Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Mukunda-mala-stotra 9

sarasija-nayane sa-sankha-cakre

mura-bhidi ma viramasva citta rantum

sukha-taram aparam na jatu jane

hari-carana-smaranamrtena tulyam

SYNONYMS

sarasi-ja -- like the lotus flower born in a lake; nayane -- whose eyes; sa -- together with; sankha -- His conch; cakre -- and disc weapon; mura-bhidi -- in the annihilator of the demon Mura; ma viramasva -- please never cease; citta -- O mind; rantum -- to enjoy; sukha-taram -- extremely pleasurable; aparam -- anything else; na -- not; jatu -- at all; jane -- I know; hari-carana -- of the feet of Lord Hari; smarana -- of the remembrance; amrtena -- the immortal nectar; tulyam -- equal to.

TRANSLATION

O mind, please never stop taking pleasure in thinking of the Mura demon's destroyer, who has lotus eyes and bears the conch and disc weapon. Indeed, I know of nothing else that gives such extreme pleasure as meditating on Lord Hari's divine feet.

PURPORT

From his own experience, King Kulasekhara is speaking of how delightful it is to think of Krsna. That thinking is his greatest pleasure in life. As a king he had access to many worldly pleasures, but they all counted as nothing compared to meditation on the Lord's lotus feet. This Krsna meditation is available for all, and the Supreme Lord and His representatives want everyone to enjoy it. Thus Lord Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita, "Always think of Me." This meditation is not only for philosophers and poets. Though Arjuna was a military man, Lord Krsna instructed him, "Remember Me and fight."

The Vedic literature, prepared by Srila Vyasadeva and filled with narrations of the Lord and His devotees, is meant to help us remember the Lord always. These books teach us how to divert our mind from ordinary thoughts, which are filled with business, entertainment, speculation, and the like, and fix it on the Supreme Lord in His personal feature. Otherwise, numerous worldly thoughts will absorb us: News of politics, for instance, is always bombarding us via TV, radio, and the print media. Also, our personal economic affairs are themselves fully absorbing. And to put up with anxieties, we can take part in diversions like videos, music, intoxication, and sex stimulation. Wasting time with mundane thoughts is nothing new, but today the pace, variety, and intensity of diversions grabbing for our attention seem to have increased.

Thus although meditation on God is as essential as ever, one may conclude that it is impossible nowadays. However, by the grace of Srila Prabhupada and the Krsna consciousness movement he founded, we can absorb the mind in thoughts of the Lord even in this age. If one lives in a city with an ISKCON temple, one can directly visit the Deity of Lord Visnu, as King Kulasekhara did. Even on the way to work one may find time to stop and briefly see the Lord in the temple. If one lives far from a temple, one can still read Srila Prabhupada's books, correspond with devotees, listen to devotional recordings, subscribe to regular Krsna conscious publications, and, of course, chant the Hare Krsna mantra alone or with friends. Thus in these and many other ways, meditation on Krsna is available to those who want it.

Here King Kulasekhara specifically mentions meditation upon the feet of the Lord. Such meditation implies humility and indicates that the meditator desires shelter under the Lord's protection. Indeed, the Lord's lotus feet symbolize that shelter. Elsewhere the Vedic literature describes the Lord's lotus feet as umbrellas shielding the devotees from material life. So a devotee is satisfied meditating on the Lord's feet, although he sometimes meditates on other parts of the Lord's body. We should remember, however, that although the lotus feet of the Lord symbolize the total shelter He extends toward His devotees, there is nothing "symbolic" about them: they are always to be thought of in a personal, literal sense.

Once some hatha-yoga students asked Srila Prabhupada if there was a sastric reference specifically stating that transcendentalists who regard the Absolute Truth as impersonal would fall down. Prabhupada quoted the following verse from Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.2.32):

ye 'nye 'ravindaksa vimukta-maninas

tvayy asta-bhavad avisuddha-buddhayah

aruhya krcchrena param padam tatah

patanty adho 'nadrta yusmad-anghrayah

"O lotus-eyed Lord, although nondevotees who accept severe austerities and penances to achieve the highest position may think themselves liberated, their intelligence is impure. They fall down from their position of imagined superiority because they have no regard for Your lotus feet." After quoting the verse, Prabhupada said, " 'Feet' means 'person.' "

In conclusion, then, we should have firm faith that the Absolute Truth is the Supreme Person, Krsna, that His body is all-blissful, and that His feet are worth meditating upon.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami
Gopiparanadhana dasa Adhikari