Śrī Guru Ārati-stuti
Ārati Prayer to Śrīla Guru Mahārāj
composed by
Succesor Sevāite-President-Āchārya
Om Viṣṇupād Tridaṇḍi Swāmī
Śrī Śrīla Bhakti Sundar Govinda Mahārāj
jaya ‘guru-mahārāja’ yati-rājeśvara
śrī-bhakti-rakṣaka deva-gosvāmī śrīdhara [1]
patita-pāvana-līlā vistāri’ bhuvane
nistārilā dīna-hīna āpāmara jane [2]
tomāra karuṇā-ghana murati heriyā
preme bhāgyavāna jīva paḍe murachiyā [3]
sudīrgha supībya deha divya-bhāvāśraya
divya-jñāna-dīpta-netra divya-jyotirmaya [4]
suvarṇa-sūraja-kānti aruṇa-vasana
tilaka, tulasī-mālā, chandana-bhūṣaṇa [5]
apūrva śrī-aṅga-śobhā kare jhalamala
audārya-unnata-bhāva mādhurya-ujjvala [6]
achintya pratibhā, snigdha, gambhīra, udāra
jaḍa-jñāna-giri-vajra divya- dīkṣādhāra [7]
gaura-saṅkīrtana-rāsa-rasera āśraya
“dayāla nitāi” nāme nitya premamaya [8]
sāṅgopāṅge gaura-dhāme nitya-parakāśa
gupta-govardhane divya-līlāra-vilāsa [9]
gauḍīya-āchārya-goṣṭhī-gaurava-bhājana
gauḍīya-siddhānta-maṇi kaṇṭha-vibhūṣaṇa [10]
gaura-sarasvatī-sphūrta siddhāntera khani
āviṣkṛta gāyatrīra artha-chintāmaṇi [11]
eka-tattva varṇanete nitya-nava-bhāva
susaṅgati, sāmañjasya, e saba prabhāva [12]
tomāra satīrtha-varga sabe eka-mate
rūpa-sarasvatī-dhārā dekhena tomāte [13]
tulasī-mālikā-haste śrī-nāma-grahaṇa
dekhi’ sakalera haya ‘prabhu’ uddīpana [14]
koṭī-chandra-suśītala o pada bharasā
gāndharvā-govinda-līlāmṛta-lābha-āśā [ 15]
avichintya-bhedābheda-siddhānta-prakāśa
sānande ārati stuti kare dina-dāsa [16]
— Śrīla Śrī Bhakti Sundar Govinda Mahārāj
All glory to you, ‘Guru Mahārāj’,
Of sannyāsī kings, the Emperor:
The glorious Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣak
Dev-Goswāmī Śrīdhar.
Extending in this world your Pastimes
As savior of the fallen,
You delivered all the suffering souls,
Including the most forsaken.
Beholding your holy form
Of concentrated mercy,
The fortunate souls fall in a swoon
Of divine love’s ecstasy.
Your lofty form of divine emotion
Is nectar for our eyes;
With divine knowledge and shining eyes,
Your effulgence fills the skies.
A golden sun resplendent,
In robes of saffron dressed;
Adorned with tilak, tulasī beads,
And with sandal fragrance blessed.
The matchless beauty of your holy form,
Dazzling in its brightness;
Your benevolence of most noble heart,
In the glow of pure love’s sweetness.
Inconceivable genius, affection,
Gravity, magnanimity —
A thunderbolt crushing mundane knowledge,
The reservoir bestowing divinity.
In the Golden Lord’s Saṅkīrtan Dance,
You revel ecstatically;
“Dayāl Nitāi, Dayāl Nitāi!”
You ever call so lovingly.
Eternally present in Nabadwīp Dhām
With your associates, by your sweet will,
You enjoy your holy pastimes
On hidden Govardhan Hill.
You’re the fit recipient of your dignity
In the Gauḍīya Āchārya assembly,
The jewel of the Gauḍīya-siddhānta
Adorning your chest so nobly.
You’re the living message of Śrī Gaura,
You’re the mine of perfect conclusions;
You revealed the gāyatrī’s inner purport:
The gem fulfilling all aspirations.
When you speak, one subject alone
Is revealed in ever-new light;
Proper adjustment, and harmony —
All these are your spiritual might.
All your dear Godbrothers
Declare unanimously
They see within your Holiness
The line of Rūpa-Saraswatī.
Seeing you take the Holy Name,
With tulasī beads in hand,
Awakens the thought of the Lord
In everybody’s mind.
Your feet, cooling like ten million moons —
In their service all faith do I place;
The nectar of Rādhā-Govinda’s pastimes
One day we may drink, by your grace.
O personification of perfect conclusions
Inconceivably one, yet different!
I sing this prayer at your ārati,
With joy — your humble servant.