London (Bhaktivedanta Manor)

London (Bhaktivedanta Manor)
GURUDEVA
1. No modernistic soup you brew;
Your precepts taught of yore:
Eternal tenets, tested true,
Confirmed by Vedic law.
2. A stirring Gospel, time-intact,
Awaking dormant ways:
"Twixt loved and lover sleeps a pact
Inherent for all days."
3. Corruptive cheats, who strangle truth,
Have crippled mosque and church;
But Truth has held Himself aloof,
Avoiding vain research.
4. The truth is but for those sincere
Who turn their hearts to you,
evealed to those of earnest ear;
But they are far and few.
5. Although the truth resounds aloud,
Throughout the globe declared,
The brainless booby, puffed too proud,
From death is never spared.
6. O woe to him who turns you down
And disregards your word:
He's lost, alas, a luckless clown,
By lust alone bestirred.
7. The simple truth is pure and plain:
Sri Krsna is our Lord.
One needs but chant His holy name,
His mercy down is poured.
8. We're not these skin-and-boney bags,
But are the souls within;
Yet, brandishing false fleshy flags,
We flap in squalid sin.
9. Repent your wicked ways, O man!
Surrender at his feet!
Remold your life to suit his plan,
And progress you will meet.
10. Don shining hope! Doff dull despair!
Bear japa beads in hand!
Ascend with care the narrow stair
To greet the promised land!
11. Be led by him along the way
That saints and sages trod!
Enjoy the gradual dawn of day,
O brilliant son of God!
12. Attract those trapped in groggy world
To leap along behind!
Triumphant banners fly unfurled.
True life and freedom find!
13. Pay homage unto him, all men!
Uphold his noble cause!
His Grace Divine will 'light on them
Who strive to keep his laws.
14. Although I'm chanting Krsna's name,
I cannot gain a taste.
O master, bless me with a grain,
Lest human life I waste.
15. Redeem me from this wave-tossed world,
Where I am but a slave,
By surging sensual urges hurled.
O save me, Gurudeva.
Our dearmost worshipable, most glorious Srila Prabhupada,
Please accept our most humble danḍavats at your holy lotus feet. We are your most fallen disciples. We have no intelligence to understand the full import of your desires, or your greatness-still, by your grace, we wish to glorify you.
saksad-dharitvena samasta-sastrair
uktas tatha bhavyata eva sadbhiḥ
kintu prabhor yaḥ priya eva tasya
vande guroḥ sri-caranaravindam
You are the most intimate associate of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and yet you have so kindly come here. You left the holy dhama of Vrndavana to associate with us, who are too low even to be classified amongst the untouchables in the varnasrama system.
You have taught us the missing secret of life, which is practically unknown in this demoniac culture in which we have taken birth.
Aham brahmasmi-I am not this body, I am spirit soul. What is the business of the spirit soul? Jivera 'svarūpa' haya, krsnera 'nitya-dasa'- our eternal occupation is to engage in the transcendental loving service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna.
sei sarva-vedera 'abhidheya' nama
sadhana-bhakti haite haya premera udgama
"By practicing this regulated devotional service under the direction of the spiritual master, certainly one awakens his dormant love of God. This is called abhidheya," (Cc. Adi-lila 7.142) You have so mercifully taught us the most confidential of all knowledge, the activity of the eternal spirit soul in the spiritual world.
Now we are actually coming to life, by your grace. Before we met with your mercy, we were engaged in so many activities, all more or less entangling, and mostly degrading and impious. Now we can understand that, although we had such a high opinion of ourselves, although we were so firmly convinced of our positions as lords of material nature, actually we were not even exhibiting symptoms of life.
jivan chavo bhagavatahghri-renum
na jatu martyo 'bhilabheta yas tu
sri-visnu-padya manujas tulasyaḥ
svasan chavo yas tu na veda gandham
"The person who has not at any time received the dust of the feet of a pure devotee of the Lord upon his head certainly is a dead body. And the person who has never experienced the fragrance of the tulasi leaves from the lotus feet of the Lord is also a dead body, although breathing." (Bhag 2.3.23).
Real life does not exist outside the approved path of devotional service, beginning with sravanam kirtanam visnoḥ. We are experiencing that we are actually becoming enlivened by this process of devotional service. Without devotional service, under your instructions, our breathing is no better than the pulsing of bellows. Actually, our every living gesture and activity is simply by your mercy. We are made of your mercy. Tomara karuna-sara.
Anything performed outside the scope of your instructions is simply conditioned activity under the influence of the three modes of material nature.
Your dearly beloved Sri Krsna, who can attract millions of Cupids, who is enlivening the cows and the senses, and who is the Lord of the gopis, is known as Bhagavan, the possessor of all opulence. We can clearly see that you are also exhibiting these opulences by His grace. Who else is so wealthy that he owns large properties in major cities all over the world, as well as farms, gorgeous mandiras and prosperous businesses? Who else is so beautiful that people all over the world will weep and dance in ecstasy to see him? Who else is so influential that he can purify the polluted atmosphere of Kali, which destroys all the good qualities of the human beings? Who is so all-knowing that he can determine what is right action in every sphere of human activity? Who is so powerful that he can defeat the greatest philosophers, politicians, and religionists? And who is so renounced that he can live surrounded by such opulence, and still sleep two or four hours a day, and dedicate his life and soul to the ultimate welfare of all? Dear Srila Prabhupada, you are so famous that at every moment, as the sun takes his course, somewhere on the planet someone is bowing and reciting prayers in your praise. Your appearance is epoch-making, and your characteristics and mission are described in the Vedic scriptures. Vede gay yahara carito.
We regret that our devotion and love for you is hardly more than skin-deep, hardly more than sentiment. You have said that when you write your translations and purports, you are thinking that this is to be a guide for the next ten thousand years. On the other hand, we find it difficult to maintain enthusiasm for more than forty-eight hours the continuous kirtana which you requested.
Dear Srila Prabhupada, we are like children. You are actually protecting us and nourishing us with the milk of the Vedic wisdom. We are as helplessly dependent on you as a naked baby is dependent on the mother. You are our real parent and guardian, for your protection is infallible.
You have written that this chanting of Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare is like the genuine cry of the baby for the mother. You have awakened us to our desperate plight and taught us to cry.
This process of devotional service is so sublime, so simple, so direct and so profound. We have only to abide strictly by your instructions, to have full faith in the chanting of the holy name. We humbly pray that you will continue to shower us with your mercy, so that we can make our lives successful, by your grace.
Your most fallen servants,
Jagat Guru Svami / Jayatirtha dasa adhikari / Vicitravirya dasa adhikari / Jaya Laksmana dasa adhikari / Puranjana dasa adhikari / Janakaraja dasa adhikari / Jnana dasa adhikari / Adi Karta dasa adhikari / Bhaja Hari dasa adhikari / Hare Krsna dasa adhikari / Raghuvira dasa brahmacari / Advaitacarya dasa brahmacari / Ilapati dasa brahmacari / Mohana dasa brahmacari / Jananandana dasa brahmacari / Muktyananda dasa brahmacari / Kulasekhara dasa brahmacari / Amita dasa brahmacari / Bhaumadeva dasa brahmacari / Citraketu dasa brahmacari / Danavira dasa brahmacari / Giri Govardhana dasa / Virabhadra dasa / Kalyapani dasa / Gokulananda dasa / Krpamaya dasa / Krsna dasa / Vamsivadana dasa / Prtivipati dasa / Rasa Mandala dasa / Bhogananda dasa / Dandakaranya dasa / Satananda dasa / Dharani Dhara dasa / Atmadana dasa / Rasa Rasika / Tirtha Kara / Akhandadi / Raghuvaha / Medhavi / Satyavak / Tulasi Priya / Yaga Yanga / Sastra Caksus / Tony Tasi / Christos / Bhagavad Bhakta / Wynn / Doug / Nick / Stuart / Kieran / Shamus / Grahma / Tyaga Tony / Ned / Bhava Bill / Panḍu Paul / Andy / Chris / Bhakta Andrew / Bhakta Jim / Alberto / lan / John / Manjvali-devi dasi / Padma-devi dasi / Jagannatha Īsvari-devi dasi / Jagattama-devi dasi / Kamalangi-devi dasi / Radha-Gokulananda-devi dasi / Hrtkamalaya-devi dasi / Venurati-devi dasi / Jalasthita-devi dasi / Jagadhatri-devi dasi / Anjana-devi dasi / Nandalala-devi dasi / Yuvati-devi dasi / Saci-devi dasi / Vasana-devi dasi / Ramya-devi dasi / Rucira-devi dasi / Srikama-devi dasi / Rasalila-devi dasi / Īsvari-devi dasi / Janaki-devi dasi / Gokularani-devi dasi / Astasakhi-devi dasi / Vrnda-devi dasi / Lilavati-devi dasi / Subhadra-devi dasi / Devaki-devi dasi / Savitri-devi dasi / Krsnanga-devi dasi / Bhaktin Diane / Bhaktin Claire / Bhaktin Anita / Bhaktin Liz / Bhaktin Joanne / Bhaktin Susan / Bhaktin Sally / Maeve / Vaisnava Carana / Kirtana Rasa / Yasoda / Yamuna / Radhakunḍa / Rukmini / Subhadra / Prahlada / Baladeva
 

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