Guest guest Posted October 10, 2004 Report Share Posted October 10, 2004 Diary of a Traveling Preacher Volume 5, Chapter 26 September 11, 2004 Vyasa Puja Offering 2004 Dear Srila Prabhupada, Please accept my most humble obeisances in the dust of your lotus feet. All glories to Your Divine Grace. I have traveled a great distance to be with your devotees here at New Vraja Dhama in Hungary for this wonderful event. By the Lord's grace alone I have come just in time to relish the last moments of this day. Because this community is so much like the eternal abode of Goloka, both in form and in mood, I feel as if I've come back to the spiritual world, to your eternal home at the lotus feet of your beloved Radhe-Syama. I have few, if any, qualifications to be here among the great souls who manifested this divine abode from the parched earth of this once-barren land. Even the newest recruits seem to be of a special caliber I have not seen in my travels to other lands. What special grace have you bestowed upon these devotees for their surrendered service, which seems to have induced the heavens to descend upon earth? It is my good fortune to bathe in their auspicious company for some days, refreshing and invigorating myself for the challenges that are yet to come. You once said that a preacher's life is not an easy one. I take this to mean that we cannot rest until all your work is done. This work of saving the fallen souls defies the laws of nature, which condemn unfortunate men addicted to sinful ways and keep them in repeated birth and death for countless lives to come. What wonderful deeds you performed, my glorious master, in delivering them in numbers never before seen in the history of the human race! We, your followers, have only succeeded in imitating your efforts, and with far less success than you. But it is our ardent desire that by our combined efforts and cooperation, solidified by our love and devotion for you, we may match your efforts and cause the whole world to offer you the praise you alone deserve. It is not impossible. In fact, it is more than probable, for you yourself said, "One day this Krsna consciousness movement will save the world in its darkest hour." Srila Prabhupada, I don't believe that the darkest hour lurks ominously ahead somewhere in the distant future. I see it right at hand, present before us at this moment. I have even seen this, for a preacher's duty is to go out among the masses, where he sees the sorrows and woes of unfortunate mankind. I am thankful, Srila Prabhupada, that even in my old age, when it is hard to travel and preach, I am allowed to see daily the suffering in this cruel age of Kali. It brings me back to the reality of material life and to the urgent need to give people the positive alternative of Krsna consciousness. What's more, it gives me faith and lets me see with my own eyes how your mercy comes in the form of your books, the holy names, the festivals, and the prasad and miraculously transforms people's lives. Please bless me with such divine visions and wonders until the day I die. Today my thoughts are immersed in you, my Divine Master, as never before. I meditate on your form, your pastimes, your desires, your example, your mercy, and your teachings. I also meditate intensely on meeting you again, my dream from the very moment you left us. That moment seemed the hardest in my life. Little did I know that because of transcendental affection, aroused by service to your lotus feet, I would miss you more and more as each day passed. Nevertheless, Srila Prabhupada, I am sure that by fulfilling your desire to save the conditioned souls, I will become qualified to serve your desires in the spiritual world, where you live forever with your beloved Lord. I hanker for that precious gift, and thus my solemn vow on this auspicious day is that I will continue giving your mercy to the fallen souls of this age, birth after birth, until that time when you call me home to be with you again. I miss you and love you. Please shower your mercy on me, and on every soul who has forgotten the lotus feet of the Lord. Your servant, Indradyumna Swami indradyumna.swami (AT) pamho (DOT) net www.traveling-preacher.com Official website for Diary of a Traveling Preacher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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