Govindam Prayer

iśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ

saccitānanda-vigrahaḥ

anādir ādir govindaḥ

sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi (2)

Supreme Lord Krishna, Govinda, the One whose body is consciousness, existence and eternity. He is the origin of all, and has no origin. He is the cause of all causes.

cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-

vṛkṣalakṣāvṛteṣu

surabhīr abhipālayantam

lakṣmī-sahasra-śata-sambhrama-sevyamānaṁ

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi (2)

I worship Govinda, the Primeval Lord, the first progenitor who is tending the cows, yielding all desire, in abodes built with spiritual gems, surrounded by millions of trees, always served with great reverence and affection by hundreds of thousands of Lakshmis or gopis.

veṇuṁ kvaṇantam aravinda-dalāyatākṣaṁ

barhāvataṁsam asitāmbuda-sundarāṅgam

kandarpa-koṭi-kamanīya-viśeṣa-śobhaṁ

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi (2)

I worship Govinda, the Primeval Lord, who is adept in playing on His flute, with blooming eyes like lotus petals, with a head bedecked with peacock feathers, with the figure of beauty tinged with the hue of blue clouds, and His unique loveliness charming millions of cupids.

ālola-candraka-lasad-vanamālya-

vaṁśīratnāṅgadaṁ

praṇaya-keli-kalā vilāsam

śyāmaṁ tri-bhaṅga-lalitaṁ niyata-prakāśaṁ

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi (2)

I worship Govinda, the Primeval Lord, round whose neck is swinging a garland of flowers beautified with the moon-locket. Whose two hands are adorned with the flute and jeweled ornaments, who always revels in pastimes of love, whose graceful threefold-bending form of Shyamasundara is eternally manifest.

aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛttimanti

paśyanti pānti kalayanti ciraṁ jaganti

ānanda-cinmaya-sad-ujjvala-vigrahasya

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi (2)

I worship Govinda, the Primeval Lord, whose transcendental form is full of bliss, truth, substantiality and is thus full of the most dazzling splendor. Each of the limbs of that transcendental figure possesses the full-fledged functions of all the organs, and eternally sees, maintains and manifests the infinite universes, both spiritual and mundane.

advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam

ādyaṁ purāṇa-puruṣaṁ nava-yauvanaṁ ca

vedeṣu durlabham adurlabham ātma-bhaktau

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi (2)

I worship Govinda, the Primeval Lord, who is inaccessible to the Vedas, but obtainable by pure unalloyed devotion of the soul, who is without a second, who is not subject to decay, is without a beginning, whose form is endless, who is the beginning and the eternal Purusha; yet He is a person possessing the beauty of blooming youth.

panthās tu koṭi-śata-vatsara-sampragamyo

vāyor athāpi manaso muni-puṅgavānām

so ’py asti yat-prapada-sīmny avicintya-tattve

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi (2)

I worship Govinda, the Primeval Lord, only the tip of the toe of His Lotus Feet are approached by the yogis who aspire after the transcendental and betake themselves to pranayama by repeating the respiration; or by the jnanis who try to find out the non-differentiated Brahman by the process of elimination of the mundane, extending over thousands of millions of years.

eko ’py asau racayituṁ jagad-aṇḍa-koṭiṁ

yac-chaktir asti jagad-aṇḍa-cayā yad-antaḥ

aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu-cayāntara-stham

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi (2)

He is an undifferentiated entity as there is no distinction between potency and the Possessor thereof. In His work of creation of millions of worlds, His potency remains inseparable. All the universes exist in Him and He is present in His fullness in everyone of the atoms that are scattered throughout the universe, at one and the same time. Such is the Primeval Lord whom I adore.

yad bhāva-bhāvita-dhiyo manujās tathaiva

samprāpya rūpa-mahimāsana-yāna-bhūṣāḥ

sūktair yam eva nigama-prathitaiḥ stuvanti

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi (2)

I adore the same Govinda, the Primeval Lord, in whose praise men, who are imbued with devotion, sing the mantra-suktas told by the Vedas, by gaining their appropriate beauty, greatness, thrones, conveyances and ornaments.

ānanda-cinmaya-rasa pratibhāvitābhis

tābhir ya eva nija-rūpatayā kalābhiḥ

goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūto

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi (2)

I worship Govinda, the Primeval Lord, residing in His own realm, Goloka, with Radha, resembling His own spiritual figure, the embodiment of the ecstatic potency possessed of the sixty-four artistic activities, in the company of Her confidantes, embodiments of the extensions of Her bodily form, permeated and vitalised by His ever-blissful spiritual rasa.

premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena

santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti

yaṁ śyāmasundaram acintya-guṇa-svarūpaṁ

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi (2)

I worship Govinda, the Primeval Lord, who is Shyamasundara, Krishna Himself with inconceivable innumerable attributes, whom the pure devotees see in their heart of hearts with the eye of devotion tinged with the salve of Love.

rāmādi-mūrtiṣu kalā-niyamena tiṣṭhan

nānāvatāram akarod bhuvaneṣu kintu

kṛṣṇaḥ svayaṁ samabhavat paramaḥ pumān yo

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi (2)

I worship Govinda, the Primeval Lord, who manifested Himself personally as Krishna and the different avatars in the world in the forms of Rama, Nrsimha, Vamana, etc., as His subjective portions.

yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṇḍa-koṭikoṭiṣv

aśeṣa-vasudhādi vibhūti-bhinnam

tad brahma niṣkalam anantam aśeṣa-bhūtaṁ

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi (2)

I worship Govinda, the Primeval Lord, whose effulgence is the source of the non-differentiated Brahman mentioned in the Upanishads, being differentiated from the infinity of glories of the mundane universe appears as the indivisible, infinite, limitless truth.

māyā hi yasya jagad-aṇḍa-śatāni sūte

traiguṇya-tad-viṣaya-veda-vitāyamānā

sattvāvalambi-para-sattva-viśuddha-sattvaṁ

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi (2)

I worship Govinda, the Primeval Lord, who is the Absolute Substantive Principle being the ultimate entity in the form of the support of all existence whose external potency embodies the threefold mundane qualities [sattva, rajas and tamas] and diffuses the Vedic knowledge regarding the mundane world.

ānanda-cinmaya-rasātmatayā manaḥsu

yaḥ prāṇināṁ pratiphalan smaratām upetya

līlāyitena bhuvanāni jayaty ajasraṁ

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi (2)

I worship Govinda, the Primeval Lord, whose glory ever triumphantly dominates the mundane world by the activity of His own pastimes, being reflected in the mind of recollecting souls as the transcendental entity of the ever-blissful cognitive rasa.

goloka-nāmni nija-dhāmni tale ca tasya

devī-maheśa-hari-dhāmasu teṣu teṣu

te te prabhāva-nicayā vihitāś ca yena

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi (2)

Lowest of all is located Devi-dhama [mundane world]; next above it is Mahesha-dhama [abode of Mahesha]; above Mahesha-dhama is placed Hari-dhama [abode of Hari]; above them all is located Krishna’s own realm named Goloka. I adore the Primeval Lord Govinda, who has allotted their respective authorities to the rulers of those graded realms.

sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralaya-sādhana-śaktir ekā

chāyeva yasya bhuvanāni vibharti durgā

icchānurūpam api yasya ca ceṣṭate sā

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi (2)

The external potency Maya who is of the nature of the shadow of the full potency, is worshipped by all people as Durga, the creating, preserving and destroying agency of this mundane world. I adore the Primeval Lord Govinda in accordance with whose will Durga conducts Herself.

kṣīraṁ yathā dadhi vikāra-viśeṣa-yogāt

sañjāyate na hi tataḥ pṛthag asti hetoḥ

yaḥ śambhutām api tathā samupaiti kāryād

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi (2)

Just as milk is transformed into yoghurt by the action of acids, but yet the effect curd is neither same as, nor different from its cause (milk), so I adore the Primeval Lord Govinda of whom the state of Sambhu is a transformation for the performance of the work of destruction.

dīpārcir eva hi daśāntaram abhyupetya

dīpāyate vivṛta-hetu-samāna-dharmā

yas tādṛg eva hi ca viṣṇutayā vibhāti

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi (2)

The light of one candle being communicated to other candles, although it burns separately in them, is the same in its quality. I adore the Primeval Lord Govinda who exhibits Himself equally in the same mobile manner in His various manifestations.

yaḥ kāraṇārṇava-jale bhajati sma yoganidrām

ananta-jagad-aṇḍa-sa-roma-kūpaḥ

ādhāra-śaktim avalambya parāṁ sva-mūrtiṁ

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi (2)

I adore the Primeval Lord Govinda who assuming His own great subjective form, bears the name of Shesha. Replete with the all-accommodating potency, and reposing in the causal ocean with the infinity of the world in the pores of His hair. He enjoys creative sleep (yoga-nidra).

yasyaika-niśvasita-kālam athāvalambya

jīvanti loma-bilajā jagad-aṇḍa-nāthāḥ

viṣṇur mahān sa iha yasya kalā-viśeṣo

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi (2)

Brahmā and other lords of the mundane worlds, appearing from the pores of hair of Maha Vishnu, remain alive as long as the duration of one exhalation of Maha Vishnu. I adore the Primeval Lord Govinda of whose subjective personality Maha Vishnu is the portion of the Supreme.

bhāsvān yathāśma-śakaleṣu nijeṣu tejaḥ

svīyaṁ kiyat prakaṭayaty api tadvad atra

brahmā ya eṣa jagad-aṇḍa-vidhāna-kartā

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi (2)

I adore the Primeval Lord Govinda from Whom the separated subjective portion Brahmā receives His power for the regulation of the mundane world, just as the Supreme manifests some portion of His own light in all the effulgent gems that bear the names of Surya-kanta, etc.

yat-pāda-pallava-yugaṁ vinidhāya kumbha

dvandve praṇāma-samaye sa gaṇādhirājaḥ

vighnān vihantum alam asya jagat-trayasya

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi (2)

I adore the Primeval Lord Govinda, whose Lotus Feet are always held by Ganesha upon the twin domes protruding from His elephant head in order to obtain power for His function of destroying all the obstacles on the path of progress of the three worlds.

agnir mahī gaganam ambu marud diśaś ca

kālas tathātma-manasīti jagat-trayāṇi

yasmād bhavanti vibhavanti viśanti yaṁ ca

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi (2)

The three worlds are composed of the nine elements, fire, earth, ether, water, air, direction, time, soul and mind. I adore the Primeval Lord Govinda from Whom they originate, in Whom they exist and into Whom they enter at the time of the universal cataclysm.

yac-cakṣur eṣa savitā sakala-grahāṇāṁ

rājā samasta-sura-mūrtir aśeṣa-tejāḥ

yasyājñayā bhramati sambhṛta-kāla-cakro

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi (2)

The sun who is the king of all the planets, full of infinite effulgence, the image of the good soul, is the eye of this world. I adore the Primeval Lord Govinda in pursuance of whose order the sun performs His journey mounting the wheel of time.

dharmo ’tha pāpa-nicayaḥ śrutayas tapāṁsi

brahmādi-kīṭa-patagāvadhayaś ca jīvāḥ

yad-datta-mātra vibhava-prakaṭa-prabhāvā

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi (2)

I adore the Primeval Lord Govinda, by Whose conferred power are maintained the manifested potencies that are found to exist of all virtues, the Vedas, the penances and all jivas, from Brahmā down to the smallest insect.

yas tv indra-gopam athavendram aho svakarma-

bandhānurūpa phala-bhājanam ātanoti

karmāṇi nirdahati kintu ca bhakti-bhājāṁ

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi (2)

I adore the Primeval Lord Govinda, who burns up to their roots all fruitive activities of those who are imbued with devotion and impartially ordains for each the due enjoyment of the fruits of one’s activities, of all those who walk in the path of work, in accordance with the chain of their previously performed works, no less in the case of the tiny insect that bears the name of ‘Indragopa’ than in that of Indra, king of the Devas.

yaṁ krodha-kāma-sahaja-praṇayādi-bhīti

vātsalya-moha-guru gaurava-sevya bhāvaiḥ

sañcintya tasya sadṛśīṁ tanum āpur ete

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi (2)

I adore the Primeval Lord Govinda, the meditators of whom, by meditating upon Him under the sway of wrath, amorous passion, natural friendly love, fear, parental affection, delusion, reverence and willing service, attain to bodily forms befitting the nature of their contemplation.

iśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ

saccitānanda-vigrahaḥ

anādir ādir govindaḥ

sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi (2)

Supreme Lord Krishna Govinda, the One whose body is consciousness, existence and eternity. He is the origin of all, and has no origin. He is the cause of all causes.