Nandgram Dham
Vaishnava Songs · nandgramdham.org/songs
Virahastakam
First Octet -- The Flood of Krsna Prema
O Srila
Prabhupada! You personally suffer to see the
suffering of the fallen conditioned souls. On this anniversary of your
separation I am utterly despondent.
"The ocean of mercy was previously held back
by a dam, but Lord Nityananda personally cut a
channel in it and thereby released the outpouring flood of pure ecstatic love
of God. " (from Locana's dasa's song Nitai Guna mani)
Those devotees to whom the responsiblity was given to continue spreading this flood of
love somehow became overpowered by Maya and were thus reduced to simply
performing ritualistic Hindu ceremonies for the benefit of the materialists.
Lord Nityananda's
inundation of prema was thus completely stopped by
those known as jati-gosai (caste gosvamis)
But then you personally came, O Master to open wide the floodgates once again.
Again you engulfed everyone
in the deluge of pure divine love- even such a low, wretched, fallen and sinful
soul as myself.
On the strength of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu's command you
sent all of your servants as spiritual masters, going from door to door, just
to deliver the fallen souls.
The devotees were
enthusiastically preaching everywhere- from the oceans to the Himalaya mountains, But now that you have gone from our midst
everything today has become very dark.
O Srila
Prabhupada! You personally suffer to see the
suffering of the fallen conditioned souls. On this day of your separation I am
utterly despondent.
Second Octet -- The Merciful Flood Has Been Stopped
Just as Advaita
Prabhu had prayed fervently and thus induced Sri Gauranga to descend, so did your father, Bhaktivinoda Thakura, pray for
you to incarnate.
Due to Bhaktivinoda's
eagerness, O Master, you came and proclaimed to everyone that India is the most
holy land of the Lord's divine pastimes.
"One who has taken
birth in this land of Bharata-bhumi (India) should
first make his own life successful and then work for the benefit of all other
people" (C.C Adi 9.41)
This is the most
significant message of Lord Caitanya that you boldly
preached everywhere. But now in your absence, O Master, everything has fallen
into darkness.
The overflowing ocean of
your compassion has once again been dammed up. This makes me feel as if a spear
of great misery has indeed pierced my heart.
Without Caitanya
Mahaprabhu's message being spread there is only
confusion and upheaval in the movement. Seeing this situation, all the Vaisnavas are also feeling overwhelmed with the pangs of
your separation.
The spirit souls have once
again been captured by Maya and plunged into absolute darkness. Desperately
searching for relief, they are simply perishing in a fathomless ocean of
anxiety.
O Srila
Prabhupada! You personally suffer to see the
suffering of the fallen conditioned souls. On this day of your separation I am
utterly despondent.
Third Octet -- Practical Chanting and Preaching
You instructed everyone you
met to chant the holy name of Lord Krsna. You showed
the example of continually reciting the maha-mantra
into their ears.
You empowered everyone with
the qualification to further distribute that holy name But now, by the
influence of Maya, there is only darkness on all sides.
The souls who are truly
attached to worshiping the Lord always sing and dance in joyful sankirtana. Following in the footsteps of their spiritual
master, they deliver the whole world.
But those who have no such
qualification perform nirjana bhajana
or so-called confidential worship in a solitary place. Thus acting whimsically,
all of them actually remain absorbed in personal sense gratification.
[As stated in the Srimad Bhagavatam 10,33,30]:
"An ordinary soul should never imitate the activities of the Supreme Lord,
even in his mind." According to these instructions in devotional service,
the unqualified imitators are ruined.
You preached "utility
is the principle"- that is, one should act without attachment and use anything
that is deemed appropriate in the devotional service of the Lord.
In such detached devotional
service to Lord Krsna there would be a temple
established in every house But now just the opposite situation is apparent
everywhere.
O Srila
Prabhupada! You personally suffer to see the
suffering of the fallen conditioned souls. On this day of your separation I am
utterly despondent.
Fourth Octet -- The Essential Purport Neglected
Everything regarding
material prosperity as well as mystic perfection is fully present in your
transcendental message: "Because the residents of Vraja
have life, therefore they engage in preaching work." (Dusta
Mana verse)
.41] is now spoiled since your disciples have become ensnared in the
bewildering noose of Maya.
Those disciples who were
irresolute in performing devotional service according to your instructions have
now divided your mission in many factions. It appears that the tigress of
ambition for material names and fame has appeared and personally provoked this
upheaval.
The essential purport of
your message obviously did not enter their ears. O where will I get the
strength to perform this hari-nama-sankirtana?
To chant the holy name of
the Lord is the explicit command of my worshipful spiritual master. I could
never honestly neglect that order
Your greatest acclaim is that
you propagated the topmost religious culture. Anyone who accepts the holy name
from you becomes spiritually qualified.
If all those who attained
this qualification were to go out and make disciples then the miserable
conditioned souls would all be delivered from this world of birth and death.
O Srila
Prabhupada! You personally suffer to see the
suffering of the fallen conditioned souls. On this day of your separation I am
utterly despondent.
Fifth Octet -- The Disciple's Empowerment is Lost
The greatest mantra of all,
consisting of thirty-two letters, is
hare krsna
hare krsna krsna krsna hare hare
hare rama
hare rama rama rama hare hare
People who are possessed by
gross foolishness refuse to chant it.
Your so-called disciple, the jackal named Ananta Vasudeva, disobeyed your
final instructions to keep the mission united, and thereby created a scandalous
fiasco. The result of this philosophical deviation is evident to this day as
imitative sahajiyas are being worshiped as gurus in
your temples.
Is there a single temple to
be found where your instructions are still being followed? As it is said:
"punar musiko bhava"- Everyone has "again become a mouse."
The lion's food has been
stolen away by the deceptive tricks of the jackal Now caught in Maya's mighty
clutches everyone is reduced to wailing and weeping.
O Master! If your are
merciful to us one again, then even though we are trapped here on the shores of
the ocean of death, we will finally behold a change for the better.
Then once again we can
blissfully remember the holy name of Krsna, and once
again we will have firm faith in your "Vaikuntha
messages."
Once again you will make us
dance in the pure holy name of Krsna. thus you will
personally dispel all this confusion caused by Maya.
O Srila
Prabhupada! You personally suffer to see the
suffering of the fallen conditioned souls. On this day of your separation I am
utterly despondent.
Sixth Octet -- The Preaching Mission is Scattered
"Continue dancing,
singing and performing sankirtana in the association
of devotees." ( C.C. Adi 7.92) These words
spoken by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu
are especially nectarine.
If we have complete faith
in these instructions given by you, our spiritual master, then in the
performance of sankirtana actual love for Krsna will be aroused in us.
Without love of God, our
tiny intelligence only becomes entangled in the network of Maya's delusions
Because no one actually attained prema, now there has
been great upheaval in your mission.
The whole world has become
filled with impersonalists, and the Vaisnavas have given up the work of preaching that was
entrusted unto them and have simply gone off to perform solitary worship.
The Vaisnava's
were famous as "patita pavana"
( deliverers of the fallen) but now this title has fallen into disgrace.
Countless numbers of your disciples have been forced to leave your movement.
At such an inauspicious
time, O Master, what can be done to repair the damage that is done? The
beautiful garden that you had so carefully planted is now parched and withered
away.
O Master, please awaken
some good intelligence in this insignificant disciple of yours so that my firm faith
in your transcendental message may increase more and more.
O Srila
Prabhupada! You personally suffer to see the
suffering of the fallen conditioned souls. On this day of your separation I am
utterly despondent.
Seventh Octet -- Distributing the Pure Devotional Process
The most magnanimous
incarnation of the Lord is Sri Krsna Caitanya. Distributing the process of attaining love of God
by chanting the holy names of Krsna, He thus blessed
the entire universe.
O Master, you are the
personification of the transcendental message of Lord Caitanya.
You are the distributor of that message to every town and village.
You sent your devotees to
preach in the faraway lands of the Western countries, and you personally
traveled all over India, even to the South.
You preached the pure
philosophy of Lord Gauranga in such a way that
intelligent persons could understand. And you showed such great concern, O
Master, in convincing all you adversaries!
Lord Gauranga
used many tricks just to engage the conditioned souls in devotional service,
and you have also understood how to use all those tricks perfectly well.
You understood time, place
and circumstance, and utilized everything as a strategy for preaching. Although
observing your activities with their very eyes. those who are blind like owls
and other creatures of the night could not see your true purpose.
What will the Auls and the Sahajiyas and the
other nonsense groups ever understand? And what will the sheep-like common
people or dry logicians ever understand?
O Srila
Prabhupada! You personally suffer to see the
suffering of the fallen conditioned souls. On this day of your separation I am
utterly despondent.
Eighth Octet -- If Only You would Come Again
Lord Caitanya's
method of devotional service is not performed in solitude. You preached this
again and again to your own devotees.
Just as the Lord delivered Jagai and Madhai out of His own
causeless mercy, you explained to everyone that this same method of preaching
work has to go on.
The world has now filled up
with many Jagais and Madhais
to deliver. Everyone is anxiously looking down the road waiting for Caitanya-Nitai to come to their rescue.
If, at such a time as this,
you were to personally return to this world and once more preach about all
these things the way you always used to do…
If there were enthusiastic
preaching activities again taking place in every direction, then all the people
as before would be stirred up in blissful excitement.
Your profound shouting
would cause the demons and atheists to flee, and your narrations of Lord Caitanya's message would fill the hearts of the innocent
souls.
Again the whole world would
be excitedly bustling with good tidings; but as it is, in your absence now
there is nothing of value anywhere.
O Srila
Prabhupada! You personally suffer to see the
suffering of the fallen conditioned souls. On this day of your separation I am
utterly despondent.
O Master! My heart is
broken in your absence. This disciple named Abhay has
hereby revealed only a small token of his wretched agony of separation.
About Virahastakam
These eight octets of prayers were written in 1959 in lieu of the disappearance anniversary of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura.
Frequently asked
Who wrote Virahastakam?
Virahastakam was composed by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
How many verses does Virahastakam have?
Virahastakam has 65 verses.
Can I download Virahastakam as a PPT or PDF?
Yes. A ready-to-display slide deck for Virahastakam — verse and translation on each slide — is available to download in both PowerPoint (.pptx) and PDF formats from this page, for use in kirtan or temple programs.