SB 3.31.18

SB 3.31.18

Devanagari

येनेद‍ृशीं गतिमसौ दशमास्य ईश संग्राहित: पुरुदयेन भवाद‍ृशेन । स्वेनैव तुष्यतु कृतेन स दीननाथ: को नाम तत्प्रति विनाञ्जलिमस्य कुर्यात् ॥ १८ ॥

Verse text

yenedṛśīṁ gatim asau daśa-māsya īśa saṅgrāhitaḥ puru-dayena bhavādṛśena svenaiva tuṣyatu kṛtena sa dīna-nāthaḥ ko nāma tat-prati vināṣjalim asya kuryāt

Synonyms

yena by whom (the Lord) ; īdṛśīm such ; gatim a condition ; asau that person (myself) ; daśa māsyaḥ — ten months old ; īśa O Lord ; saṅgrāhitaḥ was made to accept ; puru dayena — very merciful ; bhavādṛśena incomparable ; svena own ; eva alone ; tuṣyatu may He be pleased ; kṛtena with His act ; saḥ that ; dīna nāthaḥ — refuge of the fallen souls ; kaḥ who ; nāma indeed ; tat that mercy ; prati in return ; vinā except with ; aṣjalim folded hands ; asya of the Lord ; kuryāt can repay .

Translation

My dear Lord, by Your causeless mercy I am awakened to consciousness, although I am only ten months old. For this causeless mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the friend of all fallen souls, there is no way to express my gratitude but to pray with folded hands.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

O Lord! I have received the rare blessing of being a devotee in the womb for ten months by great mercy that can be given by you alone. You, the saviour of those suffering, should be satisfied with your actions. Who can repay your mercy, except by folding his hands in thanks? “You have asked me, ‘When will I get out?’ Are you suggesting that I am merciless since I do not get you out right now?” With shame, fear, biting his tongue, putting himself in a humble position, the jīva speaks. I, situated in this womb for ten months, have received this situation of being your devotee, rare even for devatās, by mercy which can come from no one except you (bhavādṛśena). Such a nature is impossible for me to attain even in a life time of Brahmā. May you be satisfied by your actions! Who can compensate for that mercy? I can only fold my hands.

Purport

As stated in Bhagavad-gītā, intelligence and forgetfulness are both supplied by the Supersoul sitting with the individual soul within the body. When He sees that a conditioned soul is very serious about getting out of the clutches of the material influence, the Supreme Lord gives intelligence internally as Supersoul and externally as the spiritual master, or, as an incarnation of the Personality of Godhead Himself, He helps by speaking instructions such as Bhagavad-gītā. The Lord is always seeking the opportunity to reclaim the fallen souls to His abode, the kingdom of God. We should always feel very much obliged to the Personality of Godhead, for He is always anxious to bring us into the happy condition of eternal life. There is no sufficient means to repay the Personality of Godhead for His act of benediction; therefore, we can simply feel gratitude and pray to the Lord with folded hands. This prayer of the child in the womb may be questioned by some atheistic people. How can a child pray in such a nice way in the womb of his mother? Everything is possible by the grace of the Lord. The child is put into such a precarious condition externally, but internally he is the same, and the Lord is there. By the transcendental energy of the Lord, everything is possible.