Mauritius

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu declared,
Let no one on the earth be spared,
To every corner you must go,
The holy name they all must know.

As a glimpse of the morning sun
Drives darkness away from one,
So the holy sound from lips divine
Can cause a heart steel-framed to shine.

But this world is a dangerous place,
And personal ambition can mean disgrace,
For many years the mission slowed,
The earth was deep in terror bowed.

Many great stalwarts easily fell
To jackals and snakes within a dry well,
Allured by palaces built on the air
Or bewildered by ghosts, all was despair.

There was need of a great and powerful soul,
In the mold of Prahlada and Narada of old,
A perfect devotee, the time was now due
For His Divine Grace, the truth to imbue.

The wisdom of Krsna's eternal line,
Not theories and gestures changing with time,
The nectarean songs of Bhaktivinoda
Replaced the prattle of popular ode.

As Bhattaharis stole the Lord's Krsnadasa
We'd been polluted and rendered fifth class,
You appeared shining like the Lord Gauraṅga,
We were free! Our captors torn asunder.

O moonlike devotee of eternal fame,
I pray for the world to remember your name,
For this alone can give them relief,
And the seed of devotion at His lotus feet.