Damodarastakam

Song Name: Namamisvaram Saccidananda Rupam
Official Name: Damodarastakam
Author: Vyasadeva
Book Name: Padma Purana
Language: Sanskrit

LYRICS:

1. namāmīśvaraṁ sac-cid-ānanda-rūpaṁ
   lasat-kuṇḍalaṁ gokule bhrājamanam
   yaśodā-bhiyolūkhalād dhāvamānaṁ
   parāmṛṣṭam atyantato drutya gopyā

2. rudantaṁ muhur netra-yugmaṁ mṛjantam
   karāmbhoja-yugmena sātaṅka-netram
   muhuḥ śvāsa-kampa-trirekhāṅka-kaṇṭha-
   sthita-graivaṁ dāmodaraṁ bhakti-baddham

3. itīdṛk sva-līlābhir ānanda-kuṇḍe
   sva-ghoṣaṁ nimajjantam ākhyāpayantam
   tadīyeṣita-jñeṣu bhaktair jitatvaṁ
   punaḥ prematas taṁ śatāvṛtti vande

4. varaṁ deva mokṣaṁ na mokṣāvadhiṁ vā
   na canyaṁ vṛṇe ‘haṁ vareṣād apīha
   idaṁ te vapur nātha gopāla-bālaṁ
   sadā me manasy āvirāstāṁ kim anyaiḥ

5. idaṁ te mukhāmbhojam atyanta-nīlair
   vṛtaṁ kuntalaiḥ snigdha-raktaiś ca gopyā
   muhuś cumbitaṁ bimba-raktādharaṁ me
   manasy āvirāstām alaṁ lakṣa-lābhaiḥ

6. namo deva dāmodarānanta viṣṇo
   prasīda prabho duḥkha-jālābdhi-magnam
   kṛpā-dṛṣṭi-vṛṣṭyāti-dīnaṁ batānu
   gṛhāṇeṣa mām ajñam edhy akṣi-dṛśyaḥ

7. kuverātmajau baddha-mūrtyaiva yadvat
   tvayā mocitau bhakti-bhājau kṛtau ca
   tathā prema-bhaktiṁ svakāṁ me prayaccha
   na mokṣe graho me ‘sti dāmodareha

8. namas te ‘stu dāmne sphurad-dīpti-dhāmne
   tvadīyodarāyātha viśvasya dhāmne
   namo rādhikāyai tvadīya-priyāyai
   namo ‘nanta-līlāya devāya tubhyam

TRANSLATION:

1. To the Supreme Lord, whose form embodies eternal existence, knowledge, and bliss, whose shark-shaped earrings swing beautifully, shining in Gokula, I offer my obeisances.

2. Crying, He rubs His eyes with His lotus hands, fearing the stick in His mother’s hand. To the Lord bound by His mother’s love, I bow down.

3. Engaging in pastimes, He drowns the residents of Gokula in bliss, revealing His intimate love for His devotees. I bow down to Lord Damodara.

4. I seek no liberation but only to see Your form as Gopala forever in my heart.

5. May Your beautiful face, kissed by mother Yasoda, always be manifest in my heart.

6. O Lord Damodara, deliver this poor soul from the ocean of worldly sorrow, and bless me with Your merciful glance.

7. As You liberated Kuvera’s sons, grant me the gift of pure devotion, and I ask for nothing else.

8. I offer my respects to the rope that binds Your belly, to Your beloved Radha, and to Your eternal pastimes.

Translation Long Version (IDT):

1. To the Supreme Lord, whose form is the embodiment of eternal existence, knowledge, and bliss, whose shark-shaped earrings are swinging to and fro, who is beautifully shining in the divine realm of Gokula, who [due to the offense of breaking the pot of yogurt that His mother was churning into butter and then stealing the butter that was kept hanging from a swing] is quickly running from the wooden grinding mortar in fear of mother Yasoda, but who has been caught from behind by her who ran after Him with greater speed—to that Supreme Lord, Sri Damodara, I offer my humble obeisances.

2. Seeing the whipping stick in His mother’s hand,] He is crying and rubbing His eyes again and again with His two lotus hands. His eyes are filled with fear, and the necklace of pearls around His neck, which is marked with three lines like a conchshell, is shaking because of His quick breathing due to crying. To this Supreme Lord, Sri Damodara, whose belly is bound not with ropes but with His mother’s pure love, I offer my humble obeisances.

3. By such childhood pastimes as this He is drowning the inhabitants of Gokula in pools of ecstasy, and is revealing to those devotees who are absorbed in knowledge of His supreme majesty and opulence that He is only conquered by devotees whose pure love is imbued with intimacy and is free from all conceptions of awe and reverence. With great love I again offer my obeisances to Lord Damodara hundreds and hundreds of times.

4. 0 Lord, although You are able to give all kinds of benedictions, I do not pray to You for the boon of impersonal liberation, nor the highest liberation of eternal life in Vaikuntha, nor any other boon [which may be obtained by executing the nine processes of bhakti]. O Lord, I simply wish that this form of Yours as Bala Gopala in Vrindavana may ever be manifest in my heart, for what is the use to me of any other boon besides this?

5. 0 Lord, Your lotus face, which is encircled by locks of soft black hair tinged with red, is kissed again and again by mother Yasoda, and Your lips are reddish like the bimba fruit. May this beautiful vision of Your lotus face be ever manifest in my heart. Thousands and thousands of other benedictions are of no use to me.

6. 0 Supreme Godhead, I offer my obeisances unto You. O Damodara! O Ananta! O Vishnu! O master! O my Lord, be pleased upon me. By showering Your glance of mercy upon me, deliver this poor ignorant fool who is immersed in an ocean of worldly sorrows, and become visible to my eyes.

7. 0 Lord Damodara, just as the two sons of Kuvera—Manigriva and Nalakuvara—were delivered from the curse of Narada and made into great devotees by You in Your form as a baby tied with rope to a wooden grinding mortar, in the same way, please give to me Your own prema-bhakti. I only long for this and have no desire for any kind of liberation.

8. 0 Lord Damodara, I first of all offer my obeisances to the brilliantly effulgent rope which binds Your belly. I then offer my obeisances to Your belly, which is the abode of the entire universe. I humbly bow down to Your most beloved Srimati Radharani, and I offer all obeisances to You, the Supreme Lord, who displays unlimited pastimes.

REMARKS:

This prayer was spoken by Satyavrata Muni during the month of Kartik (written by Vyasadeva).