
શ્રીનરોત્તમ-પ્રાર્થના
(Sri Narottama Prarthna in Gujarati)
Also known as shri narottama prarthna · shree narottama prarthna · narottama prarthna
Narottama Dasa Thakura's book of prayers — fifty-five songs, in Bengali written here in Devanagari, and the register is longing rather than praise. Song after song begins by asking when. When will the body thrill at saying Gauranga and the eyes run at Hari, Hari; when will worldly wanting become a small thing; when shall I see that Vrindavana and understand the love of the Youthful Pair. The self-reproach is unsparing: I have not served those feet even a sesame's worth; having got a human birth and not worshipped, I have knowingly drunk poison. Between the laments it names its lineage, the six Goswamis and Krishnadasa Kaviraja, and its household — Nityananda my wealth, Gaurachandra my lord, Gadadhara my family, the dust of Vaishnavas' feet my bathing water. The last songs turn to Vraja, and one drowns in it: an ocean of love with no direction in it, and Narottama cannot swim.