selected and translated by Kuśakratha dāsa

The Padyāvalī, an anthology of verses on the subject of devotion to Kṛṣṇa, was compiled by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, one of the chief disciples of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. The work contains 392 verses gleaned from the writings of over 125 authors, including both Rūpa Gosvāmī’s contemporaries and previous Vaiṣṇava poets.

Introduction

padyāvalī viracitā rasikair mukunda-
sambandha-bandhura-padā pramadormi-sindhuḥ
ramyā samasta-tamasāṁ damanī krameṇa
saṅgṛhyate kṛti-kadambaka-kautukāya

This Padyāvalī was written by devotees expert in the mellows of devotional service. This book contains many beautiful verses, which have been collected for the pleasure of the devotees. It illuminates the darkness of ignorance, and it is an ocean of transcendental bliss. — Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī

1*
ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam bhava-mahādāvāgni-nirvāpaṇam
śreyaḥ kairava-candrikā-vitaraṇaṁ vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam
ānandāmbudhi-vardhanaṁ prati-padaṁ pūrṇāmṛtāsvādanaṁ
sarvātma-snapanaṁ paraṁ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanaṁ

Let there be all victory for the chanting of the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa, which can cleanse the mirror of the heart and stop the miseries of the blazing fire of material existence. That chanting is the waxing moon that spreads the white lotus of good fortune for all living entities. It is the life and soul of all education. The chanting of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa expands the blissful ocean of transcendental life. It gives a cooling effect to everyone and enables one to taste full nectar at every step. — Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu

2*
nāmnām akāri bahudhā nija-sarva-śaktis
tatrārpitā niyamitaḥ smaraṇe na kālaḥ
etādṛśī tava kṛpā bhagavan mamāpi
durdaivam īdṛśam ihājani nānurāgaḥ

My Lord, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, in Your holy name there is all good fortune for the living entity, and therefore You have many names, such as Kṛṣṇa and Govinda, by which You expand Yourself. You have invested all Your potencies in those names, and there are no hard and fast rules for remembering them. My dear Lord, although You bestow such mercy upon the fallen, conditioned souls by liberally teaching Your holy names, I am so unfortunate that I commit offenses while chanting the holy name, and therefore I do not achieve attachment for chanting. — Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu

3
kalyāṇānāṁ nidhānaṁ kali-mala-mathanaṁ pāvanaṁ pāvanānāṁ
pātheyaṁ yan mumukṣoḥ sapadi para-pada-prāptaye procyamānam
viśrāma-sthānam ekaṁ kavi-vara-vacasāṁ jīvanaṁ saj-janānāṁ
bījam dharma-drumasya prabhavatu bhavatāṁ bhūtaye kṛṣṇa-nāma

The holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa is a reservoir of all transcendental happiness. It destroys the sins of the Kali-yuga. It is the most purifying of all purifying things. It is the saintly person’s food as he traverses the path to the spiritual world. It is the pleasure garden where the voices of the greatest saints, philosophers, and poets play. It is the life of the righteous and the seed of the tree of religion. May that holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa bring transcendental auspiciousness to you all. — author unknown

4
vepante duritāni moha-mahimā sammoham ālambate
sātaṅkaṁ nakha-rañjanīṁ kalayati śrī-citraguptaḥ kṛtī
sānandaṁ madhu-parka-sambhṛti-vidhau vedhāḥ karoty udyamaṁ
vaktuṁ nāmni taveśvarābhilaṣite brūmaḥ kim anyat param

O Supreme Personality of Godhead, when someone desires to chant Your holy name, sins tremble in fear, the glory of material illusion faints unconscious, Yamarāja’s scribe Citragupta becomes happy and gazes at the chanter’s toenails with awe and reverence, and Lord Brahmā prepares madhu-parka with which to worship him. O Lord, what more can we say than this? — author unknown

5
kaḥ pareta-nagarī-purandaraḥ
ko bhaved atha tadīya-kinkaraḥ
kṛṣṇa-nāma jagad-eka-maṅgalaṁ
kaṇṭha-pīṭham urarī-karoti cet

Lord Kṛṣṇa’s name is the only auspiciousness in this world. If one places it on his neck, then what is Yamarāja, the king of the other world, to him? What are Yamarāja’s servants to him? — Śrī Ānandācārya

6
svargārthīyā vyavasitir asau dīnayaty eva lokān
mokṣāpekṣā janayati janaṁ kevalaṁ kleśa-bhājam
yogābhyāsaḥ parama-virasas tādṛśaiḥ kiṁ prayāsaiḥ
sarvaṁ tyaktvā mama tu rasanā kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇeti rautu

The attempt to attain the heavenly planets impoverishes the entire world. The desire to attain impersonal liberation brings only trouble. The regimen of yoga is dry and tasteless. What is the use of endeavors like these? I shall abandon them all and simply make my tongue chant “Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa.” — author unknown

7
viceyāni vicāryāṇi
vicintyāni punaḥ punaḥ
kṛpaṇasya dhanānīva
tvan-nāmāni bhavantu naḥ

O Lord, just as a miser continually collects, counts, and remembers his money, in the same way let us continually collect, count, and remember Your holy names. — Śrī Bhavānanda