Syamasundara dasa

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

Dear and respected Guru Maharaja,

Please accept my respectful obeisances at the dust of your most merciful lotus feet. All glories to your divine grace and all glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Guru Maharaja, as a family we are going through very testing time this year due to me being out of job for close to six months now. It was never like this before as my faith is increasing in Krsna that He is my real maintainer, protector, and caregiver. Krsna is clearly instructing me to stop taking shelter of fallible soldiers like my job, house, property, etc. 

“Persons devoid of atma-tattva do not inquire into the problems of life, being too attached to the fallible soldiers like the body, children and wife. Although sufficiently experienced, they still do not see their inevitable destruction.” [Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.1.4, Translation]

By devotees’ blessings and Your Divine Grace’s mercy, I started live streaming your classes whenever you visit ISV, especially this year. Without your merciful glance, I cannot even chant sixteen rounds or follow the four regulative principles, what to speak of serving your Holiness directly. Krsna is such a kind master that he allows me to serve in whatever way I can though with many imperfections.

This year by the mercy of our ISV-inhouse pujari I have been assigned service at the altar thereby directly serving the Lordships Radha Madana-mohana, Sriman Mahaprabhu, and Laksmi Nrsimhadeva which is truly a blessed and rare opportunity. Usually, pujari training starts with  Srila Prabhupada seva, and only then do we get to do altar seva, since I had the desire and eagerness to render some personal seva to Their Lordships I was allowed direct entry which I felt I’m only assisting you Maharaja in your service to Srila Prabhupada for your pleasure.

Guru Maharaja, one of the awesome classes that you delivered so far this year to me was “Disrespect is the weapon of the weak”. Because it was very instructive for me on how to show respect to all the devotees no matter if they are peers, juniors, or seniors to me. I can apply that principle in all walks of my life in Krsna consciousness such as respecting the holy name, respecting Srimad-Bhagavatam, respecting Lord’s paraphernalia, and respecting the deities at temple/home. I can bring back my consciousness by keeping Krsna in the center as to why I’m doing and for whom the service is being rendered. I can gather strength from those activities and consciously apply giving respect to the devotees whom I don’t yet appreciate. As Srila Prabhupada said even if you don’t feel like paying obeisances before the Deity, if you do it then it becomes a habit.

I sincerely pray to Lord Nrsimhadeva to humbly bestow Guru Maharaja with good health to preach Lord Caitanya’s message and extricate umpteen conditioned souls from this rotten material world as he has been doing for more than five decades consistently like lines on a stone in service to Srila Prabhupada for his pleasure.

Your aspiring servant,
Syamasundara dasa