Devanagari
देवदेव जगन्नाथ गोविन्द पुरुषोत्तम ।
नारायण हृषीकेश पुण्यश्लोकाच्युताव्यय ॥ २७ ॥
अनुजानीहि मां कृष्ण यान्तं देवगतिं प्रभो ।
यत्र क्वापि सतश्चेतो भूयान्मे त्वत्पदास्पदम् ॥ २८ ॥
Verse text
deva-deva jagan-nātha
govinda puruṣottama
nārāyaṇa hṛṣīkeśa
puṇya-ślokācyutāvyaya
anujānīhi māṁ kṛṣṇa
yāntaṁ deva-gatiṁ prabho
yatra kvāpi sataś ceto
bhūyān me tvat-padāspadam
Synonyms
deva
—
deva — O Lord of lords
;
jagat
—
of the universe
;
nātha
—
O master
;
go
—
vinda — O Lord of the cows
;
puruṣa
—
uttama — O Supreme Personality
;
nārāyaṇa
—
O foundation of all living beings
;
hṛṣīkeśa
—
O master of the senses
;
puṇya
—
śloka — O You who are glorified in transcendental poetry
;
acyuta
—
O infallible one
;
avyaya
—
O undiminishing one
;
anujānīhi
—
please give leave
;
mām
—
to me
;
kṛṣṇa
—
O Kṛṣṇa
;
yāntam
—
who am going
;
deva
—
gatim — to the world of the demigods
;
prabho
—
O master
;
yatra kva api
—
wherever
;
sataḥ
—
residing
;
cetaḥ
—
the mind
;
bhūyāt
—
may it be
;
me
—
my
;
tvat
—
Your
;
pada
—
of the feet
;
āspadam
—
whose shelter .
Translation
O Devadeva, Jagannātha, Govinda, Puruṣottama, Nārāyaṇa, Hṛṣīkeśa, Puṇyaśloka, Acyuta, Avyaya! O Kṛṣṇa, please permit me to depart for the world of the demigods. Wherever I live, O master, may my mind always take shelter of Your feet.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O Devadeva, Jagannātha, Govinda, Puruṣottama, Nārāyaṇa, Hṛṣīkeśa, Puṇyaśloka, Acyuta, Avyaya! O Kṛṣṇa, please permit me to depart for the world of the demigods. Wherever I live, O master, may my mind always take shelter of Your feet.
KB 10.64.27-28
Having attained the body of a demigod, King Nṛga, continuing to remember everything, said, “My dear Lord, You are the Supreme Lord and are worshiped by all the demigods. You are not one of the ordinary living entities; You are the Supreme Person, Puruṣottama. You are the source of all happiness for all living entities; therefore You are known as Govinda. You are the Lord of those living entities who have accepted material bodies and those who have not yet accepted material bodies. [Among the living entities who have not accepted material bodies are those who hover in the material world as evil spirits or live in the ghostly atmosphere. However, those who live in the spiritual kingdom, the Vaikuṇṭhalokas, have bodies not made of material elements.] You, my Lord, are infallible. You are the Supreme, the purest of all living entities. You live in everyone’s heart. You are the shelter of all living entities, Nārāyaṇa. Being seated in the heart of all living beings, You are the supreme director of everyone’s sensual activities; therefore, You are called Hṛṣīkeśa.
“My dear Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa, because You have given me this body of a demigod, I will have to go to some heavenly planet; so I am taking this opportunity to beg for Your mercy. I pray that I may have the benediction of never forgetting Your lotus feet, no matter to which form of life or planet I may be transferred.
Purport
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī comments as follows on this verse: His faith emboldened upon receiving the Lord’s mercy and thus attaining the status of servitude, King Nṛga properly glorifies the Lord by chanting His names and then asks the Lord’s permission to take his leave. The spirit of his prayer is as follows: “You are Devadeva, God even of the gods, and Jagannātha, the master of the universe, so please be my master. O Govinda, please make me Your property with the same merciful glance You use to enchant the cows. You can do this because You are Puruṣottama, the supreme form of Godhead. O Nārāyaṇa, since You are the foundation of the living entities, please be my support, even though I am a bad living entity. O Hṛṣīkeśa, please make my senses Your own. O Puṇyaśloka, now You have become famous as the deliverer of Nṛga. O Acyuta, please never be lost to my mind. O Avyaya, You will never diminish in my mind.” Thus the great
Bhāgavatam
commentator Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī explains the purport of these verses.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Having attained the position of the servant by the Lord's mercy, by a sudden burst of faith, he begins to recite the lord's names and then asks permission to leave. "You are the supreme deva among devas (devadeva), and since you are the master of the whole universe, you should be my master as well (jagannatha). Please see me, your cow, (govinda) with your merciful glance, because you are the supreme among the forms of Visnu (purusottama). As you are the ruler of the jivas (narayana), you should rule over me, though I am a low jiva. Make my senses concentrate on you (hrsikesa). You are famous for having liberated Nrga (punyasloka). Do not leave my heart (acyuta). You will not suffer any loss in doing so (avyaya). May my mind have your feet as their object of meditation."
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
By seeing the Lord he developed faith in pure bhakti. Though he lacked previous acts of pure bhakti like hearing and chanting, he got to see the Lord. Preparing to request permission to depart, while praising the Lord’s mercy, in two verses he first prayed to the Lord by calling out his names in praise since nāma-kīrtana is dearest to the Lord. O Lord of the devatās! “In saying this, you who are insignificant pray with great rashness. Why are you not more restrained?” O Lord of the universe! I should pray to you since I have fallen in this material universe. “Among the people of this world, Brahmā and others are situated on Brahmaloka and have high positions. Why do you not go there?” O Govinda! By mercy you perform pastimes on earth (go). Now I should like to receive your mercy. “Even here on earth there are great souls.” O best person! Taking support of your mercy to the fallen, I pray for mercy. I do not take shelter of my own qualities. Moreover you are the shelter of all jīvas (nārāyaṇa). You are person who inspires my prayers (hṛṣīkeṣa). You are the moon glorified for such mercy (puṇyaśloka). You never fail to protect the miserable who have surrendered to you (acyuta). Although you always bestow what the devotees unlimited devotees desire, you are always complete (avyaya). Thus my prayer is correct. “But I am indifferent, and as Bhagavān I cannot show favor to you.” You are Svayam Bhagavān (Kṛṣṇa), kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam. Therefore you are complete (vibho, another version instead of prabho).
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
Taking permission to leave, first he praises the Lord by reciting his names since saṅkīrtana is dear to the Lord. O lord of Brahmā and others devatās who are worshippable by the world. O lord of Nīlādri (jagannātha)! First you were worshipped by Brahmā, and then by the devatās. You appeared on earth as dāru-brhaman (govinda), directly the Lord! O supreme person (puruṣottama)! You are famous by that name in your kṣetra. You are the shelter of all jīvas, giving them food remnants rare to the devatās (nārāyaṇa). Not only do you have an external form, but internal also, by which you give all powers to your servants. O stimulator of the senses of your servants (hṛṣīkeśa)! Or it expresses the Lord’s affection for the devotees. You appeared with long hair once to make the words of your devotee true (hṛṣīkeśa). You are excellently glorified by poets or are famous for your excellent affection for devotees (puṇya-śloka). Why? You never fail to keep your word (acyuta). Ahaṁ bhakta-parādhīnaḥ: I am dependent on my devotees. (SB 9.4.63) Or you always reside at Nīlācala (acyuta). Moreover, your supply of mahāprasāda is never exhausted by giving (avyaya) since you are served by Mahālakṣmī.
Or you are endowed with supreme powers (deva-deva). That is illustrated. You are the lord of all causes and effects in the universe (jagannātha). You thus appeared as the king of Gokula (govinda) to reveal your unlimited qualities. Therefore you are beyond the temporary and permanent (jīvas) (puruṣottama).
yasmāt kṣaram atīto ’ham akṣarād api cottamaḥ |
ato ’smi loke vede ca prathitaḥ puruṣottamaḥ ||
Because I am superior to the conditioned and liberated jīvas, I am celebrated in the Vedas and the smṛtis as the Supreme Person. BG 15.18
Or you are supreme among the three (Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva) because you are the supreme Lord (nārāyaṇa). You stimulate the senses of your devotees (hṛṣīkeśa). You reveal excellent qualities (puṇya-śloka), because you are full in all respects (acyuta). Or you never fail in your promise to protect your devotee (sakṛd eva prapanno yaḥ). You have unrestricted glories (avyaya). Or you do not decrease in giving yourself.
Or in requesting to leave, thinking himself qualified with humility, thinking of his qualification he describes the Lord by glorifying him. Entering the universe (jaganātha), you are the Lord of us low people, though you are lord of lords (deva-deva), since you revealed unlimited qualities such as compassion by protecting the cows (govinda). Therefore you are best person (puruṣottama) served by great persons with unlimited qualities like skillfulness. Moreover, you are the shelter of all jīvas (nārāyaṇa), delivering even plants. You are moreover most beautiful (hṛṣīkeśa), but not only in form, but qualities. You distribute fame which produces purity in the universe (puṇya-śloka) by performing childhood pastimes. You do not fall from your powers even when performing childhood pastimes (acyuta).