यस्य स्फूर्तिलवाङ्कुरेण लघुनाप्यन्तर्मुनीनां मनः
स्पृष्टं मोक्षसुखाद्विरज्यति झटित्यास्वाद्यमानादपि ।
प्रेम्णस्तस्य मुकुन्द साहसितया शक्नोतु कः प्रार्थने
भूयाज्जन्मनि जन्मनि प्रचयिनी किन्तु स्पृहाप्यत्र मे ॥
yasya sphūrti-lavāṅkureṇa laghunāpy antar munīnāṁ manaḥ
spṛṣṭaṁ mokṣa-sukhād virajyati jhaṭity āsvādyamānād api |
premṇas tasya mukunda sāhasitayā śaknotu kaḥ prārthane
bhūyāj janmani janmani pracayinī kintu spṛhāpy atra me ||
(Stava-mālā: Aṣṭādaśa-cchanda, Vastra-haraṇa, 2)
“O Mukunda, who could have the capability to boldly pray for that prema upon being touched by even a tiny sprout of a minute manifestation of which the inner minds of sages immediately become disaffected from even the satisfaction of mokṣa they are relishing? [No one.] Birth after birth, however, let me just have [ever-] increasing desire for that [i.e., that prema].”
Commentary
he mukunda, yasya laghunāpi sphūrti-lavāṅkureṇa munīnāṁ tāpasa-śāntādīnām antarmanaḥ spṛṣṭaṁ sat āsvādyamānād abhūyamānād api mokṣa-sukhān nistaraṅga-samudra-tulya-līlā-śūnya-paramātma-svarūpānubhavāj jhaṭiti virajyati śīghraṁ viraktim eti | tato vicitra-līlāspadam eva tat-svarūpam icchatīty arthaḥ | pariniṣṭhito’pi nairguṇye uttamaśloka-līlayā | gṛhīta-cetā rājarṣe ākhyānaṁ yad adhītavān | iti śrī-śukokteḥ | nairguṇye līlā-guṇa-rahite paramātmanīty arthaḥ | tasya premṇaḥ prārthane tad evādhunā me bhavatv iti sāhasitayā yācane kaḥ śaknotu | na ko’pīty arthaḥ | kiṁ tv atra premṇi janmani janmani me pracayinī vardhamānā spṛhāpi bhūyāt | satyāṁ spṛhāyāṁ premāpi kadācid bhāvīty āśayaḥ |
(Ṭīkā by Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa)
“O Mukunda, upon being touched by even a tiny sprout of a minute manifestation of which [i.e., such prema] the inner minds of sages, that is, those who are tranquil and so forth by virtue of austerities, immediately become disaffected, that is, quickly indifferent, towards even the satisfaction of mokṣa, that is, experience of the form of Paramātma devoid of līlā and comparable to a waveless ocean, that they are relishing, that is, experiencing. The author thus desires only that form of his [i.e., of Paramātma—Bhagavān] who is a site [i.e., a posessor, a begetter] of wonderful līlā. ‘O royal sage! Although I was completely immersed in that which is beyond the guṇas, my consciousness was captivated by the līlā of he of highest praise [i.e., Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa], and [thus] I studied this narration [i.e., Śrīmad Bhāgavatam].’ As per this statement of Śrī Śuka [to Parīkṣit Mahārāja], ‘in that which is beyond the guṇas’ (nairguṇye) means in the Paramātma who is devoid of the qualities of līlā. Who could have the capability to pray for, that is, boldly request, that prema, ‘Let me now have that alone’? No one at all. This is the meaning. Birth after birth, however, let me just have [ever-] increasing, that is, growing, desire for that prema. When there is desire [for it], prema will certainly someday come to be. This is the intention.”