Śrī Dāmodara Aṣṭakam VERSE 2
रुदन्तं मुहुर्नेत्रयुग्मं मृजन्तम्
कराम्भोजयुग्मेन सातङ्कनेत्रम्
मुहुः श्वासकम्पत्रिरेखाङ्ककण्ठ
स्थितग्रैव दामोदरं भक्तिबद्धम्
rudantaṃ muhur netra-yugmaṃ mṛjantam
karāmbhoja-yugmena sātaṅka-netram
muhuḥ śvāsa-kampa-tri-rekhāṅka-kaṇṭha-
sthita-graiva dāmodaraṃ bhakti-baddham
SYNONYMS
rudantam: crying | netra-yugmam: both eyes | mṛjantam: rubbing | karāmbhoja-yugmena: with His two lotus hands | sātaṅka-netram: whose eyes are fearful | muhuḥ: again and again | śvāsa: breathing | kampa: trembling | tri-rekhāṅka-kaṇṭha: His neck marked with three lines like a conchshell | sthita-graiva: whose pearl necklace is situated | dāmodaram: to Lord Dāmodara | bhakti-baddham: who is bound by devotion |
TRANSLATION
Upon seeing His mother's whipping stick, He cried and rubbed His eyes again and again with His two lotus hands. His eyes were fearful and His breathing quick, and as Mother Yashoda bound His belly with ropes, He shivered in fright and His pearl necklace shook. To this Supreme Lord, Sri Damodara, I offer my humble obeisances.
PURPORT
After this, Krishna's līlā-viśeṣa (excellence of pastimes) is mentioned, as confirmed in the Bhagavatam (10.9.11) thus:
"(Mata Yashoda saw that) The mischievous child then cried and cried while rubbing His eyes with His hands, thereby smearing the dark eye-lining cosmetics from them. (Krishna saw the stick in her hands, and) His eyes became overwhelmed with fright. In this condition, Yashoda seized His hand and proceeded to chastise Him in order to instil fear in Him."
The details of this pastime are now spoken of in the second verse beginning with rudantam. Seeing the whipping stick in His mother's hand, and apprehending being struck with it, He behaved as if terrified so that she would see His distress and think "He is afraid of being punished". He hoped that by her seeing this attitude of His, she would not hit Him with the stick. Thinking in this way (that He would be spared punishment), therefore karāmbhoja-yugmena netra-yugmam mṛjantam - He rubbed both eyes again and again with both of His lotus-like hands at the same time. This is a natural characteristic of bālya-līlā, and indeed the normal habit of small children.
Or else, karāmbhoja-yugmena netra-yugmam mṛjantam may also indicate that by the influence of His fright, many tears were actually forming in His eyes; therefore He rubbed them again and again in order to make the tears fall out. Or furthermore, He rubbed His eyes again and again in order to wipe away the tears that were falling again and again; this is yet another meaning. Now sātaṅka-netram - dreading His mother's punishment, His eyes expressed how much He was terrified in His mind. Or else, it refers to His glancing this way and that in extreme fear. In this regard also, He tries to avoid being punished; thus another confidential pastime is disclosed.
Moreover, muhuḥ śvāsena - due to His crying and sobbing again and again, kampat - trembling, tri-rekhāṅka - marked with three lines just like a conchshell, kaṇṭhe stitham graivam - all His neck ornaments like pearl necklaces and so forth - He who appears this way. Dāmodaram - Whose belly is tied with a rope. He is described thus in the Bhagavatam (10.9.14):
"Just as an ordinary mother binds her naughty son, Yashoda Mata considered Sri Krishna to be her own ordinary child and tied Him to the grinding mortar with a rope."
In stating that knots were tied on the rope both to His belly and to the mortar, this indicates the particulars of Sri Krishna's excellence called bhakta-vaśyatā, or His quality of coming under the control of His devotees. Bhaktyaiva baddham - this refers to He Who responds only to bhakti in the following two ways: from His mother's viewpoint, He is bound by the loving parental devotion she feels for her son; from His viewpoint, He is bound by His mother's devotion in the form of bhakta-vaśyatā. Baddham - He willingly accepted the binding, although no rope had the power to bind Him. Thus mother Yashoda eventually collected all the ropes in her household, but upon tying them together the length still came out two fingers too short to fit around His waist. This is described in the following shlokas from the Bhagavatam (10.9.15-17):
"While tying up the naughty child, the rope came out two fingers short, so Yashoda Mata tied another length to it. This rope also came out two fingers short, so she tied yet another length to that one; but no matter how many ropes she added, it always ended up too short. Thus she was unable to bind Him, even by combining all the ropes in the house. (Then her gopi friends began to smile and she herself also smiled and laughed in astonishment)."
Of furthermore, the reason for this characteristic of the rope around His waist is: bhaktyaiva baddham - He can be bound only by devotion and nothing else. By this He becomes controlled. Such is certainly the conclusion of the afore-mentioned description. In this connection, it is further stated in the Bhagavatam (10.9.18-21):
"While attempting to bind Krishna) Yashoda became fatigued from tying so many ropes together again and again, and she perspired as the flower garlands in her hair fell loose. Then the young child Sri Krishna saw her weariness and mercifully consented to being tied up. O Maharaja Pariksit! Although He controls the entire universe along with its highly qualified demigods, the supreme independent Hari thus displayed how He comes under the control of His devotees. Therefore this gopi Yashoda Mata received such a great benediction from He Who awards liberation - a favour not granted to Lord Brahma, Mahesvara or even Laksmi Devi herself, who sports as half the body of all the Lord's incarnations. Bhagavan Gopika-suta, the Supreme Lord appearing as the son of a cowherd woman, is thus readily available for His devotees, yet remains far away from those absorbed in the bodily concept of the eight fold yoga practices as well as those focusing on visions of the Self through intellectual pursuits." (In other words, the tapasvīs and the jñānīs embark on a very difficult path of spiritual searching, but - being completely unable to attain Bhagavan - at best can end up realising only a minute fraction of Lord Krishna's true glory".
These verses from the Bhagavatam indicate direct proof of all such conclusions. Elsewhere in the Bhagavatam it is stated (10.10.25):
"Because Devarsi Narada is My dear devotee, and because these two boys are the sons of My devotee Kuvera, I will deliver them in order to fulfil the words previously spoken by Mahatma Narada."
The purport of these words spoken by Sri Krishna is that He totally depends on the devotion of Sri Narada; (being pleased with Narada's bhakti) Krishna therefore dragged the grinding mortar and broke down the two trees in which the cursed brothers stood. This is why the Lord performs these and indeed all other pastimes (-because of the devotion of His devotees). Thus ends Sanatana Goswami's Dig-Darshini-Tika on the second shloka of Sri Damodarashtakam.
"(Mata Yashoda saw that) The mischievous child then cried and cried while rubbing His eyes with His hands, thereby smearing the dark eye-lining cosmetics from them. (Krishna saw the stick in her hands, and) His eyes became overwhelmed with fright. In this condition, Yashoda seized His hand and proceeded to chastise Him in order to instil fear in Him."
The details of this pastime are now spoken of in the second verse beginning with rudantam. Seeing the whipping stick in His mother's hand, and apprehending being struck with it, He behaved as if terrified so that she would see His distress and think "He is afraid of being punished". He hoped that by her seeing this attitude of His, she would not hit Him with the stick. Thinking in this way (that He would be spared punishment), therefore karāmbhoja-yugmena netra-yugmam mṛjantam - He rubbed both eyes again and again with both of His lotus-like hands at the same time. This is a natural characteristic of bālya-līlā, and indeed the normal habit of small children.
Or else, karāmbhoja-yugmena netra-yugmam mṛjantam may also indicate that by the influence of His fright, many tears were actually forming in His eyes; therefore He rubbed them again and again in order to make the tears fall out. Or furthermore, He rubbed His eyes again and again in order to wipe away the tears that were falling again and again; this is yet another meaning. Now sātaṅka-netram - dreading His mother's punishment, His eyes expressed how much He was terrified in His mind. Or else, it refers to His glancing this way and that in extreme fear. In this regard also, He tries to avoid being punished; thus another confidential pastime is disclosed.
Moreover, muhuḥ śvāsena - due to His crying and sobbing again and again, kampat - trembling, tri-rekhāṅka - marked with three lines just like a conchshell, kaṇṭhe stitham graivam - all His neck ornaments like pearl necklaces and so forth - He who appears this way. Dāmodaram - Whose belly is tied with a rope. He is described thus in the Bhagavatam (10.9.14):
"Just as an ordinary mother binds her naughty son, Yashoda Mata considered Sri Krishna to be her own ordinary child and tied Him to the grinding mortar with a rope."
In stating that knots were tied on the rope both to His belly and to the mortar, this indicates the particulars of Sri Krishna's excellence called bhakta-vaśyatā, or His quality of coming under the control of His devotees. Bhaktyaiva baddham - this refers to He Who responds only to bhakti in the following two ways: from His mother's viewpoint, He is bound by the loving parental devotion she feels for her son; from His viewpoint, He is bound by His mother's devotion in the form of bhakta-vaśyatā. Baddham - He willingly accepted the binding, although no rope had the power to bind Him. Thus mother Yashoda eventually collected all the ropes in her household, but upon tying them together the length still came out two fingers too short to fit around His waist. This is described in the following shlokas from the Bhagavatam (10.9.15-17):
"While tying up the naughty child, the rope came out two fingers short, so Yashoda Mata tied another length to it. This rope also came out two fingers short, so she tied yet another length to that one; but no matter how many ropes she added, it always ended up too short. Thus she was unable to bind Him, even by combining all the ropes in the house. (Then her gopi friends began to smile and she herself also smiled and laughed in astonishment)."
Of furthermore, the reason for this characteristic of the rope around His waist is: bhaktyaiva baddham - He can be bound only by devotion and nothing else. By this He becomes controlled. Such is certainly the conclusion of the afore-mentioned description. In this connection, it is further stated in the Bhagavatam (10.9.18-21):
"While attempting to bind Krishna) Yashoda became fatigued from tying so many ropes together again and again, and she perspired as the flower garlands in her hair fell loose. Then the young child Sri Krishna saw her weariness and mercifully consented to being tied up. O Maharaja Pariksit! Although He controls the entire universe along with its highly qualified demigods, the supreme independent Hari thus displayed how He comes under the control of His devotees. Therefore this gopi Yashoda Mata received such a great benediction from He Who awards liberation - a favour not granted to Lord Brahma, Mahesvara or even Laksmi Devi herself, who sports as half the body of all the Lord's incarnations. Bhagavan Gopika-suta, the Supreme Lord appearing as the son of a cowherd woman, is thus readily available for His devotees, yet remains far away from those absorbed in the bodily concept of the eight fold yoga practices as well as those focusing on visions of the Self through intellectual pursuits." (In other words, the tapasvīs and the jñānīs embark on a very difficult path of spiritual searching, but - being completely unable to attain Bhagavan - at best can end up realising only a minute fraction of Lord Krishna's true glory".
These verses from the Bhagavatam indicate direct proof of all such conclusions. Elsewhere in the Bhagavatam it is stated (10.10.25):
"Because Devarsi Narada is My dear devotee, and because these two boys are the sons of My devotee Kuvera, I will deliver them in order to fulfil the words previously spoken by Mahatma Narada."
The purport of these words spoken by Sri Krishna is that He totally depends on the devotion of Sri Narada; (being pleased with Narada's bhakti) Krishna therefore dragged the grinding mortar and broke down the two trees in which the cursed brothers stood. This is why the Lord performs these and indeed all other pastimes (-because of the devotion of His devotees). Thus ends Sanatana Goswami's Dig-Darshini-Tika on the second shloka of Sri Damodarashtakam.
