The Śrī Dāmodarāṣṭakaṁ prayer with eight slokas (verses) is sung daily during the month of Damodara. This is verse 6, with purport explained by Visnujana Swami.
नमो देव दामोदरानन्त विष्णो
प्रसीद प्रभो दुःख-जालाब्धि-मग्नम्
कृपा-दृष्टि-वृष्ट्याति-दीनं बतानु
गृहाणेष माम् अज्ञम् एध्य् अक्षि-दृश्यः ॥ ६॥
namo deva dāmodarānanta viṣṇo
prasīda prabho duḥkha-jālābdhi-magnam
kṛpā-dṛṣṭi-vṛṣṭyāti-dīnaṁ batānu
gṛhāṇeṣa mām ajñam edhy akṣi-dṛśyaḥ ॥ 6॥
namaḥ–I bow down; deva–O divine Lord!; dāmodara–O Lord whose belly is bound with a rope!; ananta–O limitless Lord!; viṣṇo–O allpervading Lord!; prasīda–be pleased; prabho–O my Master!; duḥkhajāla–a network of material miseries; abdhi-magnam–immersed in the ocean; kṛpā-dṛṣṭi-vṛṣṭyā–by the rain of merciful glances; āti-dīnam–very fallen; bata–alas!; anugṛhāṇa–please accept; īśa–O supremely independent Lord!; mām–me; ajñam–ignorant; edhi–please come; akṣidṛśyaḥ–perceptible to my eyes.
Translation
6) O unlimited Visnu! O master! O Lord! Be pleased upon me! I am drowning in and ocean of sorrow and am almost like a dead man, Please shower the rain of mercy on me; uplift me and protect me with Your nectarean vision.
Purport by Visnujana Swami
Feelings of love arise from the purity and potency of longing, and then is only satisfied to behold the beauty of Sri Krishna directly (saksat darsana). The supreme method (param-sadhana) to attain this goal is chanting the Holy Name (sri-nama-sankirtana). Satyavrata Muni begins this verse chanting the Holy Names. In his ecstasy, feelings of awe and reverence are abandoned by the elimination of the word tubhyam (unto You). This creates the mood of being in the personal presence of the Lord. The name deva indicates, he divya-rupa, O Lord of divine beauty! This beauty is the cause for desiring personal darsana. The address damodara specifically refers to His glorious quality of coming under the sway of the devotee’s pure love for Him (bhakta-vatsala), even up to the point of allowing Himself to be bound. How is one able to see Him unless qualified by bhakti, pure devotional service? He who is unlimited with no end (ananta) indicates the Lord who is inconceivable, infallible, beginningless, and who has unlimited forms for sporting in divine pastimes. Because He is inconceivable, He can only become visible to our eyes by His power, not by our own power. Moreover, the name visnu connotes He who is all pervading. Thus there can be no difficulty for Him to appear before our eyes. In the last line of the verse, isa refers to the supreme controller who is completely independent. The poet prays, “Please accept this prayer, O independent Lord, (grhanesa) for nothing can cause You to act. You may accept my entreaty or not by Your own sweet will. Still I will continue to hope.” The word prasida indicates the mercy of prabhu, the supreme master. The devotee hopes that Sri Krishna is pleased with him and will benedict him with His mercy. Why? Because he is drowning in an ocean of misery (duhkha-jalabdhi-magnam). Specifically, duhkha denotes the pain of repeated birth and death, or the agony of being separated from the Lord’s presence. The illusion (jala) of the material world is like the vast, bottomless ocean (abdhi) in which we are drowning (magnam). This is the cause of our condition of extreme distress (ati-dinam). Another meaning is, due to being bereft of sadhu-sanga, the association of saintly devotees, we experience distress. Moreover, we are extremely distressed not being able to see You, my Lord. The problem is compounded because of being ignorant about what to do (ajnam). Therefore, please bestow Your merciful glance like a shower of nectar (krpa-drsti-vrstya), thereby uplifting and enthusing us with life (anugrhana). Thereupon, please become visible before our eyes (edhy aksi drsyah). This is the significance of the prayer.
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