The blessing of a name

My dear spiritual master

Offered me

The name

Yudhisthira dasa,

“The servant of he who never tells a lie”,

And he said at my initiation that

These names are not ordinary.

By receiving these names

You also receive the blessings of

The person.

My dear Maharaja Yudhisthira,

I have been wanting to write to you

For some time.

You are Dharma Raja,

Forever the embodiment

Of righteous conduct

Based on spiritual realization.

At the Raja Suya sacrifice

You offered the first respect

To Lord Krishna,

Who was present in your assembly.

After the battle of Kuruksetra

Having attained victory by the grace of the Lord

And being rightfully installed

As the emperor of the world,
An hierloom from your father,

Still you mourned for the death of your enemies

And harbored thoughts

Of shamefulness.

Following the departure of Lord Krishna
From the earthly realm,

Having duly coroneted
Your nephew,

The son of Uttara, on the throne

For the sake of

The spiritual welfare of the future world,

You entered the renounced order of life,

Leaving behind your chaste wife

And your inseparable brothers.

They followed you

Without hesitation

To the Himalayas,

But even as they

Perished on the path behind you,

You did not look back,

Keeping always a steady pace,

Your mind one pointedly focused

On the Supreme Destination.

Eventually,

You attained

The spiritual world

In your selfsame body.

My dear Yudhisthira Maharaja,

You gave me the blessing of your name,

Extended through the medium
Of my spiritual master.

I do not presume

To know your intentions,

However,

I honestly wish

To imbibe

A tiny particle of

Your devotion and unflinching dedication

To the Supreme Truth,

Sri Krishna.

Unfortunately,

I am not of any royal ancestry.

I am not in any way important.

Still,

I am greatly impressed by your

Life story

As recounted in the scriptures.

And having been trusted,

By the mercy of my spiritual master,

To take part in your Lord’s sankirtan mission,

An extension of your rule

In this age of quarrel,

I pray that you

Kindly help me

Find strength

And forbearance

To overcome

The cruelty of material relations,

The enmity from asura society,

The bondage of false identifications,

And maybe most of all,

The courage to choose

The devotional path

Above all other considerations

And never look back.