Vaishnava Songs
Chapter

Dainya bodhika — The Author Describes His Fallen Condition

From Prarthana by Narottama Dasa Thakura.

Dainya-bodhika, the author describes his fallen condition, opens Prarthana with five songs of unguarded self-accusation — the traditional starting point for this kind of prayer-sequence, establishing honest confession before the book moves toward longing and faith. Srila Narottama Dasa Thakura, born into Bengali royalty before renouncing his inheritance to study under Srila Lokanatha Gosvami and Srila Jiva Gosvami in Vrindavana, writes here in the same plainly self-critical register that runs through his most famous single song, Hari Hari Biphale Janama Gonainu, elsewhere in his own catalogue on this site.

5 songs