Sri Viraha Astakam

[Guest guest]

taken from Srila Trivikrama Maharaja's webpage

 

Sri Viraha Astakam

by HDG A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada

 

First published in 1959

Submitted by Shambhu das

1

 

Cutting through the web of illusion,

The overflowing ocean of mercy Sri Nityananda Rama

Ordained that the flood of love of God bestowed by Him

be distributed throughout the world.

Unfortunately, those persons to whom the noble responsibility

was given to spread this divine God-consciousness

Were tragically stricken by the disease of caste-consciousness,

And in their hands

which were always busy performing formal ritualistic ceremonies,

the exalted title "Goswami"

became merely another family surname,

And the channel of divine current became blocked.

 

Therefore you personally came, O beloved master Srila Prabhupada,

to demolish the dam of maya

and re-release the eager floodtide of prema-bhakti.

By your potency

The divine tidal wave of Mahaprabhu's all-encompassing grace

once again inundated the entire world.

Falling upon even such wretched and fallen souls as myself.

Taking the order of Sri Caitanyadeva as your very life's breath,

You sent your dedicated servitors door to door

to deliver the whole of humankind.

Under your infallible direction the message of Godhead was preached

from the shorefronts of the ocean to the peaks of the Himalayas.

 

But now you, who suffered so upon seeing the suffering

of misguided humanity, are gone,

And the world once again appears dark and empty.

O Srila Prabhupada, I am feeling lost and alone in your absence

on this day upon which you departed from our vision.

 

2

 

The intense eagerness to benefit all humankind

which was felt by Sri Advaita Acarya

and which thus brought Sri Gaurangadeva into this world

Was similarly felt by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura,

And therefore, O beloved master Srila Prabhupada,

You who are the most intimate associate of that beautiful golden Lord

graciously made your divine advent as well.

"A human birth in the land of India is intended to be utilized

for the purpose of becoming perfect in God-realization

and then compassionately sharing that realization with others."

Revealing India's spiritual glories you preached this 'maha-mantra'

for the illumination of the Earth's ten directions.

 

In your absence, however,

the world has once again become plunged into darkness,

And the flowing current from your ocean of mercy

has again been stopped.

Devoid of your ambrosial dispensation of Sri Caitanya's message,

Confusion reigns in human society,

And all the Vaisnavas are feeling the pangs of separation

from your lotus feet.

The jivas have reshackled themselves

with the heavy chains of ignorance and delusion,

And as they swim about in the vast ocean of material existence

in a frenzied attempt to reach the shore of peace, they perish.

 

This lance of misery pierces my heart

as it similarly afflicted you, Srila Prabhupada,

who suffered so upon seeing the suffering of the misguided humanity.

I am indeed feeling lost and alone

on this day upon which you departed from our vision.

 

3

 

Your lotus lips continuously ushered forth the sweetest nectar

in the form of your instructions regarding the Holy Name of Lord Krsna.

You made the path of spiritual progress so easy and delightful to follow

with your teaching that 'Utility is the Principle' --

That anything useful and practical

could be constructively engaged in the service of the Lord

without personal attachment,

And that the sincere practice of such devotional service

with a genuine spirit of detachment

Could transform every house into a mandira

and every common household into a holy sangha.

You lovingly cautioned that the transcendent activities of the Supreme Lord

should never be imitated -- even within one's mind.

You 'nectarized' the ears of all persons,

Filling their hearts with sublime attachment

to singing, dancing, and worshipping the Lord

in accordance with the standards established by the previous acaryas.

You magnanimously offered everyone the divine qualifications

to distribute the pure Holy Name for the deliverance of the whole world.

 

But alas, in your absence,

Nescience has now once again stealthily crept onto the scene,

Creating a most disturbing complication;

Those who are conspicuously unqualified

have taken to the practice of performing solitary bhajana

In strict accordance with the dictates of their own minds

and exclusive devotion to their own impassioned senses,

Garbed in fraudulent attire

and lavishly adorned with feigned emotions,

Such persons have, by their selfish strategy,

woefully left their blemishing effect upon the body of society.

 

O Srila Prabhupada,

You suffered much upon seeing the regrettable plight of misguided humanity.

I am feeling especially lost and alone in separation from your lotus feet

on this day of your departure from our vision.

 

4

 

"Lord Krsna's associates in Vraja have real life,

And therefore they are preaching." --

Persons interested in genuine 'wealth' and mystical perfection

will doubtlessly find all such things in your words.

"The chanting of the Lord's Holy Name is the greatest of all the religions."

-- By preaching this message and thereby preserving this eternal truth,

You, O beloved Gurudeva, have attained the greatest eternal fame.

One who rejects this truth regarding Harinama-sankirtana

will find truth nowhere throughout the three worlds;

And one who accepts the Holy name from your divine lips

Becomes qualified to make disciples throughout the three worlds

and rescue all such conditioned souls from their suffering condition.

 

But in your absence, Srila Prabhupada, the 'resolute determination'

explained by Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura

has become broken by the forces of darkness,

And those who were not fixed in devotional service

have divided your holy Gaudiya Mission into many separated branches,

It appears that the essence of your teachings

did not enter very deeply into their ears,

And that the tigress of desire for material prestige

has regrettably claimed a great many victims.

Indeed, I am wondering where I, too, will receive the strength

to remain steady in my bhajana in separation from your lotus feet.

 

O Srila Prabhupada, The depth of your compassion was such

that the suffering of the misguided humanity

was a cause of much suffering for you;

And I am acutely feeling lost and alone

on this day of your departure from our vision.

 

 

5

 

Persons afflicted by the jaundice of ignorance

cannot taste the ambrosial sweetness

of the heart-transforming names of Hare, Krsna, and Rama,

And therefore they do not chant the holy Maha-mantra;

Whose thirty-two syllables are like resplendent pear-like droplets

which constitute the elixir of immortality --

The very medicine for curing the disease of such persons.

One of your closest disciples

whose cup you lovingly filled to the brim

with the deathless nectar of your instructions

has ungratefully thrown away that chalice,

And his regrettable preference for infectious poison

has resulted in an epidemic of sahajiyaism.

It seems that the prize valiantly acquired by the triumphant lion

has at present been unscrupulously stolen by a jackal,

The oppressive forces of nescience have reduced everyone to tears,

And it appears that each of the young lions is 'again becoming a mouse.'

 

O Srila Prabhupada,

Where are your pure teachings to be found at this dark hour?

Standing as we are on the shore of the ocean of spiritual devastation,

Only your lifesaving glance of causeless mercy

can save us from certain death,

Only by your infallible grace

can we perceive a way somehow to retrace our steps;

To return to a life of divine remembrance of the Holy Name

in great happiness and implicit faith in your 'Vaikuntha message.'

 

O blessed master, please awaken some good intelligence

in this insignificant servant of yours,

Increasing the fullness of his faith in your sublime message day by day.

You compassionately took the suffering of misguided humanity

upon your own holy head,

And I am feeling severe pangs of separation from your lotus feet

on this day upon which you disappeared from our vision...

 

6

 

"Let there be congregational singing and dancing

in praise of the Supreme Lord

among the association of the Lord's devotees." --

Where can one find such sweetness and magnanimity as could be compared

with Mahaprabhu's method of attaining spiritual perfection?

If we could but perform Harinama-sankirtana

with complete faith in the words of the spiritual master,

genuine love of Godhead would make its divine appearance.

Without true love of God,

aur intellects are merely intricate networks of delusion.

Because no one has obtained that prema-bhakti,

a great catastrophe has resulted:

The Vaisnavas have given up preaching in favor of solitary worship,

And a vast and perilous jungle of impersonalism

has grown tall and spread over the surface of the world.

Because so many devotees have given up their devotional service,

The name Patita-pavana -- 'Saviour of the fallen' --

has itself fallen into disrepute.

 

O Srila Prabhupada, What are we to do at this most inauspicious time?

The beautiful garden of Krsna-bhakti

which you personally planted and tended with your own lotuslike hands

has apparently been looted and destroyed.

 

Please awaken some good intelligence

in this insignificant servant of yours,

increasing the fullness of his faith in your sublime teachings day by day.

You compassionately considered the suffering of misguided humanity

to be your own,

And I am indeed feeling afflicted by pangs of separation

from your lotus feet

on this day of your disappearance from our vision.

 

7

 

O beloved master,

Sri Krsna Caitanya is the very personification of compassion,

And you are the very personification of His message

That the chanting of the Holy Name is the singular infallible means

of crossing the turbulent ocean of material existence

And entering a life of joyous self-dedication

in the service of the Divine Couple,

Lord Gaurahari made the entire world the recipient of His causeless grace,

And you are vigorously distributing that grace

to every town and village of the world.

You personally travelled all over India, even in the South --

And you sent your devotees

to save the inhabitants of the Western countries as well

from their mothlike rush headlong into the flames of self-destruction.

 

Mahaprabhu employed many clever tricks

to engage the conditioned souls in devotional service,

And you were expert at understanding all these things

and following closely in His holy footsteps,

You understood exactly what was required to be preached

in perfect accordance with time, place, circumstance, and audience:

And although the leaders of the sheeplike masses,

devout in their worship of the idol of mongrelized logic,

could not understand;

Though the blind lawyers, though having eyes,

could not see,

And though the many nonsensical groups of deviators and imitators

could not appreciate,

The intelligent section of society

could understand the impeccable purity of your teachings,

Clearly see the utter selflessness of your motives,

And earnestly appreciate your inexhaustible efforts

to defeat all elements which were opposed to the Absolute Truth.

 

O Srila Prabhupada, You accepted much suffering on our own account

in order to relieve the suffering of humanity at large,

And I am indeed feeling pangs of separation from your lotus feetv on this

day of your disappearance from our vision.

 

8

 

Adored master,

You patiently reminded all of your disciples time and time again

that devotional service to Lord Caitanya

is not performed exclusively in solitude.

You took great care painstakingly to explain to all of us

That just as the Lord out of His causeless mercy

preached everywhere and delivered Jagai and Madhai,

So does the exact same preaching work

need to be continued in the present day.

The world has now become filled with countless Jagais and Madhais,

And it is clear to all that the only means for their salvation

is the path shown by Caitanya-Nitai.

 

If you were to come again at this time, Srila Prabhupada,

and personally reestablish the proper understanding

of all these things in all the ten directions --

The joy of the people would know no bounds.

Hearing the deeply resonant sound of your voice

loudly proclaiming the victory of Mahaprabhu's mission,

The demons and atheists would flee,

And the thirsty living entities

would drink the divine nectar-message of Sri Gaurangadeva

to their complete fulfillment.

The whole world would once again be set aright.

Whereas in your absence,

nothing of value is to be found anywhere.

 

Brokenhearted,

this Abhay makes his cry of appeal, O Gurudeva,

in the bitter throes of separation from your lotus feet,

You compassionately felt the suffering of the jivas to be your own.

And I am indeed feeling lost and alone

on this day of your disappearance from our vision.