On March 17th, we celebrated The Grand Appearance Day of our gurumaharaja, Om Vishnupada Paramahamsa Parivrajakacharya-varya Astottara-sata Sri Srila Bhakti Kanan Giri Maharaja here at Sri Gaura Vinoda Saraswata Seva Ashram in Bacoor, Philippines.
Celebrations included singing kirtan, reading from the Bhagavad-gita and honoring Krishna Prasadam.
It was a wonderful celebration and we are honoroed to have been able to offer this to our beloved gurumaharaja, His Divine Grace Srila Giri Maharaja.
Below is our offering:
Dear Om Vishnupada Paramahamsa Parivrajakacharya-varya Astottara-sata Sri Srila Bhakti Kanan Giri Maharaja
We are at your lotus feet offering our most humble obeisances. All glories to our param gurus Srila Govinda Maharaja, Srila Sridhara Maharaja and Srila Swami Maharaja.
All glories to you and we wish you a very happy vyasa-puja and pray to Srimati Radharani for many happy returns on this auspicious day!
Is there ever enough time? Are there enough days on Earth to glorify you and serve your mission? How many lifetimes will it take? Your divine glories are unlimited, just as Lord Krishna’s are. Please continue to teach us, guide us, correct and chastise us for our offenses, so that we may become better servants at your lotus feet.
It’s unfortunate that you were unable to be in our direct association here in the Philippines. Sri Gaura Vinoda Saraswata Seva Ashram is forever at your service and disposal. Please consider it your earthly home here in the Philippines. However, no matter how much we paint, renovate, and fix, it will never be able to be worthy of your divine presence.
We realize every Vyasa-puja I share the same texts. But these are our ultimate favorites, capturing what’s in our hearts as your servants here in the Philippines.
SB 3.25.11
taṁ tvā gatāhaṁ śaraṇaṁ śaraṇyaṁ
sva-bhṛtya-saṁsāra-taroḥ kuṭhāram
jijñāsayāhaṁ prakṛteḥ pūruṣasya
namāmi sad-dharma-vidāṁ variṣṭham
Translation:
Devahūti continued: I have taken shelter of Your lotus feet because You are the only person of whom to take shelter. You are the ax which can cut the tree of material existence. I therefore offer my obeisances unto You, who are the greatest of all transcendentalists, and I inquire from You as to the relationship between man and woman and between spirit and matter.
Srila Prabhupada [Saraswati Thakura] said,
“Only Sri Vṛshabhanu Nandini and my Sri Guru-pada-padma beautifully serve Krishna at all times; I do not know, nor do I need to know, who else does or does not.”
(Srila Govinda Maharaja, Sri Gaudiya Darshan, Vol. 14, Issue 2, 12/1/70)
yasya deve parā bhaktir yathā deve tathā gurau
tasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥ prakāśante mahātmanaḥ
“Only unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed.”—Svetasvatara Upanishad
A million more words could spill out here, praising your Divine Grace. But would it be enough? Not possible. Instead, we rather show you our love and devotion through continued service to you. Please accept this offering in celebration of your appearance. This truly is an auspicious day.
Your eternal servants life after life,
Jagadananda dasa, Malini devi dasi, Siddhartha, and Lily Ann.
The offering is: Watermelon, Oranges, Apples, Tropical cream fruit cake, dal, chipathti, gulab jaman (my first time making it ever- they got a little dark) and then a family favorite which is just tofu, eggplant and chickpeas in a simple tomato sauce. Then of course rice. Malini devi worked very hard cooking and setting up the offering. We also sang Krishna kirtan and read from the Bhagavad-gita.
If you would like to find out more use the contact us page. Also, as you can see, the Ashram still needs a lot of work. Any donations are welcome and appreciated. You can send a donation through Paypal to sidnymorrow@gmail.com.