Vyasa Puja offering to Srila Prabhupada 2020

(view 2020 offerings by disciples)

Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept my most grateful and respectful obeisances at your lotus feet.
Far down at the bottom of the Earth, gazing over the Pacific Ocean, I meditate not on the immense
waters, thundering as countless waves, but on the boundless expanse of your mercy, dynamically
reconnecting us to the Supreme Beloved.
Although the planet Earth contains twice as much water as land, who today can fully fathom the
mysteries of the sea? Oceanographers are fond of saying that science knows less about the high seas
than it does about . . . the moon.
One day humankind may comprehend the deepest secrets of the ocean and the moon, but who can
ever grasp the depths and scope of your compassion and mercy?
Dedication to your lotus feet bestows the chance to develop love for Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa.
How is it that I am allowed to approach your divine lotus feet, the magnanimous treasure trove of
pure bhakti?
Why did you dare engage such a wretch in life’s most exalted activity: devotional service?
Through the thick and thin of my meager attempts to serve you, why do you bother to sustain such
an inconsequential speck, a most diminutive insectlike semblance of a devotee? Akrūra, on his way to Vṛndāvana, beautifully illustrated the miraculousness of your divine rescue
mission, the incomparable intervention:
Just as a blade of grass floating on the waves of a river may by chance come near the shore and
gain shelter, a conditioned soul carried away by the waves of material existence may sometimes
be saved by the grace of Kṛṣṇa. [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.38.5]
Śrī Caitanya Mahaprabhu declared to Sanātana Gosvāmī: “My dear Sanātana, Kṛṣṇa has saved you
from Mahāraurava, life’s deepest hell. He is an ocean of mercy, and His activities are very grave.”
Swiftly, most appropriately, Sanātana replied: “I do not know who Kṛṣṇa is. As far as I am concerned,
I have been released from prison only by Your mercy.” [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya 20.63–64]
With the strength you grant, I can then strive to never forget both the darkest depths of ignorance,
from where I came, and the most exalted destination, to where I can go. Without at least a lifetime of humble service to your lotus feet, I’ll never resolve the most confidential
perplexity of existence:
Desiring to understand the glory of Rādhārāṇī’s love, the wonderful qualities in Him that She
alone relishes through Her love, and the happiness She feels when She realizes the sweetness of
His love, the Supreme Lord Hari, richly endowed with Her emotions, appeared from the womb
of Śrīmatī Śacī-devī, as the moon appeared from the ocean. [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi 1.6]
How is it the Two appear as the One, and the One appears as the Two?
You have the right to reveal this most oceanic divine mystery.
High above my shameful head, I hold this most precious goal.
Waiting in service, I beg for your glance upon me and for your eternal guidance.
Your hopeful servant,
Devāmrita Swami

Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,

Please accept my most grateful and respectful obeisances at your lotus feet.

Far down at the bottom of the Earth, gazing over the Pacific Ocean, I meditate not on the immense waters, thundering as countless waves, but on the boundless expanse of your mercy, dynamically reconnecting us to the Supreme Beloved.

Although the planet Earth contains twice as much water as land, who today can fully fathom the mysteries of the sea? Oceanographers are fond of saying that science knows less about the high seas than it does about . . . the moon.

One day humankind may comprehend the deepest secrets of the ocean and the moon, but who can ever grasp the depths and scope of your compassion and mercy?

Dedication to your lotus feet bestows the chance to develop love for Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. How is it that I am allowed to approach your divine lotus feet, the magnanimous treasure trove of pure bhakti?

Why did you dare engage such a wretch in life’s most exalted activity: devotional service?

Through the thick and thin of my meager attempts to serve you, why do you bother to sustain such an inconsequential speck, a most diminutive insectlike semblance of a devotee? Akrūra, on his way to Vṛndāvana, beautifully illustrated the miraculousness of your divine rescue mission, the incomparable intervention:

Just as a blade of grass floating on the waves of a river may by chance come near the shore and gain shelter, a conditioned soul carried away by the waves of material existence may sometimes be saved by the grace of Kṛṣṇa. [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.38.5]

Śrī Caitanya Mahaprabhu declared to Sanātana Gosvāmī: “My dear Sanātana, Kṛṣṇa has saved you from Mahāraurava, life’s deepest hell. He is an ocean of mercy, and His activities are very grave.”

Swiftly, most appropriately, Sanātana replied: “I do not know who Kṛṣṇa is. As far as I am concerned, I have been released from prison only by Your mercy.” [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya 20.63–64]

With the strength you grant, I can then strive to never forget both the darkest depths of ignorance, from where I came, and the most exalted destination, to where I can go. Without at least a lifetime of humble service to your lotus feet, I’ll never resolve the most confidential perplexity of existence:

Desiring to understand the glory of Rādhārāṇī’s love, the wonderful qualities in Him that She alone relishes through Her love, and the happiness She feels when She realizes the sweetness of His love, the Supreme Lord Hari, richly endowed with Her emotions, appeared from the womb of Śrīmatī Śacī-devī, as the moon appeared from the ocean. [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi 1.6]

How is it the Two appear as the One, and the One appears as the Two? You have the right to reveal this most oceanic divine mystery. High above my shameful head, I hold this most precious goal. Waiting in service, I beg for your glance upon me and for your eternal guidance.

Your hopeful servant,

Devāmrita Swami