from Pralambari Das – Ukraine, Odessa

Dear Srila Gurudev,

Hare Krsna! Please, accept my humble obeisances! All glories to Srila Prabhupadа, and You! I want to congratulate You on the day of Your Appearance!

You are the one, who opened my eyes to the importance of Srila Prabhupada to our society.

As a child, I heard, that all of his initiated disciples has inherited some of his traits. And now, as I watch You at Woodstock, I realize that I cannot imagine how great Srila Prabhupada is, if he was able to raise so many great devotees.

I could not even imagine that a Peaceful Village of Krsna on such a scale, could appear in the middle of a huge rock festival, where there is a lot of mud and dirt. What kind of person is Srila Prabhupada, whom You admire so much? I guess, I will never get it.

Once Bhakti Sangama festival was everything to me, although it was hard for me to understand it until I got to the university, which made me unable to go to this festival anymore. At that time, I was told about Woodstock, which now gives me the strength for a year to come. It was only then that I understood, how really important all of it is.

As a child, when I first came to Your Vyasa Puja in Dnipro, You signed my plaster bandage on my arm, which was made by traumatologists because of the fracture. Now I am a young traumatologist myself (less than a year), sitting in hospital, and in my spare time I write You this letter of gratitude for Your Vyasa Puja. More than ten years have passed, and that autograph has determined my life path. In this career I have already managed to help a few devotees, and it makes me very happy. It is all thanks to You.

In these troubled times of the Coronavirus, I spend more time in a hospital than in a safety of my house. I try to follow all the safety rules. Every day I see deaths both from viruses, and serious injuries. Honestly, it is very scary, and the news that in Ukraine from fifty to hundred doctors get sick daily, scares me even more. But, thanks to Your webinars, I can see You more often, and now I have the strength to continue working, and the fear magically goes away.

When my colleagues found out that our society of devotees stays in quarantine, and when they saw You on my laptop screen, sitting home in isolation at these times, and calling for everyone to stay in quarantine, they started to admire the devotees.

I am truly grateful to my parents, who gave me this opportunity to be Your disciple. And I am grateful to You for being such an example, giving me the strength to do my job for the sake of our society. It is only thanks to You and Your festivals, that I am able to work in a hospital, so all the fruits of my work belong to You only!

I am too young in my spiritual development. I do not understand what I must say to people, when they are in grief, or when their relatives are dying in my arms. But thanks to Your lectures and books, sometimes, which happens very rarely, I manage to tell them something spiritual that soothes them.

I was not able to force myself to read Srila Prabhupada’s books every day, thinking that I did not have much time because of my studies. And I forgot to pray before the surgery, I could not always remember Krsna, especially when something terrible happened. But when I went into quarantine, I understood, that in reality I have plenty of time for that, because I even have time for Your webinars. I can listen to lectures and read books when everyone else go out for a smoke break. And now I remember Krsna and You every time I see death. Now these deaths, which I always feared, are an important lesson, that these bodies are very, very fragile. No one will ever escape death, even if they are in better health. Thank You, Srila Gurudev, for letting me realize these things, without You I was just walking in the dark, even though I was close to Krsna’s devotees. I will try my best to remember Krsna, Srila Prabhupada, and, of course, You, my dear Srila Gurudev. I owe everything, that I have, to the society of devotees of Lord Krsna, thank You for opening my heavy eyelids.

Dear Srila Gurudev, all I ask is for You to continue leading me on the path of devotion service to the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada. Nothing can help me to avoid the death of this body, but following Your footsteps, the death of the body becomes irrelevant.

I am a selfish person, so I would like to wish You good health and long years of life, so that You can hold more festivals, more Ratha-yatras, more nectar kirtans, inspiring everyone (and myself) to serve faithfully to Your Spiritual Master. Your festivals are shaking countries, showing everyone that true happiness cannot be obtained by material things. I look forward to serve You in Your mission to Srila Prabhupada, since only at these moments I am truly calm and happy.

Please, be healthy and as cheerful as ever! Hare Krsna, my dear Srila Gurudev!

Your humble servant, Pralambari Das