Favorite Gaudiya prayers, verses, songs, excerpts, that we still cherish Options

[Milla]

Lord Caitanya's Song of the Yogi (CC Antya 14.40-51 )

Thus Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu would chant and dance, always absorbed in the bliss of transcendental madness. He carried out the necessities of the body, such as eating and bathing, merely out of habit.

At night, Lord Caitanya would reveal to Svarupa Damodara and Ramananda Raya the ecstatic feelings of His mind.

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, "At first My mind somehow achieved the treasure of Krsna, but it again lost Him. Therefore it gave up My body and home because of lamentation and accepted the religious principles of a kapalika-yogi. Then My mind went to Vrndavana with its disciples, My senses."

Having lost His acquired gem, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu became overwhelmed with lamentation by remembering its attributes. Then, grasping the necks of Ramananda Raya and Svarupa Damodara Gosvami, He cried, "Alas, where is My Lord Hari? Where is Hari?" Finally He became restless and lost all patience.

"My dear friends," He said, "please hear of Krsna's sweetness. Because of a great desire for that sweetness, My mind has given up all social and Vedic religious principles and taken to the profession of begging, exactly like a mystic yogi.

"The ring of Krsna's rasa-lila, manufactured by Sukadeva Gosvami, the most auspicious craftsman, is as pure as an earring made from a conchshell. The yogi of My mind is wearing that earring upon his ear. From a gourd he has carved out the bowl of My aspirations, and he has taken the bag of My expectations on his shoulder.

"The yogi of My mind wears the torn quilt of anxiety on his dirty body, which is covered with dust and ashes. His only words are,'Alas! Krsna!' He wears twelve bangles of distress on his wrist and a turban of greed on his head. Because he has not eaten anything, he is very thin.

"The great yogi of My mind always studies the poetry and discussions of Lord Krsna's Vrndavana pastimes. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam and other scriptures, great saintly yogis like Vyasadeva and Sukadeva Gosvami have described Lord Krsna as the Supersoul, beyond all material contamination.

"The mystic yogi of My mind has assumed the name Mahabaula and made disciples of My ten senses. Thus My mind has gone to Vrndavana, leaving aside the home of My body and the great treasure of material enjoyment.

"In Vrndavana, he goes from door to door begging alms with all his disciples. He begs from both the moving and the inert inhabitants--the citizens, the trees and the creepers. In this way he lives on fruits, roots and leaves.

"The gopis of Vrajabhumi always taste the nectar of Krsna's attributes, His beauty, His sweetness, His aroma, the sound of His flute and the touch of His body. My mind's five disciples, the senses of perception, gather the remnants of that nectar from the gopis and bring them to the yogi of My mind. The senses maintain their lives by eating those remnants.

"There is a solitary garden where Krsna enjoys His pastimes, and in one corner of a pavilion in that garden, the yogi of My mind, along with his disciples, practices mystic yoga. Wanting to see Krsna directly, this yogi remains awake throughout the night, meditating on Krsna who is the Supersoul, uncontaminated by the three modes of nature.

"When My mind lost the association of Krsna and could no longer see Him, he became depressed and took up mystic yoga. In the void of separation from Krsna, he experienced ten transcendental transformations. Agitated by these transformations, My mind fled, leaving My body, his place of residence, empty. Thus I am completely in trance."

[Bhaktavasya]

The Govindam prayers.

excerpt:

Venum kvanantam aravinda-dalayataksam

barhavatam samasitambuda-sundarangam

kandarpa-koti-kamaniya vishesha-shobham

govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami


angani yasya sakalendriya-vrittimanti

pashyanti panti kalayanti chiram jaganti

ananda-chinmaya-sad-ujjvala-vigrahasya

BV replies:  This is also one of my f



govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami

Yamuna's version is engraved upon my mind from many mornings of ecstatic darshan. I also like Pia's version which I downloaded from Apple's music store.

I still love to sing it.

This reminds me of a time when Prabhupad said we could worship the
Deities on the altar, after 2nd initiation, by chanting those 'select' verses
and meditating on collecting water from the Trivena (the place where
the 3 sacred rivers, the Saraswati, Ganga and Jamuna, meet and
bathing the Deities with that water (visualization in it's infancy?).

I confess that I shed actual tears of joy the first time I got to
bathe Gaura-Nitai on the altar, and suppressed tears thereafter, at
the Evanston (Chicago) temple ('74-'75). "Never let me forget
this moment" I prayed and the prayer was granted.

Unfortunately, Jayatirtha put together the 'official manual' on
Deity worship (upana-something, I can't remember anymore....some
memories are like "Ah, forget about it") resulting in pujaris
falling asleep during gayatri mantra while the Deities 'enjoyed'
their morning snack, the ridiculous 'touch your shoulder, touch
your foot' ritual before going on the altar.

This post has been edited by Bhaktavasya: Mar 28 2005, 05:47 AM

[Brainiac]

Paruma Karuna - the melody is hauntingly beautiful.

I also like Parama Karuna (both versions). And despite the dislike I felt for them, I liked the singing voices of Narayana Maharaja on the bhajan Radha-Krishna prana mora and Sridhara Maharaja's cover of Bhajahu re mana. The Govindam prayers by Yamuna were also very nice, I enjoyed the last part of it where everyone joins in and makes it a resounding chorus. It still sends chills up and down my spine.

Lots of bhajans I like, sri-krsna-caitanya-prabhu doya karo more is another one.

[Brainiac]

"The Lord's feet act like thunderbolts hurled to shatter the mountain of sin stored in the mind of the meditating devotee. One should therefore meditate on the lotus feet of the Lord for a long time." (SB 3.28.22)

I enjoyed this (half-)verse very much. Also, this one:

"With devotion steeped in love and affection, the yogī should meditate within the core of his heart upon the laughter of Lord Viṣṇu. The laughter of Viṣṇu is so captivating that it can be easily meditated upon. When the Supreme Lord is laughing, one can see His small teeth, which resemble jasmine buds rendered rosy by the splendor of His lips. Once devoting his mind to this, the yogī should no longer desire to see anything else." (SB 3.28.33)

[babu]

"Drill baby, drill" angrezi