My dear spiritual father Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada,
Please accept my respectful obeisances. All glories to Your Divine Grace.
When I offered to serve you life after life, you replied, “Why do you want
me to come back again and again?”
So then I said, “Well, if you do not want to take me back to Godhead, then I
want to serve you here, life after life.” You smiled.
On another occasion I said, “Srila Prabhupada, you are the most merciful and
I am the most fallen – “.
You interrupted and said, “You are not the most anything.”
In this way you are always giving your mercy in so many ways. I am very
grateful that I had many personal exchanges like these with Your Divine
Grace.
Now I am trying to follow the GBC, as your representative. They asked me to
stay here in Los Angeles to undergo treatment for my stroke. By the time of
your Vyasa puja celebration I will have been here over six months. Gradually
I am recovering.
I am very happy – and I am sure Your Divine Grace is also pleased – that the
Plenatarium is underway thanks to the efforts of Ambarisa Prabhu and his
team.
This is the first time I have been absent for so long from Mayapur, and it
is the first I missed the parikrama. I am doing all this as a sacrifice for
your pleasure. I am feeling great separation from the holy dhama.
I was very pleased to hear that 40 years ago here in Los Angeles the small
deities, Sri Sri Rukmini Dwarakanatha, ordered you to establish Krishna
Consciousness in India, which you subsequently did. This was told by
Brahmananda prabhu. So somehow I am here in your western headquarters, and
although I am away from the world headquarters in Mayapur, I am feeling
connected to Your Divine Grace and I visit your temple every day.
I hope that all the devotees take this opportunity of your Vyasa Puja to
unite. As you famously said: The way to show our gratitude for all you have
done for us is to cooperate in pushing on this movement. So, we are trying
to cooperate, and we hope all the devotees will cooperate for Your Divine
Grace’s pleasure.
Many of my godbrothers have been phoning me. Somehow they have kept the
tradition going in Mayapur in my absence. So I am very happy for that. I
hope the Mayapur devotees will also be examples of how you have taught us to
work together. I also trust they will receive everyone nicely in Mayapur,
the spiritual home for the worldwide preachers.
Since I have not been able to travel, I cannot visit my zone or the devotees
and disciples in Asia, Latin America, and around the world. However, they
tell me that they are dedicated to serving your grace. Please have mercy on
them.
Your Divine Grace has given us wonderful teachings. Now, staying here in the
west for so long, I am seeing that it is very difficult to preach to the
westerners; they are very much immersed in their own tamas and rajas point
of view, trying to be happy. So I am very appreciative of all the miracles
you have performed in bringing the western people to Krsna consciousness,
and I am trying to encourage the devotees everywhere to engage in the
preaching activities Your Divine Grace has inaugurated so that Lord Caitanya
will be seen as the savior of the entire world for His gifts of spiritual
vision and true love for Godhead.
Again and again I bow down to your lotus feet. All glories to Your Divine
Grace!
Your servant eternally,
Jayapataka Swami
PS from Ratnavali dd: This offering of Guru Maharaja was written when he was
in LA, USA for publishing in Srila Prabhupada’s Vyasa Puja book.