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,
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,
From the earthly realm,
Having duly coroneted
Your nephew,
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.
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.
