Dear Jayapataka Maharaj,

Yatibhyonamaha.
Jaya Srila Prabhupada!

In the Srimad Bhagavatam, 3.28.18, Kapiladev, the incarnation of the Lord, told his mother, Devahuti:

kirtanya-tirtha-yasasam
punya-sloka-yasaskaram
dhyayed devam samagrangam
yavan na cyavate manah

"The glory of the Lord is always worth singing, for His glories enhance the glories of His devotees. One should therefore meditate upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead and upon His devotees. One should meditate on the eternal form of the Lord until the mind becomes fixed."

Towards the end of the purport to this verse, Srila Prabhupada wrote:

"The beauty of the Lord is that the devotees who are connected with His activities are also glorified. Arjuna, Prahlada, Janaka Maharaja, Bali Maharaja and many other devotees were not even in the renounced order of life, but were householders. Some of them, such as Prahlada Maharaja and Bali Maharaja, were born of demoniac families. Prahlada Maharaja's father was a demon, and Bali Maharaja was the grandson of Prahlada Maharaja, but still they have become famous because of their association with the Lord."

Today your disciples will be glorifying you on your appearance day.  This glorification is clearly in line with Srila Prabhupada's teachings, as he wrote in the above purport.

Many of us were born in the families of malecchas and yavanas, and by Srila Prabhupada's, Sriman Mahaprabhu's and Sri Krishna's "kripa", we have become purified.  What to speak of this, Maharaj you spent decades preaching "the mission of Mahaprabhu", "far and wide".  This is, in and of itself a just cause for your glorification, to say the least!

One of Srila Prabhupada's god brothers, who is passed away many years ago, once confided in me that "we should have glorified our god brothers more".

And, elsewhere in the same purport to the above Bhagavatam verse, Prabhupada confirms this idea by stating that glorification of the Lord's devotee is the same as glorification of the Lord.

Maharaj, on this, your 62nd appearance day, I pray to Sri Sri Radha Shyamsundar here at ISKCON Baroda to bestow upon you many, many more years of service to the "mission of Mahaprabhu" - ISKCON!

Since I am in a "lower ashram", the grihasta ashram, I pray that you, as one in the fourth order, the sannyas ashram, might bestow your blessings upon our humble endeavors to serve our eternal guru, Srila Prabhupada and his ISKCON mission!

Hope this meets you well.

Das,
Basu Ghosh Das,
Baroda,
India