Title: 00 Introduction

User: Swami Gaurangapada Date: 2006-07-18 09:34:34

 

Shri Navadvipa Shataka

(A Hundred Verses Glorifying
the Holy Land of Navadvipa)
By Shrila Prabodhananda Sarasvati Thakura
Bengali Versified by Shrila Bhaktivinoda Thakura
Translated by His Holiness Bhaktiratna
Sadhu Swami Gaurangapada

 

Shri Navadvipa-sataka is a composition of 100 superexcellent verses glorifying Shri Navadvipa-dhama for daily recitation, or while residing or circumambulating Shri Navadvipa. These were originally composed In Sanskrit by Gaura-parsada-vara Shrila Prabodhananda Sarasvati Thakura, one of Lord Chaitanya’s direct disciples. The 100 verses were then rendered into Bengali verse form and printed as a booklet by Shrila Bhaktivinoda Thakura. The work describes the land of Navadvipa, which is the sporting-ground for Lord Chaitanya, in all of its majestic divine splendor and glory. Thakura Bhaktivinoda translated this composition into simple Bengali verses (presented below) for easy reading by devotees, and published it without the original Sanskrit verses as a small pocket-sized booklet. Thus the little volume could be easily carried around, even by wandering sadhus, and it was very much appreciated by the many persons who received it. In this book, Shrila Prabodhananda Sarasvatipada elaborates, in his characteristic madly ecstatic style, on the svarupa or spiritual form of the Lord’s abode, the Lord’s mood as He sports therein, the mood of a devotee who is desirous of entering this abode, the rejection of unfavorable material obstacles, and an impossibly resolute determination to attain the supreme goal. Though the original Sanskrit verses are omitted due to their voluminous nature, the English translation is from both the Sanskrit verses as well as the Bengali versification.