hearing from you the glories of the Supreme Lord and the ways of His devotional service.

Hearing is one of the most important parts of devotional service. The more one hears from a pure devotee the more one becomes enlightened and inspired in devotional service which is the only solution for all the problems. We are so very thankful to You for your continuous efforts in broadcasting the glories of Krsna. So many topics covered through many lectures, retreats, seminars, yatras etc. have been delivered by you. We are far behind in catching up with all the lectures.

The lectures and presentation delivered by you are very thorough and so very well researched. You make so many efforts to explain a point from various angles bringing newer light. For example, we still remember the class given by you on Dvivida in gita-nagari. It was so much in detail, covering so many facets of his life, with very important life lessons in devotional service with respect to the perils of pride and offending a devotee.

We are also much inspired by your faith and attachment to the holy name of the Lord. Besides teaching and emphasizing the glories of the holy name practically in every class, every year you dedicate your time exclusively for preparing and conducting Festival of the holy name and japa-retreat’s helping all of us to understand and appreciate the glories of the holy name and deepen our faith in the holy name.

We are very grateful to you Guru Maharaja for all the selfless guidance and action you have always performed for our spiritual well-being. We always fall short in reciprocating with your sacrifices. On this most auspicious occasion of your Vyasa-puja, we pray that we follow your teachings with all sincerity and bring them into our hearts. Let them be our guiding light so that our lives can always remain illuminated.

We offer our prostrated humble obeisances in the dust of Your lotus feet.

Your aspiring servants,
Pran gauranga dasa and Dana-ghati devi dasi