101st Vyasa-puja Offering from Kalavatī Dāsī

Dear Gurudeva,

Every morning I speak with You. I look up to the sky and address You—it seems that you will surely hear me this way. From the bottom of my heart, I thank You for so mercifully accepting me into Your spiritual family 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

It has been 13 years since my initiation (08.03.2012),  yet I still can’t quite believe the reality of this magical story that happened to me.

So many years I was led toward meeting You, dear Gurudeva.

It all began back in 1979. My husband, our children (ages five and seven), and I were sent from the Orsk South Ural Machine-Building Plant to India, to the city of Ranchi. I was 29 years old at the time. I was an atheist, as was everyone in my family.

One day, the company where my husband worked organized a two-day temple tour in Kolkata. Forty-two temples in two days—it was difficult to visit and even harder to remember them all. I remember feeling uncomfortable—I was wearing a short skirt. Apparently, in one of the temples in Kolkata, I offered a donation to Gurudeva, just as we had been taught, and received a blessing, because not long after that, I began to feel changes in my life.

I took up yoga practice and continued it after returning home, eventually becoming the director of the "Olimp" sports center. In 2010, a Russian-speaking preacher, Madhava Mahārāja from Śrī Chaitanya Saraswat Maṭha, came to my home on a preaching mission. His preaching bore fruit—we traveled as a group to Saint Petersburg to visit the temple and meet the spiritual teachers. Everyone in our group received initiation—except me.

That evening, I began to cry: “Where is my Guru?!” Our guide, Ishapriya Prabhu, advised me to pray—to beg Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka Śrīdhara Mahārāja and Śrī Bhakti Sundara Govinda Deva-Gosvāmī Mahārāja to lead me to my spiritual master. And so I cried all night, pleading with Their Lordships to show me my Guru.

At 5 a.m., I clearly saw Gurudeva standing behind the Deities, set against a background of deep blue velvet. I rushed to Ishapriya Prabhu and cried out, “They showed me my Gurudeva!”

Later, in March, together with a group of devotees from Śrī Chaitanya Saraswat Maṭha, I joined the parikramā led by Śrīla Bhakti Prapañña Tīrtha Mahārāja, and I came to the Maṭha—to Gurudeva. I listened to His extraordinarily fiery Hari-kathā—and I knew I was not mistaken: this is MY Gurudeva!

This is MY Gurudeva! I found You, Gurudeva! I kept repeating with joy in my heart: “Hooray! At the age of 61, I have finally found true happiness!”

I signed up for initiation on March 8. But how could I reach my maṭha from Śrī Chaitanya Saraswat Maṭha on my own? I didn’t know the route, nor the language. I shared my concerns with Lidiya Sinkova. And then—Gurudeva’s mercy! Lidiya said, “I also want to see your Gurudeva.” And not only did she see Him—she was so captivated that she also asked to be initiated. Gurudeva’s mercy knows no bounds!

—Kalavatī Dāsī, Russia (Orsk)