Journey to Vrindavan

Purchase here

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare
Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

Song list: Eight Prayers to the Guru (Guruvastakam)/ Prayer to Gaura-Nitai (Parama Karuna)/ Hare Krishna Mantra/ Cry for Mercy (Sri Krsna Caitanya Prabhu)/ Eight Prayers of Instruction by Lord Chaitanya (Siksastaka)/ Deep Longings (Lalasamayi)/ My Heart’s Treasure (Sri Rupa Manjari Pada)/ Spring in Vrindavan

Many friends encouraged me to make this second recording, which turned out to be a rewarding personal journey over two years that I hope you will enjoy sharing with me. The songs are all in Sanskrit or Bengali, but you can follow the English translations in the enclosed booklet to fully appreciate them.

My journey begins with Eight Prayers to the Guru, dedicated to my teacher Srila Prabhupada, who brought Krishna to the West in 1965. The original Krishna Consciousness movement was started in India 500 years ago by Sri Chaitanya and Sri Nityananda. Their contemporary, Locana Dasa Thakura, sang their praises in Parama Karuna. Sri Chaitanya taught the chanting of Krishna’s names (sankirtan) as the spiritual path for this age (Hare Krishna Mantra). He summarised his teachings in Siksastasa. Locana Dasa’s only disciple was Narottama Dasa Thakura, poet and musician, whose beautiful songs such as Cry for Mercy, Deep Longings and My Heart’s Treasure are still popular in Bengal and Manipur today. At journey’s end Narottama’s song, Spring in Vrindavan, evokes the spirit of the sacred forest of Vrindavan, the eternal home of Krishna and His beloved Radha.

Produced by Dwarakadish Dasa

Sound engineering by Dwarakadish Dasa

Recorded and mixed 1995 at Jagannatha Sound Studio, England. CD edition December 2003

Special thanks to Gandharvika Dasi, Paravidha Dasa and Suvrata Dasi for their singing, and to Dwarakadish Dasa for his patience and musical wizardry.