Gauracandra dasa, Sri Bhadra devi dasi and Jahnava

Dear and respected Guru Maharaja,

Please accept our humble obeisances unto your divine lotus feet. All glories unto you! All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Thank you very much for giving us an opportunity to make an offering to you on this auspicious day! We have heard you often speak about the fact the devotional service is a process of continuous refinement. Vyasa-puja gives us a chance to look back at the past year and see where we stand in our devotional life. It gives us an opportunity to make the necessary corrections in our endeavor and recommit towards our goal. Vyasa-puja also gives us a chance to remind ourselves that staying on the path of devotion is purely an outcome of mercy.

We have, during the course of our devotional journey, heard you speak on Bhagavad-gita verse 2.41. Often while reading the purport, you take a moment’s pause at the point where Srila Prabhupada writes, “The highest perfection of Krsna consciousness is renunciation of the material conception of life”. You also mention that Srila Prabhupada writes this twice in purport, which signifies its importance. While we heard this several times and perhaps read this part many more times, the many ways in which our subtle conceptions control us remained unknown to us. Somehow by mercy, the last year has made us aware of the many misconceptions we carry. In many of our conversations with you, you have kindly mentioned that it is safe to assume that we have mixed intentions. As we continue our journey, we are beginning to realize the importance of what you said. Initially completely ignorant of where we stand in devotion, we assumed that even if there is a mix the devotional part is dominant! We were largely ignorant of where we stand in devotion. Slowly we are realizing the degree of the mix and that it is mostly our conceptions that dominate us.

Srila Prabhupada writes in the same purport, “Service in Krsna consciousness is, however, best practiced under the able guidance of a spiritual master who is a bona fide representative of Krsna, who knows the nature of the student and who can guide him to act in Krsna consciousness. ”.

We have been blessed with the opportunity to practice devotional service under your care. Knowing our nature, you have provided us with resources that will help us learn devotional service. We cannot help but express our gratitude to Her Grace Krsna-lila Mataji and many devotees in our lives.

“My dear Lord, one who earnestly waits for You to bestow Your causeless mercy upon him, all the while patiently suffering the reactions of his past misdeeds and offering You respectful obeisances with his heart, words and body, is surely eligible for liberation, for it has become his rightful claim.” [Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.14.8]

Coming from the background we have; it is easy, at least externally, to “offer obeisances” and say the right things. Her Grace Krsna-lila Mataji is helping  us see the incoherence in our actions and what is deeper in our heart. Her guidance is teaching us that the incoherence is because of the agenda we carry due to our misconceptions. She is teaching us the real meaning of respectful obeisances with body, mind, and soul aligned together. Her guidance is helping us see how deep the misalignment between body, words, and heart is. Her guidance helps us start appreciating the importance of mercy and that only mercy will help us align body, mind, and heart together. Several times she has asked us to look at the way Lord Brahma begins speaking the above verse – by saying, “My dear Lord…”, and try cultivating a relationship with the Lord in this mood to attract His mercy. It is because of her we are getting a glimpse into what a loving relationship could possibly look like. You often speak about being Krsna conscious as opposed to being anarthas conscious. Mataji’s guidance is invaluable in helping us see our conceptions but not invest consciousness in it.

We take this opportunity to also thank His Grace Jagadananda Prabhu. He helped us have a desire to hear regularly. We thank His Grace Nityananda Pran Prabhu, who helped us appreciate Ramayana. We also thank Penn State devotees. We have known them for more than two decades now and their presence makes it easier for us to stay on this path.  Devotees in the Naperville and Chicago area have made it very convenient to seek your association and we thank them too! I Gauracandra das, would like to thank Syamakunda Prabhu, Lila Smarana Prabhu, Sundarananda Prabhu, and Ramananda Prabhu for providing me opportunities to study scriptures and apply them in my life.

Guru Maharaja, thank you very much for giving us an opportunity to practice devotional service. We pray to you that we come to a point where we understand the real meaning of namaste, can offer you respectful obeisances with our body, words, and heart aligned together, and we could say that we are resolute in our purpose.

Thank you.

Your servants,
Gauracandra dasa, Sri Bhadra devi dasi and Jahnava