Vyasa-Puja Offering, 2005
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by Rasananda das
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To His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on
the day of his Vyasa-Puja -- appearance anniversary celebration
Hrisikesa navami, Gaurabda 519 (Aug. 27, 2005)
om ajnana-timirandhasya jnananjana-salakaya
caksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri-gurave namah
Dear Master,
You have amply demonstrated to those with eyes that you are the topmost dear devotee of the Lord in this world. None other than the dear most devotee of the Lord could do what you have done: convert thousands of sinful hedonists, impersonalists, voidists, fools and ignorants into saintly devotees of the Lord.
Prahlad Maharaj the five-year-old boy devotee, obtained what even the topmost demigods never did... being blessed by the Lord's placing His hand on his head. You appear to similarly have been blessed by the Lord as you have, while displaying apparent child-like courage and confidence, preached His message most powerfully and fearlessly all over the world.
At the present time in this Kali yuga world, even persons very advanced in terms of knowledge, power, fame, intelligence, beauty or renunciation cannot achieve the actual goal unless they take to the path of devotion as given by you. The principles are the same: sravanam kirtanam visnoh smaranam pada-sevanam arcanam vandanam... hearing and chanting the Lord's names fame and activities, remembering them, serving the saintly devotees, worshipping the deity, offering prayers... Before you went out of India, these principles may possibly have been knowable, but through some very limitedly available books. You made them widely accessible. You translated and presented purports to the most important vedic texts, got them printed in millions and strenuously induced your followers to distribute them. You made the Supreme Lord Krishna and devotional service understandable to people all over the world, presenting their direct meanings... And you made them practicable by creating many pious activities for the seekers and curious that came to see and hear you.
Now that you are no longer present in your transcendental physical form, people who are a little fortunate can accept your most munificent gift to the world by means of your books, letters and conversations -- your vani-teachings. By the grace of Providence these are all also now available in the form of CDs and DVDs. Your vapu also can be seen and served: in the vigraha -- worshipable statue form of yourself in temples or in the homes of your followers, or in the hundreds of pictures that can be seen in the books and on the Internet.
Even people who perform compassionate and honest religious activities or who acquire knowledge by strict disciplined study cannot completely purify their consciousness without pure devotion. And pure devotion is available only by the grace of the Lord's pure devotees. Your demeanor, your bold and confident preaching, your singing... everything about you... is proof that you are the pure devotee uniquely empowered by the Lord. Your full service to Him exactly follows the teachings and example of Srila Rupa Goswami.
You incomparably dismissed all the scientists of the world as fools and rascals for positing that life comes from matter and that the universe comes from a "big bang." Consciousness is not material and you have delivered the real science whereby pure consciousness can be discovered... the practice of devotional service unto the Lord.
You gave everything in your books and stressed the importance of their distribution. The motto you gave was "Preaching is the essence, books are the basis, utility is the principle, purity the force" and you said "the temples will be maintained by the book sales, and if there are no more temples, then the books shall remain.”
The Lord says "those who say they are My devotee are not My devotee. Those who are the devotee of My devotee, they are My devotee." Though some misunderstand, you therefore instructed how the worship of Your Divine self was to be -- and should continue to be -- performed.
The secret of success in spiritual advancement is satisfaction of the self-realized spiritual master. Without your satisfaction, nobody can ultimately make any progress. After hearing of your glories, whoever fails to offer you proper honour, loses whatever spiritual potency he may have. On the other hand those who consider your spiritual greatness and accordingly offer respect will certainly advance in Krishna Consciousness.
Your student,
Rasananda das
Hyderabad
