Vaiṣṇava Nimantraṇa (Invitation to the Vaiṣṇavas)

yabe prabhu gaura-candra ānanda taraṅge
rasāila bhū-maṇḍala, samudra yemati
purā kāle bhāsāila pṛthivīra uccha
giri-cūḍā jala-bege, kena se samaye
nā janminu bhāgya hīna narādhama āmi?
nārilāma āsvādite se prema-laharī

When Gaura-candra, in waves of bliss,
inundated the entire world, just as the ocean
Flooded the rising peaks of the earth
And the mountain summits were submerged in torrents of water
Why was I not born then, unfortunate and lowly amongst men as I am?
Why was I unable to taste that wave of prema?

kena āmi nā rahinu se apūrva-kāle
sevite caitanya pada? kena nā hainu
rūpa sanātana dāsa? kena nā bahinu
raghunāthera karaṅga?
rāmānanda sane kena nā phirinu
āmi cakra-tīrtha mājhe?

Why did I not live in that wondrous age,
To serve the feet of Śrī Caitanya? Why was I not
A servant of Rūpa-Sanātana? Why did I not bear
The water-pot of Raghunātha?
Why did I not wander with Rāmānanda
Through Cakra-tīrtha?

kena nā dekhinu sārvabhaumera uddhāra
kāśī-vāsī daṇḍi-pati prakāśa ānanda
sarasvatī saṅge saha kutarka chāḍiyā
bhakti rūpī parānanda labhila ye kāle
prabhu sthāne, kene āmi nā cāhinu hāya
se tarka taraṅga sudhā hari-bhakti pūrṇa?

Why did I not witness Sārvabhauma’s deliverance,
Or the leader of the sannyāsīs of Kāśī, Prakāśānanda
Sarasvatī, when he rejected useless rhetoric,
And attained supreme bliss in the form of bhakti.
Alas, why did I not desire to behold the Lord’s presence,
And His wave of logic, fully saturated with hari-bhakti?

ehena vāñchita pada yadio durlabha,
tabuo hatāma dhanya yadi se samaye
janmitāma vipra-kule tarkakāṇḍī haye
tā hale jīvera bandhu śrī kṛṣṇa caitanya
āmā lakṣi chāḍitena tīkṣṇa tarka-bāṇa,
laitena daṇḍa diyā ehena pāṣaṇḍe
pada-tale sampitena hari-dāse more
hari-nāme śudhibāre e duṣṭa hṛdaya

Even though that coveted state is difficult to attain,
Still I would have considered myself fortunate if at that time,
I was born in a brāhmaṇa family, engaged in logic and debate.
Then the friend of all jīvas, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya,
Would notice me, release His sharp arrows of logic,
Grab this atheist, and bestow punishment unto me.
Offering me at the feet of Hari Dāsa,
To purify this evil heart through hari-nāma.

āhā ! cittake tabu dekhi nirantara,
prabhu yabe, vaiṣṇava-veṣṭita siñcitena prāṇa
hari-nāmāmṛta dāne e dagdha saṁsāre,
kata ye vāḍita prema saṅgī gaṇa mane
sunirmala! dīrgha bāhu uttolana kari
jāgāiyā jīva-gaṇe moha nidrā hate balitena —
laha sabe bhavauṣadhi,
prema priyā niravadhi hao amṛta svarūpa

Oh, then I constantly see within my heart
That the Lord, surrounded by the Vaiṣṇavas, bathes my very life,
Scorched by this material world, with the nectar of hari-nāma.
In my mind, how the association of love-laden companions increases
All completely pure! Raising His long arms aloft,
Awakening the jīvas from their slumber of illusion, He proclaims –
“All of you take this panacea for material existence!
Become eternally immersed in divine love, assuming your immortal nature.”

yūthe yūthe śreṇī-baddha, asaṅkhya mānuṣa
viṣaya danuja bhaye māgita āśraya prabhu pade,
prabhu sabe prema āliṅgane tuṣiyā
śrī-kṛṣṇa-prema karitena dāna!
premānanda vilimpane hṛd-roga ghucita!
caitanyera dāsa āmi! jīva prabhu mama karṇadhāra bhavārṇave
tāṅhāra vidhāne āhvāni tomāre āmi hari-nāma late

Groups upon groups, arranged in endless rows, countless people,
Terrified by the demon of worldly sense enjoyment, sought shelter at the Lord’s feet.
The Lord, satisfying them all with loving embraces,
Gave them the gift of śrī-kṛṣṇa-prema.
By anointing them with the bliss of divine love, the disease of the heart was destroyed.
I am a servant of Śrī Caitanya! Śrī Jīva Prabhu is my helmsman as I traverse the ocean of material existence.
And by His command I call out to you all – “Take up the Name of Hari!”

karma-kāṇḍa, tarka-kāṇḍa, brahma-kāṇḍa tyaji esa jīva !
priya sakhe! caitanyera prema antara bhariyā laha
ghucibe hatāśa! kali-mala baddha-bhāva! pāibe svapada śānti rasa!
ācaribe jīvera sva-bhāva kṛṣṇa prema! mahā-bhāva ananta haibe!
vaiṣṇava-dāsa kedāranātha saccidānanda premālaṅkāra

Come, O jīva! Abandon the path of karma, the path of logic, and the path of impersonal Brahman!
Dear friend, receive and fill your heart with Śrī Caitanya’s divine love.
Despair will vanish, the state of being shackled by the impurities of Kali-yuga will disappear,
And you will attain a taste for peace in your own true spiritual state.
The jīva’s intrinsic nature, kṛṣṇa-prema, will be lived and expressed,
And mahā-bhāva without limit will arise.
Thus speaks the servant of the Vaiṣṇavas, Kedāranātha Saccidānanda Premālaṅkāra.

Written in Matihārī (in Bihar)
Phālguna 1276 (27th February, 1870)