Nityananda Pran dasa

nama om visnu-padaya krsna-presthaya bhu-tale
srimate romapada-svamin iti namine

mukam karoti vacalam pangum langhayate girim
yat-krpa tam aham vande sri gurum dina-taranam

My dear and respected Guru Maharaja, 

Please allow me to offer my humble obeisances at your merciful lotus feet. All glories to Your Divine Grace! All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Vibhisana’s life became glorious as soon as Sri Rama accepted him in the presence of Sri Laksmana and all of His other confidantes. To confer upon Vibhisana the honor of the kingdom of Sri Lanka, Sri Rama instructed Laksmana, while addressing him as “manada”, to consecrate Vibhisana with the waters of the ocean. By this act, Vibhisana’s entry into the fold of Sri Rama’s bhakta-janah is formalized and irrevocable by the act of Laksmana!

tena ca imam mahaprajsam abhisinca vibhisanam |
rajanam raksasam ksipram prasanne mayi manada || 6-19-25

The use of kspiram in this verse could very well hint that Sri Rama was asking Laksmana to consecrate the mahaprajsa Vibhisana without delay so it may please Sri Rama. Vibhisana demonstrated his yearning to be with Sri Rama and His followers over thousands of years. This meeting was the culmination of such yearning. A more rasika meaning is that only when Laksmana consecrates Vibhisana, does Sri Rama become quickly pleased. By Laksmana’s grace, Vibhisana became mani – the honorable one, though Vibhisana himself declared that he comes from the race of raksasas, headed by Ravana!

You are my manada! Unlike Vibhisana, I did not even have a pious inclination, what to speak of a devotional one. In fact, I violated many boundaries of foundational human life. I was a pig!

You conferred upon me the title of dasa, the value of which I am yet to fathom and fully appreciate. Just by the benevolent act of accepting a swine at your lotus feet, you have set me on an irrevocable path – the cycle of birth and death will cease for sure, however long it takes! My destination is Visnu-padam! This is the great honor you’ve blessed me with!

Over the years, you have taught, corrected, encouraged, nourished, enriched, nudged, coached, empowered, directed, instructed, reminded, and most importantly, incessantly loved me. Whoa! What a commitment for one nondescript living entity! And I am sure this experience of your magnanimity is true for every one of us here today and those whose lives have been touched by Your Divine Grace. This is another way you have made me honorable!

You engaged me in the service of Sri Kisora Kisori and Their devotees. Almost overnight, I had a title – President! That is not the real honor. The true honor is that you instilled in me a deliberate consciousness that my life from that day onwards is to be a servant of the servants of Sri Kisora Kisori.

My honor is that I am your servant. My honor is that you have agreed to uplift a fallen soul. My honor is that you’ve agreed to give me a place at your lotus feet. My honor is to dedicate my life to you.

Your servants,
Nityananda Pran dasa