PRAYERS OF A SADHAKA

Recently I was reading a sadhaka’s prayer to the holy name. It was such a very heart
rending prayer. In the path of Krishna Consciousness if one wants to be very securely
situated at the feet of Krishna, very safe and secure and cheerfully situated, then one
should adopt this particular mood in spiritual life in general and in especially approaching
the holy name. Generally we always think in terms of I and mine. What will please me?
What am I satisfied with? What I want? What I don’t like? So as long as we think in
terms of what I like and what I don’t like and what I want, things like that, we become
very frustrated even in Krishna Consciousness, even if you have all the necessary
spiritual facilities. Lord is coming as the holy name, as the devotional books, as the deity,
as Prasad, as devotees and devotional ambience, atmosphere. Lord may come in a million
forms and still we will feel that I am not satisfied. We think in terms of I and mine. But if
one wants to genuinely relish Krishna Consciousness Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is the
ideal role model for all his followers. So Krishna himself set such a role adopting the
mood of Srimati Radharani and he relishes the mellows of devotional service and he is
constantly crying tears of love. How is able to do that because he has adopted a particular
type of consciousness. So, that consciousness is always thinking in terms of how can I
please, how can I satisfy Krishna which is seva vrtti, just the opposite of what I like and
what I don’t like and what I want and what I don’t want. So this prayer of the sadhaka, he
talks about the different facets of a sadhaka’s life. So he talks about this, like he prays…
He says that how one should always be thinking oneself to be a helpless fool who is very
restless in mind and who is unable to overcome the pushings and pullings of the material
world and who is struggling hard to advance in spiritual life, who needs the help of
Krishna and his devotees in his advancement in Krishna Consciousness.
So he is praying, “O my dear Lord! I have a false pride which is like as hard as
diamond. Please melt my false ego. He also prays that I always see differences between
who is my friend, who is my enemy, who will benefit me and who will not benefit me.
Let me always be a samadarsi, let me be equipoised in my observation of all people
around me because everyone is a vaisnava. Let me not see these differences, consider
somebody to be my enemy and create enmity with him because of which my heart
becomes filled with aversion and anger and let me not develop lusty attachments to the
worldly objects around me and forget the real goal of attaining shelter at your feet. Please
kindly remove all my unnecessary attachments that bind me to this world and please draw
me towards you. You are always radiating with mercy, compassion and beauty, the
Divine Couple Sri Sri Radha and Krishna. But I am so foolish that leaving your shelter I
am always seeking shelter of other things in the world. So please do not neglect me or
ignore me. Please guide me and enlighten me. Please protect me and save me. Always
draw me towards you by attracting me because you have this attractive potency of being
all-attractive. Please attract me towards you even if I am apparently not interested. Please
remove all the thorns of my heart, like the lust, pride and envy, anger, illusion, greed,
which are constantly nagging me in my heart and not letting me to approach you. Instead
of fill up my heart with divine virtues like humility, pridelessness, simplicity, honesty and
eagerness to serve vaisnavas, fill up my heart with all the divine virtues. And once my
heart becomes filled with virtues then I will always be eager to serve you. You are my
mother, you are my father, you are my friend, you are my relative, you are my be all and
end all, you are my wealth, you are my wisdom, and there is nothing in this world that I
possess other than you. You are my protector, master, guide, friend in all respects. So
when you are the only shelter then why do you let me wander in this world alone like this
facing all kinds of adversities and obstacles. Make me your servant. Make me your
instrument in your hands and chastise me, correct me, guide me.” So he offers prayers
like this. There are many prayers like this. So some of these I read from book of
Mahanidhi Swami. So these prayers are very wonderful for a sadhaka to constantly
remember and pray because if we keep remembering this kind of prayers in our heart one
can get a constant help from Krishna. As he says dadami buddhi yogam tam yena man
upayanti te. I will make the way for my devotee to return back to me. My devotee need
not fear in this world. He is not alone. I am always with my devotee. Prabhupada says,
“Just as when you walk on the road the moon comes along with you, similarly the Lord is
actually antaryami or the witnessing Lord in the heart of every living being and he walks
with us wherever we sit, wherever we lie down, sleep or eat, whatever we do he is with
us. And one can very easily get his help if one can offer prayers like this. Harinama
prabhu ki – “Jai”.