Continuing our presentation of the upcoming release Sharanagati, in this song Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur describes the surrendered soul’s fearless confidence in the Lord’s protection.
Sharanagati
Song Twenty Two
ekhana bhujinu prabhu! tomāra charaṇa
aśoka-abhayāmṛta-pūrṇa sarva-kṣaṇa [1]
ekhana–now; bhujinu–I have understood; prabhu!–O Lord!; tomāra–Your; charaṇa–feet; aśoka–sorrowlessness; abhaya–fearlessness; āmṛta–nectar; pūrṇa–full of; sarva–all; kṣaṇa–moments. [1]
(1) O Lord! Now I have understood that Your feet are always replete with sorrowlessness, fearlessness, and immortality.
sakala chhāḍiyā tuyā charaṇa-kamale
paḍiyāchhi āmi nātha! tava pada-tale [2]
sakala–everything; chhāḍiyā–abandoning; tuyā–Your; charaṇa–feet; kamale–at the lotus; paḍiyāchhi–have fallen; āmi–I; nātha!–O Lord!; tava–Your; pada–feet; tale–beneath. [2]
(2) I have relinquished everything at Your lotus feet and fallen before them, O Lord!
tava pāda-padma, nātha! rakṣibe āmāre
āra rakṣā-kartā nāhi e bhava-saṁsāre [3]
tava–Your; pāda–feet; padma–lotus; nātha!–O Lord!; rakṣibe (rakṣā karibe)–will protect; āmāre–to me; āra–other; rakṣā–protection; kartā–doer; nāhi–is not; e–this; bhava–of birth and death; saṁsāre–in this world. [3]
(3) O Lord! Your lotus feet will protect me. There is no other protector in this world of birth and death.
āmi tava nitya dāsa—jāninu e‑bāra
āmāra pālana-bhāra ekhana tomāra [4]
āmi–I; tava–Your; nitya–eternal; dāsa–servant; jāninu–I have understood; e–this; bāra–time; āmāra–my; pālana–protection; bhāra–responsibility; ekhana–now; tomāra–Your. [4]
(4) Now I have understood that I am Your eternal servant. The responsibility of maintaining me is now Yours.
baḍa duḥkha pāiyāchhi svatantra jīvane
saba duḥkha dūre gela, o pada varaṇe [5]
baḍa–great; duḥkha–distress; pāiyāchhi–I have experienced; svatantra (anāśrita)–independent (unsheltered); jīvane–in life; saba–all; duḥkha–distress; dūre–far away; gela–went; o–those; pada–feet; varaṇe–by accepting. [5]
(5) I experienced only great distress in my independent life. All my distress has gone away by embracing Your feet.
Sri Laghu-chandrika-bhashya
(5) o pada varaṇe: “By embracing Your feet.” In Prarthana (43.1), Srila Narottam Thakur has written:
āśraya la-iyā bhaje, āre kṛṣṇa nāhi tyaje
āra saba mare akāraṇa
“Krishna never abandons one who takes shelter and serves Him. All others die in vain.”
ye pada lāgiyā ramā tapasyā karila
ye-pada pāiyā śiva ‘śivatva’ labhila [6]
ye-pada labhiyā brahmā kṛtārtha ha-ila
ye-pada nārada-muni hṛdaye dharila [7]
sei se abhaya pada śirete dhariyā
parama-ānande nāchi pada-guṇa gāiyā [8]
ye–whose; pada–feet; lāgiyā–for attaining; ramā–the goddess of fortune Lakṣmī Devī; tapasyā–austerity; karila–did; ye–whose; pada–feet; pāiyā–obtaining; śiva–the chief of the demigods and topmost devotee, Mahādev; ‘śivatva’–auspiciousness, the status of being ‘Śiva’; labhila–obtained; ye–whose; pada–feet; labhiyā–obtaining; brahmā–the universal creator; kṛtārtha–fulfilled; ha-ila–became; ye–whose; pada–feet; nārada muni–Devarṣi Nārad, the son of Brahmā and guru of Vedavyās; hṛdaye–in the heart; dharila–embraced; sei–those very; se–those; abhaya–fearless; pada–feet; śirete–on the head; dhariyā–holding; parama–great; ānande–in ecstasy; nāchi–I dance; pada–of the feet; guṇa–the qualities; gāiyā–singing. [6–8]
(6–8) Those feet which Laksmi Devi performed austerities to attain; those feet from which Shiva obtained the quality of shivatva, auspiciousness; those feet by which Brahma became fulfilled; those feet which Narad Muni embraced in his heart—holding upon my head those very feet, which are the abode of fearlessness, I dance in supreme ecstasy, chanting their glories.
(6) śiva ‘śivatva’ labhila: “Shiva obtained the quality of śivatva, auspiciousness.” This is described by Sri Kapildev in Srimad Bhagavatam (3.28.22):
yach-chhaucha-niḥsṛta-sarit-pravarodakena
tīrthena mūrdhny adhikṛtena śivaḥ śivo ’bhūt
dhyātur manaḥ śamala-śaila-nisṛṣṭa-vajraṁ
dhyāyech chiraṁ bhagavataś charaṇāravindam
“Shiva became imbued with the quality of shivatva, auspiciousness, by bearing upon his head the holy waters of the greatest of all rivers, the Ganges, whose origin is the foot-wash of the Supreme Lord. The sins in the heart of one who meditates on that Supreme Lord’s lotus feet are destroyed just as a mountain is levelled by an onslaught of thunderbolts. Thus one should always meditate on the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord.”
saṁsāra-vipada ha’te avaśya uddhāra
bhakati-vinoda (o)-pada karibe tomāra [9]
saṁsāra–of this material world; vipada–dangers; ha’te–from; avaśya–certainly; uddhāra–deliverance; bhakati-vinoda–Bhakti Vinod; o–those; pada–feet; karibe–will do; tomāra–Your. [9]
(9) Your feet will surely deliver Bhakti Vinod from the dangers of material existence.