Devananda das
nama om visnu padaya krsna presthaya bhu-tale
gurave citti cestabyham mahatma prabhave sada
tat prabhu bhava rupaya kirtana hladi dayine
namas tattva prakasaya bhaktanam tat paraya ca
nama om visnu padaya krsna presthaya bhu-tale
srimate bhaktivedanta swamin iti namine
namas te sarasvati deve gaura vani pracharine
nirvisesa sunyavadi pascatya desa tarine
Dear Gurudeva,
Please accept my sincerest obeisances. All glories to your lotus feet on this most auspicious day of your Vyasa-puja! All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
As another year passes at the shelter of your unlimited mercy, I want to take this important opportunity to reveal my mind and heart in gratitude for your kindness upon my fallen self. For this occasion, I went back and read through some emails from the first time I wrote you in Oct. 2013. I was so much inspired by your articles and particularly your offer on your website to mentor devotees that I spontaneously wrote you one night unsure of what kind of response I might get. Of course, you replied the very next day with such grace and warmth. At a certain point I had asked if there was any service I could offer you in exchange for your guidance and you humorously replied “Dustin, that is a dangerous question you just asked. I have lifetimes worth of service and projects I am working on.” I couldn’t have known then the beautiful path Krishna was presenting before me, but I remember feeling this was something very special.
And so over these last years I have begun to understand the purport of your words. Not only that you truly do have enough pure, unabashed devotion and immeasurable will to engage hundreds and thousands of devoted souls in spreading the glories of Krishna Consciousness in new and vibrant ways for lifetimes, but also that it will take lifetimes for me to ever truly appreciate the incredible mercy you have given so freely. I am painfully conscious of how far short I fall of being worthy to call you my Gurudeva. It’s difficult to admit the impurities that keep me from striving towards Krishna while you are patiently lighting the way and showering your blessings so that I can be free.
brahmaṇḍa bhramite kona bhagyavan jiva
guru-kṛṣṇa-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija
“Out of many millions of wandering living entities, one who is very fortunate gets an opportunity to associate with a bona fide spiritual master by the grace of Kṛṣṇa. By the mercy of both Kṛṣṇa and the spiritual master, such a person receives the seed of the creeper of devotional service.”
And yet, with all these disqualifications I consider myself to be one in a million and the most fortunate. I have somehow wandered into the loving shelter of a pure devotee of Lord Krishna and get the special opportunity to serve his lotus feet. I am praying on this auspicious occasion that I never waste this precious gift bestowed by Sri Sri Radha-Govinda and always protect it with full sincerity and careful attention. Your unwavering efforts to connect us all with the deepest truths of Srila Prabhupada’s mission while lifting us to the highest peaks of attention to Krishna’s holy name are your greatest gifts of all. Thank you for bestowing lifetimes of service and love to me and so many other fortunate souls…
An endless river of loving obeisances at your lotus feet on this glorious occasion of your Vyasa-Puja!!!
Your eternal servant,
Devananda das
Las Vegas, Nevada