Damodar Ashtakam LYRICS: (1) namāmīśvaraṁ sac-cid-ānanda-rūpaṁ lasat-kuṇḍalaṁ gokule bhrājamanam yaśodā-bhiyolūkhalād dhāvamānaṁ parāmṛṣṭam atyantato drutya gopyā (2) rudantaṁ muhur netra-yugmaṁ mṛjantam karāmbhoja-yugmena sātaṅka-netram muhuḥ śvāsa-kampa-trirekhāṅka-kaṇṭha- sthita-graivaṁ dāmodaraṁ bhakti-baddham (3) itīdṛk sva-līlābhir ānanda-kuṇḍe sva-ghoṣaṁ nimajjantam ākhyāpayantam tadīyeṣita-jñeṣu bhaktair jitatvaṁ punaḥ prematas taṁ śatāvṛtti vande (4) varaṁ deva mokṣaṁ na mokṣāvadhiṁ vā na canyaṁ vṛṇe ‘haṁ vareṣād apīha idaṁ te vapur nātha gopāla-bālaṁ sadā me manasy āvirāstāṁ kim anyaiḥ 5) idaṁ te mukhāmbhojam atyanta-nīlair vṛtaṁ kuntalaiḥ snigdha-raktaiś ca gopyā muhuś cumbitaṁ bimba-raktādharaṁ me manasy āvirāstām alaṁ lakṣa-lābhaiḥ (6) namo deva dāmodarānanta viṣṇo prasīda prabho duḥkha-jālābdhi-magnam kṛpā-dṛṣṭi-vṛṣṭyāti-dīnaṁ batānu gṛhāṇeṣa mām ajñam edhy akṣi-dṛśyaḥ (7) kuverātmajau baddha-mūrtyaiva yadvat tvayā mocitau bhakti-bhājau kṛtau ca tathā prema-bhaktiṁ svakāṁ me prayaccha na mokṣe graho me ‘sti dāmodareha (8) namas te ‘stu dāmne sphurad-dīpti-dhāmne tvadīyodarāyātha viśvasya dhāmne namo rādhikāyai tvadīya-priyāyai namo ‘nanta-līlāya devāya tubhyam

This is damodar-ashtakam

filled with fear, and the necklace of pearls around His neck, which is marked with three lines like a conchshell, is shaking because of His quick breathing due to crying. To this Supreme Lord, Sri Damodara, whose belly is bound not with ropes but with His mother’s pure love, I offer my humble obeisances. (3) By such childhood pastimes as this He is drowning the inhabitants of Gokula in pools of ecstasy, and is revealing to those devotees who are absorbed in knowledge of His supreme majesty and opulence that He is only conquered by devotees whose pure love is imbued with intimacy and is free from all conceptions of awe and reverence. With great love I again offer my obeisances to Lord Damodara hundreds and hundreds of times. (4) 0 Lord, although You are able to give all kinds of benedictions, I do not pray to You for the boon of impersonal liberation, nor the highest liberation of eternal life in Vaikuntha, nor any other boon [which may be obtained by executing the nine processes of bhakti]. O Lord, I simply wish that this form of Yours as Bala Gopala in Vrindavana may ever be manifest in my heart, for what is the use to me of any other boon besides this? (5) 0 Lord, Your lotus face, which is encircled by locks of soft black hair tinged with red, is kissed again and again by mother Yasoda, and Your lips are reddish like the bimba fruit. May this beautiful vision of Your lotus face be ever manifest in my heart. Thousands and thousands of other benedictions are of no use to me. (6) 0 Supreme Godhead, I offer my obeisances unto You. O Damodara! O Ananta! O Vishnu! O master! O my Lord, be pleased upon me. By showering Your glance of mercy upon me, deliver this poor ignorant fool who is immersed in an ocean of worldly sorrows, and become visible to my eyes. (7) 0 Lord Damodara, just as the two sons of Kuvera-Manigriva and Nalakuvara-were delivered from the curse of Narada and made into great devotees by You in Your form as a baby tied with rope to a wooden grinding mortar, in the same way, please give to me Your own prema-bhakti. I only long for this and have no desire for any kind of liberation. (8) 0 Lord Damodara, I first of all offer my obeisances to the brilliantly effulgent rope which binds Your belly. I then offer my obeisances to Your belly, which is the abode of the entire universe. I humbly bow down to Your most beloved Srimati Radharani, and I offer all obeisances to You, the Supreme Lord, who displays unlimited pastimes.