Dear Srila Prabhupada,

Please accept my humble obeisances! All glories to Your Divine Grace and sacred mission!

Among the host of your guru's disciples

You alone fulfilled the order

To carry his message, more brilliant than the sun,

To dissipate darkness on western shores.

Through storms that swept the ocean

You brought tidings from afar

To proclaim that night was ending

Like the early morning star.

Seemingly alone . . . impoverished

You arrived within our midst

Giving to all . . . looking for one Who might understand

The treasure of divine love Overflowing from your heart.

You found a generation born of wealth

Who nothing of this world could satisfy

Children lost . . . unfulfilled

Our hearts starving . . . dry . . . suppressed.

Drawn to follow you

Leaving all else behind We found spiritual fulfilment

And our hearts were satisfied.

Bhakti became our daily bread

Rasa quenched our deepest thirst

And in Krsna's holy name

We found life's very breath.

What followed would be unbelievable

Other than the fact that it is true

The prophesized Golden Age

Dawning in your words, before our very eyes.

As you sang praise of Lord Gauranga

And chanted Krsna's name

Sleeping souls arose to the light of truth

Finding new hope in the dawning day.

Suddha-nama descended

To dance upon your lips

Resonating in our hearts

Awakening our love.

You sang of your beautiful homeland

Surrendered souls' most treasured goal

Where there is neither birth nor death

Though years of eternity roll.

Successive chapters have opened

As previous ones have closed

Twilight has come and darkness ensues

Shades of night cast shadowy hues

The messenger of the waters

Is with us no more

Jaladuta's last voyage sailed Back to her eastern shore.

Yet you still hold the helm

And continue to chart the course

Guiding the way

To our final destination.

With the music of your homeland

Resounding in our ears

Our hearts are drawn to join you there

Beyond the veil of tears.

The way you lead us now

Is deeper than before.

For communion speaks through separation

Cleansing comes through tears.

By hearing we can see

You are closer to us

Than we are to ourselves

In the loving embrace of your vani.

The treasure of our inheritance awaits

In the literary temple you created

Admittance to the inner sanctum granted

To those who serve your mission.

The lotus feet of Lord Gauranga

Are there enshrined

Leading beyond majestic Vaikuntha

To that charming land, Cintamani-dham.

The enchanting pastoral realm

Where the sweetness of Krsna's love abounds

Eclipsing the notion that He is God

Proclaiming that bhakti reigns supreme.

From there, your eternal residence, so far away from here

We hear your voice calling ever so clear

Even though I lag behind, bound to mortal frame

In your words I find my guide, my life, my home -everything to sustain.

It is with this assurance

That we celebrate this day

When you blessed the earth

By your glorious birth.

On this most sacred occasion

Please enrich our remembrance of the love we found in you

Who remains our faithful companion

In times of joy as well as tears.

Unite us in the memories Growing fonder every day

Bestow the faith and patience

To nurture us all the way.

Bless our attempts to follow your footprints

In word and deed as well

To harmonize through endless praise

Every heartbeat, moment, breath and day.

May the Divine Grace of Srila Vyasadeva

Who descended with your appearance

Continue to sing in your living words

To breathe new and eternal life

Into the hearts of all the world.

Your dasa anu dasa,

Varsana Swami