Chaitanya Charan Das, “The Spiritual Scientist,” is one of ISKCON’s premiere teachers and prolific authors. He graciously agreed to share his two-part reflections on the Damodarashtakam with ISKCON News to help devotees enter this month of spiritual auspiciousness more fully.
“Prayer is the universal language by which the human heart communes with the divine heart. Poetry is an artistic means to verbalize deep emotions. Singing is a popular method to express one’s emotions.
The integration of these three – prayers composed poetically and sung individually or collectively – is a powerful and joyful way to channelize human emotions towards the divine. In the world’s great theistic traditions are found many examples of beautiful prayer-songs. Such prayers are usually composed by saints who verbalize their love and longing for the Lord.
In the bhakti tradition, the singing of poetic prayers is an important spiritual practice. One such prayer-song is the Damodarashtakam, found in the Padma Purana. The song is composed by the great sage Satyavrata Muni. In the Vaishnava bhakti tradition, during the sacred month of Kartik (October-November), this song is sung daily, often in both morning and evening. Singing the Damodarashtakam and offering a lamp to Lord Damodara is a cherished form of devotional service that attracts thousands the world over to come to Krishna temples.
The song’s title is a combination of two words: Damodara (a name of Krishna) and ashtaka (a composition with eight parts). This title reveals both the song’s theme and literary structure. It is about the Lord, whose belly (udara) was bound with a rope (dama) and who is therefore celebrated as Damodara. In literary structure, the song belongs to the genre of ashtakas. As the bhakti tradition considers the number eight auspicious, many bhakti prayers are composed as songs of eight stanzas.
Damodarashtakam is essentially a meditation on a Krishna pastime described in the bhakti texts, especially the Srimad Bhagavatam. The song integrates narration and exposition in a seamless poetic flow.
Read more: https://iskconnews.org/meditating-on-the-damodarashtakam-with-chaitanya-charan-das-part-1-verses-1-to-4/
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