From Giri Govardhana Das – China, Pingxiang

Dear Srila Gurudeva,

Please accept humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

I am your lowly and fallen disciple Giri Govardhana Das. Today is your auspicious appearance day, a day infused with love and sweet
mellows. As your disciple I wish to honor you with all my heart.

Dear Srila Gurudeva, my beloved father, as the bona fide representative of Lord Krsna, you are such a humble but divine personality. I am neither qualified nor equipped with knowledge to honor you properly.

Dear Srila Gurudeva, my beloved father, as a qualified student of Srila Prabhupada, you shine like a pearl at his lotus feet. You have unflinching faith in Srila Prabhupada and to the Holy name. You have completely surrendered to his lotus feet and you consider his instructions more important than your own life. You set the perfect example of a perfect student with all your Vaisnava qualities.

Dear Srila Gurudeva, my beloved father, as a backbone preacher in ISKCON,
you are merciful and compassionate, carrying the essential responsibility to assist your Guru Maharaja in his preaching mission. In an heroic spirit, you have diligently travelled from west to east to distribute the transcendental message of Lord Caitanya Deva, delivering the western countries in which are filled with impersonalism and voidism and the eastern countries which are dominated by atheists. From the untouched primitive tribes of the Amazon to the bloody battlefield of Chechnya, countless fallen souls have been delivered by distributing Lord Krsna’s holy name.

Dear Srila Gurudeva, my beloved father, as the pure devotee of Lord Krsna, you are the living Srimad Bhagavatam, you are an ocean of mercy full of nectar.

By your own example, you show your disciple the secret of successfully serving the Lord: to be completely surrendered to Guru and carry out his teaching unconditionally. Sometimes you also manifest the power of a pure devotee when you crush the false ego of your disciples.

I remember when you came to China for the first time, you instructed me to take my family to the Polish tour, I agreed. However, I got financially trapped and I was in anxiety to spend my limited capital (USD$15,000) on the tour, at the fear of sliding into a bigger financial crises. But shortly after, I got a striking lesson. Somehow by Lord Krsna’s mystic arrangement, I have lost all my savings, the USD$15,000, but not plunged into further debts. What did I learn from this?

o My Gurudeva is a genuine representative of Lord Krsna, so any instructions from him are perfect. I’d better follow the instruction and avoid any speculation, otherwise it’s an offence to the spiritual master and an offense to the holy name.

o If I want to meet perfection on the path of bhakti, I must get the blessing from my spiritual master. And the instruction from my spiritual master is the essential blessing to me, literally, it’s my spiritual life.

Next, I would like glorify my god brothers and sisters whom are the extension of Guru’s lotus feet, the precious gifts given to us by Guru. As you mentioned in your lecture, I quoted you shared by Danakeli mataji: “The spiritual master is the revealer of the holy dhama, but only in the mood of cooperation with god brothers and sisters, as by their mercy we can actually understand our spiritual master. By their mercy we can truly understand our glorious spiritual master.” So here, please allow me to show my deep gratitude and obeisances to my god siblings.

Finally, I wholeheartedly pray to the benevolent Lord Nrsimha: dear Lord, please kindly protect our beloved Guru Maharaja and free him from all diseases so he can be blessed with long life. Please allow all the trapped conditioned souls in the three worlds to receive your mercy and the chance to taste the
nectar of the holy name!

All glories to Srila Prabhupada, All Glories to you.
Your humble servant, Giri Govardhana Das