Devanagari
मार्गन्ति यत्ते मुखपद्मनीडै-
श्छन्द:सुपर्णैऋर्षयो विविक्ते ।
यस्याघमर्षोदसरिद्वराया:
पदं पदं तीर्थपद: प्रपन्ना: ॥ ४१ ॥
Verse text
mārganti yat te mukha-padma-nīḍaiś
chandaḥ-suparṇair ṛṣayo vivikte
yasyāgha-marṣoda-sarid-varāyāḥ
padaṁ padaṁ tīrtha-padaḥ prapannāḥ
Synonyms
mārganti
—
searching after
;
yat
—
as
;
te
—
Your
;
mukha
—
padma — lotuslike face
;
nīḍaiḥ
—
by those who have taken shelter of such a lotus flower
;
chandaḥ
—
Vedic hymns
;
suparṇaiḥ
—
by the wings
;
ṛṣayaḥ
—
the sages
;
vivikte
—
in clear mind
;
yasya
—
whose
;
agha
—
marṣa — uda — that which offers freedom from all reactions to sin
;
sarit
—
rivers
;
varāyāḥ
—
in the best
;
padam padam
—
in every step
;
tīrtha
—
padaḥ — one whose lotus feet are as good as a place of pilgrimage
;
prapannāḥ
—
taking shelter .
Translation
The lotus feet of the Lord are by themselves the shelter of all places of pilgrimage. The great clear-minded sages, carried by the wings of the Vedas, always search after the nest of Your lotuslike face. Some of them surrender to Your lotus feet at every step by taking shelter of the best of rivers [the Ganges], which can deliver one from all sinful reactions.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
We have taken shelter of your lotus feet, a place of pilgrimage, which gives rise to the Gaṅgā, best of rivers and the destroyer of sin, and which sages seek in their minds by the following the bird of the Vedas situated in the nest of your lotus mouth.
Those who desire to see your lotus feet, by taking shelter of the two ladders of happiness constructed by your mercy to attain direct vision of your lotus feet, are intelligent. They are the real jṣānīs. We have surrendered to your lotus feet, a place of pilgrimage, which the sages seek. By what means do they search? They search by the birds of the Vedas which are sitting in the nest of your lotus mouth. Homeless people looking for shelter at the base of some tree, wandering here and there, follow the flight of birds which enter their nest at night. Thus they attain the base of the tree which is the home of birds. Similarly sages worship you and attain you after understanding the conclusion of the Vedas which spring from your mouth and which are confirmed by you. This is one ladder. The second ladder is then described. We surrender to your feet which are the place of emanation (padam) of the best of rivers, the Gaṅgā (varāyāḥ), whose water destroys all sins. This means that by worshipping the Gaṅgā they attain your feet from which the Gaṅgā emanates.
Purport
The
paramahaṁsas
are compared to royal swans who make their nests on the petals of the lotus flower. The Lord’s transcendental bodily parts are always compared to the lotus flower because in the material world the lotus flower is the last word in beauty. The most beautiful thing in the world is the
Vedas,
or
Bhagavad-gītā,
because therein knowledge is imparted by the Personality of Godhead Himself. The
paramahaṁsa
makes his nest in the lotuslike face of the Lord and always seeks shelter at His lotus feet, which are reached by the wings of Vedic wisdom. Since the Lord is the original source of all emanations, intelligent persons, enlightened by Vedic knowledge, seek the shelter of the Lord, just as birds who leave the nest again search out the nest to take complete rest. All Vedic knowledge is meant for understanding the Supreme Lord, as stated by the Lord in
Bhagavad-gītā
(15.15)
:
vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ.
Intelligent persons, who are like swans, take shelter of the Lord by all means and do not hover on the mental plane by fruitlessly speculating on different philosophies.
The Lord is so kind that He has spread the river Ganges throughout the universe so that by taking bath in that holy river everyone can get release from the reactions of sins, which occur at every step. There are many rivers in the world which are able to evoke one’s sense of God consciousness simply by one’s bathing in them, and the river Ganges is chief amongst them. In India there are five sacred rivers, but the Ganges is the most sacred. The river Ganges and
Bhagavad-gītā
are chief sources of transcendental happiness for mankind, and intelligent persons can take shelter of them to go back home, back to Godhead. Even Śrīpāda Śaṅkarācārya recommends that a little knowledge in
Bhagavad-gītā
and the drinking of a little quantity of Ganges water can save one from the punishment of Yamarāja.