03 Sep Offerings to Srila Prabhupada on His 125th Vyasa Puja Celebrations
Dear Srila Prabhupada,
Namah om vishnu-padaya krishna-preshthaya bhu-tale
srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine
namas te saraswate deve gaura-vani-pracarine
nirvishesha-shunyavadi-pashchatya-desha-tarine
I offer my respectful obeisance’s unto His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who is very dear to Lord Krishna, having taken shelter at His lotus feet. Our respectful obeisance’s are unto you, O spiritual master, servant of Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami. You are kindly preaching the message of Lord Chaitanyadeva and delivering the Western countries, which are filled with impersonalism and voidism.
Please accept my most humble offering at your lotus feet on the auspicious occasion of your 125th Appreance day on this planet earth where you have given Harinaam Chinatamani to us fallen souls indiscriminately.
samsara-davanala-lidha-loka tranaya karunya-ghanaghanatvam
praptasya kalyana-gunarnavasya vande guroh shri-charanaravindam
You are a noble Goshtyanandi who has traveled far and wide and with your compassionate, saintly qualities of a raincloud have benevolently poured the mercy of Krishna on the suffering jivas of this material world. Srila Prabhupada – You have taught us that true austerity and detachment are enshrined by following the instructions and footsteps of mahajanas like yourself, and consists in fulfilling one’s duties by rising from the platform of material modes to the transcendental platform.
brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva
guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja
“When one receives the seed of devotional service by the mercy of guru and Kṛiṣhṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one’s real life begins. If one abides by the orders of the spiritual master, by the grace of Kṛṣṇa he is freed from service to the mind.”
When I look back at my life, I realize now that I was merely living, but through your unlimited munificence and grace, you have sown the seed of bhakti in my heart through the pearls of wisdom of your vani in the volumes of translated Vedic literature that you have tirelessly produced.
You always maintained that if you show people the practicality of the Vedas, everyone will accept them. In each and every purport you have so meticulously written lie yet another secret of spiritual breakthrough: to balance theory and practical. You gave humanity an authoritative, scientific and universal approach to a true religion based on love of Godhead. You introduced us to Krishna personally, showing each one of us how to love Him by first knowing Him in all respects and understanding His Divine nature and qualities so as to receive the nectar from His pastimes which then could be spread to others. Just as a mother birds feeds its offspring with chewed morsels of food, you gave us true understanding of how to use spiritual knowledge, put it into practice, turn jnana into vijnana in a simplified way.
Caitanya-caritāmṛta states,
kali-kālera dharma-kṛṣṇa-nāma-saṅkīrtana
kṛṣṇa-śakti vinā nahe tāra pravartana:
“The fundamental religious system in the age of Kali is the chanting of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa. Unless empowered by Kṛiṣhṇa, one cannot propagate the saṅkīrtana movement.”
Although you were empowered, yet your life’s story is not one in which success came easily and automatically, as envisioned by ignorant fools like myself. Instead your story is one of constant attempts to fulfill your spiritual master’s instruction. Successes came, but only after great endeavor, turmoil and determined grit.
Prabhupāda, despite encountering difficulties in trying to spread love of God in a godless world and meeting with great stumbling blocks like opposition from governments, the media, religionists, including those in India from your own god brothers not to mention within your own ISKCON body when your neophyte disciples fell to the allurements of the material world you sailed through all difficulties, and persevered with the sublime tolerance, kindness, and unflinching determination of a pure devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa.These extraordinary challenges made you even more determined and enthusiastic to spread The Holy Name like wild fire in this world of materialistic people who were suffering, unknown to themselves. Your patita pavana gentle compassion knew no bounds in serving humanity in the most exemplary way possible. It is this miracle that you performed so effortlessly in your ripe old age that brings ignorant fools like me to understand the true meaning of giving!
pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma
sarvatra pracāra haibe mora nāma
To bring about a colossal global march of Harinaam and make The munificent Lord Caitanya’s prediction come true in a matter of a few years is no ordinary feat! When Lord Caitanya had declared this statement 500 years ago, that this culture of saṅkīrtana would be broadcast all over the world, from town to town and village to village -you would have been on His mind Srila Prabhupada…..how endearing and confident Mahaprabhu would have been towards you even then, when you had not physically manifested yourself in His lila? It is truly a great wonder!
To glorify you is to shine a feeble light at the illuminous blazing sun- my glow worm attempt today is really to purify myself by dipping in your ocean of mercy in which generations yet to come will be blissfully swimming for many hundreds of years!
kripaya tava pada-pankaja-
sthita-dhuli-sadrisham vichintaya
I am not qualified to pray directly to Krishna so I beg you to please pick me up from this ocean of death and place me as one of the atoms at Your lotus feet where although I do not belong due to my ignorance, I know that your holy feet are my only means of deliverance. Please bless me to be able to serve you eternally and unconditionally.
A VERY HAPPY 125TH VYAS PUJA DAY TO YOU DEAR PRABHUPADA
Your most fallen servant,
Richa.
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