Pocket Theories

दामोदराष्टक | Damodarastakam

नमामीश्वरं सच्चिदानन्दरूपं
लसत्कुण्डलं गोकुले भ्राजमनम्
यशोदाभियोलूखलाद्धावमानं
परामृष्टमत्यन्ततो द्रुत्य गोप्या

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.

रुदन्तं मुहुर्नेत्रयुग्मं मृजन्तम्
कराम्भोजयुग्मेन सातङ्कनेत्रम्
मुहुः श्वासकम्पत्रिरेखाङ्ककण्ठ
स्थितग्रैवं दामोदरं भक्तिबद्धम्

[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.

इतीदृक्स्वलीलाभिरानन्दकुण्डे
स्वघोषं निमज्जन्तमाख्यापयन्तम्
तदीयेषितज्ञेषु भक्तैर्जितत्वं
पुनः प्रेमतस्तं शतावृत्ति वन्दे

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.

वरं देव मोक्षं न मोक्षावधिं वा
न चन्यं वृणेऽहं वरेषादपीह
इदं ते वपुर्नाथ गोपालबालं
सदा मे मनस्याविरास्तां किमन्यैः

O 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?

इदं ते मुखाम्भोजमत्यन्तनीलैर्
वृतं कुन्तलैः स्निग्धरक्तैश् च गोप्या
मुहुश्चुम्बितं बिम्बरक्ताधरं मे
मनस्याविरास्तामलं लक्षलाभैः

O 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.

नमो देव दामोदरानन्त विष्णो
प्रसीद प्रभो दुःखजालाब्धिमग्नम्
कृपादृष्टिवृष्ट्यातिदीनं बतानु
गृहाणेष मामज्ञमेध्यक्षिदृश्यः

O 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.

कुवेरात्मजौ बद्धमूर्त्यैव यद्वत्
त्वया मोचितौ भक्तिभाजौ कृतौ च
तथा प्रेमभक्तिं स्वकां मे प्रयच्छ
न मोक्षे ग्रहो मेऽस्ति दामोदरेह

O 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.

नमस्तेऽस्तु दाम्ने स्फुरद्दीप्तिधाम्ने
त्वदीयोदरायाथ विश्वस्य धाम्ने
नमो राधिकायै त्वदीयप्रियायै
नमोऽनन्तलीलाय देवाय तुभ्यम्

O 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.