श्रीश्रीकृष्णचन्द्राष्टकम्
Śrī Śrī Kṛṣṇacandrāṣṭakam

Eight verses in praise of Śrī Śrī Kṛṣṇacandra

By Śrīmad Kṛṣṇa Dāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī

श्रीश्रीकृष्णचन्द्राय नमः ।

śrī-śrī-kṛṣṇacandrāya namaḥ |

Obeisance unto Śrī Śrī Kṛṣṇacandra.

Commentary: Śrī Śrī Govinda-līlāmṛta describes that upon Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa arising from rest in the early afternoon at Śrī Rādhā Kuṇḍa and sitting in the midst of Śrī Rādhā’s sakhīs and Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s sakhās Subala and Madhumaṅgala, Vṛndā Devī summons her trained parrot (śuka) Mañjuvāk and mynah (śārikā) Kalokti to speak in praise of Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. After receiving a hint from Śrī Rādhā, Vṛndā Devī has Mañjuvāk speak in praise of Kṛṣṇa’s form and qualities. The final verses of this description of Śrī Kṛṣṇa [found in GL 17.50–58] are known as the Kṛṣṇacandrāṣṭakam.

The following translation has been prepared based on the Sanskrit Sadānanda-vidhāyinī-ṭīkā on Govinda-līlāmṛta by Śrī Vṛndāvana Cakravartī, a grand-disciple of Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī. Accompanying this is a translation of an early 20th century Bengali commentary on text by Śrī Kṛṣṇapada Dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja from a work he published entitled Govinda-līlāmṛta-rasa, wherein he comments on the mūla text of the Govinda-līlāmṛta and on the poetic Bengali translation of Govinda-līlāmṛta by Śrī Yadunandana Ṭhākura, a disciple of Śrī Śrīnivāsa Ācārya Prabhu’s daughter Śrī Hemalatā Ṭhākurāṇī. This Bengali prose commentary makes use of some lively language and numerous highly colloquial manners of speaking which seek to convey the spirit of exultation found in the hearts of Vaiṣṇavas who absorb themselves in meditation upon service within Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa’s nitya-līlā. Much of this vibrance is lost in translation. Be that as it may, something of its jollity may come through in this largely minimalistic rendering, which has been labelled Tātparya below to differentiate it from the content of this English commentary.

अम्बुदाञ्जनेन्द्रनीलनिन्दिकान्तिडम्बरः
कुङ्कुमोद्यदर्कविद्युदंशुदिव्यदम्बरः ।
श्रीमदङ्गचर्चितेन्दुपीतनाक्तचन्दनः
स्वाङ्घ्रिदास्यदोऽस्तु मे स बल्लवेन्द्रनन्दनः ॥१॥

ambudāñjanendranīla-nindi-kānti-ḍambaraḥ
kuṅkumodyad-arka-vidyud-aṁśu-divyad-ambaraḥ |
śrīmad-aṅga-carcitendu-pītanākta-candanaḥ
svāṅghri-dāsyado’stu me sa ballavendra-nandanaḥ ||1||

He the abundance of whose luster
Defames clouds, collyrium, and sapphires,
He whose garments outshine
Kumkum, the rising sun, and bolts of lightning,
He whose handsome figure is smeared
With sandalwood paste mixed with camphor and saffron—
May he, the Son of the ballavas’ king,
Be a bestower of the service of his feet upon me.

Commentary: Ballava is a synonym of gopa and refers to the cowherds of Śrī Vraja Dhāma.

Tātparya: At the sight of my Śrī Kṛṣṇacandra’s extraordinary luster, at first I think, “I am seeing the splendor of a fresh rumbling cloud.” Then I think, “No, a fresh cloud does not become so vividly deep blue (nīla). Is this shiny ground collyrium? No, it’s not that either. Collyrium is not so bright and pleasing to the eye. This is my Śyāmasundara’s sapphire-surpassing bodily luster! That’s why it is attracting [not only on my eyes but] my heart too!! What an astonishment! The yellow cloth he wears too causes such a dazzlement to the eye! Sometimes it produces the semblance of suspended lightning, sometimes that of a smear of kumkum, and sometimes that of the moning sunrise!! And bearing on his beautiful, dark, captivating figure an unguent the color of Śrī Rādhā made of fine sandalwood paste combined with camphor and mixed with fresh kumkum, it seems as though his body is constanty paired with Śrī Rādhā!! O Son of the gopas’ king, to be approached by such meditation! Please give me a body suitable for the service of your feet and soothe my heart by giving me such service.

गण्डताण्डवातिपण्डिताण्डजेशकुण्डल-
श्चन्द्रपद्मषण्डगर्व्वखण्डनास्यमण्डलः ।
बल्लवीषु चर्द्धितात्मगूढभावबन्धनः
स्वाङ्घ्रिदास्यदोऽस्तु मे स बल्लवेन्द्रनन्दनः ॥२॥

gaṇḍa-tāṇḍavāti-paṇḍitāṇḍajeśa-kuṇḍalaś
candra-padma-ṣaṇḍa-garva-khaṇḍanāsya-maṇḍalaḥ |
ballavīṣu vardhitātma-gūḍha-bhāva-bandhanaḥ
svāṅghri-dāsyado’stu me sa ballavendra-nandanaḥ ||2||

He whose makara earrings
Dance most expertly on his cheeks,
He the orb of whose face
Crushes the pride of multitudes of moons and lotus flowers,
He who [ever-] increases
His own secret bond of love for the ballavīs—
May he, the Son of the ballavas’ king,
Be a bestower of the service of his feet upon me.

Tātparya: Your beautiful face is such a reservoir of highly captivating beauty and sweetness that by it the pride of the beauty, fragrance, brilliance, attractiveness to the eyes, and delightfulness of the lotus and the moon have been crushed. How can I describe the beauty of your face? Your pair of makara earrings, golden like the complexion of Śrī Rādhā, are personally dancing and shinning as they sway, even without pride in their good fortune, and reflecting on the mirrors of your cheeks!! By their beauty alone the heart and mind are lost!! Thus, you increase your own secret bond of love for the ballavīs of Vraja [by exhibiting your charming figure and qualities, evoking fresh expressions of their love, and then coming under the control of that love]. O Son of the ballava’s king! … The final prayer as in the previous verse is to be pronounced [again here, i.e., “Please give me a body suitable for the service of your feet and soothe my heart by giving me such service.”].

Commentary: The “bond (bandhana) of bhāva” described here can be understood to allude to Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s prema for Śrī Rādhikā and the others gopīs, as Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī defines prema as follows:

sarvathā dhvaṁsa-rahitaṁ saty api dhvaṁsa-kāraṇe |
yad bhāva-bandhanaṁ yūnoḥ sa premā parikīrtitaḥ ||

(Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi: 14.63)

“The bond of bhāva between a youthful couple that remains undestroyed under all circumstances, even in the presence of a cause for destruction, is proclaimed prema.”

नित्यनव्यरूपवेशहार्द्दकेलिचेष्टितः
केलिनर्म्मशर्म्मदायिमित्रवृन्दवेष्टितः ।
स्वीयकेलिकाननांशुनिर्ज्जितेन्द्रनन्दनः
स्वाङ्घ्रिदास्यदोऽस्तु मे स बल्लवेन्द्रनन्दनः ॥३॥

nitya-navya-rūpa-veśa-hārda-keli-ceṣṭitaḥ
keli-narma-śarma-dāyi-mitra-vṛnda-veṣṭitaḥ |
svīya-keli-kānanāṁśu-nirjitendra-nandanaḥ
svāṅghri-dāsyado’stu me sa ballavendra-nandanaḥ ||3||

He whose figure, dress, love,
Play, and behavior are ever-new,
He who is surrounded by friends
Creating delight with humor in the midst of play,
He the rays of whose own play-forest
Conquer Indra’s pleasure garden—
May he, the Son of the ballavas’ king,
Be a bestower of the service of his feet upon me.

Tātparya: Your dress, beauty, incomparable acts of play in prema, and eager joking and so forth with your sakhās, are all ever-new! And always producing fresh joy! Śrī Vṛndāvana surpasses in greatness and honorability the beauty of Surapati Indra’s Nandana garden, and you also further increase the unlimited radiance of Vṛndāvana with your own luster and your prema-līlā there day and night! Therefore, O Son of the gopas’ king, to be approached by such meditation! Please give me a body suitable for the service of your feet and soothe my heart by giving me such service.

प्रेमहेममण्डितात्मबन्धुताभिनन्दितः
क्षौणिलग्नभाललोकपालपालिवन्दितः ।
नित्यकालसृष्टविप्रगौरवालिवन्दनः
स्वाङ्घ्रिदास्यदोऽस्तु मे स बल्लवेन्द्रनन्दनः ॥४॥

prema-hema-maṇḍitātma-bandhutābhinanditaḥ
kṣauṇi-lagna-bhāla-loka-pālapāli-vanditaḥ |
nitya-kāla-sṛṣṭa-vipra-gauravāli-vandanaḥ
svāṅghri-dāsyado’stu me sa ballavendra-nandanaḥ ||4||

He who is delighted by his own companions
Adorned with the gold of prema,
He who is worshiped by the protectors of the lokas
With their foreheads touching the earth,
He who worships his elders and the brāhmaṇas
Daily at fixed times—
May he, the Son of the ballavas’ king,
Be a bestower of the service of his feet upon me.

Tātparya: The protectors of the lokas led by Brahmā and Rudra fall at your beautiful feet and offer obeisance to you with their foreheads touching the earth. Although you possesses such greatness, you are so sweet, so charmed by prema, such a maintainer of etiquette, so modest and humble, and such a proponent of dharma, that you yourself daily and fixedly offer obeisances to all your elders and the brāhmaṇas. And you engage in prema of unrestrained equality with your own companions who are finely adorned with the golden ornaments of their taintless prema.

Commentary: Śrī Bhagavān’s associates in Dvārakā, Vaikuṇṭha, and elsewhere all wear fine golden adornments and worship him carefully according to rules of etiqutte with the utmost reverence, but Svayaṁ Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s associates in Vraja are adorned only with the gold of prema [i.e., their dress is not so opulent] and enjoy exchanges of prema with him in a spirit of unrestrained equality [i.e., without such reverence and awareness of his majesty].

लीलयेन्द्रकालियोष्णकंसवंशघातक-
स्तत्तदात्मकेलिवृष्टिपुष्टभक्तचातकः ।
वीर्य्यशीललीलयात्मघोषवासिनन्दनः
स्वाङ्घ्रिदास्यदोऽस्तु मे स बल्लवेन्द्रनन्दनः ॥५॥

līlayendra-kāliyoṣṇa-kaṁsa-vaṁśa-ghātakas
tat-tad-ātma-keli-vṛṣṭi-puṣṭa-bhakta-cātakaḥ |
vīrya-śīla-līlayātma-ghoṣa-vāsi-nandanaḥ
svāṅghri-dāsyado’stu me sa ballavendra-nandanaḥ ||5||

He who playfully destroys the retinue of Kaṁsa,
And the fervor of Kāliya and Indra,
He who nourishes the cātakas of his bhaktas
With the shower of these plays of his,
He who delights the residents of his hamlet
With his valor, character, and play—
May he, the Son of the ballavas’ king,
Be a bestower of the service of his feet upon me.

Tātparya: O Prabhu! You are the guardian and maintainer of all jīvas and the fulfiller of all desires. As you removed the haughtiness of Indra and the pride of Kālīya and brought about their welfare (see the commentary on verse 17.31), so you protected the Vraja-vāsīs and so forth from their misdeeds and the calamities they created. As you destroy sinners opposed to sanātana-dharma such as Kaṁsa and Vatsāsura and grant them a high destination, so you protect dharma and protect the world. You are always satisfying and nourishing your own bhaktas by showing over them the nectar of your play, and you constantly delight all the residents of your hamlet, from the children to the elderly, with your distinguished valor and play. Will you not fulfill my desire, considering it insignificant and unfit? [Certainly not! You undoubtedly will fulfill my desire.] Therefore, O … [i.e., O Son of the gopas’ king, to be approached by such meditation! Please give me a body suitable for the service of your feet and soothe my heart by giving me such service].

Commentary: The Sadānanda-vidhāyinī-ṭīkā states that a known variant of the word vaṁśa [in the first line of the verse] is vatsa, meaning Vatsāsura. The Bengali commentator has read the verse with this variant form but commented on it to convey a broader sense. Vaṁśa has been retained in the mūla text here because it conveys that Kṛṣṇa destroys not only Kaṁsa and Vatsāsura but all of the asuras Kaṁsa sent to Vraja beginning with Pūtanā.

कुञ्जरासकेलिसीधुराधिकादितोषण-
स्तत्तदात्मकेलिनर्म्मतत्तदालिपोषणः ।
प्रेमशीलकेलिकीर्त्तिविश्वचित्तचन्दनः
स्वाङ्घ्रिदास्यदोऽस्तु मे स बल्लवेन्द्रनन्दनः ॥६॥

kuñja-rāsa-keli-sīdhu-rādhikādi-toṣaṇas
tat-tad-ātma-keli-narma-tat-tad-āli-poṣaṇaḥ |
prema-śīla-keli-kīrti-viśva-citta-candanaḥ
svāṅghri-dāsyado’stu me sa ballavendra-nandanaḥ ||6||

He who satisfies Rādhikā and others
With the nectar of his play of rāsa and [play] in the kuñjas,
He who nourishes her and others’ friends with humor
In the midst of these plays of his,
He who brightens [alt., gladdens, or, purifies] the hearts of all
With the glories of his prema, character, and play—
May he, the Son of the ballavas’ king,
Be a bestower of the service of his feet upon me.

Tātparya: Your every līlā brings joy to the world. Although your beautiful play of rāsa and sporting in the nikuñjas and so forth are supremely sweet confidential līlās, as you fully satisfy your beloveds, such as Śrī Rādhā, Candrāvalī, and Śyāmalā, with showers of the nectar play therein, so you simultaneously satisfy their sakhīs, such as Lalitā, Śaibyā, and Bakulamālā, with the verbal nectar of various types of joking, humor, and so forth. And by all these most exalted, supreme glories of yours which you expand through all this play, all living beings throughout the universe become filled with joy: “Why is there so much joy today?” They don’t know but they feel the joy!! And by hearing of those highly auspicious, purifying glories in the Purāṇas and elsewhere, human beings of posterity find joy and auspiciousness. You are a performer of such līlā of high fame, purity, and auspiciousness for the world. Therefore, O Son of the ballava’s king! … [Please give me a body suitable for the service of your feet and soothe my heart by giving me such service].

Commentary: The Sanskrit commentor states that candanaḥ may be interpreted here to mean one who gladdens, brightens, or purifies, because the root cad means either to gladden or brighten (cadi āhlādane dīptau ca).

रासकेलिदर्शितात्मशुद्धभक्तिसत्पथः
स्वीयचित्ररूपवेशमन्मथालिमन्मथः ।
गोपिकासु नेत्रकोणभाववृन्दगन्धनः
स्वाङ्घ्रिदास्यदोऽस्तु मे स बल्लवेन्द्रनन्दनः ॥७॥

rāsa-keli-darśitātma-śuddha-bhakti-sat-pathaḥ
svīya-citra-rūpa-veśa-manmathāli-manmathaḥ |
gopikāsu netra-koṇa-bhāva-vṛnda-gandhanaḥ
svāṅghri-dāsyado’stu me sa ballavendra-nandanaḥ ||7||

He by whom the true path [alt., the sādhus’ path]
Of pure bhakti to himself
Is shown by his play of rāsa,
He who, with his wonderful figure and dress,
Is the mind-churner of mind-churners,
He who intimates his bhāvas
From the corners of his eyes to the gopikās—
May he, the Son of the ballavas’ king,
Be a bestower of the service of his feet upon me.

Commentary: The Sanskrit commentor states that sat-pathaḥ means the path of bhajana (bhajana-mārgaḥ) either in the sense of the path of the sat, that is, of bhaktas, or in the sense of the path that is sat, meaning, sādhu [i.e., true, real] (sat-pathaḥ yāḥ śrutvā tatparo bhavet ity anena rūpeṇa sādhuḥ panthāḥ bhajana-margaḥ satāṁ bhaktānāṁ bhajana-mārgo vā), as per Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.33.37:

anugrahāya bhaktānāṁ mānuṣaṁ deham āśritaḥ |
bhajate tādṛśīḥ krīḍā yāḥ śrutvā tat-paro bhavet ||

“To favor his devotees, he [i.e. Śrī Kṛṣṇa], abiding in his human form, performs such play [viz., the rāsa-līlā] that upon hearing of it, one shall become devoted to him.”

“Mind-churner” (manmathaḥ) is a well-known name of Kāmadeva [syn., Kandarpa], and thus Kṛṣṇacandra being described as the “the mind-churner of mind-churners” (manmathāli-manmathaḥ) conveys that he is the Kāmadeva of all Kāmadevas, that is, the power of his allure is superlative.

In regard to the third line of the verse, in addition to the meaning given above of “he who intimates (gandhanaḥ) his bhāvas (bhāva-vṛnda) from the corners of his eyes (netra-koṇa) to the gopikās (gopikāsu),” the commentator offers two additional alternate interpretations: (1) “he to whom intimation (gandhanaḥ) of bhāvas (bhāva-vṛnda) is made from the corners of the beautiful eyes (sunetra-koṇa) of the gopikās (gopikā),” and (2) “he who excites (gandhanaḥ) the gopikās (gopikāsu) with bhāvas (bhāva-vṛnda) from the corners of his eyes (netra-koṇa).” Note that in the first of these alternate interpretations the text is read as gopikā-sunetra rather than gopikāsu netra, and in the second gandhanaḥ is interpreted in the sense of exciting (utsāhaka) rather than intimating (sūcana) as per an established alternate sense of the word.

Tātparya: You show to your bhaktas the path of pure bhakti and the highest destiny of all by performing your śrī-rāsa-līlā according to your own liking: being completely free from masculine identity, abandoning desire for one’s own happiness, forgetting conisderations of dharma and adharma and gain and loss, leaving aside regard for house, family, and so on, and loosing oneself in the sweetness of your figure and qualities—longing (utkaṇṭhā), anxiousness (ākulatā), and exertion (ceṣtā) [with all these aforesaid qualities] to attain you inspired by the highest prema—that is pure bhakti, and that you demonstrate through your own līlā. Manifesting the extraordinary sweetness of your figure and highly variegated dancer’s (naṭavara’s) dress that churns the mind of Kandarpa [i.e., Kāmadeva]; increasing passion (madana) with your singing, playing [of instruments], dancing, joking, spreading of your arms, embracing, touching of the gopīs’ hands, locks, thighs, necks, breasts, and so forth, kissing, offering of chewed tāmbūla, glances of prema, nail scratching, laughing, and so on; increasing prema with your līlā of disappearing in the middle [of the rāsa dance]; enjoying [with the gopīs], calming [them], and accepting the timely prema-sevā of assistants (kiṅkarīs) [of leading gopīs], you establish the excellence above all of such attainment of you [i.e. of the attainment of you achieved only by the gopīs].

The answer to [the question that could be raised in this regard], “If there was no presence of kāma in the hearts of the gopīs, then how did this play of Kandarpa occur?” is in the third line as follows: with your own side-long glance you madden the gopīs, that is, you cast out crores and crores of supramundane (aprākṛta) Kandarpas from the corners of your eyes and excite their bhāva. O Prabhu! If I do not attain service in all these līlās, my heart is not soothed. Therefore, O … [i.e., O Son of the gopas’ king, to be approached by such meditation! Please give me a body suitable for the service of your feet and soothe my heart by giving me such service].

पुष्पचायिराधिकाभिमर्षलब्धितर्षितः
प्रेमवाम्यरम्यराधिकास्यदृष्टिहर्षितः ।
राधिकोरसीह लेप एष हारिचन्दनः
स्वाङ्घ्रिदास्यदोऽस्तु मे स बल्लवेन्द्रनन्दनः ॥८॥

puṣpa-cāyi-rādhikābhimarṣa-labdhi-tarṣitaḥ
prema-vāmya-ramya-rādhikāsya-dṛṣṭi-harṣitaḥ |
rādhikorasīha lepa eṣa hāri-candanaḥ
svāṅghri-dāsyado’stu me sa ballavendra-nandanaḥ ||8||

He who becomes thirsty [i.e., intensely desirous]
Upon attaining the touch of Rādhikā [as she is] picking flowers,
He who becomes jubilant upon seeing Rādhikā’s face,
Charming with obstinacy out of prema,
He who is the capitivating sandalwood paste unguent
Here on Rādhikā’s chest—
May he, the Son of the ballavas’ king,
Be a bestower of the service of his feet upon me.

Tātparya: At the time when you go near Śrī Rādhā out of thirst to touch her after observing the beauty and so forth of her chest as she raises her arms up to pick flowers from creepers in the trees of Vṛndāvana; at time of your sweet līlā filled with your most sweet laughter and so forth out of the highest heart-filling bliss after observing the sweetness of the finely manifest obstinacy and so forth of the prema on her face when you [then] go near her; and at the rasa-filled time of your being fully “smeared” (saṁlipta) upon Śrī Rādhā’s chest like a smearing of a highly fragrant yellow (hari) sandalwood paste unguent—if I do not attain suitable service at all these times, my heart will not be soothed in the least. Therefore, O Son of the ballavas’ king … [Please give me a body suitable for the service of your feet and soothe my heart by giving me such service]. See verses 9.19 and 9.60.

अष्टकेन यस्त्वनेन राधिकासुवल्लभं
संस्तवीति दर्शनेऽपि सिन्धुजादिदुर्ल्लभम् ।
तं युनक्ति तुष्टचित्त एष घोषकानने
राधिकाङ्गसङ्गनन्दितात्मपादसेवने ॥९॥

aṣṭakena yas tv anena rādhikā-suvallabhaṁ
saṁstavīti darśane’pi sindhujādi-durlabham |
taṁ yunakti tuṣṭa-citta eṣa ghoṣa-kānane
rādhikāṅga-saṅga-nanditātma-pāda-sevane ||9||

Rādhikā’s dearly Beloved [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇacandra],
Who is difficult to attain
For Lakṣmī Devī and others even by sight,
Becomes satisifed at heart
With one who highly praises him
With this poem of eight verses
And in his forest hamlet
Engages one in the service of his feet
As he is delighted by the touch of Rādhikā’s body.

इति श्रीलकृष्णदासकविराजगोस्वामिविरचितं श्रीश्रीकृष्णचन्द्राष्टकं सम्पूर्णम् ।

ইতি শ্রীলকৃষ্ণদাসকবিরাজগোস্বামিবিরচিতং শ্রীশ্রীকৃষ্ণচন্দ্রাষ্টকং সম্পূর্ণম্ ।

iti śrīla-kṛṣṇadāsa-kavirāja-gosvāmi-viracitaṁ śrī-śrī-kṛṣṇacandrāṣṭakaṁ sampūrṇam |

Thus this Śrī Śrī Kṛṣṇacandrāṣṭakam composed by Śrīla Kṛṣṇa Dāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī is complete.

Tātparya: Rādhā’s beloved Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the presence of whose beautiful feet and the prema-sevā of whom the goddess of Vaikuṇṭha Śrī Lakṣmī Devī could not attain [even] after engaging in austerities and offering praises and obeisances for many days in Belavana in Vṛndāvana, bestows upon any person who regularly (with bhakti and faith, and in adherence (ānugatya) to the feet of Śrī Rādhā) recites this Kṛṣṇacandrāṣṭaka the service of his feet in Vṛndāvana as he is blissfully engaged in līlā with Śrī Rādhā.

Not even one letter of this statement of the result [of reciting this poem] issued from the beautiful mouth of the supremely venerable Śrīla Kṛṣṇa Dāsa Kavirāja Mahāśaya can be exaggeration. Therefore, this poem of eight verses is to be recited daily with faith and a heart purified by bhakti. Because this stotra issued from the mouth of his own dear parrot, Śrī Kṛṣṇa becomes pleased with a reciter of it and grants such a result.

Meter

Tūṇaka

Sources

Govinda-līlāmṛta editions from Haribol Kūṭira (1950) and Sat-sevaka Āśrama (2013), and Govinda-līlāmṛta-rasa from Nitāi Gaura Computers (2015).

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