Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu

Śrī Śrī Nityānanda Candrāya Namaḥ

Śrī Nityānandāstakam

Śrīla Vṛndāvan Dāsa Ṭhākura

“Lord Nityānanda’s Lotus Face is More Beautiful Than the Autumn Moon”

 Eight Prayers Glorifying Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu

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Sri Nityanandastakam 920217 ORG

Translation by

Śrī Śrīmad Gour Govinda Swami Maharāja

 1) Lord Nityānanda’s lotus face is so beautiful, I have no language to describe it. The moon in the autumn season is very beautiful, but Lord Nityānanda Prabhu’s face is more beautiful than this. So cooling like the autumn moon. The effulgence coming out from His body and His bodily features are very, very beautiful, supremely beautiful. Such beauty cannot be found anywhere. He always moves like a mad elephant because He is intoxicated with kṛṣṇa-prema-rasa-madirā. Kṛṣṇa-prema-rasa is like a liquor. He has drunk it and become intoxicated like a mad elephant. His movement is always very slow, mṛdu-manthara, very slow movement. He is always mad after kṛṣṇa-prema. His body is śuddha-sattva-maya. He always has a smiling face, never morose, always smiling, su-hāsya-vadana. His eyes are very fickle moving to and fro. He is catching hold of a cane in his hand. That Lord Nityānanda, who by the beating of this cane destroys the reactions of the people affected by Kali-yuga, kali-kāla-nāśa. They should take shelter of Nityānanda Prabhu and cry for the mercy of Lord Nityānanda. He is the root of the tree of kṛṣṇa-bhakti-kalpa-taru. Taru means tree. If kṛṣṇa-prema-bhakti is a tree then Nityānanda Prabhu is the root. To that Lord Nityānanda, who is the unlimited root of the tree of devotional service, I offer my obeisances, and I worship that Lord Nityānanda.

 2) Lord Nityānanda is the reservoir of all mellows. He is the life and soul of all the devotees. No one can compare to Him in the three planetary systems. He is very dear to one and all. He is the Lord of Vasudhā Devi and Jāhnavi Devi, who consider Lord Nityānanda dearer than life. He is always in an ecstatic mood of divine love, ecstatic love! Always maddened and intoxicated with pure love of Godhead, intoxicated with kṛṣṇa–prema-rasa-madirā. The unintelligent, non-devotees, manda-mati, cannot understand that He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. He is not known to them. To that Lord Nityānanda, who is the unlimited root of the tree of devotional service, I offer my obeisances, and I worship that Lord Nityānanda.

 3) Lord Nityānanda is very dear to Gaurāṅga Mahāprabhu, the son of Śacīdevī. He always does good to the whole world. He is always supremely blissful. He is the embodiment of supreme happiness and blissfulness. He is sat-prema, pleasurable portion. He is so merciful, one cannot trace out the end of His mercy, it is unlimited. He is so merciful to the people of Kali-yuga, those who are most degraded and fallen. To them, He is very merciful. In Bhagavad-gītā it has been said, daivī hy eṣā guṇamayī, mama māyā duratyayā [Bg. 7.14]. This material world is a manifestation of māyā-śakti. It is very, very difficult to surmount. She is insurmountable. But Nityānanda Prabhu, by doing hari-saṅkīrtana has just crushed the pride of māyā-śakti. He is always chanting the holy name of Lord Hari:

 By chanting the holy name of Lord Hari, He checks the flooding ocean of repeated birth and death and delivers the souls drowning in the age of Kali. In other words, He is showing an easy way to cross this dreadful ocean of materialistic existence. To that Lord Nityānanda, who is the unlimited root of the tree of devotional service, I offer my obeisances, and I worship that Lord Nityānanda.

4) Nityānanda Prabhu speaks to Gaurāṅga Mahāprabhu: “O my brother, what will happen to those most distressed and fallen jīvas of Kali-yuga? What will happen to them, unless You shower Your mercy on them. How will they be able to atone for these sins? Please show them a way, for their deliverance, as a result of which they can approach and get Your lotus feet.” He always talks to Śrīman Mahāprabhu in this way. To that Lord Nityānanda, who is the unlimited root of the tree of devotional service, I offer my obeisances, and I worship that Lord Nityānanda.

5) That Nityānanda Prabhu goes to every house and raising His arms, and requests, “O my brother, all of you engage yourself in the chanting of hari-nāma:

 If you do this, you will be able to cross over the dreadful ocean of birth and death of this material world. I remain assurity for you that this promise is true! I am responsible for it, do not fear.” He says, I am assurity for you, guarantee. Lord Nityānanda goes to every doorstep and says like this. To that Lord Nityānanda, who is the unlimited root of the tree of devotional service, I offer my obeisances, and I worship that Lord Nityānanda.

 6) Nityānanda Prabhu is like Agastya Muni who by drinking a handful of water made all the oceans dry up, forcibly swallowing the ocean of material existence. He arose like the moon to swell up the ocean, kalyāṇa-samudra. To swell the ocean of mercy, jīvera–kalyāṇa, the welfare of the jīvas. His kalyāṇa [mercy] is like an ocean. Nityānanda Prabhu very easily destroys the sinful reactions of the most sinful, degraded persons, kali-hata-jana, [victims of the Age of Kali]. He is always doing good to the devotees and is very, very dear to them. He is the rising full moon that expands the ocean that is the welfare of the saintly devotees. He has arisen like the cooling moon that is like the soothing moonshine of crores of moons, koṭi-candra-suśītala. He is the blazing sun that dispels the darkness of multitudes of ignorant fools that has arisen from their sinful activities. He destroys their sinful reactions. He is like the sun for them. To that Lord Nityānanda, who is the unlimited root of the tree of devotional service, I offer my obeisances, and I worship that Lord Nityānanda.

 7) Nityānanda Prabhu travels on every path, always singing, dancing, and chanting ‘Hari! Hari! Hari bol! Hari bol!’ Chanting ‘Hare Kṛṣṇa,’ He is always engaged in hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana, thereby attracting those devotees doing hari-kīrtana. He always casts merciful sidelong glances over His dear devotees. In this way, without considering His own interests, He moves through the streets of all the towns, cities and villages throughout the material world, casting His merciful glance over the devotees and sādhus. He is very merciful to the devotees of Gaurāṅga Mahāprabhu. To that Lord Nityānanda, who is the unlimited root of the tree of devotional service, I offer my obeisances, and I worship that Lord Nityānanda.

 8) Nityānanda Prabhu holds the very beautiful soft lotus hand of His brother, Gaurāṅga Mahāprabhu, and when They glance at each other’s faces, Their hearts become full of transcendental bliss and ecstacy. Wherever He goes, all the people become mad and intoxicated with the beauty of Nityānanda Prabhu. His beauty is incomparable that cannot be described in languages. He wanders through the towns, cities and villages making the people happy and blissful by His chanting of the harināma mahā-mantra. He is always doing hari-nāma-kīrtana. To that Lord Nityānanda, who is the unlimited root of the tree of devotional service, I offer my obeisances, and I worship that Lord Nityānanda.

 9) Vṛndāvan Dāsa Ṭhākura says, “Nityānanda Prabhu truly gives bhakti-rasa. He is the reservoir of all mellows of devotional service. He is the wealth, life and soul of the rasika–bhaktas, those Vaiṣṇavas expert at relishing those mellows. He is the essence of the entire universe, the three planetary systems, by whose remembrance, the sinful reactions of all the sinful persons are destroyed. Whoever reads and recites these eight verses, the Nityānandāstaka everyday with firm faith, written by Vṛndāvan Dāsa Ṭhākura will achieve Nityānanda Prabhu’s mercy and the two lotus feet of Nityānanda Prabhu will very soon be revealed to Him, which is very rare. These verses are very sweet. By remembering them the fallen souls are delivered by destroying their sinful reactions. May the two lotus feet of Lord Nityānanda eternally appear in the hearts of those who read these eight unprecedented transcendental verses glorifying Lord Nityānanda. This is what Vṛndāvan Dāsa Ṭhākura says.