Srila Prabhupada's Prayer to Krishna

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Hare Krishna,

Srila Prabhupada’s Prayer to Krishna

Srila Prabhupada had first arrived in USA September 17, 1965. He reached first at Boston Harbor on the steam freighter, the Jaladuta, voyaging from Calcutta to New York City . The Jaladuta had a brief layover in Boston Harbor until it proceeded on to

New York City. It was there in Boston Harbor that he composed his now famous arrival prayer, "Markine Bhagavat Dharma" as follows on September 18 :

The Prayer

My dear Lord Krishna, You are so kind upon this useless soul, but I do not know why You have brought me here. Now You can do whatever You like with me.But I guess You have some business here, otherwise why would You bring me to this terrible place?Most of the population here is covered by the material modes of ignorance and passion. Absorbed in material life, they think themselves very happy and satisfied, and therefore they have no taste for the transcendental message of Vasudeva. I do not know how they will be able to understand it.But I know Your causeless mercy can make everything possible because You are the most expert mystic.How will they understand the mellows of devotional service? O Lord, I am simply praying for Your mercy so that I will be able to convince them about Your message.All living entities have become under the control of the illusory energy by Your will, and therefore, if You like, by Your will they can also be released from the clutches of illusion.I wish that You may deliver them. Therefore if You so desire their deliverance, then only will they be able to understand Your message.The words of Srimad-Bhagavatam are Your incarnation, and if a sober person epeatedly receives it with submissive aural reception, then he will be able to understand Your message.It is said in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.2.17-21) :srnvatam sva-kathah krsnah punya-sravana-kirtanahhrdy antah-stho hy abhadrani vidhunoti suhrt satamnasta-prayesv abhadresu nityam bhagavata-sevayabhagavaty uttama-sloke bhaktir bhavati naisthikitada rajas-tamo-bhavah kama-lobhadayas ca yeceta etair anaviddham sthitam sattve prasidatievam prasanna-manaso bhagavad-bhakti-yogatahbhagavat-tattva-vijnanam mukta-sangasya jayatebhidyate hrdaya-granthis chidyante sarva-samsayahksiyante casya karmani drsta evatmanisvare

( "Sri Krishna, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramatma [supersoul] in everyone's heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.

By regular attendance in classes on the Bhagavatam and by rendering of service to the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the heart is almost completely destroyed, and loving service unto the Personality of Godhead, who is praised with transcendental songs, is established as an irrevocable fact. As soon as irrevocable loving service is established in the heart, the effects of nature's modes of passion and ignorance, such as lust, desire and hankering, disappear from the heart. Then the devotee is established in goodness, and he becomes completely happy. Thus established in the mode of unalloyed goodness, the man whose mind has been enlivened by contact with devotional service to the Lord gains positive scientific knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the stage of liberation from all material association. Thus the

knot in the heart is pierced, and all misgivings are cut to pieces. The chain of fruitive actions is terminated when one sees the self as master." )

He will become liberated from the influence of the modes of ignorance and passion and thus all inauspicious things accumulated in the core of the heart will disappear.How will I make them understand this message of Krishna consciousness? I am very unfortunate, unqualified and the most fallen. Therefore I am seeking Your benediction so that I can convince them, for I am powerless to do so on my own.Somehow or other, O Lord, You have brought me here to speak about You. Now, my Lord, it is up to You to make me a success or failure as You like.O

spiritual master of all the worlds! I can simply repeat Your message, so if You like You can make my power of speaking suitable for their understanding.Only by Your causeless mercy will my words become pure. I am sure that when this transcendental message penetrates their hearts they will certainly feel engladdened and thus become liberated from all unhappy conditions of life.O Lord, I am just like a puppet in Your hands. So if You have brought me here to dance, then make me dance, make me dance, O Lord, make me dance as You like.I have no devotion, nor do I have any knowledge, but I have strong faith in the holy name of Krishna. I have been designated as Bhaktivedanta, and now, if You like, You can fulfill the real purport of Bhaktivedanta.

Signed-the most unfortunate, insignificant beggarA.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami,on board the ship Jaladuta, Commonwealth Pier, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.dated 18th of September, 1965----------------------The above prayer reveals the heart of one the greatest saints and most highly realized spiritual masters in the history of the world. I still cannot grasp the full extent of my good fortune to have personally met him and been accepted by him as a disciple. Coming to Commonwealth Pier has helped me to strengthen my connection with him.Sankarshan Das Adhikari