Vande Vṛndāṭavī Candraṁ

I offer my respectful obeisances to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is the moon of Vṛndāvana, a moon that is the abode of wonderful nectar and bliss, a moon that is a festival of joy for Śrī Rādhā's eyes, a moon that with the nectar and bliss tasted by both Lord Kṛṣṇa and His devotees mocks the realizations of the impersonalists rapt in meditation on "tat tvam asi" and other mahā-vākyas.

Note: This English translation of this and the following seven Sanskrit verses is based on Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura's own Bengali translations of them.

I offer my respectful obeisances to the feet of Lord Caitanya, which are the place where Lord Kṛṣṇa's devotees, devotees who have thrown far away the heavy burden that is Śaṅkarācārya'a theory of impersonalism, take shelter.

I offer my respectful obeisances to worshipable Kṛṣṇānanda-svarūpa Gurudeva Gosvāmī Prabhu, for whose pleasure I will now write this Kalyāṇa-kalpataru.

A person who does not like spiritual nectar and bliss will not read this book, which is a jewelry-case of spiritual love.

Note: Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura explains that the word “prākṛta" (material) refers to the five material eleements, the five material sense-objects, the five material working senses, the five material knowledge-acquiring senses, and the material mind, intelligence, false-ego, and mahat-tattva. What is beyond these 24 material elements is called "aprākṛta". The word "aprākṛta" then refers to that which is made of spiritual bliss and nectar. Persons who do not like spiritual bliss will not read this book, which is like a jewelry-case where spiritual love is kept. Because they have no power to taste the sweetness of spiritual nectar, these persons think only of the dull material pleasures present in the material body. In this way they are always plunged in an ocean of pathetic material desires.

In the world of Vaikuṇṭha, in the forest of Niḥśreyasa-vana (the forest of the supreme good), this auspicious kalyāṇa-kalpataru desire-tree is splendidly manifest.

To please the wise, this tree has three main branches: 1. upadeśa (instruction), 2. upalabdhi (realization), and 3. Ucchvāsa (ecstasy).

Taking shelter of this tree, a wise person will pick its auspicious fruit, fruit that is service to Śrī Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa in Their pastimes in Vṛndāvana forest, the innermost, most private part of the spiritual world.

Worshiping the Vaiṣṇavas, who live in Vraja, Jagannātha Purī, and Navadvīpa, worshiping the brāhmaṇas, who are attached either to karma (pious rituals) or jñāna (philosophical speculation), and worshiping all living entities, from the demigod Brahmā down to the cāṇḍālas and dogs, again and again I humbly sing these songs about Vraja.