from Anandini Priya Dasi – United States, Chicago

Dear Srila Gurudeva,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and your lotus feet. Happy birthday Srila Gurudeva. Your birthday is most precious and important to me. I pray to Lord Nrisimhadeva
for your healthy and long life.

I have very deep gratitude for you for accepting me as your disciple. At the cost of your health, you have taken my sins so that I can attain the highest goal and happiness. Many times I meditate on it; who on the earth would do that? Here everyone takes advantage, who thinks good for others? But on the other side you have taken all the sins for my happiness. I have no words to convey my gratitude. But I desire to dedicate my life to serving you and Srila Prabhupada. I desire to imbibe the words of Prahlada Maharaja, so that my heart is fixed like this:

“My dear Lord, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, because of my association with material desires, one after another, I was gradually falling into a blind well full of snakes, following the general populace. But Your servant Narada Muni kindly accepted me as his disciple and instructed me how to achieve this transcendental position. Therefore, my first duty is to serve him. How could I leave his service?”

I have been chanting the Hare Krishna Maha-mantra for almost fifteen years. And I always had special attachment to the holy names. And I used to think what it meant that a guru gives a mantra to a disciple at the time of diksa, because by the time I had already been chanting the mantra. But after diksa I realized that I was not chanting mantras at all for the last 15 years. I don’t know what I was chanting. And then I understood what was meant by “Guru gives mantra to disciple”. After that I was listening to your class and you asked what our efforts were in comparison to the mercy we received. For the first time I was able to understand that, previously I used to have faith in my efforts. But then I realized that it is not our efforts but it is the mercy of the spiritual master. I realized what a precious gift you have given me. I have no words to express my gratitude. The only way I can express is by fulfilling your desire.

When I was very sincerely in search of spiritual master, I connected to you through your classes or vani. Your vani started to change my heart. And then I realized that you are my spiritual master. I am connected to you through your classes or vani. It is like I take a bath to clean myself, similarly you clean my mind through your classes. Somehow your words become alive when they go inside and touch my heart and the impurity is washed off. Also I read Srimad Bhagavatam through the vision that I get from your classes, and that is how I am able to understand Srila Prabhupada’s purports. The following sloka from “Guru Vandana” resonates with what I am trying to say:

guru-mukha-padma-vākya, cittete koribo aikya, ār nā koriho mane āśā
śrī-guru-caraṇe rati, ei se uttama-gati, je prasāde pūre sarva āśā

“Make the teachings emanating from the lotus mouth of our spiritual master one with your heart, and do not desire anything else. Attachment to his lotus feet is the best way to make spiritual advancement. His mercy fulfills all desires for spiritual perfection.”

Srila Gurudeva, you are my hero. In one of the classes you mentioned that we should have our spiritual hero, whom we want to emulate. So you are that hero for me. You are so compassionate, so humble, so loving, so pure and so powerful. I desire to have the same qualities like yours, I desire to chant to please you so that my heart becomes purified and I can serve you better. Please bless me Srila Gurudeva that I can serve you and Srila Prabhupada very sincerely.

Your loving servant, Anandini Priya Dasi