Sundara Nitai dasa and Sri Rupa devi dasi

Our dear Guru Maharaja,

Please accept my most humble obeisances at the dust of your lotus feet. All glories to Your Divine Grace! All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

With the slightest observation, one can understand that you are the very root of our bhakti sprout. All the resources around us have been delicately grown by you. We cannot possibly know the extent to which your mercy has permeated every aspect of our lives. Thank you for the tireless efforts you make to give us a taste for the holy name and Srimad-Bhagavatam.

Recently we were reading Srimad-Bhagavatam and came upon the sadhu-sanga-astaka section. As we read, we felt like you were being described in the pages of Srimad-Bhagavatam and we felt very fortunate that we could personally be with a “Person Bhagavata”. Here are some of the sections that reminded us of you:

“The symptoms of a sadhu are that he is tolerant, merciful and friendly to all living entities. He has no enemies, he is peaceful, he abides by the scriptures, and all his characteristics are sublime.” [Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.25.21 Translation]

“A devotee travels all over the country, from door to door, preaching ‘Be Krsna conscious. Be a devotee of Lord Krsna. Don’t spoil your life in simply fulfilling your animal propensities. Human life is meant for self-realization, or Krsna consciousness.” [Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.25.21 Purport]

“Therefore, one of his qualifications is karunika, great mercy to the fallen souls. While engaged in preaching work, he has to meet with so many opposing elements, and therefore the sadhu, or devotee of the Lord, has to be very tolerant. Someone may ill-treat him because the conditioned souls are not prepared to receive the transcendental knowledge of devotional service. They do not like it; that is their disease. The sadhu has the thankless task of impressing upon them the importance of devotional service.”[Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.25.21 Purport]

“Such a sadhu engages in staunch devotional service to the Lord without deviation. For the sake of the Lord he renounces all other connections, such as family relationships and friendly acquaintances within the world.” [Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.25.22 Translation]

“Engaged constantly in chanting and hearing about Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the sadhus do not suffer from material miseries because they are always filled with thoughts of My pastimes and activities.” [Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.25.23 Translation]

“O My mother, O virtuous lady, these are the qualities of great devotees who are free from all attachment. You must seek attachment to such holy men, for this counteracts the pernicious effects of material attachment.”[Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.25.24 Translation]

“Here also, in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, this is confirmed: a pure devotee, who is preparing to transfer himself to the spiritual kingdom, is also freed from the association of the three modes of material nature. We have to seek the association of such devotees. For this reason, we have begun the International Society for Krsna Consciousness.” [Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.25.24 purport]

“In the association of pure devotees, discussion of the pastimes and activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is very pleasing and satisfying to the ear and the heart. By cultivating such knowledge, one gradually becomes advanced on the path of liberation, and thereafter he is freed, and his attraction becomes fixed. Then real devotion and devotional service begin.” [Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.25.25 Translation]

“Association with devotees means association with the Lord.” [Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.25.25 purport]

In the beginning of Srimad-Bhagavatam we read about the book Bhagavata and the person Bhagavata. Srila Prabhupada has so kindly founded this movement so that we may meet pure devotees like you.

Dear Guru Maharaja, you have given up your comfort to free us from the shackles of our senses. Unfortunately, often times we end up becoming opposing elements in your preaching because of our attachment to material comforts and situations. Whenever you speak, we feel like we can get a glimpse of light past the layers of fog that cloud our judgement, albeit temporarily.

We pray that may we follow Kapiladeva’s very perfect instructions and deepen our attachment to you.

Your aspiring servants,
Sundara Nitai dasa and Sri Rupa devi dasi