Devanagari
अहं हरे तव पादैकमूल-
दासानुदासो भवितास्मि भूय: ।
मन: स्मरेतासुपतेर्गुणांस्ते
गृणीत वाक् कर्म करोतु काय: ॥ २४ ॥
Verse text
ahaṁ hare tava pādaika-mūla-
dāsānudāso bhavitāsmi bhūyaḥ
manaḥ smaretāsu-pater guṇāṁs te
gṛṇīta vāk karma karotu kāyaḥ
Synonyms
aham
—
I
;
hare
—
O my Lord
;
tava
—
of Your Lordship
;
pāda
—
eka — mūla — whose only shelter is the lotus feet
;
dāsa
—
anudāsaḥ — the servant of Your servant
;
bhavitāsmi
—
shall I become
;
bhūyaḥ
—
again
;
manaḥ
—
my mind
;
smareta
—
may remember
;
asu
—
pateḥ — of the Lord of my life
;
guṇān
—
the attributes
;
te
—
of Your Lordship
;
gṛṇīta
—
may chant
;
vāk
—
my words
;
karma
—
activities of service to You
;
karotu
—
may perform
;
kāyaḥ
—
my body .
Translation
O my Lord, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, will I again be able to be a servant of Your eternal servants who find shelter only at Your lotus feet? O Lord of my life, may I again become their servant so that my mind may always think of Your transcendental attributes, my words always glorify those attributes, and my body always engage in the loving service of Your Lordship?
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O Lord! I shall become the servant of servants whose only shelter is your lotus feet. May my mind remember the Lord of my life, may my words chant your glories and may my body serve you.
Seeing that Indra did not throw the thunderbolt, Vṛtrāsura then thought “Oh! What will I say to this rascal Indra who sees everything materially? I will make a request at the lotus feet of my Lord.” Then, seeing the Lord appear through his meditation, he spoke this verse. I will again become the servant of the servants who take shelter only of your lotus feet. Please say why there is such delay. I am tormented out of longing. The Lord says, “Very soon I will bring you to my side. Please ask for a boon.” May my mind remember you, Lord of my life! May my words sing your qualities! May my body massage your feet, fan you and give you betel nut! This is the prayer of my mind, voice and body.
Purport
This verse gives the sum and substance of devotional life. One must first become a servant of the servant of the servant of the Lord (
dāsānudāsa
). Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu advised, and He also showed by His own example, that a living entity should always desire to be a servant of the servant of the servant of Kṛṣṇa, the maintainer of the
gopīs
(
gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ
). This means that one must accept a spiritual master who comes in the disciplic succession and is a servant of the servant of the Lord. Under his direction, one must then engage one’s three properties, namely his body, mind and words. The body should be engaged in physical activity under the order of the master, the mind should think of Kṛṣṇa incessantly, and one’s words should be engaged in preaching the glories of the Lord. If one is thus engaged in the loving service of the Lord, one’s life is successful.