Namaḥ 1 in Kṛṣṇa-līlā-stavaḥ
By Śrīmat Sanātana Gosvāmīpāda
Introduction
Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmīpāda introduces his Kṛṣṇa-līlā-stava as follows:
śrī-kṛṣṇasya kathā-sūtraṁ yathā-bhāgavata-kramam |
likhyate’ṣṭottara-śata-praṇāmānanda-siddhaye ||
(Kṛṣṇa-līlā-stava: 1)
“For the sake of attaining the bliss
Of [offering] one hundred and eight prostrations [unto Śrī Kṛṣṇa],
This encapsulation of narrations of Śrī Kṛṣṇa
Is written in accord
With the sequence of [the narrations of Śrī Kṛṣṇa in the Tenth Canto of] Śrīmad Bhāgavatam.”
Kṛṣṇa-līlā-stava consists of names of Śrī Kṛṣṇa that sequentially summarize the narrations of Śrī Kṛṣṇa given in the first forty-five chapters of the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. The verses constituted of these names are grouped into one hundred and eight sections, each of which is conceived to be and entitled an obeisance (namaḥ) unto Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa and contains mention of the act offering an obeisance unto him or mention of the entreaties for Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa to be pleased or protect his bhakta that are enjoined as integral to the act of offering obeisance by Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (11.27.45–46):
prasīda bhagavann iti vandeta daṇḍavat ||
śiro mat-pādayoḥ kṛtvā bāhubhyāṁ ca parasparam |
prapannaṁ pāhi mām īśa bhītaṁ mṛtyu-grahārṇavāt ||
“[Entreating Bhagavān,] ‘Be pleased, O Bhagavān,’ one should offer obeisance like a stick. Putting the head before my feet and the arms opposite one another, [one should entreat Bhagavān], ‘O Lord, please protect me, I who have taken shelter [in you] and am afraid of the ocean inhabited by the shark of death’ [and offer obeisance].”
The phala-śruti, that is, the conclusion of the text that describes the benefit of reciting Kṛṣṇa-līlā-stava, further explains:
etal līlā-stavaṁ nāma stotraṁ śrī-kṛṣṇa tārakam |
praṇāmāṣṭottara-śate yo’rthāvagama-pūrvakam ||
kīrtayet so’cirād bhakto labhatāṁ kṛpayā tava |
rūpe nāmani līlāyām ākrīḍe’pi parāṁ ratim ||
(Kṛṣṇa-līlā-stava: 431–432 (108))
“O Śrī Kṛṣṇa!
May a bhakta who shall,
With one hundred and eight prostrations [unto you],
Recite this liberating hymn
[Entitled Śrī Kṛṣṇa-] Līlā-stava,
Having understood its meaning,
Attain without delay
By your grace
Paramount attachment (rati)
To your figure, name, līlā, and pleasure-ground [i.e., abode of Vraja].”
Śrī Gosvāmīpāda’s concept in this Kṛṣṇa-līlā-stava thus that a bhakta can engage the mind, speech, and body in bhakti to Śrī Kṛṣṇa by reciting each section of the text while contemplating its meaning and then physically offering an obeisance unto Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Such practice serves as an ideal way to put into practice the limb of bhakti known as [offering] obeisance (vandana), one of the nine principal limbs of bhakti taught in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (7.5.23–24), which Śrī Jīva Gosvāmīpāda says is aptly described in the following verse:
tat te’nukampāṁ susamīkṣamāṇo
bhuñjāna evātma-kṛtaṁ vipākam |
hṛd-vāg-vapurbhir vidadhan namas te
jīveta yo mukti-pade sa dāya-bhāk ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.14.8)
“One who can live earnestly desiring to see your compassion, enduring self-created reactions [to one’s past actions], and offering obeisance unto you with mind, speech, and body is an heir to the abode of mukti [i.e., liberation from saṁsāra and service to your—Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s—feet].”
The following translation and commentary draw from content in the Sanskrit commentary on Kṛṣṇa-līlā-stava by Hari Dāsa Dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja.
Namaḥ One
brahma-brahman namāmi tvām ātman nandīśvareśvara |
nānāvatāra-kṛt kṛṣṇa madhurānanda-pūrada ||2|| (namaḥ 1)
O Brahman of the Vedas!
I offer obeisance to you,
O Self!
O Prince of Nandīśvara!
O who you perform various avatāras!
O Kṛṣṇa!
O you who distribute a flow of sweet bliss!
Commentary
“O Self” (Ātman) can mean “O you who are all-pervading” and “O you who are dearmost.” “O Prince (Īśvara) of Nandīśvara” (Nandīśvareśvara) can also be construed to mean “O you who are the Lord (Īśvara) of the Lord (Īśvara) of Nandī,” that is, “O you who are Lord of Mahādeva, who is the Lord of his wife Durgā (Nandī) and his bull carrier Nandī.” There is variant of “O who you perform various avatāras! O Kṛṣṇa!” (Nānāvatāra-kṛt Kṛṣṇa) as “O you who are the source of all avatāras!” (Avatārāvatārin he). “O you who distribute (da) a flow (pūra) of sweet (madhura) bliss (ānanda)” (Madhurānanda-pūrada) can also convey other meanings, such as the following, “O you who distribute (da) an abundance (pūra) of the blisses (ānanda) of [various] sweetnesses (madhura),” “O you who partake (da) of a flow (pūra) of sweet (madhura) bliss (ānanda),” “O you who partake (da) of the stream (pūra) of the bliss (ānanda) of [the] nectar (madhura) of the lotus of Rādhā’s face,” and “O you who distribute (da) the stream (pūra) of the bliss (ānanda) of [the] nectar (madhura) of the lotus of your face to Rādhā.”
Meter
Anuṣṭup
Source
Kṛṣṇa-līlā-stava editions by Hari Dāsa Dāsa and Purī Dāsa Mahāśaya.