Srila Sridhar Maharaj's Kirtan

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nrisingha Palli, evening class
2 January 2021, part 6, translated from Bengali

Srila Sridhar Maharaj also wrote another poem:

ভয়ভঞ্জন-জয়শংসন-করুণায়তনয়নম্ ।
কনকোৎপল-জনকোজ্জ্বল-রসসাগর-চয়নম্ ॥

bhayabhanjana jayasamsana-karunayatanayanam
kanakotpala janakojjvala-rasasagara-chayanam

He (of divine form) came forth from the birthplace of the golden lotus—the ocean of the mellow of divine consorthood.

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur liked it when Srila Sridhar Maharaj sang kirtan. In the end, he asked Srila Sridhar Maharaj to chant a kirtan and said about him, "I have left one person in this world who will be able to preach Hari-katha after me. I can leave being confident that there is somebody left in this world." Srila Prabhupad left on 1 January 1937. Just before he left, he listened to Srila Sridhar Maharaj singing a kirtan, early in the morning, shortly after 4 a.m...

Everybody wanted Srila Sridhar Maharaj to become the acharya of Gaudiya Math, but Srila Sridhar Maharaj refused. He said, "I do not want to be the acharya, and even if I become the acharya, will you be able to respect me as the acharya? It is not possible."

Do you know what was the situation at the temple in Srila Sridhar Maharaj's time? There were no great buildings. Do we come to the temple to see a great building? No. We come to see Gurudev. Those who come to see buildings will fight and make problems, and they can have the temple for themselves. Gurudev's dead body is there, so we constructed his samadhi mandir, but I know where his soul is...

Srila Sridhar Maharaj composed the Sujanarvuda poem, and all temples sing it. There is also another very beautiful song composed by an unnamed author: "Jayare jayare jaya paramahamsa mahasaya." I sang it for the first time when I went to Mayapur, at an assembly of Gaudiya Vaishnavs in Chaitanya Math. Another famous song is Sri Saraswat Arati ("Jayare jayare jaya gaura-sarasvati"). It is sung for the arati of Sri Sri Guru Gauranga and Radha-Krishna. Sometimes, we do not sing it or have to sing it quickly because sometimes I only start singing it but the pujari already comes out to blow the conch, finishing the arati. I have told them that arati finishes when we finish singing the songs, but they sometimes come to blow the conch before the second song is finished. What am I to say?

জয়রে জয়রে জয় গৌর-সরস্বতী ।
ভকতিবিনোদান্বয় করুণামুরতি ॥

jayare jayare jaya gaura-saraswati
bhakativinodanvaya karuna murati

'All glory, all glory to Sri Gaura–Saraswati, the holy embodiment of mercy in the line of Sri Bhaktivinod Thakur'.

প্রকাশিলে গৌরসেবা ভূবনমঙ্গল ।
ভখতিসিদ্ধান্ত শুদ্ধ প্রজ্ঞান উজ্জ্বল ॥

prakasile gaura-seva bhuvana mangala
bhakatisiddhanta suddha prajnana ujjvala

'Revealing service to Sri Gaura, which spreads auspiciousness in this world, you presented devotional teachings (bhakti-siddhanta) that radiate self-effulgent pure transcendental knowledge'.

These four lines are about Srila Prabhupad, and after that the song is about the combined form of the Divine Couple (Sri Sri Radha-Krishna). We sing it in many temples. Srila Sridhar Maharaj set a very high standard, and we do not want to go below it.

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