Dear Srila Prabhupäda,
Please accept my prostrated obeisances at your lotus feet.
All glories to Your Divine Grace.
All glories to your auspicious appearance in this world to deliver us fallen souls and give us transcendental bliss.
You said that everything is in your books. But how to get everything out of them? Your books themselves tell us:
śrīmad-bhāgavatārthānām
āsvādo rasikaiḥ saha
sajātīyāśaye snigdhe
sādhau saṅgaḥ svato vare
“One should taste the meaning of Srimad-Bhägavatam in the association of pure devotees, and one should associate with the devotees who are more advanced than oneself and endowed with a similar type of affection for the Lord” (Cc. Madhya 22.131).
The purpose of the Vedas is to know Krishna. And the essence of Krishna is rasa: raso vai saù.
The ripened fruit of the Vedic tree of knowledge is Srimad-Bhägavatam. It is full of rasa. And those who relish rasa are rasikas, or devotees. Only devotees can relish Srimad-Bhägavatam, and we should taste the meaning of Srimad-Bhägavatam with pure devotees. Karmis, jnanis and yogis can never relish rasa and thus attain bliss.
Your purports further explain: “In a holy place like Vrindavana, there are many devotees constantly engaged in chanting and hearing the glories of the Lord. If one gets the chance to hear from pure devotees in such a place, allowing the constant flow of the river of nectar to come from the mouth of pure devotees, then the cultivation of Krishna consciousness becomes very easy. . . . In the association of pure devotees one becomes attached to hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord. In this way one can become faithful to the Lord, devoted to the Lord, and attached to the Lord, and thus one can very quickly attain full Krishna consciousness” (Bhäg. 4.29.40 purport). Especially when we come to Vrindavana for VIHE we get such opportunities.
Srila Prabhupäda, you are so kind. You have given us everything. You have given as your sublime books and association to help us understand their deep purports. How can we ever repay you?
Of course, the disciple can never repay the debt to the spiritual master, but the spiritual master may be pleased by the attitude of the disciple who tries. And how? You said that we can preach like you. And how did you preach? You preached by word and by example. We have to know how.
Though some may say the best way to glorify you is to preach, I think the best way for me to preach will be to glorify you. If the devotees and the world knew more how you served and what you said, they would benefit so much. They would do so much to try to please you.
So from my own experience and others’, I would like to record your personal struggle and instructions in Bombay. Practically, you gave your life for Sri Sri Rädhä-Rasabihäré. You preached on Their behalf and you gave us service to Them, too. How you served in Bombay and preached will be the greatest example and instruction for us and the whole world to follow.
So I want to write something to glorify you and your wonderful service to Sri Sri Rädhä-Rasabihari, but unfortunately I am not qualified. I do not have the purity to do it. On this occasion I pray to you to give me the guidance and the qualification necessary to write. And here again your books will surely help: “It is certainly not good to write literature for money or reputation, but to write books and publish them for the enlightenment of the general populace is real service to the Lord. That was Srila Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvati’s opinion, and he specifically told his disciples to write books. According to Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvati Thakura, distributing literature is like playing on a great mridanga. Consequently we always request members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness to publish as many books as possible and distribute them widely throughout the world. By thus following in the footsteps of Srila Rüpa Gosvami [who wrote books], one can become a rüpänuga devotee” (Cc. Madhya 19.132 purport).
All glories to Your Divine Grace! All glories to your wonderful service to Rädhä-Rasabihari!
Your eternal, fallen servant,
Giriräja Swami