101st Vyasa-puja Offering from Dhanistha Dasi
Dear Guru Mahārāj,
Please accept my humble obeisances to Your lotus feet.
All Glories to the Day of Your Appearance!
Your glory is incomprehensible— its radiance is limitless. It is like a precious gem, revealing countless facets of Your love, mercy, beauty, sincerity, humility, and sweetness. Even to touch this glory is possible only by Your causeless mercy. I am not worthy of even a drop of this mercy, yet You are causelessly compassionate to all living beings, even to someone as insignificant as myself. I am forever indebted to You, and this position is an inconceivable fortune for me.
You always sang kīrtanas and spoke harikathā with the deepest devotion and love, from the depths of Your heart. These thunderous yet supremely sweet kīrtanas and harikathā eradicate anarthas from hearts and fill them with transcendental amṛta.
I keep the memory in my heart of the happiest moments of my life—18 days of Your darśanas in Goalpāra Dhām, the place of Your appearance, in July 2013. The sweetness of those moments is beyond comprehension. You shone like thousands of suns, Your radiant smile and soft, melodious laughter are moments sweeter than the sweetest. Everything around was permeated with an atmosphere of ānanda, a flow of unconditional love. At that time, due to Your advanced age, You did not speak harikathā but quietly inquired about the health of those who came for darśan, how they were doing, and how long they had come for, yet in these simple questions and in Your smile, there was everything: sat-cit-ānanda.
It has been eight years since You left this world, yet Your instructions live in the heart. They are beyond time and space. Love in separation is even deeper. You have given us the opportunity to remember You, to hear about You, and speak about You. Your presence is felt everywhere, and yet the heart longs for a meeting with You. You ignite a fire of love in our hearts, the fire of love in separation, to offer them into the blazing sacrificial fire of the saṅkīrtana-yajña. And You find countless ways to give us the opportunity to remember You in saṅkīrtana—in the glorification of Guru, Vaiṣṇavas, and Bhagavān.
Your entire life was dedicated to saṅkīrtana. Even in the last 3.5 years, when You manifested the līlā of illness, You united us in kīrtana on the balcony of the Kolkata Maṭha. And these were very special kīrtanas. Your eyes were closed, yet You sent an incomprehensible wave of love into my heart, reminding me that You were near and that You were beyond any physical limitations. Especially unforgettable were the last six days of Your presence on this planet—six days and six nights of uninterrupted kīrtana. Your love is boundless. Your compassion is immeasurable.
And now, just as during Your time on this planet, You continue to unite everyone in saṅkīrtana. In 2024, the year of Your 100th Appearance Anniversary, the flow of Your mercy poured in all directions. Your 100th Vyāsa-pūjā was celebrated in various cities throughout the year, and the inauguration of the Samādhi temple became a truly grand event. Thousands of people were able to receive Your mercy. You appeared on Navamī and departed on Navamī. Between them, two weeks, and every time during this period, a thought comes to my mind: this is how You are once again showering us with Your mercy — giving us the opportunity to gather together in kīrtana for two weeks, to listen about You, read Your books and glorify Your divine qualities.
Śrīla B.R. Śrīdhara Mahārāja, in his book Loving Search for the Lost Servant, says:
"The Lord's search for His lost servants is a loving search; it is not an ordinary search, but one from the heart. And the Lord’s heart is not an ordinary heart. Who can estimate the nature of His search? Although He is full in all respects, still, He feels pain of separation for every one of us, no matter how small we may be."
guru kṛṣṇa-rūpa hana śāstrera pramāṇe
guru-rūpe kṛṣṇa kṛpā karena bhakta-gaṇe
Translation:
According to the evidence of the scriptures, the spiritual master is a form of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa manifests Himself in the form of the guru to bestow His mercy upon the devotees.
O Gurudeva, You also feel separation from each of us, no matter how insignificant we are. And in this lies all my hope.
I pray, in the dust of Your lotus feet: make me worthy of serving You, the Vaishnavas, and the Lord.
P.S. Today, I read past offerings to Śrīla Gurudeva, and in one written in 2015, exactly ten years ago, suddenly came across lines I had completely forgotten: "Gurudev, bestow upon me Your mercy to live in the Holy Dham, to be fully engaged in serving You and the Vaishnavas. "This was my dream from the very first day I arrived in Mayapur in 2010 at our Matha, in the garden near the samadhi of Vaishnavas, in my heart a deep desire suddenly came to live in Mayapur. This feeling never left me for eleven years. And in the twelfth year, by Gurudeva's causeless mercy, it was fulfilled. I am in Mayapur for the fifth year and again I pray to Gurudev that this mercy may continue.
—Dhanistha dasi, Russia
Comments
Post a Comment