from Kesava Gopal Das – India, Bangalore

Most respectful Srila Gurudeva,

Hare Krishna! Please accept my most respectful obeisances unto the dust of your lotus feet. All glories to Srila Prabhupada! All glories to you!

On the most auspicious occasion of your Vyasa Puja day, I would like to remind myself of the good fortune I had some 15–16 years ago when I came in contact with your wonderful self through your amazing diaries. The reason I want to remind myself is because over the years while practicing Krishna bhakti, one may start to take things lightly and start believing that the mercy received by a pure devotee is just another event in one’s life. This can be a dangerous situation for one’s spiritual progress, so I want to write this down as a stringent reminder that one should never overlook the mercy received from a Vaisnava.

Bhagavad Gita [7.28] mentions: “Persons who have acted piously in previous lives and in this life and whose sinful actions are completely eradicated and are freed from the dualities of delusion. Such people engage themselves in My service with determination.”

Srila Baladeva Vidyabhushana comments on this verse as follows: “Those who have attained destruction of their sins (anta gatam papam) through the fortunate, merciful glance of the great souls, those who have performed pleasing actions (punya karmanam) which attained the mercy of great souls, worship Me.”

Regarding the role of the great devotees, Srimad Bhagavatam says: vishnor bhutani bhutanam pavanaya caranti hi (“the servants of Vishnu wander about in this world to purify the living entities” [SB 11.2.28]).

Srila Prabhupada also in his purport to Bhagavad Gita [7.28] mentions: “this elevation is possible in Krishna consciousness in the association of pure devotees.”

After reading all the above, there is no doubt in my mind about why I could come to Krishna consciousness some 15 years ago. It was only and only because of the pure association of your diaries, some sukriti got created in my heart, which led me to enter the world of devotional service of Sri Hari. One verse from Saint Kabir, captures the mood of devotion towards one’s spiritual master. He mentions:

guru govind dou khade, kake lagu paya balihari guru aapne govind diyo bataaya

“Who should one worship first when Sri Guru and Lord Govinda are standing together? It is advisable in such situation to worship Sri Guru first because it is only because of Sri Guru’s mercy, one is able to gain access to Lord Govinda”

I am not sure whether Sri Kabir Das comes in our Vaisnava tradition, but I do concur with the mood and purport of his verse. In our Vaisnava tradition also, one is advised to worship one’s spiritual master first before offering worship to Sri Hari.

Hence, I want to express my unlimited gratitude for leading and inspiring me to this wonderful world of devotional service to Sri Krishna. On this auspicious occasion, I pray unto your lotus feet to kindly continue to inspire millions of fallen souls like me through the holy association of your festivals, webinars, diary entries etc.

Your eternal servant, Kesava Gopal Das