Sri Guru-parampara Lyrics — The Disciplic Succession
Songs of the Holy Names
Śrī Guru-paramparā
By Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura
Read Sri Guru-parampara from Krishna Meditations, with Bengali transliteration and an English rendition by Kalakantha das.
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Original lyrics · Bengali transliteration
1) kṛṣṇa hoite catur-mukha, hoy kṛṣṇa-sevonmukha, brahmā hoite nāradera mati nārada hoite vyāsa, madhwa kohe vyāsa-dāsa, pūrṇaprajña padmanābha gati
2) nṛhari mādhava-baṁśe, akṣobhya paramahaṁse, śiṣya boli’ aṅgīkāra kore akṣobhyera śiṣya jaya-tīrtha nāme paricaya, tāra dāsye jñānasindhu tore
3) tāhā hoite dayānidhi, tāra dāsa vidyānidhi, rājendra hoilo tāhā ha’te tāhāra kiṅkora jaya-dharma nāme paricaya, paramparā jāno bhālo mate
4) jayadharma-dāsye khyāti, śrī puruṣottama-jati, tā ha’te brahmāṇya-tīrtha sūri vyāsatīrtha tāra dāsa, lakṣmīpati vyāsa-dāsa, tāhā ha’te mādhavendra purī
5) mādhavendra purī-bara, śiṣya-bara śrī-īśwara, nityānanda, śrī-adwaita vibhu īśwara-purīke dhanya, korilen śrī-caitanya, jagad-guru gaura mahāprabhu
6) mahāprabhu śrī-caitanya, rādhā-kṛṣṇa nahe anya, rūpānuga janera jīvana viśwambhara priyaṅkara, śrī-swarūpa dāmodara, śrī-goswāmī rūpa-sanātana
7) rūpa-priya mahājana, jīva, raghunātha hana, tāra priya kavi kṛṣṇadāsa kṛṣṇadāsa-priya-bara, narottama sevā-para, jāra pada viśwanātha-āśa
8) viśwanātha-bhakta-sātha, baladeva jagannātha, tāra priya śrī-bhaktivinoda mahā-bhāgavata-bara, śrī-gaurakiśora-bara, hari-bhajanete jā’ra moda
9) īhārā paramahaṁsa, gaurāṅgera nija-baṁśa tādera caraṇe mama gati āmi sebā-udāsīna, nāmete tridaṇḍī dīna śrī-bhaktisiddhānta saraswatī
9A) śrī-vārṣabhānavī-barā, sadā sevya-sevā-parā, tāhāra dayita-dāsa-nāma tāra pradhān pracārako, śrī-bhaktivedānta nāmo, patita-janete doyā-dhāma
English rendition
1) In the beginning of creation the science of devotional service was received by the four-headed Brahmā from the Supreme Lord Śrī Krishna. Devarṣi Nārada’s understanding of this divine science was obtained from Brahmā. The great sage Krishna Dvaipāyana Vyāsa, who was empowered to compile the Vedic literatures, became a disciple of Devarṣi Nārada. Śrīpād Madhva Āchārya, the founder of the Śuddha-dvaita school of Vedānta philosophy, who visited Vyāsadeva at Badarīkāśram in the thirteenth century to learn from him Vedānta philosophy, calls himself a servant of Krishna Dvaipāyana Vyāsa. Pūrṇaprajña Tīrtha [Madhva] is the guru and sole refuge of Padmanābha Tīrtha.
2) The two other principal disciples of Madhva are Nṛhari Tīrtha and Mādhava Tīrtha. Mādhava Tīrtha accepted the great paramahaṁsa Akṣobhya Tīrtha as a disciple. The principal disciple of Akṣobhya Tīrtha was known as Jayatīrtha. Jayatīrtha’s service was for his disciple Jñānasindhu.
3) Dayānidhi received the science of devotional service from Jñānasindhu, and the servant of Dayānidhi was Vidyādhirāja Tīrtha. Rājendra Tīrtha became a disciple of Vidyādhirāja Tīrtha. Rājendra Tīrtha’s servant was known as Jayadharma or Vijayadhvaja Tīrtha. In this way you should properly understand this disciplic succession.
4) The great sannyāsī Śrī Puruṣottama Tīrtha received his knowledge in the service of his guru, Vijayadhvaja Tīrtha. The principal disciple of Puruṣottama Tīrtha was Subrahmaṇya Tīrtha. His servant was the great Vyāsatīrtha. Vyāsatīrtha’s servant was Lakṣmīpati Tīrtha, whose disciple was Mādhavendra Purī Goswāmī.
5) The chief disciple of Mādhavendra Purī was Īśvara Purī, and two of his other disciples were the renowned incarnations of Godhead Śrī Nityānanda and Śrī Avaita Āchārya. Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, the spiritual preceptor of all the worlds, made Īśvara Purī greatly fortunate by accepting him as His spiritual master.
6) Mahāprabhu Śrī Chaitanya is non-different from Śrī Śrī Rādhā and Krishna and is the very life of those Vaiṣṇavas who follow Śrī Rūpa Goswāmī. Śrī Swarūp Dāmodar Goswāmī, Rūpa Goswāmī and Sanātan Goswāmī were the givers of great happiness to Śrī Chaitanya.
7) The great souls Jīva Goswāmī and Raghunāth Dās Goswāmī became very dear to Rūpa Goswāmī. Jīva Goswāmī was a disciple of Rūpa Goswāmī. Raghunāth Dās Goswāmī, a disciple of Advaita Āchārya’s disciple Jadunandan Āchārya, was accepted by Rūpa and Sanātan as their third brother. Raghunāth Dās Goswāmī’s beloved student was Krishnadās Kavirāj Goswāmī. Kṛṣṇādās Kavirāj was an intimate friend of Lokanāth Goswāmī. They lived together in Vṛndāvan and always discussed the topics of Krishna with one another. Lokanāth Goswāmī, a disciple of Gadādhara Paṇḍit, had only one disciple, whose name was Narottam Dās. Narottam Dās was always engaged in the service of his guru, and he also engaged himself in the service of his guru’s intimate friends. Thus he became very dear to Krishnadās Kavirāj Goswāmī. To serve the feet of Narottam Dās Ṭhākura was the only desire of Viśvanāth Chakravartī Ṭhākura, who was the fourth āchārya in disciplic succession from Narottam Dās.
8) Viśvanātha Chakravartī Ṭhākura was the śikṣā-guru of Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa, to whom he taught the precepts of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Jagannāth Dās Bābājī was a very prominent Āchārya after Śrī Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa and was the beloved śikṣā-guru of Śrī Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākura. Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākura’s intimate friend and associate was the eminent mahābhāgavat Śrī Gaura Kiśor Dās Bābājī, whose sole joy was found in hari-bhajana.
9) The followers of Śrīla Gaura Kiśor Dās Bābājī fill up the world with the wealth of Śrī Krishna-kīrtan. He who is always serving Krishna the dearmost lover of Rādhārāṇī, is Śrī Vārṣabhānavī Dayita Dās (Śrīla Saraswatī Ṭhākura).
9A) The renowned Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvati is always engaged in the service of his spiritual master, Śrīla Gaura Kiśor Dās Bābājī. His foremost disciple preacher is Śrīla A.C. Bhaktivedānta Swami Prabhupāda, who has spread the message of Lord Caitanya throughout the world and is thus a reservoir of mercy and compassion for all fallen souls.