A Prayer From a Pure Devotee

This is a prayer composed by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada upon his arrival to Boston Harbor, on September 18th, 1965. The poem is written in Bengali. It is a heartfelt request to Lord Krishna for guidance and strength to fulfill the instruction of his spiritual master Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur. Srila Prabhupada was instructed to preach the message of Srimad Bhagavatam to the Western world. With only a few rupees, a pair of kartals and few sets of 3-volume Bhagavatams, he arrived in the USA. Although it seems like he had nothing, he had the most important thing that the whole western world didn't even know it was greatly lacking. He had full faith in Lord Krishna and his spiritual master and the knowledge of Bhagavata Dharma. This poem is a perfect example of the humble attitude and full renunciation of a pure devotee. We should aim to achieve such attitue.

Please listen to his humble prayers...

Mārkine Bhāgavata-dharma

baro-kṛpā kaile kṛṣṇa adhamer prati

ki lāgiyānile hethā koro ebe gati

My dear Lord Kṛṣṇa, 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.

āche kichu kārja taba ei anumāne

nahe keno āniben ei ugra-sthāne

But I guess You have some business here, otherwise why would You bring me to this terrible place?

rajas tamo guṇe erā sabāi ācchanna

bāsudeb-kathā ruci nahe se prasanna

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 Vāsudeva. I do not know how they will be able to understand it.

tabe jadi taba kṛpā hoy ahaitukī

sakal-i sambhava hoy tumi se kautukī

But I know Your causeless mercy can make everything possible, because You are the most expert mystic.

ki bhāve bujhāle tārā bujhe sei rasa

eta kṛpā koro prabhu kori nija-baśa

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.

tomāra icchāya saba hoy māyā-baśa

tomāra icchāya nāśa māyār paraśa

All living entities have come 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.

taba icchā hoy jadi tādera uddhār

bujhibe niścai tabe kathā se tomār

I wish that You may deliver them. Therefore if You so desire their deliverance, then only will they be able to understand Your message.

bhāgavater kathā se taba avatār

dhīra haiyā śune jadi kāne bār bār

The words of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam are Your incarnation, and if a sober person repeatedly receives it with submissive aural reception, then he will be able to understand Your message.

śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ

puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ

hṛdy antaḥ-stho hy abhadrāṇi

vidhunoti suhṛt satām

naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu

nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā

bhagavaty uttama-śloke

bhaktir bhavati naiṣṭhikī

tadā rajas-tamo-bhāvāḥ

kāma-lobhādayaś ca ye

ceta etair anāviddhaṁ

sthitaṁ sattve prasīdati

evaṁ prasanna-manaso

bhagavad-bhakti-yogataḥ

bhagavat-tattva-vijñānaṁ

mukta-saṅgasya jāyate

bhidyate hṛdaya-granthiś

chidyante sarva-saṁśayāḥ

kṣīyante cāsya karmāṇi

dṛṣṭa evātmanīśvare

It is said in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.17–21): “Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramātmā [Supersoul] in everyone’s heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who relishes His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted. By regularly hearing the Bhāgavatam and rendering service unto the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the heart is practically destroyed, and loving service unto the glorious Lord, who is praised with transcendental songs, is established as an irrevocable fact. At the time loving service is established in the heart, the modes of passion [rajas] and ignorance [tamas] and lust and desire [kāma] disappear from the heart. Then the devotee is established in goodness and he becomes happy. Thus established in the mode of goodness, the man rejuvenated by loving service to the Lord gains liberation from material association [mukti] and comes to know scientifically of the Personality of Godhead. Thus the knots of the heart and all misgivings are cut to pieces. The chain of fruitive actions [karma] is terminated when one sees the Self as master.”

rajas tamo hate tabe pāibe nistār

hṛdayer abhadra sab ghucibe tāhār

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.

ki ko’re bujhābo kathā baro sei cāhi

khudra āmi dīna hīna kono śakti nāhi

How will I make them understand this message of Kṛṣṇa 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.

athaca enecho prabhu kathā bolibāre

je tomār icchā prabhu koro ei bāre

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.

akhila jagat-guru! bacana se āmār

alaṅkṛta koribār khamatā tomār

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.

taba kṛpā ha’le mor kathā śuddha habe

śuniyā sabāra śoka duḥkha je ghucibe

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.

āniyācho jadi prabhu āmāre nācāte

nācāo nācāo prabhu nacāo se-mate

kāṣṭhera puttali jathā nācāo se-mate

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.

bhakti nāi beda nāi nāme khub daro

“bhaktivedānta” nām ebe sārthak koro

I have no devotion, nor do I have any knowledge, but I have strong faith in the holy name of Kṛṣṇa. I have been designated as Bhaktivedanta, and now, if You like, You can fulfill the real purport of Bhaktivedanta.

Signed – the most unfortunate,

insignificant beggar

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami,

on board the ship Jaladuta,

Commonwealth Pier,

Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

dated 18th of September, 1965