Category:Prayers of a Spiritual Master
Theme Analysis
The spiritual practice of offering prayers holds a very specific and selfless purpose in the Vedic tradition. Through the extensive teachings of Śrīla Prabhupāda, one understands that a pure Vaiṣṇava or spiritual master never approaches the Supreme Personality of Godhead to ask for material benedictions or personal sense gratification. Instead, their prayers are overflowing with profound compassion, focused entirely on the deliverance of the fallen souls, the cleansing of the material mind, and the desire to eternally serve the servants of the Lord.
- The Rejection of Material Motives: A bona fide spiritual master completely rejects the desire for material opulence, praying exclusively for the eradication of worldly desires from the core of their heart.
- Compassion for the Envious: Great devotees like Prahlāda Mahārāja display unparalleled compassion by praying for the welfare and transformation of mischievous and demoniac persons who cause them harm.
- Serving the Lord's Servant: The highest aspiration expressed in these prayers is not personal liberation, but rather the opportunity to be firmly engaged in the service of the spiritual master and the pure devotees.
- Cleansing the Conditioned Mind: Through the prayers of great ācāryas like Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura, followers learn to beg for the mercy required to realize the uselessness of material pleasure and awaken spiritual vision.
- Following the Mahājanas: Sincere practitioners achieve perfection simply by repeating the authorized prayers offered by exalted personalities like Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva.
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: The Compassionate Prayers of a Spiritual Master.
Pages in category "Prayers of a Spiritual Master"
The following 41 pages are in this category, out of 41 total.
A
- A saint like Narada, understanding the difference between transcendentalists and pure devotees, always prays that the Lord will be pleased with him
- According to a prayer by Srila Narottama dasa Thakura (Prarthana 1): When will Lord Nityananda have mercy upon me so that I can realize the uselessness of material pleasure
- According to a prayer by Srila Narottama dasa Thakura (Prarthana 1): When will my mind be cleansed of all material dirt so that I will be able to feel the presence of spiritual Vrndavana
- After instructing Yudhisthira Maharaja, Narada Muni prays for the Lord's blessings that He be pleased with everyone and that everyone become perfect in God consciousness and return home, back to Godhead
- Although he (Prahlada Maharaja) did not ask anything for his personal self, but he asked the Lord, prayed that, "One thing I request." - What is that
- Although Prahlada Maharaja was a pure, exalted Vaisnava, he thought himself most unqualified to offer prayers to the Supreme Lord. Mahajano yena gatah sa panthah (CC Madhya 17.186). Every pure Vaisnava should think like this
- Any devotee aspiring to be free of material desires should offer his respectful prayers to Nrsimhadeva as Prahlada Maharaja did in this verse - SB 5.18.8
- As stated by Srinivasa Acarya in his prayers to the Gosvamis: nama-gana-natibhih. A paramahamsa devotee is always engaged in chanting and rendering loving service to the Lord
- As stated in the previous verse (SB 4.30.2, rudra-gitena), simply by chanting the prayers offered by Lord Siva to Visnu, the Pracetas were transferred to the spiritual world
P
- Prahlada Maharaja also (like Caitanya Mahaprabhu) prayed to Lord Nrsimhadeva that he might be engaged as the servant of the Lord's servant. This is the prescribed method of devotional service
- Prahlada Maharaja decided to offer his best prayers to the Lord, without consideration of his material position
- Prahlada Maharaja is a typical Vaisnava. He prays not for himself but for all living entities - the gentle, the envious and the mischievous. He always thought of the welfare of mischievous persons like his father, Hiranyakasipu
- Prahlada Maharaja offered this prayer to the Lord for the sake of his father. As a Vaisnava son, despite all the inconveniences imposed upon him by his father, he could not forget his father's affection
- Prahlada Maharaja prayed to the Lord (Nrsimhadeva) that he might continue to engage in the service of his spiritual master, Narada Muni
- Prahlada Maharaja prayed to the Lord (Nrsimhadeva), "But for Your Lordship, no one can save me." Prahlada Maharaja has also explained that a child's protectors, his parents, cannot save the child from the onslaught of birth and death
- Prahlada Maharaja prays that all envious persons may undergo a change of heart and think of the welfare of others
- Prahlada Maharaja prays that everyone's mind may become gentle by being fixed at the lotus feet of Krsna - bhajatad adhoksaje
- Prahlada Maharaja prays, sivam mitho dhiya. In material activities, everyone is envious of others, but in Krsna consciousness, no one is envious of anyone else; everyone thinks of the welfare of others
- Prahlada Maharaja, a pure Vaisnava, prays to the Lord not only for himself but for all other suffering living entities
- Prahlada Maharaja, in his prayers, has described the transcendental qualities of the Lord and has also described how the various abodes of the demigods and demons, regardless of how materially opulent, are destroyed by the mere direction of the Lord
- Prahlada Maharaja, in the following prayer (SB 7.9.14), requests the Lord (Nrsimhadeva) to give up His anger
- Prahlada wants to engage in the service of a devotee, and therefore he prays to Krsna, "My dear Lord, kindly give me the shelter of Your very dear devotee so that I may engage in his service and You may then be pleased"
S
- So far I am concerned, I am the same Spiritual Father and Guide of both of you and I have prayed all along to Krsna for bringing you back to your good conscience
- Sri Madhavendra Puri, a great devotee and acarya in the line of the devotees, says: O Lord, in my prayers three times a day, all glory to You. Bathing, I offer my obeisances unto You. BG 1972 purports
- Srila Narottama dasa Thakura prays: "My dear Lord, You are now present with the daughter of King Vrsabhanu, Srimati Radharani. Now both of You please be merciful upon me. Don't kick me away, because I have no shelter other than You."
- Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur instructs us, in his famous prayers for the spiritual master, as follows: By not satisfying the spiritual master, there is no chance of being promoted to the plane of Krsna consciousness. BG 1972 purports
- Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur instructs us, in his famous prayers for the spiritual master, as follows: By satisfaction of the spiritual master, the Supreme Personality of Godhead becomes satisfied. BG 1972 purports
- Srimad-Bhagavatam and bhagavata-dharma are meant for persons who are completely free of envy (parama-nirmatsaranam). Therefore Prahlada Maharaja prays in this verse (SB 5.18.9), khalah prasidatam: "May all the envious persons be pacified"
T
- The controversy of the Daksa-yajna took place in the Svayambhuva manvantara period. As a result, Daksa was punished by Lord Siva, but by virtue of his prayers to Lord Siva he became eligible to regain his former opulence
- The Deity (of Lord Krsna which was revealed from gopi-candana) had a stick in one hand and a lump of food in the other. As soon as Madhvacarya received the Deity of Krsna in this way, he composed a prayer
- The devotee, on the positive side, wants to possess something, and this is very nicely described by Prahlada , who says, "If I must take some benediction from You (Nrsimhadeva), I pray that within the core of my heart there may be no material desires"
- The energy in which the Lord's all-pervasiveness is not realized is called material. Otherwise, everything is spiritual. Therefore Prahlada prays, ekas tvam eva jagad etam: "You are everything"
- The prayers offered by Lord Siva to the Supreme Personality of Godhead were thus repeated by the Pracetas, who were thus very successful in pleasing the Supreme Lord
- The SP of Godhead (Nrsimhadeva) said in effect, "I fulfill the desires of everyone. Since you (Prahlada Maharaja) are My devotee, whatever you want for yourself will naturally be given, but if you pray for anyone else, that prayer also will be fulfilled"
- They (Brahma, Siva, Narada & many other demigods) began to pray for the SPG in select prayers which are very pleasing to the devotees and which award fulfillment of devotional desires. The first words they spoke acclaimed that the Lord is true to His vow