Songs of Gratitude: Poetic Tributes to Srila Prabhupada

By Govinda Hari Dasa | Sep 16, 2024

From Tech To Temple

Gopa Vrindesha Dasa’s journey at ISKCON Melbourne began with a quiet but defining decision. On the day he received his Ph.D. in Wireless Technology from the University of Melbourne, he turned away from a promising corporate future to embrace the life of a brahmachari monk, devoted to Sri Krishna.

For the past 16 years, Gopa Vrindesha Dasa has served in many capacities, from washing dishes at the temple’s Crossways restaurant and performing priestly duties at the temple to leading book distribution on the streets of Melbourne, guiding the men’s ashram, serving on the temple’s board of examination, and spearheading Western outreach.

Prayers In Poetry

Yet, this lesser-known devotee’s most unique contribution lies in his gift of devotional Sanskrit poetry. For the past four years, Gopa Vrindesha has written original songs annually, glorifying ISKCON’s Founder-Acharya Srila Prabhupada.

A childhood familiarity with the beauty of Sanskrit fostered Gopa Vrindesha Dasa’s meditations on Srila Prabhupada, eventually manifesting as Sanskrit poetry in his mind.

One day in 2021, after sharing a couple of these verses privately with a friend, he was informed that it was the 125th year of Srila Prabhupada’s appearance in this world and that ISKCON was planning a major global celebration to mark that momentous occasion. When his friend requested that he write more verses for this special event, Gopa’s poetic inspiration flourished, leading to the creation of his first song, Srila Prabhupada Daya Dashakam.

Meditations On Mercy Set To Melody

Inspired by Daya Dasakam’s deep sentiments for and prayerful articulation of Srila Prabhupada’s persona and contributions, a small team of devotees—after much hesitation on Gopa’s part—created a musical composition. This composition, along with a heart-touching video, was released at the sacred event commemorating the 125th Vyas Puja of Srila Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada Daya Dasakam glorifies the various aspects of Srila Prabhupada’s compassionate heart that worked tirelessly to launch a global movement dedicated to loving service to Sri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. You can watch the video here.

Monumental Occasion, Maha-monumental Offering

The following year, 2022 was again a significant year for the followers of Srila Prabhupada. ISKCON was celebrating the 100th anniversary of the first meeting of our Srila Prabhupada with His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur.

It was at this pivotal meeting a 100 years ago in 1922 that our Srila Prabhupada received the instruction to spread the message of Krishna consciousness in the English-speaking world. To celebrate this sacred centennial, Gopa Vrindesha Dasa composed the Srila Prabhupada Kripopahara-stavah.

This beautiful song, in 20 exquisite Sanskrit verses, highlights over 50 unique features of Srila Prabhupada’s revered books. It is through these books that our Srila Prabhupada brought to fruition his spiritual master’s vision and desire to make the universal path of Bhakti accessible to the global citizen.

This song stands as perhaps his most significant tribute to date, and the team, therefore, worked hard to make it a multi-lingual release in English, Hindi, and Russian to inspire the largest segments of devotee congregations worldwide.

For the Russian version, Bhakti Vijnana Goswami took his precious time to enhance the Russian translation of the text and record the Russian narration for the soundtrack. Click here to watch the English version, here to watch the Hindi version, and here for the Russian translation.

Preaching Is The Essence Of Our Music

For the next year, Srila Prabhupada’s Vyas Puja celebrations for 2023, Gopa Vrindesha Dasa composed the Srila Prabhupada Pracaranabdhi Lahari, a song celebrating in ten verses, the many aspects of Srila Prabhupada’s expansive preaching endeavors which the poet describes as the many waves of Lord Caitanya’s oceanic mercy. You can watch the video here.

Genre: Grace & Gratitude

For this year, 2024, our Vaishnava poet, portraying the collective amazement of the devotees, expresses gratitude for Srila Prabhupada’s most wondrous and unprecedented gifts to the world through 10 amazing verses in his new song, Srila Prabhupada Vismayopahara Dasakam.

This year’s offering was made extra special by His Grace Vaisesika Dasa, who graciously took time from his extremely busy schedule to record the narration of the translation in his transcendental, emotive voice. Watch the video here.

Encore: Melodies of the Eternal Bhagavatas

In the Preface to the Srimad Bhagavatam, Srila Prabhupada described the text as “a cultural presentation for the respiritualization of the entire human society.” Similarly, these poetic compositions, which began as private meditations of a humble devotee and then blossomed into a yearly tradition, are a cultural presentation of the glorifications of the person Bhagavata—the perfect master who perfectly represents the teachings and ethos of the Srimad Bhagavatam, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

These songs aim to plant seeds of appreciation in the hearts of those new to Srila Prabhupada, inspire those already on the path of Bhakti, and attract the blessings of senior devotees. The beautiful lyrics for all four songs are available as .pdf file here.

If you wish to contact Gopa Vrindesha Dasa, please email him.