nama om visnu padaya krsna-presthaya bhutale
srimate gunagrahi das goswami swamin iti namine
nama om visnu padaya krsna-presthaya bhutale
srimate bhaktivedanta swamin iti namine
namaste sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracarine
nirvisesa sunyavadi-pascatya-desa-tarine
Dear HH Guna Grahi Goswami
Please accept my obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
Maharaja, on this auspicious day of your appearance, I want to thank you for all that you have done for me throughout the years. And, thank you for all the many happy and adventurous memories while in your association.
I first met you at the old San Diego temple on Thorn Street by Balboa Park. I believe the year was 1975 or ‘76. I was fairly new to Krishna Consciousness and had come to the temple to buy a poster of Srila Prabhupada. You walked into the room where I was buying the poster and Parusa Dasa told you, "Bhakta Jeff is buying a poster of Srila Prabhupada." You said to me, "So, you are attracted to Srila Prabhupada?" I proudly answered, "Yes". To which you answered, "Boy, I wish I was." This was the beginning of a long relationship of merciful lessons received from you.
I can honestly say that I might have not made it this far, within this present body, if not for your deep compassion and care. During the best times and the worst times in my life, you have been there for me. You are my friend, my siksha guru and you are like a father to me. The debt I owe you is beyond measure. You always had faith in me, Maharaja. You encouraged me when I appeared to be a lost cause; when most everyone else had simply given up on me and would prefer to not even see me. You always told me, throughout the years, "You are a preacher, Yudhi."
I remember being in your brand new San Diego "Bhakta Program" with Viakuntha Dasa and Bhakta Irving in, I believe it was around 1979. I remember approximately 20 freshly shaved bhaktas in long lines at prasadam time during the "Bhakta Program Competition" in the ‘70’s. I remember you teaching me how to cook kitri on the traveling temple motorhome known as the"Vaikuntha Ratha." That was the first thing I ever cooked in ISKCON. You said, "Kitri should be loose and juicy." I remember the "Ratha Broth" inundating parking lots across the southwest. I remember at the Tucson Street Fair and that sweet bhajan we had after distributing prasadam all day long – prasadam that was cooked in the little motor home kitchen. I can still see, in my mind’s eye, the little oven stuffed with cooked eggplant pikoras Who would have attempted such a feat, but you, Maharaja? I remember at the end of that sweet kirtan, when that offensive guy (who I had a confrontation with the year before) came to receive some extra-special mercy from Nirguna prabhu. I remember you affectionately hitting Maha Kosa in the head with a pot because he begged you to. I remember that dreaded poster you brought to me when I was in a suffering state– the one where you placed my face on the painting from the Bhagavad Gita. How compassionate is that? You took the time to have that poster made in an attempt to save me from my fallen state, therefore, I undoubtedly owe you everything. I remember being in the motorhome with you and HH Radhanatha Swami in New Vrndavan. You were having some health problem with your foot and had to soak it in an herb solution everyday. HH Radhanatha Swami was trying to drink that herb solution that was blessed by your foot.
You were trying to keep him a way and he was telling me to help him. Then, you would tell me not to, so I would stop, then he would tell me to help him and I would. I think he finally recieved that extra special mercy at the end of that transcendental battle. I remember cooking feasts on wood stoves in Flagstaff. I remember getting corrected by you, again and again, for many years, while trying to learn kartals. Anyone else would have simply told me to not play kartals, but you stuck with it and taught me. I remember shattering my heal-bone after jumping off the roof of the temple in an anger-fueled attempt to capture the dacoits who firebombed the San Diego temple. I lay on the ground in extreme pain cursing – and, you said, "Chant Hare Krishna, Yudhi. What are you going to do at the time of death?" So, I chanted a couple Names, then cursed, then chanted a couple Names and then cursed etc… I remember getting spit on and having things thrown at us while, upon your order, we executed a two-man Harinama party into the dark abyss of Mission Beach, back when it was an alcohol and drug crazed "no-human zone". It was one of the most ecstatic Harinama’s I had ever been on. I remember the dinner program at San Diego Temple and our secret code for when some offender needed to be ejected from the temple: "TAWC". I remember you visiting me when I was literally not allowed to leave a certain place of residence. I remember cooking pizza at your father’s house in that uptown retirement facility and having to wave a book in front of the smoke detector so it would not go off. I remember you visiting Radha, Prema and I in New Vrndavana - showing us the deepest compassion by giving caring instruction regarding an extremely tough time we were going through. I remember you calling my very young daughter, "Krsna Girl" and she calling you "Krsna Daddy".
I could go on and on with "I remembers" for pages and pages of fond and adventurous memories with you, Maharaja. Even when I made major mistakes, you always forgave me. I am your wayward son and walking, talking proof of your boundless mercy. I owe my life to you and I apologize for not always showing it.
You taught me what my vocation is and how to do it. I am a preacher. In particular, I am a home preacher. I can organize a precision home program with my eyes closed because you drilled the science into me. You taught me how to preach, how to put together a feast and how to deal with new persons etc… You taught me, a musically challenged individual, how to play a basic mridanga beat, so, I could get by when there were no real drummers present. You taught me that the details matter. Every detail! You taught me that, "Good, better, best. Never let it rest until your good is better and your better is best." The preaching I am doing right now, would absolutely not be happening if not for you. Nothing good would be happening in my life, if not for you.
And, perhaps the most important thing that you taught me is how to make pizza correctly. I am known for my pizza, but, my pizza ability is literally only by your mercy, Maharaja. I am recognized as being a member, in good standing, of the bonafide HH Gunagrahi Maharaja pizza disciplic succession. Because of you, I am able and often requested to cook pizzas for many of Srila Prabhupada’s greatest generals. You and I once cooked, I think it was 60 something pizzas, for the whole Gita-Nagari farm community. Another time, at Bhaktivedanta Hospital in Bombay, we cooked pizza for the hospital staff, His Holiness Sridhara Maharaja and many other devotees who where present. And, we cooked those pizzas in a funky Indian confectioner’s oven.
You are a preacher of the first degree; a devotee of the first degree. Srila Prabhupada’s love and appreciation for you is, no doubt, unfathomable. I can’t even express in words my love and admiration for you, Maharaja. Please forgive any offenses I may have committed to you throughout the years. I don’t know where I would be right now without you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Your grateful and undeserving wayward son;
Yudhisthira Dasa
