Continuing our presentation of the upcoming release Sharanagati, in this post Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur describes the soul’s longing for the shelter of the Lord and His devotees.
Sharanagati
Song Eight
(প্রভ্ু হে!) তুয়া পদে এ মিনতি মোর ।
তুয়া পদ-পল্লব, ত্যজত মরু-মন,
বিষম বিসয়ে ভেল ভোর ॥ ১ ॥
(prabhu he!) tuyā pade e minati mora
tuyā pada-pallava, tyajata maru-mana,
viṣama viṣaye bhela bhora [1]
prabhu–Lord; he!–oh; tuyā (tomāra)–Your; pade–at the feet; e–this; minati (anunaya)–prayer (entreaty); mora–my; tuyā–Your; pada–feet; pallava–tender new sprigs; tyajata (tyāga kariyā)–abandoning; maru-mana (maru-bhūmira nyāya mana)–(my) desert-like heart; viṣama (ghora)–terrible; viṣaye–in mundanity; bhela (ha-ila)–became; bhora (magna)–deeply absorbed (submerged). [1]
(1) O Lord! This is my prayer at Your feet. Abandoning Your tender feet, my desert-like heart has become deeply submerged in the terrors of mundanity.
উঠয়িতে তাকত, পুনঃ নাহি মিলই,
অনুদিন করহুঁ হুতাশ ।
দীনজন‑নাথ, তুহুঁ কহায়সি
তোহারি চরণ মম আশ ॥ ২ ॥
uṭhayite tākata, punaḥ nāhi mila‑i,
anudina karahu̐ hutāśa
dīna-jana-nātha, tuhu̐ kahāyasi
tohāri charaṇa mama āśa [2]
uṭhayite (uṭhite)–to get up; tākata (śakti, bala, sāmarthya, tāgad)–power, strength, ability, capacity; punaḥ–again; nāhi–not; mila‑i (militechhe)–I am finding; anudina (sarvadā)–daily (always, constantly); karahu̐ (karitechhi)–I am doing; hutāśa–dismay; dīna–fallen; jana–souls; nātha– Lord; tuhu̐–to You; kahāyasi (kathita hao, balāiyā thāka)–are known (it is said); tohāri (tomāra‑i)–of only You; charaṇa–feet; mama–my; āśa–hope. [2]
(2) I cannot find the strength to rise again, and thus I constantly lament. You are known as the Lord of the fallen; Your feet are my only hope.
ঐছন দীনজন, কাঁহি নািহ মিলই,
তুহুঁ মোরে কর পরসাদ ।
তুয়া জন সঙ্গে. তুয়া কথা-রাঙ্গে,
ছাড়হুঁ সকল পরমাদ ॥ ৩ ॥
aichhana dīna-jana, ka̐hi nāhi mila‑i,
tuhu̐ more kara parasāda
tuyā jana saṅge, tuyā kathā-raṅge,
chhāḍahu̐ sakala paramāda [3]
aichhana (airūpa)–such (something of that kind); dīna–fallen; jana–soul; ka̐hi (kothāo, kona-sthāne)–anywhere, in any place; nāhi–not; mila‑i–I find; tuhu̐–You; more–to me; kara–please do; parasāda (prasāda, anugraha, kṛpā)–grace, favour, mercy; tuyā–Your; jana–people; saṅge–in the company; tuyā–of You; kathā–of discussion; raṅge–in ecstasy; chhāḍahu̐–I abandon; sakala–all; paramāda–illusion. [3]
(3) Such a fallen soul as I cannot be found anywhere. Please bestow Your mercy upon me. Then in the company of Your devotees, in the ecstasy of discussion about You, I will leave behind all illusion.
তুয়া ধাম‑মাহে, তুয়া নাম গাওত,
গোঁয়ায়বু দিবা-নিশি আশ ।
তুয়া পদ‑ছায়া, পরম সুশীতল,
মাগে ভকতিবিনোদ দাস ॥ ৪ ॥
tuyā dhāma-māhe, tuyā nāma gāota,
go̐yāyabu̐ divā-niśi āśa
tuyā pada-chhāyā parama suśītala,
māge bhakati-vinoda dāsa [4]
tuyā–Your; dhāma–abode; māhe (mājhe)–within; tuyā–Your; nāma–Name; gāota (gāhiyā)–singing; go̐yāyabu̐ (yāpana kariba)–I will pass; divā–the days; niśi–and nights; āśa–hope, desire; tuyā–Your; pada–of feet; chhāyā–the shade; parama–supremely; suśītala–cooling; māge–begs; bhakati-vinoda–Bhakti Vinod; dāsa–Your servant. [4]
(4) I will spend my days and nights in Your abode singing Your Name. Your servant, Bhakti Vinod, prays for the supremely cooling shade of Your feet.
Sri Laghu-chandrika-bhashya
(4) suśītala: “The supremely cooling shade of Your feet.” Srila Narottam Das Thakur describes the feet of Sri Nityananda Prabhu in this way (Prarthana: 36.1):
nitāi-pada-kamala, koṭī-chandra-suśītala,
e chhāyāya jagata juḍāya
“Cooling like ten million moons, the lotus feet of Nitāi soothe the world with their shade (they relieve the burning pain of the threefold miseries of material existence).”