from Sadhu Vrindavan Das – United States, Milpitas

Dear Srila Gurudeva,

Please accept my humble obeisances! All glories to Srila Prabhupada and to you!

How are you? How is your health? Hope you are fine. I am missing you a lot. Now that Sadhu Sanga is cancelled I can only see you in Kartik if of course I have yours and Krishna mercy to come even near Vrindavan because I am such a fallen soul

I have been listening to your webinars and I really love them. I absolutely loved the class about Talavan and Kamyavan. I did not know that Dhenukasura was actually the great great grandson of Prahlad Maharaja. In the class you gave about Kamyavan I really liked the point where you described mundane karma and spiritual karma as iron and gold. I was also listening to classes before and on Nrisimha Caturdasi and I really loved them. In one of the classes you told a story of how one devotee asked Srila Prabhupada if he could worship the Nrisimhadeva Deity. But Srila Prabhupada told him that he could only worship Nrisimhadeva if he had a Gaura Nitai or he would not be able to handle His wrath. I can relate to that, because I worship Laxmi Nrisimhadeva, Jagannatha Baladeva Subhadra, Gaura Nitai and Gopal. And I am pretty sure that Nrisimhadev isn’t showing His wrath on me, the sinner, because I am also worshipping Gaura Nitai.

It is about to be my first birthday since I got initiated last year on May 24, so I ask you, my godbrothers and godsisters to bless me to progress in my Krishna Consciousness. I am like a feeble ant in front of all of you, so I beg you to bless me.

In a letter to Mahapurusa prabhu, Srila Prabhupada wrote to stick to the principles advised by the spiritual master and that serving Krishna under the direction of the spiritual master was the only hope of our advancing in Krishna Consciousness. The spiritual master and Krishna are two parallel lines. You have to make your progress on these two parallel lines; you cannot avoid one in preference of the other. The train moves forward on two tracks. The spiritual master and Krishna are like these two tracks, they must be served simultaneously. Krishna helps one to find bona fide spiritual master, and bona fide spiritual master helps one to understand Krishna. If one does not get bona fide spiritual master, then how he can ever understand Krishna? You cannot serve Krishna without spiritual master or serve just spiritual master without serving Krishna. They must be served simultaneously.

This shows that we need our spiritual master to progress in our devotional service. I am very grateful to you, Srila Gurudeva, for accepting me as your disciple even though I am very unqualified. The scriptures say that the spiritual master is the representative of the Lord. You have mercifully come to this world to liberate many fallen souls like me.

I have written a poem for you. There may be some mistakes, so please forgive me for that.

O merciful master,
You have come to this world to liberate us faster Your lotus feet
Is my life basically my heart beat. In this world of sinful things
You have come to save us from the material rings Please bestow your mercy
So that I can end this arduous journey. I am tired of this world
Please take me back even though I am undeserved I pray you have a long life
So we can have your association and advice So, o merciful master
Please come and deliver us faster!

I would like to end with a prayer I have written to you. Please accept it.

O spiritual master. Please save us from this world that is described as the ocean of birth and death. For you are the only one who can bring us closer to Krishna. Please bless me to stay at your lotus feet which give shelter for all living entities. I pray to serve you and stay under the protection of your lotus feet for so many lifetimes as it takes!

Thank you!

Srila Gurudeva ki — jai!

Your little servant, Sadhu Vrindavan Das