From Rasa-keli Dasi – USA, TN, Knoxville

My beloved spiritual father,
Please accept my humble obeisances … All glories to Srila Prabhupada and to the dust of your lotus feet!
Namah Om vishnu padaya krsna presthaya bhutale
srimate indradyumna swamin iti namine
Namah prabhupada priya dasaya jagannath yatrananda murtaye
bhakta sukhaya krishnot kirtanena narasimhena rakshitaya namah
We are so fortunate to be able to participate in the celebrations of this most auspicious day of your 74th Vyasa Puja. Please forgive me for any shortcomings in attempting to glorify some of your unlimited transcendental qualities.
Truly, my life is glorious to have you as my spiritual guide in the path of devotional service. You are the perfect example to follow in every respect. Your great love for Srila Prabhupada reflects in all your transcendental qualities – your exemplary behavior, joyful countenance, strict sadhana, limitless enthusiasm, love for all living entities, and dedication for preaching – establishing you as an ideal Vaishnava.
Thank you so much for all the causeless mercy you pour on the limitless conditioned souls you encounter in your travels in preaching, connecting them with Krishna in even a few moments of association. Since your consciousness is above the bodily platform, you are able to connect with every living entity from any background of material life, genuinely expressing your love and care for them and thus touching their hearts. And eventually, you connect them to the process and philosophy of Krishna Consciousness, making it feel perfectly natural, as it is for every living being. Whenever I am in a challenging situation, feeling disconnected from spiritual consciousness, I always remember you and some of your enlightening words, either from a lecture or from your personal instructions, which always inspire me and push me forward with a Krishna Conscious mindset. Thus, for so many conditioned souls like myself, you perfectly represent Srila Prabhupada, the guru parampara, and Lord Sri Krishna.
Your unconditional love for all your disciples is especially infinite. Even with your busy schedule, you take the time to connect with all of us and keep us informed about your activities on so many different platforms. Your YouTube webinars, Telegram messages, and Facebook posts and albums are just a few examples. Your ecstatic kirtans and profound lectures sharing the transcendental message and beautiful pastimes of the Lord eternally help nourish the devotional creeper in our hearts. And, I am especially grateful for all of the beautiful letters that you write to me. They are timeless gifts and storehouses of great transcendental wisdom, and I take great assistance from them whenever I am looking for spiritual inspiration from time to time. In this way, all your selfless and tireless efforts in always guiding us on the spiritual path and protecting us from the distractions along the way are representations of Lord Krishna’s love for all the conditioned souls in the material world.
Recently, in your series of lectures on Lord Narasimhadeva, you were explaining the importance of following in the footsteps of pure devotees like Prahalad Maharaj to fully surrender to and depend on the Lord for protection. You further stated that the Lord gives His devotees protection in proportion to their surrender unto Him. Dear Gurudev, you firmly follow this example, selflessly taking so many great risks in your preaching activities solely for the benefit of the conditioned living entities entrapped in the material world. This is exactly contrary to the theme of the material world, where there is a selfish motive behind all of one’s activities. Accordingly, Lord Narasimhadeva protects you from all external and internal dangers. The proof of this is your elevated position in devotional service, which can be understood by your intense dedication in sadhana and immense contributions in preaching for the past 50 years. The Lord’s pure devotees like yourself shine greatly in the material world, eradicating the darkness of the material world by the lamp of pure devotion.
This year has brought a set of new challenges and experiences for me. It was my first year of university in pursuing Bachelors in Computer Science at the University of Tennessee Knoxville. Getting used to the new environment and balancing my studies and spiritual life was a constant challenge. But it was easier because the university was about a 30-min drive from our house, so, according to your instruction, I stayed at home and commuted to the university every day. Thus, having the background spiritual environment at home was very helpful. Honestly, I feel like I learned a lot from this entire experience. The most important realization I had is that I am so fortunate to be able to face every new life situation armed with the understanding of the philosophy of Krishna Consciousness and established in my identity as your spiritual daughter. This gives me the courage I need to navigate through all of life’s challenges with a devotional perspective.
My dear Srila Gurudev, I know that, even after my devotional practices, my heart is full of great contamination. This is because I am still attached to my material conditionings and desires. I pray to develop the strong determination to properly guide my mind and senses to perform all my material and spiritual duties in a Krishna Conscious manner so that they can help me grow as a devotee. I also hope to develop a greater taste and more enthusiasm for the devotional practices, especially hearing and chanting about the Lord. I pray to be able to follow in your footsteps and properly represent you by imbibing a tiny fragment of your divine characteristics, thus remaining free from all kinds of distractions in the devotional path. I aspire to please you and inspire everyone around me to come closer to Krsna. To accomplish all this, I pray for your mercy, as my only qualification to advance in Krishna Consciousness is your unlimited causeless mercy, for which I am eternally grateful. Please always keep me in the cooling shade of your lotus feet so that I can remain protected from the burning flames of the material energy and can flourish on the devotional path.
Your ever-grateful servant, Rasa-keli Dasi