(Krishna Kshetra Swami)
O Lord of all lords, master of souls surrendered, may this be the time for śaranāgati – forthright surrender – each and every day of this year, to You, made possible by Your kindly grace, Your constant favor…
a time for turning away from darkness and facing toward You, turning to your sheltering, soft feet, lotus-like perfect objects of all who seek the fullness of living. Your feet, poised to dance, setting Your rhythmic pace for every heart to spring forth in perfect step – these, Your lotus-like feet, we may approach as our gati, our proper goal.
Does something hold us from facing toward You now?
Now is the time to come forth unto You, caring and yearning – quickly, without delay!
In surrendering to You this day, this year, may this be a time of discovery, recovering the heart’s true humility (karpanya), its recognition of its right and rightful place in Your steadfast service, in complete meekness…
a time to firmly put aside all pretense, all sense of false propriety, of presumptious piety, of supposed sensibility, of insensitivity to Your will or to the needs of others; a time to face our wretchedness in Your absence.
Can we not offer You the heart’s true humility?
Now is the time to come forth unto You, caring and yearning – quickly, without further deliberation!
May this be a year of giving ourselves, throwing down (nikṣepa) our selves (ātma), gifting the self, as integral to the supreme Self, Yourself, the innermost Self of each and every self…
faithfully following those who, day by day, seeing themselves as quintessentially givers, give all and long to give more, knowing that giving themselves they become the full recipients of Your fulsome being, knowing, and jubilation.
Shall we not offer ourselves to You completely?
Now is the time to come forth unto You, caring and yearning – quickly and thoroughly, eschewing hesitation!
Fully convinced (viśvāsa) of Your protection, thinking “He protects!” (rakṣiśyatīti), may each day of this year be a day of confirmation that Your shelter is all, all that be, all that constitutes what is the nature of Your Being…
affirming, amidst the unfirmness and infirmity, the unfairness and falsity, the danger and uncertainty, the disorientations and dissolusions, Your readiness, vigilance, keeping your votary ever safe, ever whole.
Are You not the one who protects His devotees?
A time to come forth unto You, caring and yearning – quickly, knowingly, confidently!
Knowing confidently that, in this time as in all times, as You protect, so do You provide all that may be needed by your surrendered servants (bhoktṛtve varaṇam), we may be confident that what you provide is Your very self…
being deeply sorry for all who deny or ignore or are in some way deprived of your bounty, seeking ways to rejoin the disjointed, to recover the uncovered, to re-vision this world as Your creation.
Will this be a time to affirm Your abundance?
A time to come forth unto You, caring and yearning – quickly, with eyes open in full understanding!
Safe in Your lotus-like hands, may all the moments and passages of time this year be recognized as opportunities to embrace whatever is conducive, whatever is favorable and favorite in Your service (anukulyasya saṁkalpa)…
discerning all that nourishes the climbing plant of devotion, patiently positioning ourselves in the brilliant light of Your sun-like sevā, together with Your servants, in Your places of pastimes, auditing and voicing Your names and Your precepts.
Does something keep us from choosing what pleases you today?
A time to come forth unto You, caring and yearning – quickly, decisively, repeatedly!
Discerning all that nourishes, and anything that hinders the nourishing of devotion (pratikulyasya), may this day and all the days that follow, in this year and whatever following years You afford us in this life, yield the resolve to keep far away (varjanam) everything that obstructs the path to Your shelter…
holding firm the bastions, the well-wrought barriers that keep at bay the doggish desires for deeds that deviate the seeking soul from the proper place at your dancing feet – pursuits of the non-self, leading only away from you, into the hot sands of perdition.
Is the time not right to leave aside what hinders surrender?
A time to come forth unto You, caring and yearning – quickly, forthrightly, intently!
O Lord of all lords, master of souls surrendered, may this be the time, the best of times, for śaranāgati – surrender – for never again will this time be here, opening its door. By Your kindly grace, this day, this year, we may step forward to approach You…
Let this be the time for rising above, far above the darkly glistening, brittle surfaces of the world, above the thick clouds of doubt and lethargy, beyond the terrors, beyond the crippling self-imposed habits, the in-grown apathy.
May we now accept Your invitation to be ever in the shelter of Your lotus-like feet?
A time to come forth unto You, caring and yearning – quickly, with assurance, entirely!