Prayers





BRS 1.2.159 In the Narasimha Purana it is said :" He who praises Madhusudana with stotras and stavas in front of His deity form is freed from all sins and attains the planet of Visnu."


This page is about inspiring prayers from sastra that can be said every day as part of one's sadhana.  Each prayer has a benediction and should be said before the prayer as the intention, the sankalpa for reciting it.  What determines the results is the intention, the intention implies the goal. 


SBB 1.1.189 "My dear boy whatever you desire while chanting your mantra, by its power you will fully achieve it.  Indeed, you will attain more than you desire."

Comm. "Before performing any ritual including the chanting of mantras one should solemnly formulate one's sankalpa (intention) verbally or mentally."



Every living being can pray in accordance with the understanding, with the realizations that has achieved.

The devotee prays to the Lord everyday  also for protection, there must be prayers otherwise our bhakti turns absolutely mechanical.  If we do not do this praying to the Supreme Lord in our lives every morning (at least) that means we do not have a relationship with Him.

Ten Types of prayers

from Gaudiya Vaishnava Abidana

1. Samprarthanatmika - direct prayer glorifying the Lord. We have many examples of this type of prayer in Narottama Dasa's Prarthana.
2. Svadhainyabodhika - expressing humility and embarrassment, informing the Lord: I am very fallen.
3. Manah-siksa - examples are Bhajahu Re Mana by Bhaktivinod Thakur or Manah-siksa by Raghunatha das Gosvami. In this type of prayer the mind becomes a disciple and we teach it how to deal with the senses and relate to intelligence. We consider the mind a separate entity and tell it: Pull yourself together! Meditate on Krsna! The challenging spirit of intelligence becomes manifest. One function of the intelligence is to challenge the mind.
4. Vilapatmika - statements of supreme lamentation. This may be confusing; we hear the devotees are always happy, so how can a devotee lament? But this kind of lamentation is a type of devotional ecstasy - it draws a devotee closer to Krsna.
5. Vaisnava Mahimaprakasika - revealing the greatness of the Vaisnavas. Krsna doesn't want to be considered separately from the Vaisnavas, therefore we can please Him by glorifying them.
6. Sri-Guru-Vaisnava-vijnapti-rupa - statements of submission and glorification of the Vaisnavas, especially of the guru. The example is Bhaktivinoda Thakura's Ohe! Vaisnava Thakura.
7. Sridhama-vase-lipsatmika - expressing the desire to live in the holy places. There are many prayers of this kind, composed by Prabodhananda Sarasvati, glorifying Sri Vrndavana. In one of them he says: Anyone who desires to leave Vrndavana I consider to be a madman.
8. Sadhaka-dehe-lalasa-sucika - expressing the desire to practice devotional service.
9. Siddha-dehe-lalasamayi - desire to attain siddha-deha and serve Krsna in this spiritual body.
10. Aksepabodhika - lamentation again: extreme grief and sorrow that we have fallen to this material world.


Prayer by the Pracetas 

SB 4.30.33 "Dear Lord, as long as we have to remain within this material world due to our material contamination and wander from one type of body to another and from one planet to another, we pray that we may associate with those who are engaged in discussing Your pastimes.  We pray for this benediction life after life, in different bodily forms and on different planets."

Sri Garga Samhita 1.14.54-56
(A human being who regularly recites this prayer of three verses will always be happy, he will never fear.)
This prayer is also to remember the pastime of Krishna killing Trnavarta.  Mother Yasoda called for the Brahmins to chant hymns to protect small Krishna and this is what they recite.  The Garga Samhita blesses the reciter with happiness and fearlessness from the Lord.

May Lord Damodara protect your feet.
May Lord Vistarasrava protect Your knees.
May Lord Hari protect your thighs.
May the Supreme Personality of Godhead protect your navel.
May the Lord of Radha protect your hips.
May the Lord who wears yellow garments protect your abdomen.
May the Lord whose navel is a lotus flower protect Your chest.
May the Lord who lifted Govardhana Hill protect Your arms.
May the Lord of Mathura protect Your face.
May the Lord of Dvarka protect Your head. 
May the Lord who kills the demons protect Your back.
May the Supreme Personality of Godhead give you all protection.

12 Names of the Moon-like Nityananda Ram Mahasaya
[One who recites these 12 auspicious holy names of the moonlike Nityananda-candra everyday between 6 - 8.30 a.m. will become free from all difficulties, and attain all his most cherished desires. Very soon he will receive the mercy of Shri Caitanya-deva.]
(1)
nityānando 'vadhūtendur vasudhā-prāṇa-vallabhaḥ
jāhnavī-jīvita-patiḥ kṛṣṇa-prema-pradaḥ prabhuḥ

(2)
padmāvatī-sutaḥ śrīmān śacī-nandana-pūrvajaḥ
bhāvonmatto jagat-trātā rakta-gaura-kalevaraḥ

1) Sri Nityananda Prabhu is the embodiment of eternal bliss. He is the moon of all avadhutas and the beloved of the life-breath of Vasudha (His wife). Lord Nityananda is the husband, enthusing Jahnavi with life. Nityananda Rama bestows ecstatic love for Krishna and He is the Lord and Master of the devotees.

2) Sri Nityananda is the dear son of Padmavati and He is full of splendorous transcendental majesty. Nitai is the older brother of Sacimata's son Nimai. Nityananda Avadhuta is maddened in overwhelming ecstatic emotions. Sri Nityananda Prabhu is the savior of the universe. His complexion is golden tinged with red.

PRAYERS TO INVOKE THE YOGA PITH OF VRAJA

Jaya Chandravali-Duradarsa Jaya, Jaya jaya Radha-Saubhagya jaya, Jaya Jaya sri Ratna-Mandapa jaya, jaya jaya Srngara-Mandapa Jaya Jaya.  Jaya Saubharghya -Mandapa jaya, Jaya Jaya maha Madhurya Mandapa Jaya.  Jaya Samrajya-Mandapa Jaya Jaya, Jaya Surata-Mandapa Jaya Jaya.



PRAYERS from Durvasa Muni
(Sri Garga Samhita 1.20.24-26)

Benediction : (Txt 27) Nanda's son happily comes within the vision of a person who rises early and recites these prayers glorifying Him.

-With all my hear I bow down before Nanda's gently, smiling, sweetly, graceful, handsome son, whose large eyes are hundred-petal lotuses, whose lips are bimba fruits and whose complexion si splendid as a monsoon cloud.
-I offer my respectul obeisance to He who decorated with jingling anklets and ornaments, a belt of nine jewels, a beautiful necklace and a string of lion's nails, glorious with dots of black musk and His glance removing all sufferings plays as a child on the Yauna's shore.
-Obeisances obeisances to You, who are Balarama's companion and Nanda's son whose bowed head is a lotus flower and above whose full-moon face curly locks of hair glisten lie new dark monsoon clouds.

PRAYER to the DIVINE COUPLE
(Sri Garga Samhita 1.16.22-28)

Benediction (Txt 29) A person who regularly recites these prayers describing the Divine Couple, will go to the transcendental  abode of Goloka

-I take shelter fo You the origina Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishnachandra; without beginning the beginning of everything, affectionate to Your devotees, the master of countless universes, greater than the greatest and the husband of Radha.
-You are the playful king of Goloka and She is Your playful companion.  When You are the Kinf og Vaikuntha, She, the daughter of Vrsabhanu, is Goddess Lakshmi.
-When in this world You are Ramachandra, She is Janaka, daughter Sita.  When You are Lord Hari,She is Kamala,  when you are Yajna-avatara, She is Sri Dakshina, the best of wives.
-When you are Nrsimha, She is Rama, when you are Nara's friend Narayana Rsi, She becomes Goddess Santi and follows You like a Shadow.
-When you are Brahman, She is Prakrti, when You are Time, the wise Knows She is Pradhana, when You are the Mahatattva, from which the universes have sprouted, Radha is the potency Maya filled with the three modes.
-When You become the four things in the heart, She becomes the power of understanding something from a hint.  When You become the universal form which includes everything, She becomes the earth.
-I take shelter of You who are the Supremem Personality of Godhead, greater than the greatest, the master of Goloka-Dhama and who now appear a a fair and a dark splendor.

PRAYER to Srimati Radhika by Srila Visvanath Chakravarthi Thakura

"O goddess of Vrindavan, Sri Radha, O ocean of all youthfulness, virtue, beauty, pleasure-pastimes, good fortune, romantic love and compassion.  Please hear me, for there is something I want to tell You.  I wish to become Your dasi, to serve You and to make you joyful when You are with Your beloved Sri Krishna and surrounded by Your Sakhis and Manjaris.  I beg this of you. " - from Surata Kathamrita.

PRAYERS to the Munificent Gaura-Nitai
(CB AnK II 140)

Jaya Jaya Jaya Mahaprabhu Gaurachandra
dilao milao tumi prabhu Nityananda

All glories to you Lord Gaurachandra!
Kindly give me the shelter of Nityananda Prabhu and allow me to meet Him.

(CB MK III 28.189)
Sri Krisha Caitanya, Nityananda dui Prabhu
ei vancha tha yena na pasari kabhu

O Sri Krishna Caitanya and Nityananda my only desire is that I should never forget You.

(CB ANK II 5.626)

raksha raksha Nityananda Sri Bala-gopla
raksha kara prabhu tumi sarva-jiva-pala

O Nityananda, O Sri Bala-gopla, please protect me!
O Lord You are the maintaniner of all living entities, pelase protect me!


PRAYERS to Lord Jagannath
(Sri Krishna Lila Stava Txt 398-399)

O Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Jagannath, crown jewel on the head of the blue mountain! O Supreme Truth in wood, dark blue Lord, please be merciful to me.
Your eyes are wide open like lotus petals. You are the nectar on the shore of the salt ocean.  Within Your body there is a little ball.  O Master of every sort of enjoyment, please protect me.

PRAYERS to RADHARANI for Her merciful glance
From SRI Radha Kripa Kataksha by Lord Siva

"Makheshvari! Kriyeshvari! Svadheshvari! Sureshvari!
Triveda-bharatishvari! Pramana-shasaneshvari!
Rameshvari! Kshameshvari! Pramoda-kananeshvari!
Vrajeshvari! Vrajadhipe! Sri Radhike! Namo ‘stu te!"
Oh Goddess of Vedic sacrifices!
Oh Goddess of all pious activities!
Oh Goddess of all that is natural and spontaneous!
Oh Goddess of all the demigods and goddesses!
Oh Goddess of all the knowledge of the three Vedas!
Oh Goddess of the enforcement of universal law!
Oh Goddess of all the goddesses of fortune!
Oh Goddess of forgiveness!
Oh Goddess of the most pleasurable forest of Vrindavana!
Oh Goddess of the entire realm of Vraja!
Oh one and only authority of Vraja!
Oh Sri Radhika!I offer my most respectful obeisances unto You!

How to worship the deity of Bhakti devi from Sri Bhaktimala


 "Let us decorate devotional service personified--Srimati Bhakti Devi--by cleaning her with the fragrant oil of faith and then apply the scented of hearing the topics of the Supreme Lord. This will remove the dirt of our false ego. One should then bathe her with the water of remembrance and dry her with the towel of compassion. She should then be dressed with the garment of humility, and thereafter one should apply the fragrant cosmetics of firm determination. One should then adorn her with the various ornaments of chanting the Holy Names. One should then decorate her ears with earrings of the service to the devotees, and her nose with the beautiful nose ring of worshiping the Lord within the mind. One should then adorn her eyes with the shining black ointment of the association of devotees. One who decorates goddess Bhakti-devi in this way and offers her the best betel nut of the desire for uninterrupted service certainly attains the loving service of Their Lordships Sri Sri Radha Krsna. This is the verdict of all saintly persons and scriptures."

Eight Prayers Glorifying the Son of Saci


"One who humbly and with pure heart regularly reads these eight verses glorifying the son of Saci, Lord Caitanya, plunges into the great nectarean ocean of pure transcendental love."

1- "Will Lord Hari , who, when He saw His own incomparable sweetness in a mirror in Vraja, in order to become like His dearest friend Radha manifested an incomparable golden form and took birth in Bengal as the son of Saci, again walk on the path way of my eyes?"
2- "Will Saci's sone, who is sweetly bathed in the honey of the love in Isvara Puri's heart, whose feet are always worshiped by Govinda's splendid service, and whose face is worshiped with the billions of lotuses that are Svarupa Damodara's breaths, again walk on the pathway of my eyes?"
3- "Will Saci's son, who wears a kaupina and above that a saffron outer garment, whose form is like a tree trunk splendid as a golden mountain, and who loudly sings His own sweet holy names, again walk on the pathway of my eyes?"
4- "Will Saci's compassionate son, the Lord who very compassionately revealed in Bengal the vine of pure devotional service, which bears the splendid nectar of pure love as its frui, which was hidden from the Vedas, and which had been unknown to the previous sages expert in devotion, again walk on the pathway of my eyes?
5- "Will Saci's son, who, accpeting the people of Bengal as His own and teaching them as a father, said, "Please chant the Hare Krsna mantra a fixed number of times," again walk on the pathway of my eyes?"
6- "Will Saci's son, always staying at His favorite place behind the Garuda-stambha and the tears form His eyes bathing His splendid, tall form as He gazes with intense love a Lord Jagannatha, the master of Nilacala, again walk on the pathway of my eyes".
7- "Will SAci's son, who, biting His lips, which eclipse the splendor of red bandhuka flowers, placing His charming left hand on His hip, raising and waving His other hand, and the numberless hairs of His body erect, eagerly danced in ecstatic love, again walk on the pathway of my eyes?"
8- "Will Saci's son, who, overwhelmed by feelings of separation from Lord Krsna, the moon of Gokula, repeatedly fainting and seeing the whole world as dead, in a garden by a river created another river with the tears of His eyes, again walk on the pathway of my eyes?"
~~

"Radha will say, "O beautiful one, please dance," and I will dance. She will say. "Please sing", and the bees on my petals will sing a melodious song. She will say, "Please shed some tears," and honey will flow from my flowers. She will say "Please laugh," and my flowers will burst into full bloom. She will say, "Please embrace this tree," and I will embrace the tree with my tendrils, pressing my flowers against his trunk. She will say, "Please bow down before the Lord of My life," and I will fall down on the ground. In this way I will be a flowering vine completely obedient to Her every word. She will nourish me by sprinkling me with water from Her own hand. Lord Krsna will be very pleased, and He will bless me saying, "May you attain the blessings of My beloved Radha."
(Sri Vrindavana Mahimamrta, Satak 5.37 - 38)
~~

Prayer for protection from snakes (and similar characters)
SD 16.61

yamuna-hrade hi so yato
yo narayana-vahanah
yadi kalika-dantasya
yadi kakalikad bhayam
jmna-bhumi-puritrato
virviso yati kalikah

"Garuda, the bird carrier of Lor Narayana, came to visit the lake in the Yamuna.  One need no longer fear the bites of Kaliya nor his deadly poison. The Lord who protect Vrajabhumi has made Kaliya harmless."
~~
Three prayers to the demigods as servants of the Lord :

To Siva - In the mood of prema is Gopiswara Siva the guardian of Vrajadhama, he, who is very merciful and if pleased he can grant the access to the Dhama to our mind for bhajan -
Jaya jaya Gopiswara Vrindavana Majh
All glories all glories to Gopiswara Siva who resides in Vrindavana to protect the Holy Dhama!

To Brahma - this is the first line of the sloka where Brahma discover to be sitting on a lotus and he is thinking to create.  Brahma can be remembered by this line as the head of the Sampradaya  -
sa adi-devo jagatam paro guruh
"Brahma, the original devata the instructor of Bhakti for the world." SD 2.9.5

To Surya - Suryadeva deity in Surya Mandira within the forest near Radha-kunda, is very merciful and gives love of Krishna -
"I worship Suryadeva, who is the father of Yamuna and the destroyer of all diseases.  He bestows attachment to the lotus feet of Lord Krishna, therefore he is the basis of all auspiciousness." Bhakti -ratnakara Ch. 5 pg131
~~

Prayer to Tulasi Devi
When picking Tulasi leaves, chant the following mantra:

tulasy amrta janmäsi

sadä tvam kesava-priyä

kesavärthe vicinvämi

varadä bhava sobhane


O Tulasi, you were born from nectar. You are always very dear to Lord Kesava. Now, in order to worship Lord Kesava, I am collecting your leaves and manjaris. Please bestow your benediction on me.”


Tulasi Devi by her mercy can also sterilize the traumas and strings of impressions that are impediments to our Bhakti, therefore while circling around  Tulasi Devi  one can say :
"Tulasi Maharani, by bestowing your mercy you invalidate the effects of traumas and other strings of impressions that impede my Bhakti, please kindly bestow this mercy upon me."  

Also picking Tulasi's leaves while saying the name of the Deity of the Lord to whom the leaf is destined for worship.
~~ 
Praying for becoming firm in the process of Anartha Nivritti

SD 1.16.3 "Accepting Krpa as his guru and giving profuse donations ..."

This sloka has an important revealing point  : "Krpa" is addressed as a person, so this should be valid also for  other qualities. So, while practicing Anartha Nivritti whenever one of the anartha manifests offending one of the spiritual  qualities, one should repent by offering a prayer to the offended quality and saying :"I love you, forgive me, I am sorry, I am grateful."
~~
Sankalpa prayer before preaching from Bhagavatam
SD 2.7.52
"After making a sankalpa, you should speak the Bhagavatam in such a way that devotion to Hari, attractor of the mind, Bhagavan the blissful object of worship, the essence of all worship and the fulfiller of all desires, will appear in the people of Kali-Yuga."
~~
"Bhakti yoga it is a habit to pray to the Supreme Lord.
Even at the most elevated level of spiritual realization we remain a small living entity and so we have always to pray because we need His care and protection.  If do not have this habit to pray to the Lord we do not have a relationship. " BVT 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In Sri Garga Samhita (SGS 1.16.22-29) during Radhika’s wedding to Krishna, Sri Brahma offers a prayer to the Divine Couple which mentions all forms Radha’s takes to complement Krishna's forms.

This prayer gives the following benediction to the reader :

“A person who regularly recites these prayers describing the divine couple will go to the transcendental abode of Goloka. Even in this world he will be endowed with handosmeness, opulence, and many perfections.”

PRAYER :

Sri Brahma said : I take shelter of You, the original supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishnacandra, without beginning, the beginning of everything, affectionate to Your devotees, the master of countless universes, greater than the greatest and the husband of Radha. 

You are the playful king of Goloka and She is Your playful companion,  When You are the king of Vaikuntha, She, the daughter of Vrsabhanu, is Goddess Lakshmi.

When in this world You are Ramacandra, She is Janaka’s daughter Sita. When You are Lord Hari, She is Kamala.  When You are Yajna-avatara, She is Sri Daksina, the best of wives.

When You are Nrsimha, She is Rama.  When You are Nara’s friend Narayana Rsi, She becomes Goddess Santi and follows You like a shadow.

When You are Brahman, She is Prakrti. When You are Time, the wise know She is Pradhana.  When You are the Mahat-tattva, from which the universes have sprouted, Radha is the potency Maya, filled with the three modes.

When You become the four things in the heart, She becomes the power of understanding something from a hint.  When You become the universal form, which includes everything, She becomes the earth.

I take shelter of You, who are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, greater than the greatest, the master of Goloka-dhama, and who now appear a a fair and dark splendor.”


No comments:

Post a Comment