Govindāṣṭkam
Extol Govinda, Who is the eternal bliss, Who is the eternal truth, Who is knowledge, Who is eternal, Who is beyond the skies, Who is the final limit, Who roams in the courtyard of cowshed in Vraja, Who needs no effort, Who is the final effort, Who is assuming various forms in the form of Māyā, Who is without form, Who is the form of the universe, Who is Lord [incarnated] on the earth, and Who has no Lord.||1||
Extol Govinda, Who is the eternal bliss, Who ran away with the fear of caning from Yaśodā who said thus ‘‘Were You eating soil here?’’, Who then showed the world, the world beyond and the swarm of fourteen planes of existence in His open mouth [to His mother], Who is the basis or pillar of the existence of the three worlds, Who is the light of the world, Who needs no world to in, Who is the Lord of the world, and Who is the supreme Lord.||2||
Extol Govinda, Who is the eternal bliss, Who destroys the strength of the enemies of demi-gods, Who destroys the weight present on the earth, Who destroys the disease of metempsychosis, Who is the only one, Who eats freshly prepared butter, Who requires no food, Who is the food of the universe, Who is observed in the special consciousness state of spotless blossmed mind, Who cannot be [fully] observed, Who adores Śiva, and Who is always at rest.||3||
Extol Govinda, Who is the eternal bliss, Who is known as Gopāla, Who took the form of a cow-rearer for the sake of sport, Who incarnated in the lineage of a cow-rearer, Who did spectacular sport by playing with Gopīs and lifting the Govardhana mountain, Who was given a stainless name of Govinda by the cows (Kāmadhenu), Who has many names, and Who is beyond the scope of perception of the Gopīs.||4||
Extol Govinda, Who is the eternal bliss, Who enters the meeting place of the group of Gopīs, Who remains like an un-entered enlightenment in the state of being present at the meeting place, Whose beauty is added by the continuous association with the dust risen from the striking of cow-hooves at the ground, Who accepts devotion with happiness, Who is beyond reason, Who is reasoned with nice emotions, and Who is as great as the jewel of thought.||5||
Extol Govinda, Who is the eternal bliss, Who sits on a tree having collected the clothes of the Vraja maidens bathing in the river, Who asked the Gopīs to come closer to get the clothes back, Who is bereft of both unhappiness and passion, Who is wise, Who is situated inside the hearts of wise, and Who body is mere existence.||6||
Extol Govinda, Who is the eternal bliss, Who is resplendent, Who is the reason behind reason, Who is the beginning of the universe, Who is without a beginning, Who is the passage of time, Who is without luminosity, Who at once started dancing after entering the water of Kālindī, Who is death, Who is beyond the play of death, Who is made of nothing [formless], Who destroys the malice of Kaliyuga, and Who is the reason for the existence of past, present and future.||7||
I adore Govinda, Who is prayed by the group of Vraja maidens in the territory of Vṛndāvana, Who is prayed by demi-gods and Vṛndā (a maiden), Who has a beautiful spotless smile like jasmine which gives the pleasure of divine nectar, and Who is the pleasure of friends. Praise Govinda, Whose dual-feet is worth of reverence by the minds of great sages and rest alike. Praise Govinda, Who is the abode of all the qualities. Extol Govinda, Who is the eternal bliss.||8||
That who submits his (or her) mind to Govinda, chants the name of Govinda, Acyuta, Mādhava, Viṣṇu, Gokulanāyaka, Kṛṣṇa and thus, washes all the sins by meditating on the lotus-feet of Govinda, and sings this Govindāṣṭakam — he (or she) internalizes the divine nectar like eternally blissful Govinda.
Comments