TEXT 6
Knowledge of Kṛṣṇa’s glories is described in the Mukunda-mālā (43):
kṛṣṇo rakṣati no jagat-traya-guruḥ kṛṣṇo hi viśvambharaḥ
kṛṣṇād eva samutthitaṁ jagad idaṁ kṛṣṇe layaṁ gacchati
kṛṣṇe tiṣṭhati viśvam etad akhilaṁ kṛṣṇasya dāsā vayaṁ
kṛṣṇenākhila sad-gatir-vitaritā kṛṣṇāya tasmai namaḥ
Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the guru of the three worlds, protects us. Viśvambhara Kṛṣṇa maintains the entire universe in all ways. This world is manifested by Kṛṣṇa – that is, by His external potency (bahiraṅga-śakti) – and at the proper time (during pralaya) the entire creation again merges into Him. Kṛṣṇa pervades the entire world; the entire world is situated within Him. Śrī Kṛṣṇa manifests all wealth and opulence. We are all Kṛṣṇa’s eternal servants. I offer my respects unto this Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
jagad-guru kṛṣṇa sabe karena rakṣaṇa
kṛṣṇa viśvambhara viśva karena pālana
kṛṣṇa haite ei viśva hañāche udaya
avaśeṣe ei viśva kṛṣṇe haya laya
kṛṣṇe viśva avasthita, jīva kṛṣṇadāsa
sad-gati-pradātā kṛṣṇe karaha viśvāsa
janama layecha kṛṣṇa-bhakti karibāre
kṛṣṇa-bhakti vinā saba mithyā e saṁsāre
BHAJANA-RAHASYA-VṚTTI
As sādhakas chant Kṛṣṇa’s names, they repeatedly sing the glories of those names. They offer Him obeisances and pray at His lotus feet: “O Kṛṣṇa, save my life by giving me Your darśana. You are the provider and maintainer of the entire world, and thus Your name, Viśvambhara, has become meaningful. Since I am also residing in this world, please protect me. From You come the creation, maintenance and destruction of this world. Millions of universes are situated in each and every pore of Your body. Because I am present in this world, I am also Your insignificant servant, so please bestow Your mercy upon me. Prabhu, by Your causeless mercy, You have arranged that the living entities take birth in human bodies only so they can perform bhagavad-bhajana, without which this entire universe is useless. As this bhakti cannot be received without Your mercy, please bestow that mercy upon me.”
Furthermore Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata (Madhya-khaṇḍa 1.202) states:
jagatera pitā kṛṣṇa je nā bhaje bāpa
pitṛ-drohī pātakīra janme-janme tāpa
Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the father of the universe. Although a person may perform duties to his mother, father, wife, children and so on, if he does not perform bhajana of his original eternal father, he is offensive to that father (pitṛ-drohī) and he will be scorched by the threefold miseries of māyā, birth after birth.
Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Ādi-līlā 6.85) states:
keha māne, kehā nā māne, saba taṅra dāsa
ye nā māne, tāra haya sei pāpe nāśa
Some accept Him whereas others do not, yet everyone is His servant. One who does not accept Him, however, will be ruined by his sinful activities.
The scriptures also state:
daśāśvamedhī punar eti janmani
kṛṣṇa-praṇāmī na punar bhavāya
Even a person who performs ten horse sacrifices takes birth again in this world. But he who offers obeisances to Kṛṣṇa just once does not return.
O Kṛṣṇa, I eternally offer my constant obeisances at Your lotus feet, which bring one fearlessness.
TEXT 7
Great eagerness in kṛṣṇa-bhajana is described in the Mukunda-mālā (33):
kṛṣṇa tvadīya-pada-paṅkaja-pañjarāntam
adyaiva me viśatu mānasa-rāja-haṁsaḥ
prāṇa-prayāṇa-samaye kapha-vāta-pittaiḥ
kaṇṭhāvarodhana-vidhau bhajanaṁ kutas teO Kṛṣṇa, my request is that the swan of my mind be confined in the cage of Your lotus feet and dwell there in the ocean of rasa. At the time of death the throat will be choked up with mucus, air and bile. Under such conditions, how will it be possible to remember Your name?
vṛthā dina yāya more majiyā saṁsāre
e mānasa-rāja-haṁsa bhajuka tomāre
adyai tomāra pāda-paṅkaja-pañjare
baddha ha’ye thākuka haṁsa rasera sāgare
e prāṇa prayāṇa-kāle kapha vāta pitta
karibeka kaṇṭharodha apraphulla citta
takhana jihvāya nā sphuribe tava nāma
samaya chāḍile kise ha’be siddhakāma
BHAJANA-RAHASYA-VṚTTI
As a person who is inclined to perform nāma-bhajana increases his chanting of the holy name, feelings of repentance increase in his aching heart. Even though he is chanting harināma day and night, he thinks, “Alas, my mind has dwelled on material objects and thus my days have passed in vain. My mind is not fixed at the lotus feet of Nāma Prabhu. O Prabhu, how will I be delivered? It is my request at Your lotus feet that my swan-like mind be confined in the cage of Your lotus feet and always drink nectar. At the time of death, when mucus, air, bile and so forth choke my throat, how will I drink the nectar of Your name? If at that time Your name does not appear on my tongue, how will I be able to attain perfection? O Prabhu, I pray at Your lotus feet that at the time of death, I will give up my body while constantly chanting Your holy name.”
TEXT 8
The following six verses of the Yāmuna-stotra (which comprise Texts 8–13) illustrate the poet Yāmunācārya’s own humility:
na dharma-niṣṭho ’smi na cātma-vedī
na bhaktimāṁs tvac-caraṇāravinde
akiñcano ’nanya-gatiḥ śaraṇya
tvat-pāda-mūlaṁ śaraṇaṁ prapadye
I am not devoted to dharma, nor do I have any knowledge of the soul, and my heart has no devotion for Your lotus feet. O protector, being destitute, I take shelter of You. I have no shelter other than You. You have come as the saviour of the fallen to deliver such a wretched fallen soul as me. I am Your eternal servant and You are my eternal master.
hari he!
dharma-niṣṭhā nāhi mora, ātma-bodha vā sundara,
bhakti nāi tomāra caraṇe
ataeva akiñcana, gati-hīna duṣṭa-jana,
rata sadā āpana-vañcane
patita-pāvana tumi, patita adhama āmi,
tumi mora eka-mātra gati
tava pāda-mūle painu, tomāra śaraṇa lainu,
āmi dāsa tumi nitya-pati
BHAJANA-RAHASYA-VṚTTI
The sādhaka prays to Bhagavān in a meek and destitute mood, “O Prabhu, I have no devotion to dharma, no bhakti and no jñāna, so how can I remember Your lotus feet? You are the saviour of the fallen (patita-pāvana); You even give those who are poor and lowly a place at Your lotus feet. Therefore please deliver me, this degraded soul. Then Your name, Patita-pāvana, will become meaningful.”
TEXT 9
na ninditaṁ karma tad asti loke
sahasraśo yan na mayā vyadhāyi
so ’haṁ vipākāvasare mukunda
krandāmi sampraty agatis tavāgreO Prabhu! O Hari! There is no wicked or sinful activity I have not performed thousands and thousands of times, and I will suffer for them. O Mukunda, I see that besides You there is no other shelter. I am constantly crying, praying before You. If You so desire, punish me; for You are the ruler of this destitute body.
hena duṣṭa karma nāi, yāhā āmi kari nāi,
sahasra-sahasra bāra hari
sei saba karma-phala, peye avasara bala,
āmāya piśiche yantropari
gati nāhi dekhi āra, kāndi hari ānivāra,
tomāra agrete ebe āmi
yā’ tomāra haya mane, daṇḍa deha akiñcane,
tumi mora daṇḍa-dhara svāmī
BHAJANA-RAHASYA-VṚTTI
“O Lord, birth after birth I have performed innumerable sinful and contemptible activities. To describe them all to You is not even possible; but as You are omniscient, You know of them anyway. So now I come before You, clasping a piece of straw between my teeth, humbly requesting You to please deliver me, even by giving me punishment. O Prabhu, as a result of my numerous offences, māyā crushes me just as one crushes a stick of sugar cane. My tearful request to You is to please purify this destitute person by punishing him. Since You give liberation to the jīvas, one of Your names is Mukunda. Therefore please liberate me from these sins and bestow upon me service to Your lotus feet.”
Śrīla Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī says in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Ādi-līlā 5.205, 207):
jagāi mādhāi haite muñi se pāpiṣṭa
purīṣera kīṭa haite muñi se laghiṣṭa
emana nirghṛṇṇā more kebā kṛpā kare
eka nityānanda vinā jagata bhitareI am more sinful than Jagāi and Mādhāi and even lower than a worm in stool. Who in this world but Nityānanda could show His mercy to such an abominable person as me?
TEXT 10
nimajjato ’nanta bhavārṇavāntaś
cirāya me kūlam ivāsi labdhaḥ
tvayāpi labdhaṁ bhagavann idānīm
anuttamaṁ pātram idaṁ dayāyāḥO Ananta, since time immemorial I have been drowning in this unlimited ocean of material existence. The hope of one day attaining Your lotus feet is the shore of this ocean. Immersed in this material existence, I am tearfully praying to You with a distressed voice to please appear as guru and deliver me.
nija-karma-doṣa-phale, paḍi’ bhavārṇava jale,
hābu ḍubu khāi kata kāla
sāṅtāri sāṅtāri yāi, sindhu anta nāhi pāi,
bhava-sindhu ananta viśāla
nimagna haiyā yabe, ḍākinu kātara rave,
keha more karaha uddhāra
sei kāle āile tumi, tava pada-kūla-bhūmi,
āśā-bīja haila āmāra
tumi hari dayāmaya, pāile more suniścaya,
sarvottama bhājana dayāra
BHAJANA-RAHASYA-VṚTTI
“O Lord, as a result of my previous activities I am submerged in the ocean of material existence, where many kinds of reactions are rising as huge waves, tormenting me with happiness and distress. This path of karma has no beginning and no end. I do not know how to swim in this vast ocean, and the crocodiles of lust, anger and so forth are eating my body. O Lord, please rescue me! You are my only hope. I now relinquish dependence on my own strength, and instead am taking shelter of Your lotus feet. I have heard from the mahājanas that You give mercy according to the extent of a person’s fallen condition. As You protected the elephant Gajendra with Your disc, please save me from this crocodile-like ocean of material existence. Prabhu, I have also heard that You are the pinnacle of compassion. Please understand that I am fallen and wretched. Even if someone searches the entire universe, he will not find any better object for this compassion than I. Knowing this, kindly bestow Your mercy upon me.”
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