Bhagavatastakam of Rasikananda - Epilogue
BY: DR. DEMIAN MARTINS
Sri Rasikananda Murari.
Jan 02, 2015 — INDIA (SUN) —
TEXT 9 - Epilogue
etad bhagavatastakam pathati yah sraddhanvitah ksema-dam
bhakty-udreka-vivardhanam pratipadam prema-pramoda-pradam |
premanam paramam dhruvam sa labhate vrndavanesatmasu
ksipram bhagavatesu yena vasa-go gopangana-vallabhah || 9 ||
At every word, this Bhagavatastakam gives prosperity, the joy of love, and
abundantly increasing devotion. One who recites it with faith will certainly soon
attain ultimate love for the great devotees who have the Lord of Vrndavana in their
hearts. The beloved of the gopis is controlled by such love.
Commentary by Bhajananandadeva Gosvami
Now the fruit of reciting these eight verses is being stated. One who (yah) recites
(pathati) this (etat) Bhagavatastakam with faith (sraddhanvitah) certainly (dhruvam) very soon (sighram) attains (labhate) ultimate (parama) love (prema) for the great devotees of the Lord (bhagavatesu). This is the blessing of the author. According to Sridhara Svami, the word dhruva is used in the sense of certainty and logic. What are these devotees like? Their hearts (atmasu) belong to Sri Krsna (vrndavanesa), or else, He always lives in their hearts. According to the Medini-kosa, the masculine word atman is used in the sense of nature, effort and mind/heart. This indicates the reciprocal relation between the Lord and His devotees, as He states:
sadhavo hrdayam mahyam sadhunam hrdayam tv aham
mad-anyat te na jananti naham tebhyo manag api
"The pure devotees are My heart, and I am the heart of the pure devotees. My devotees do not know anything else but Me, and I do not know anything else but them." (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 9.4.68)
The beloved of the gopis (gopangana-vallabhah) becomes controlled (vasa-gah) by such love (yena). This astakam is described in the following words: it gives prosperity
(ksema-dam) in the form of attainment of the Lord's lotus feet, increases very much (vivardhanam) the rising (udreka) of devotion (bhakti). It is the abode of the joy of love.
It is by the mercy of the congregation of devotees that the commentary on these eight verses glorifying them has now been completed by Sri Bhajananandadeva Gosvami.
|| iti sri-rasikananda-murari-viracitam sri-bhagavatastakam sampurnam ||
Thus ends the Bhagavatastakam composed by Sri Rasikananda Murari.
Translated from the original in Sanskrit by Demian Martins, Baladeva Vidyabhusana Project: www.vidyabhusanaproject.blogspot.com
