SRI SRI DAMODARASTAKAM

Sri Sri Damodarastakam

download MP3 Song: Damodarastakam.mp3    (1) namamisvaram sac-cid-ananda-rupam lasat-kundalam gokule bhrajamanam yasoda-bhiyolukhalad dhavamanam paramrstam atyantato drutya gopya   (2) rudantam muhur netra-yugmam mrjantam karambhoja-yugmena satanka-netram muhuh svasa-kampa-trirekhanka-kantha- sthita-graivam damodaram bhakti-baddham   (3) itidrk sva-lilabhir ananda-kunde sva-ghosam nimajjantam akhyapayantam tadiyesita-jnesu bhaktair jitatvam punah prematas tam satavrtti vande (4) varam deva moksam na moksavadhim va na canyam vrne 'ham varesad apiha idam te vapur natha gopala-balam sada me manasy avirastam kim anyaih  (5) idam te mukhambhojam atyanta-nilair vrtam kuntalaih snigdha-raktais' ca gopya muhus cumbitam bimba-raktadharam me manasy avirastam alam laksa-labhaih (6) namo deva damodarananta visno prasida prabho duhkha-jalabdhi-magnam krpa-drsti-vrstyati-dinam batanu- grhanesa mam ajnam edhy aksi-drsyah (7) kuveratmajau baddha-murtyaiva yadvat tvaya mocitau bhakti-bhajau krtau ca tatha prema-bhaktim svakam me prayaccha na mokse graho me 'sti damodareha (8) namas te 'stu damne sphurad-dipti-dhamne tvadiyodarayatha visvasya dhamne namo radhikayai tvadiya-priyayai namo 'nanta-lilaya devaya tubhyam    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 I (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 conch shell, 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 imbues 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) 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 Vrndavana may ever be manifest in my heart, for what is the use to me of any other boon besides this? 5) 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. 6) 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. 7) 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. 8) 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. This song is sung during the Month of Kartik, also known as the month of Damodara. As quoted in the Sri Hari-Bhakti-Vilasa, "In the month of Kartika one should worship Lord Damodara and daily recite the prayer known as Damodarastaka, which has been spoken by the sage Satyavrata and which attracts Lord Damodara. (Sri Hari-bhakti-vilasa 2.16.198).” When Lord Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, appears on earth, He performs extraordinary pastimes as a transcendental cowherd boy. As a child, Lord Krsna lived with His pure devotees in the village of Vrndavana, or Gokula. In the spiritual world (Vaikuntha) the Lord, in His form called Narayana, is worshiped with great awe and reverence, but the devotees in Vrndavana have such great love for the Lord that they even forget that He is the Lord. Because of their intense love for Him, they think of Him as their friend, son or lover. And the Lord, to please His devotees, responds in the roles in which the devotees think of Him. As a transcendental pastime, Lord Krsna used to steal butter from the gopis, the ladies of Vrndavana. Once, however, His mother caught Him, bound His waist with a rope, and tied Him to a grinding mortar to punish Him. The Lord is therefore also known as Damodara (dama means "rope," and udara means "waist"). In Lord Krsna's courtyard were two trees, who were actually sons of the demigod Kuvera but had been cursed to stand as trees. By His mercy, Lord Krsna crawled between these trees, dragging the heavy mortar behind Him, and pulled the trees down, thus liberating Kuvera's two sons. The details of these pastimes are described in Srila Prabhupada's book entitled Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The eight-verse prayer on the following page is chanted daily by devotees during the Krsna conscious month of Damodara (November).