Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja
[From the lecture series on Srila Sanatana Gosvami's commentary of Sri Damodarastakam by Sri Satyavrata Muni (Verse 8)]
namas te 'stu damne sphurad dipti-dhamne
tvadiyodarayatha visvasya dhamne
namo radhikayai tvadiya priyayai
namo nanta-lilaya devaya tubhyam
["O Damodara! I offer obeisances to the exalted rope binding Your waist. I also offer obeisances to Your belly, which is the source of the Brahman effulgence and the mainstay of the entire universe. Time and time again I offer obeisances to Srimati Radhika, Your dear-most beloved, and I also offer my obeisances hundreds of times unto Your wondrous, uncommon pastimes." (Verse 8)]
Satyavrata Muni had prayed in verse 7:
"You were bound by the ropes of Mother Yasoda, and at that time You delivered Manigriva and Nalakuvera from maya and awarded them prema-bhakti. I don't want the benediction of impersonal liberation. It is prema-bhakti that I want, but not ordinary prema-bhakti. I want the liberation of prema-bhakti that You awarded to Manigriva and Nalakuvera."
When Manigriva and Nalakuvera performed parikrama of Lord Krsna, they offered many prayers, such as the following: "Wherever in this world we may take birth, we only desire to hear glorification of Your loving pastimes from Your premi-bhaktas. We don't desire liberation. Rather, we will take birth after birth, just to hear Your glorious pastimes. We pray that You will arrange for us to always have the association of qualified Vaisnavas."
Srila Sanatana Gosvami explained the mood of this prayer in Brhad-Bhagavatamrta. The devotee does not fear taking any birth. For example, although Vrtasura took birth as a demon, he was always glorifying Krsna's pastimes.
In the seventh verse of Sri Damodarastakam, Satyavrata Muni had prayed to become a premi-bhakta like the sons of Kuvera. But then he changed his mind and said, "I don't want that." Now, in this eighth verse he prays:
namas te 'stu damne spurad dipti-dhamne
tvadiyodarayatha visvasya dhamne
namo radhikayai tvadiya priyayai
namo 'nanta-lilaya devaya tubhyam
Srila Sanatana Gosvami states that Satyavrata Muni is offering his worshipful prayers to the rope that bound Krsna's belly, and then to the belly itself. That rope is not a material object. It is sat-cit-ananda; eternal, and full of bliss and knowledge.
Before Srimad-Bhagavatam, no scripture had given the information that anyone had bound the Supreme Lord. Sri Krsna is that Supreme Lord. There is no limit to His expanse - inner, outer, upper, lower, downward or sideways. How, then, could a rope, which is itself matter and has limit, bind the unlimited Krsna? That rope was sat-cit-ananda, and especially it was made of the vatsalya-prema of Mother Yasoda. Actually it wasn't an ordinary rope; it was the rope that Mother Yasoda used to tie her hair. Krsna was bound simply by that.
All paraphernalia in the pastimes of Vraja are a manifestation of Sri Baladeva Prabhu. The seats, the ornaments and the clothing of Vraja are His manifestation. Who is Baladeva Prabhu? He is also Krsna - a manifestation of Krsna. The rope that binds Lord Krsna is also a manifestation of Baladeva Himself.
This is the rope to which Satyavrata Muni offers his prayers, and after that he also offers prayers to Krsna's belly - spurad dipti-dhamne tvadiyodarayatha. Krsna's belly and neck each have three folds. How beautiful that belly is, especially when Krsna is crying.
At first Satyavrata Muni offered pranama to the rope - Baladeva Prabhu - which is not a part of Krsna's body. It was a separate thing, by which He was bound. But now Satyavrata Muni is telling about Krsna's belly - a part of Sri Krsna's own body, and non-different from Him.
Visvasya dhamne: In this world we see both animate and inanimate objects. But in Vraja, even today, all objects, though they appear to be materially animate and inanimate, are sat-cit-ananda.
All souls are manifested from Baladeva Prabhu. In the Jaiva Dhama, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura explains that the origin of all jivas is Baladeva Prabhu - but that not all jivas come from Him in the same way. In Goloka Vrndavana, an infinite number of jivas come directly from Baladeva Prabhu and they serve eternally in all the rasas of Krsna's pastimes. When Baladeva manifests in Vaikuntha, in the form of Maha Sankarsana, other eternally liberated souls appear from Him. They serve Rama, Nrsimhadeva, Kalki, Narayana and all other incarnations.
When Baladeva Prabhu expands into Karanadhakasayi Visnu, an infinite number of souls manifest from Him. These souls are called tatastha, and they are of two kinds. Those who look towards Vaikuntha become liberated, and those who look toward maya go there and become conditioned souls.
No jiva (living being) has ever fallen from Goloka Vrndavana. Nowhere is this written in any scripture that he has fallen from there. Eternal associates of Krsna, like Sridama, Sudama, or Vasudama, may come to assist Him in His pastimes. However, they are not bound by Maya to come here, as we are bound. They can come freely and can go freely - to serve in the pastimes of Sri Krsna.
Gaura Premanande.
Transcriber and Editor: Premavati dasi
Associate Editors: Syamarani dasi and Bhadra dasi
