Śrī Dāmodara Aṣṭakam VERSE 8
नमस्तेऽस्तु दाम्ने स्फुरद्दीप्तिधाम्ने
त्वदियोदरायाथ विश्वस्य धाम्ने
नमो राधिकायै त्वदीयप्रियायै
नमोऽनन्तलीलाय देवाय तुभ्यम्
namas te 'stu dāmne sphurad-dīpti-dhāmne
tvadiyodarāyātha viśvasya dhāmne
namo rādhikāyai tvadīya-priyāyai
namo 'nanta-līlāya devāya tubhyam
SYNONYMS
te: unto You | astu: let there be | dāmne: to the rope | sphurat-dīpti-dhāmne: to the abode of effulgence | tvadīya-udarāya: to Your belly | atha: and | viśvasya: of the universe | dhāmne: to the abode | rādhikāyai: unto Rādhikā | tvadīya-priyāyai: unto Your beloved | namaḥ: obeisances | ananta-līlāya: unto Your unlimited pastimes | devāya: unto the Supreme Lord | tubhyam: unto You |
TRANSLATION
O Lord, the entire universe was created by Lord Brahma, who was born from Your abdomen, which was bound by a rope by Mother Yashoda. To this rope I offer my humble obeisances. I offer my obeisances to Your most beloved Srimati Radharani and to Your unlimited pastimes.
PURPORT
Now at the conclusion of the prayer, in order to summarize the presentation of topics that are being prayed for, and also to arouse the attributes of bhakti, obeisances are given separately unto Bhagavan's unique binding,, bodily limbs, associates, and so on in the verse beginning with namas te 'stu. It is stated te dāmne namo 'stu - I bow to the mahā-pāśa, the magnificent rope that binds Your belly. What is this grand rope like? It is sphurantyā dipte dhāma - the source or shelter of a splendrous effulgence. In this regard, it is suggested by the author that such a mahā-pāśa is the very abode of the (endlessly radiant) concentrated brahma-teja, or all-pervading brahman effulgence.
After that, tvadīyāya udarāya namo 'stu - I bow to Your belly. The reason for this is because while bound with ropes, You especially manifest the beauty and other qualities of Your belly as well as the glorious characteristics of vātsalya-līlā and other pastimes. What is that belly like? It is stated viśvasya dhāma - that belly is the support for all the universes in creation, including all the stationary and moving beings contained therein. From the lotus navel on His abdomen has sprouted a gigantic lotus flower that sustains the fourteen worlds. Additionally, (during His childhood pastimes in Vrindavana) He bodily displayed the viśva-rūpa or universal form to His mother on two occasions. This is another indication. Therefore, in such a pastime of binding Him by the waist, mother Yashoda bound up the whole universe, indeed, she brought the entire creation under her control. This is the proclamation.
It is never possible to factually bind the (all-pervading, limitlessly potent) Lord, Who is Isha (the supreme controller), but He willingly accepts binding as an attribute of His superexcellent affection for His devotees (bhakta-vātsalya-viśeṣa). And by that acceptance of binding we are informed that such pastimes are imperceptible to all the logic and reasoning available within all the material universes. This is an intimation of His aiśvarya-viśeṣa or attributes of majesty. The reason for offering obeisances first unto the rope (dāma) and then unto the Lord's belly (udara) is - because the rope is situated upon His belly. Or furthermore, to indicate the ascending superiority in the significance of different things, (respects are first offered to the rope, then to His belly).
Now, namo rādhikāyai - obeisances are offered unto His beloved, Bhagavati Sri Radhika. This is done in order to show that the mercy of His beloved enables one to fully attain the desire objective - including objectives that are even beyond the range of desire. By offering obeisances unto Sri Radhika, it is implied that obeisances are also being offered unto all the gopīs. Or else, since Sri Radhika is the foremost of them all, obeisances are offered only unto Her.
The word rādhikā is used here to denote the attributes and excellence of one who is always engaged in Sri Bhagavan's ārādhana or worship (arranging only for His pleasure); this is the purpose of using Her specific name "Radhika" in this text. Therefore - tvadīya-priyāyaiḥ - obeisances unto Your beloved. Or else, this name "Radhika" indicates rūḍhi (in grammatical terms, it is capable of conveying a meaning not supported by derivation). Therefore, regardless of Her ārādhana or worship of You, She is still Your eternally dearmost beloved (nitya-priyā). In this connection also, the word tvadīya indicates that not only is She dear to Yourself, but to all Your other devotees as well; what more, then, could be said about how dear She is to You? Additionally, this statement implies that You are also Her nitya-priya (eternally dear beloved). By such the excellence of Sri Radhika's love for Sri Krishna (prema-viśeṣa) is suggested. This the words priyāyaiḥ namaḥ in this verse can either mean - my obeisances unto You, Radhika's beloved; or, my obeisances unto Radhika, Your beloved. Whoever is beloved to You, such a person is certainly worshipable for the entire universe. Therefore, since Radhika is Your own dearmost beloved, namo 'stu - I bow before Her.
And finally at the conclusion of the prayer, the author desires to describe the supreme superexcellence of the rāsa-līlā and other transcendental pastimes that Lord Sri Krishna performs with Sri Radhika, but since these are the topmost of confidential topics, they are not mentioned directly. The logic of madhureṇa samāpayet - "all undertakings should be completed sweetly" - applies here. Therefore such confidential pastimes are referred to only by a mere dint as they are offered obeisances with the words namo 'nanta-līlāya (obeisances unto Your limitless pastimes). The word devāya indicates that obeisances are offered unto Bhagavan Who is lokottara - supernatural, divine, transcendental. With this it is intimated that by Damodara Krishna's divinely supernatural quality, then all the līlās performed by Him are also similarly transcendental. Or else, it could also be interpreted to mean - my obeisances unto You Who are continuously engaged in pastimes along with Sri Radhika. Therefore, ananta-līlāya tubhyaṃ namaḥ - I offer my respectful obeisances unto You Who are thus performing limitless pastimes. By the words ananta-līlā, it is suggested to include all the pastimes associated with the realm of Gokula Vrindavana. I offer my obeisances unto all those līlās, such a mood is most certainly expressed in this verse. Thus ends Sanatana Goswami's Dig-Darshini-Tika on the eighth shloka of Sri Sri Damodarashtakam.
After that, tvadīyāya udarāya namo 'stu - I bow to Your belly. The reason for this is because while bound with ropes, You especially manifest the beauty and other qualities of Your belly as well as the glorious characteristics of vātsalya-līlā and other pastimes. What is that belly like? It is stated viśvasya dhāma - that belly is the support for all the universes in creation, including all the stationary and moving beings contained therein. From the lotus navel on His abdomen has sprouted a gigantic lotus flower that sustains the fourteen worlds. Additionally, (during His childhood pastimes in Vrindavana) He bodily displayed the viśva-rūpa or universal form to His mother on two occasions. This is another indication. Therefore, in such a pastime of binding Him by the waist, mother Yashoda bound up the whole universe, indeed, she brought the entire creation under her control. This is the proclamation.
It is never possible to factually bind the (all-pervading, limitlessly potent) Lord, Who is Isha (the supreme controller), but He willingly accepts binding as an attribute of His superexcellent affection for His devotees (bhakta-vātsalya-viśeṣa). And by that acceptance of binding we are informed that such pastimes are imperceptible to all the logic and reasoning available within all the material universes. This is an intimation of His aiśvarya-viśeṣa or attributes of majesty. The reason for offering obeisances first unto the rope (dāma) and then unto the Lord's belly (udara) is - because the rope is situated upon His belly. Or furthermore, to indicate the ascending superiority in the significance of different things, (respects are first offered to the rope, then to His belly).
Now, namo rādhikāyai - obeisances are offered unto His beloved, Bhagavati Sri Radhika. This is done in order to show that the mercy of His beloved enables one to fully attain the desire objective - including objectives that are even beyond the range of desire. By offering obeisances unto Sri Radhika, it is implied that obeisances are also being offered unto all the gopīs. Or else, since Sri Radhika is the foremost of them all, obeisances are offered only unto Her.
The word rādhikā is used here to denote the attributes and excellence of one who is always engaged in Sri Bhagavan's ārādhana or worship (arranging only for His pleasure); this is the purpose of using Her specific name "Radhika" in this text. Therefore - tvadīya-priyāyaiḥ - obeisances unto Your beloved. Or else, this name "Radhika" indicates rūḍhi (in grammatical terms, it is capable of conveying a meaning not supported by derivation). Therefore, regardless of Her ārādhana or worship of You, She is still Your eternally dearmost beloved (nitya-priyā). In this connection also, the word tvadīya indicates that not only is She dear to Yourself, but to all Your other devotees as well; what more, then, could be said about how dear She is to You? Additionally, this statement implies that You are also Her nitya-priya (eternally dear beloved). By such the excellence of Sri Radhika's love for Sri Krishna (prema-viśeṣa) is suggested. This the words priyāyaiḥ namaḥ in this verse can either mean - my obeisances unto You, Radhika's beloved; or, my obeisances unto Radhika, Your beloved. Whoever is beloved to You, such a person is certainly worshipable for the entire universe. Therefore, since Radhika is Your own dearmost beloved, namo 'stu - I bow before Her.
And finally at the conclusion of the prayer, the author desires to describe the supreme superexcellence of the rāsa-līlā and other transcendental pastimes that Lord Sri Krishna performs with Sri Radhika, but since these are the topmost of confidential topics, they are not mentioned directly. The logic of madhureṇa samāpayet - "all undertakings should be completed sweetly" - applies here. Therefore such confidential pastimes are referred to only by a mere dint as they are offered obeisances with the words namo 'nanta-līlāya (obeisances unto Your limitless pastimes). The word devāya indicates that obeisances are offered unto Bhagavan Who is lokottara - supernatural, divine, transcendental. With this it is intimated that by Damodara Krishna's divinely supernatural quality, then all the līlās performed by Him are also similarly transcendental. Or else, it could also be interpreted to mean - my obeisances unto You Who are continuously engaged in pastimes along with Sri Radhika. Therefore, ananta-līlāya tubhyaṃ namaḥ - I offer my respectful obeisances unto You Who are thus performing limitless pastimes. By the words ananta-līlā, it is suggested to include all the pastimes associated with the realm of Gokula Vrindavana. I offer my obeisances unto all those līlās, such a mood is most certainly expressed in this verse. Thus ends Sanatana Goswami's Dig-Darshini-Tika on the eighth shloka of Sri Sri Damodarashtakam.
