LYRICS:
(introductory verse)
vṛndāyai tulasī-devyai priyāyai keśavasya ca
kṛṣṇa-bhakti-prade devī satya vatyai namo namaḥ
 
(1)
namo namaḥ tulasī kṛṣṇa-preyasi namo namaḥ
rādhā-kṛṣṇa-sevā pābo ei abilāṣī
 
(2)
ye tomāra śaraṇa loy, tara vāñchā pūrṇa hoy
kṛpā kori' koro tāre vṛndāvana-vāsi
 
(3)
mora ei abhilāṣa, vilāsa kuñje dio vāsa
nayana heribo sadā yugala-rūpa-rāśi
 
(4)
ei nivedana dhara, sakhīra anugata koro
sevā-adhikāra diye koro nīja dāsī
 
(5)
dīna kṛṣṇa-dāse koy, ei yena mora hoy
śrī-rādhā-govinda-preme sadā yena bhāsi
 
TRANSLATION
Introductory verse: I offer my repeated obeisances unto Vrnda, Srimati Tulasi Devi, who is very dear to Lord Kesava. O goddess, you bestow devotional service to Lord Krsna and possess the highest truth.
 
1) O Tulasi, beloved of Krsna, I bow before you again and again. My desire is to obtain the service of Sri Sri Radha-Krsna.
 
2) Whoever takes shelter of you has his wishes fulfilled. Bestowing your mercy on him, you make him a resident of Vrndavana.
 
3) My desire is that you will also grant me a residence in the pleasure groves of Sri Vrndavana-dhama. Thus, within my vision I will always behold the beautiful pastimes of Radha and Krsna.
 
4) I beg you to make me a follower of the cowherd damsels of Vraja. Please give me the privilege of devotional service and make me your own maidservant.
 
5) Dina Duhkhi Krsnadasa prays, ''May I always swim in the love of Sri Radha and Govinda.
 
6)* By the circumambulation of Srimati Tulasi Devi all the sins that one may have committed are destroyed at every step, even the sin of killing a brahmana.
 

Śrī-Tulasī Ārati - Gaura Manī devi dāsī

For American born lead singer Gaura Mani, the love affair with kirtan began at a very young age.

“When I was two years old, living at the Detroit Devasadan Mandir, my mother would play tapes of Srila Prabhupada’s kirtan while she cooked,” Gaura Mani recalls.

From the early 1980s to mid 1990s, while she went to gurukula schools in Detroit, Los Angeles, and North Carolina, Gaura Mani would start singing kirtan at 4:00am every day, with the traditional mangala arati prayers. And from the age of six, she and her sister would play mridanga and harmonium at Krishna conscious home programs their parents held on weekends.

All this kirtan, coupled with visits every few years to Vrindavana, the land of Lord Krishna’s birth, left Gaura Mani deeply attached to the mischievous cowherd boy.
During one later visit to Vrindavana, Gaura Mani met her husband-to-be Param Dasa, who had moved there from Punjab with his family, and had joined ISKCON at seventeen.

“The first time I met him, he was singing kirtan in the temple, as he did every evening,” she says. “I just couldn’t get enough of his kirtan. Every time he sang it just melted my heart. We were formally introduced in front of my parents, and began to spend time with each other by doing kirtan together!” India, when we perform, audiences are attracted because we have a slightly Western style of kirtan,” she says. “They come for the Western feel, and then realize that they’re chanting Hare Krishna, calling out the Lord! The crowd goes completely wild, and their energy bounces back to me. It’s very real, very uplifting. I go into another dimension, like I’m not even in this world anymore.”

Developing their devotion and working on their craft through live performances, The Vrajavadhus finally released their first album “Take Me Home” An incredible 35,000 people, including members of the press, attended to chant and dance along as The Vrajavadhus played their album in full. “I feel like there’s nothing greater than to sing for Krishna,” Gaura Mani says. “Being united with Him in that way gives me the highest feeling of ecstasy. I pray to be constantly engaged in this service, and I never want it to end. Kirtan forever!”


Dedication
The Vrajavadhus Kirtanwali dedicate their humble service to the Founder Acarya of the International Society of Krishna Consciousness, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada. We pray for his blessings in spreading the movement of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu throughout the world.

 


Śrī-Tulasī Ārati - Gaura Manī devi dāsī

Gaura Mani Devi