Chapter 19: Devotional Prayers

MAÌGALĀCARAṆA

(I am offering my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of my spiritual master and unto the feet of all Vaiṣṇavas. I offer my respectful obeisances to Lord Kṛṣṇa Caitanya and Lord Nityānanda, along with Advaita Ācārya, Gadādhara, Śrīvāsa, and other associates. I offer my respectful obeisances to Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and Śrī Kṛṣṇa, along with Their associates Śrī Lalitā and Viśākhā.) [Purport]

ŚRĪLA-PRABHUPĀDA-PRAṆATI

(I offer my respectful obeisances unto His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, who is very dear to Lord Kṛṣṇa, having taken shelter at His lotus feet.)

(Our respectful obeisances are unto you, O spiritual master, servant of Sarasvatī Gosvāmī. You are kindly preaching the message of Lord Caitanyadeva and delivering the Western countries, which are filled with impersonalism and voidism.)

ŚRĪ-GURU-PRAṆĀMA

(I offer my respectful obeisances unto my spiritual master, who has opened my eyes, blinded by the darkness of ignorance, with the torchlight of knowledge.)

ŚRĪLA-BHAKTISIDDHĀNTA-SARASVATĪ PRAṆATI

(I offer my respectful obeisances unto His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī, who is very dear to Lord Kṛṣṇa, having taken shelter at His lotus feet.)

(I offer my respectful obeisances to Śrī Vārṣabhānavīdevīdayita Dāsa [another spiritual name of Siddhānta Sarasvatī], who is favored by Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and who is the ocean of transcendental mercy and the deliverer of the science of Kṛṣṇa.)

(I offer my respectful obeisances unto you, who delivers devotional service which is enriched with conjugal love of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, coming exactly in the line of revelation of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī.)

(I offer my respectful obeisances unto you, who are the personified teachings of Lord Caitanya. You are the deliverer of the fallen souls. You do not tolerate any statement which is against the teachings of devotional service enunciated by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī.)

ŚRĪLA-GAURAKIŚORA-PRAṆATI

(I offer my respectful obeisances unto Gaura-kiśoradāsa Bābājī Mahārāja [the spiritual master of Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī], who is renunciation personified. He is always merged in a feeling of separation and intense love of Kṛṣṇa.)

ŚRĪLA-BHAKTIVINODA-PRAṆATI

(I offer my respectful obeisances unto Saccidānanda Bhaktivinode, who is transcendental energy of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He is strict follower of the Gosvāmīs, headed by Śrīla Rūpa.)

ŚRĪLA-JAGANNĀTHA-PRAṆATI

(I offer my respectful obeisances to Jagannātha dās Bābājī, who is respectful to the entire Vaiṣṇava community and who discovered the place where Lord Caitanya appeared.)

ŚRĪ-VAIṢṆAVA-PRAṆĀMA

(I offer my respectful obeisances unto all the Vaiṣṇava devotees of the Lord. They are just like desire trees who can fulfill the desires of everyone, and they are full of compassion for the fallen conditioned souls.)

ŚRĪ-GAURĀÌGA-PRAṆĀMA

(I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, who is more magnanimous than any other avatāra, even Kṛṣṇa Himself, because He is bestowing freely what no one else has ever given-pure love of Kṛṣṇa.)

ŚRĪ PAÏCA-TATTVA PRAṆĀMA

(I bow down to Lord Kṛṣṇa, who appears as a devotee [Lord Caitanya Himself], as His personal expansion [Śrī Nityānanda], His incarnation [Śrī Advaita], His devotee [Śrī Śrīvāsa], and His energy [Śrī Gadādhara], and who is the source of all strength for the devotees.)

SAMBANDHĀDHIDEVER PRAṆĀMA

(Glory to the all-merciful Śrī Rādhā and Madanamohana. They are the only shelter of my depraved and crippled self. Their lotus feet are the be-all and end-all of my life.)

ŚRĪ KṚṢṆA PRAṆĀMA

(O my dear Kṛṣṇa, You are the friend of the distressed and the source of creation. You are the master of the gopīs and the lover of Rādhārāṇī. I offer my respectful obeisances unto You.)

ABHIDHEYĀDHIDEVER-PRAṆĀMA

(I meditate on Śrī Rādhā and Govinda. They are seated on a throne in a mansion bedecked with gems under the desire trees in Vṛndāvana, being served by Their loving female attendants.)

PRAYOJANĀDHIDEVER PRAṆĀMA

(May Lord Gopīnātha confer on us His grace. He inaugurated the rāsa-līlā by attracting the spiritual milkmaids of Vraja with the enchanting tune of His flute, and He is seated at the base of the vaṁśīvata tree.)

ŚRĪ RĀDHĀ PRAṆĀMA

(I offer my respects to Rādhārāṇī, whose bodily complexion is like molten gold and who is the Queen of Vṛndāvana. You are the daughter of King Vṛṣabhānu, and You are very dear to Lord Kṛṣṇa.)

Verse quoted by Lord Caitanya, from the Bṛhan-Nāradīya Purāṇa:

(Chant the holy name, chant the holy name, chant the holy name. There is no other alternative, there is no other alternative, there is no other alternative for God realization in the Age of Kali.)

ŚRĪ GURVAṢṬAKAM
(Eight Prayers Glorifying the Spiritual Master)
-by Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākur

(The spiritual master is receiving benediction from the ocean of mercy. Just as the cloud pours water on the forest fire to extinguish it, so the spiritual master extinguishes the blazing fire of material existence. I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of such a spiritual master.)

(The spiritual master is always engaged in chanting and hearing the message of Lord Caitanya and sometimes is dancing in ecstasy. Sometimes he feels quivering in his body because of spiritual trance. I offer my respectful obeisances unto such spiritual master.)

(The spiritual master is always engaged along with his disciples in the temple worship of Śrī Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of such spiritual master.)

(The spiritual master is always offering Kṛṣṇa four kinds of foodstuffs [analyzed as those which are chewed, those which are licked up, those which are drunk and those which are swallowed]. Four kinds of prasādam are offered to Kṛṣṇa, and when the spiritual master sees that the devotees are eating bhagavat-prasādam, he is satisfied. I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of such spiritual master.)

(The spiritual master is always anxious to hear and chant about the wonderful pastimes between Rādhikā and Mādhava, which are all in the modes of loving exchanges [Mādhurya-Līlā], as well as about their quality, names and form. The spiritual master aspires after relishing these things at every moment. I offer my respectful obeisances to such spiritual master.)

(The spiritual master is very much expert in assisting the gopīs who are engaged in the perfection of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa conjugal love affairs. At different times they make different tasteful arrangements for such spiritual exchange, and the spiritual master is there to assist in the affairs. I offer my most humble obeisances unto the lotus feet of such a spiritual master.)

(The spiritual master is honored as much as the Supreme Lord because of his being the most confidential servitor of the Lord. This is acknowledged in all revealed scriptures and is followed by all authorities. Therefore I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of such a spiritual master, who is a bona fide representative of Śrī Hari [Kṛṣṇa].)

(By the mercy of the spiritual master one is benedicted by the mercy of Kṛṣṇa. Without the grace of the spiritual master no one can make any advancement. Therefore I should always remember the spiritual master. At least three times a day I should offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of my spiritual master.)

(Everyone come see all the glories of the beautiful ārātrika ceremony of Lord Caitanya.)

(This ārātrika ceremony on the bank of the Ganges to receive Lord Caitanya is so beautiful that it will attract the minds of all the people of the world.)

(Come see how Lord Caitanya is seated on the jeweled throne.)

(To offer ārātrika to Lord Caitanya all the demigods have come, headed by Lord Brahmā.)

(See Nityānanda Prabhu on the right side of Lord Caitanya, and on the left side, Śrī Gadādhara.)

(Nearby are Advaita Prabhu and Śrī Śrīvāsa, who is bearing the umbrella above Lord Caitanya's head.)

(Listen to the sounding of the conchshells, the ringing bells, and the sound of the kartāls.)

(All these sounds, along with that of the sweet mṛdaṅga, are very relishable to hear.)

(This material world is full of danger, and the ocean of nescience is very difficult to cross. But for one who has taken shelter of the lotus feet of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, this vast ocean is like a puddle of water contained in a calf's hoofprint in the mud. There is danger at every step, but the devotee is not affected by it.)

(I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, the first progenitor, who is tending the cows, yielding all desire, in abodes built with spiritual gems, surrounded by millions of purpose-trees, always served with great reverence and affection by hundreds of thousands of Lakṣmīs, or gopīs.) (cont'd on p. 79)

Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu instructed His disciples to write books on the science of Kṛṣṇa, a task which those who follow Him have continued to carry out down to the present day. The elaborations and expositions on the philosophy taught by Lord Caitanya are in fact the most voluminous, exacting and consistent—due to the unbreakable system of disciplic succession—of any religious culture in the world. Yet Lord Caitanya, in His youth widely renowned as a scholar, Himself left us only eight verses, called Śikṣāṣṭakam, in which His mission and precepts are revealed.

Glory to the Śrī Kṛṣṇa Saṅkīrtana, which cleanses the heart of all the dust accumulated for years together. Thus the fire of conditional life, of repeated birth and death, is extinguished. This saṅkīrtana movement is the prime benediction for humanity at large because it spreads the rays of the benediction moon. It is the life of all transcendental knowledge, it increases the ocean of transcendental bliss, and it helps us to have a taste of the full nectar for which we are always anxious.

O my Lord! Your holy name alone can render all benediction upon the living beings, and therefore You have hundreds and millions of names, like Kṛṣṇa, Govinda, etc. In these transcendental names You have invested all Your transcendental energies, and there is no hard and fast rule for chanting these holy names. O my Lord! You have so kindly made approach to You easy by Your holy names, but unfortunate as I am, I have no attraction for them.

One can chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking himself lower than the straw in the street, more tolerant than the tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige, and ready to offer all respects to others. In such a state of mind one can chant the holy name of the Lord constantly.

O almighty Lord! I have no desire to accumulate wealth, nor have I any desire to enjoy beautiful women, nor do I want any number of followers. What I want only is that I may have Your causeless devotional service in my life—birth after birth.

O son of Mahārāja Nanda, I am Your eternal servitor, and although I am so, somehow or other I have fallen in the ocean of birth and death. Please, therefore, pick me up from this ocean of death and fix me as one of the atoms of Your lotus feet.

O my Lord! when will my eyes be decorated with tears of love, flowing constantly while I chant Your holy name? When will my words be choked up when uttering the holy name? And when will all the holes of hair on my body have eruptions by the recitation of Your name?

O Govinda! Feeling Your separation I am considering a moment twelve years or more, and tears are flowing from my eyes like torrents of rain. I am feeling all vacant in the world in the absence of You.

I do not know anyone except Kṛṣṇa as my Lord, and He will always remain as such, even if He handles me roughly by His embrace or makes me broken-hearted by not being present before me. He is completely free to do anything and everything, but He is always my worshipable Lord, unconditionally.

• One should accept everything favorable for discharging devotional service.
• One should reject everything unfavorable for discharging devotional service.
• One should believe firmly that the Lord will protect His devotee always.
• One should feel exclusively dependent on the mercy of the Lord.
• One should have no separate interest besides the interest of the Lord.
• One should always feel oneself meek and humble.

(I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is adept in playing on His flute, with blooming eyes like lotus petals, with head bedecked with a peacock's feather, with the figure of beauty tinged with the hue of blue clouds, and His unique loveliness charming millions of Cupids.)

(I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, whose transcendental form is full of bliss, truth and substantiality and is thus full of the most dazzling splendor. Each of the limbs of that transcendental figure possesses, in Himself, the full-fledged functions of all the organs and eternally sees, maintains and manifests the infinite universes, both spiritual and mundane.)

(O my Lord, Your hands are very beautiful, like the lotus flower, but with Your long nails You have ripped apart the wasp Hiraṇyakaśipu. Unto You, Lord of the universe, do I offer my humble obeisances.)

(This prayer was recited by the boy devotee Prahlāda Mahārāja in order to pacify Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva.)

(I offer my obeisances unto Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, Nityānanda Prabhu, Śrī Advaita, Gadādhara, Śrīvāsa, and all the followers of Lord Caitanya.)

(Jagannātha-svāmī—O Lord of the universe; nayana paṭhagami bhavatu me—please be visible unto me.)

(I offer my respectful obeisances to the Supreme Absolute Truth, Kṛṣṇa, who is the well-wisher of the cows and the brāhmaṇas as well as the living entities in general. I offer my repeated obeisances to Govinda, who is the pleasure reservoir for all the senses.)

(108 glories to the wandering mendicant and topmost swan-like devotee, the great preceptor Śri Srīmad Bhaktivedanta Swami Mahārāja, who has taken shelter at the feet of Visnu.)

(108 glories to the wandering mendicant and topmost swan-like devotee, the great preceptor Srī Śrīmad Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Mahārāja, who has taken shelter at the feet of Viṣṇu.)

(All glories to Ananta, the couch of Viṣṇu.)

nāmācārya haridāsa ṭhākur ki jaya.

(All glories to the ācārya of the holy name, Haridāsa Ṭhākur.)

premse kaho śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya-prabhu-nityānanda-śri-advaita-gadādhara-śrī-vāsādi śrī-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda ki jaya.

(All glories to the flowing transcendental love of Lord Caitanya, Lord Nityānanda, Advaita Ācārya, Gadādhara, Śrī Śrīvāsa, and all the devotees of Lord Gaura.)

śrī -śrī-rādhā-kṛṣṇa-gopa-gopīnātha śyāma-kuṇḍa rādhā-kuṇḍa giri-govardhana ki jaya.

(All glories to Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, all the cowherd families owned by Gopīnātha, the bathing tank of Śyāma [Kṛṣṇa], the bathing tank of Rādhā, and the hill of Govardhana.)

vṛndāvana-dhāma ki jaya. mathurā-dhāma ki jaya. navadvīpa-dhāma ki jaya.

(All glories to the abodes of Vṛndāvana, Mathurā and Navadvīpa.)

jagannātha-purī-dhāma ki jaya.

(All glories to the temple of the Lord of the universe at Purī.)

gaṅgāmayī ki jaya, yamunāmayī ki jaya.

(All glories to the sacred Ganges and Yamunā rivers.)

tulasīdevī ki jaya.

(All glories to the sacred plant tulasi, which is offered at the feet of Kṛṣṇa.)

bhaktidevī ki jaya.

(All glories to bhakti, devotional service to the Lord.)

sāma-veda-bhakta-vṛnda ki jaya.

(All glories to the assembled devotees.)

(Govinda-the Supreme Lord; jaya-victory; Gopāla-cowherd boy, i.e. Kṛṣṇa; Rādhā-ramaṇa—He who enjoys Rādhā [Rādhā is His pleasure potency]; Hari—the Lord.)