nama om vishnu-padaya krishna-preshthaya bhutale
srimate bhaktisiddhanta saraswati iti namine
You are our special link to the chain
And connection to the spirit vein
You are Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati
Resident of holy Jagannatha Puri
A genius who was not a light debater
A risk-taker and proven innovator
A lecturer owing to your reading
No wonder you were competent in your leading
A ray of Vishnu, the singha (lion) guru
Caste brahmins and mayavadis you'd pursue
Yet inclusiveness was your determined theme
You thought fallen mlecchas could be part of the scheme
A lover of bhajan projecting sacred sound
But brihat mridanga was the beat to get around
The printing press was for the world
A vision beyond India you had unfurled
And shared with your dear Abhay Charan
Who later on created the benevolent ISKCON
He was a follower of Gandhi at the time
At an extraordinary social-political prime
I express from the heart a great gratitude
That later generations can find solitude
And for not excluding us from the bhakti trail
Because frankly life can be a jail
The pursuit of lust, anger, and greed
Or any other notorious inner weed
Is to be extracted at the very root
And replaced with Krishna prema, the fruit
Had you not come when you did
We would all remain on that rotting grid
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