(The glories of our spiritual master and the previous ācāryas)

By Jayapatākā Swami (2013)

sārā viśve harināma bilāilā, gītā-bhāgavata subhāṣya racilā,
aṣṭottara śata mandira gaḍilā bhaktivedānta svāmī
prati deśe deśe śrī-kṛṣṇa-cetanā, diyā śikhāilā ghucāte yātanā,
kṛpā-śrī-mūrti abhaya-caraṇa prabhupāda praṇami

I offer my respectful obeisances unto His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedānta Swami Prabhupāda who distributed the holy names of Lord Hari throughout the world. He composed excellent commentaries on the Gītā and Bhāgavatam. He erected 108 temples and in order to rescue the populace from the torments of material existence, he distributed and taught Kṛṣṇa consciousness in every land.

vartamāna guru āvirbhāva-vāsare, pūrvācāryera guṇa kīrtana kare,
pūrvācārya smṛti utsave tāṅra mahimā karaye gāṇa
ācāryagaṇera māhātmya smarile, hṛdaya bhāsibe bhakati salile,
śrī-gaurāṅgera priyajana kathā rahe sadā amlāna

On the auspicious appearance day of our current spiritual master, we sing the glories of the predecessor ācāryas; on festivals commemorating the previous ācāryas we sing his glories. By remembering the glory of the ācāryas, the heart will float in the waters of bhakti for topics of Śrī Gaurāṅga’s dear associates remain fresh forever.

siddha bābājī jagannātha nami, yāṅra nirdeśita gaura-janma-bhūmi,
mahāmantra āge kahe smaraṇīya pañcatattva nāma
gauravana āra śrī-vṛndāvana, abhinna bali karilā gaṇana,
tabu kahe sukhasādhanāra bhūmi śrī-navadvīpa-dhāma

I offer my respectful obeisances unto Siddha Jagannātha dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja who pointed out the location of Lord Gaura’s place of birth. He instructed that the holy names of the Pañcatattva be remembered before the chanting of mahāmantra. He considered that the forest of Śrī Gaura (Navadvīpa-maṇḍala) to be non-different from Śrī Vṛndāvana. Yet he instructed that Śrī Navadvīpa-dhāma is the place of transcendental blissful sādhanā.

bhakativinoda caraṇe praṇati, dhāma unnayana, mahimā vijñapti,
karilā nityānanda-nāmahaṭṭa punarāya sthāpana
āula-bāulādi-apasampradāya, caitanya-virodhī matera vidhāya,
śāstra-rāśi dekhi vaiṣṇava dharma karilā saṅkalana

I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura who developed the holy Navadvīpa-dhāma, preached its glories and reestablished Lord Nityānanda’s Nāma-haṭṭa. He eradicated the teachings of the āula, bāula and other apasampradāyas that opposed Lord Caitanya’s pure teachings. Studying the scriptures, he composed books on Vaiṣṇava-dharma.

gaurakiśora bābājī praṇati, vairāgya bhāvera ujālā-mūrati,
vipralambha-rase nāma divā-rāti vinaya bhāvete raya
aśikṣita bali bhāviyā nijere, śuddha bhaktati loke śekhābāre,
priya-śiṣya siddhānta sarasvatīre śakati sañcāriya

I offer my respectful obeisances unto Śrīla Gaurakiśora dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja, the brilliant personification of the mood of renunciation. Day and night, he chanted the holy names in the ecstatic mood of separation from Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa in humility. Considered himself an illiterate, he empowered his disciple Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī to teach the world pure devotional service to Kṛṣṇa.

sarasvatī-prabhupāde praṇati, śrīvāsāṅgana yogapīṭhādi unnati,
navadvīpa-parikramā dala kari cauṣaṭṭi maṭha gaḍe
vaiṣṇava upanayana-yogya haya, viprāpekṣā tānra beśī guṇa kaya,
jāta-gonsāira apasiddhānta sadā khaṇḍana kare

I offer my respectful obeisances unto Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Prabhupāda who developed Śrīvāsāṅgana, the Yoga-pīṭha and other places in Navadvīpa-maṇḍala. He organized the Śrī Navadvīpa-maṇḍala-parikramā in groups and established sixty-four Gauḍīya Maṭhas. He said that Vaiṣṇavas are eligible for receiving the sacred brāhmaṇa thread as they are more qualified than brāhmaṇas. He constantly refuted the deviant philosophies of the caste gosvāmī community.

ādeśa karilā abhaya-caraṇe, gaura-kṛpā diyā pāścātya-tāraṇe,
bhakati grantha likhiyā karaha duniyāte vitaraṇa
bhaktativedānta svāmī prabhupāda, kṛṣṇa-bhāvanāmṛta dānilā agādha,
guru-tuṣṭi lāgi sakali karilā kari ātma-samarpaṇa

He ordered Abhayacaraṇa (Bhaktivedānta Swami Śrīla Prabhupāda) to deliver the West by distributing Lord Gaura’s mercy. He directly ordered, “Write books on devotional service and distribute them profusely all over the world.” Thus Bhaktivedānta Swami Prabhupāda freely distributed Kṛṣṇa consciousness and did everything to satisfy his spiritual master, in absolute self-surrender.

gaḍilā eka paricālaka-maṇḍalī, sthāpana karilā bhitti āpani,
vaidika-tārā-maṇdala-mandira māyāpure manoramā
nirdeśa karilā vaidika-nagarī gaurāṅga-sevā divā-vibhāvarī,
viśva-bhakta-gaṇe āniyā karaye navadvīpa-parikramā

He formed a Governing Body Commission to manage his International Society for Krishna Consciousness and laid the foundation stone of the attractive Temple of Vedic Planetarium in Māyāpur. He instructed that a Vedic city be established there for engaging in the service of Lord Gaurāṅga day and night. He also brought devotees from all over the world to participate in Navadvīpa-maṇḍala-parikramā.

dhari pūrvācāryagaṇera ādarśa, āgāite nāhi kabhu vimarṣa,
bhakta tairi kari kahilā tādera kṛṣṇa-sevā-prasāra
āniyā śrī-bhagavānera vāṇī, nirviśeṣa-vāda karilā hāni,
vigraha-sevādi śikhāya gṛhe paddhati karibāra

Holding the ideals of his predecessor-ācāryas in his heart, he was never morose to move ahead in his service to them. Making many devotees, he ordered them to expand their service unto Lord Kṛṣṇa. Bringing forth the teachings of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he destroyed the philosophy of impersonalism and taught how to worship the Deity form of Lord Kṛṣṇa at home.

pūrvācārya-gaṇe anusaraṇa, ei chila tānra saphala-sādhana,
sahayogīgaṇe cira kṛtajñatā jānāya sneha-mākhā
sakala pūrva ācārya-gaṇa, kṛpāśīṣa kari śire dhāraṇa,
tāṅdera mahimā kīrtana kare (e) dāsa jayapatākā

The success of his endeavours was due to his following the previous ācāryas and he conveys his affectionate gratitude to those who cooperate with him. This servant named Jayapatākā holds the merciful blessings of all previous ācāryas on his head and sings their glories.