Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.8.26

puḿsāḿ sva-kāmāya vivikta-mārgair

abhyarcatāḿ kāma-dughāńghri-padmam

pradarśayantaḿ kṛpayā nakhendu-

mayūkha-bhinnāńguli-cāru-patram

SYNONYMS

puḿsām — of the human being; sva-kāmāya — according to the desire; vivikta-mārgaiḥ — by the path of devotional service; abhyarcatām — worshiped; kāma-dugha-ańghri-padmam — the lotus feet of the Lord, which can award all desired fruits; pradarśayantam — while showing them; kṛpayā — by causeless mercy; nakha — nails; indu — moonlike; mayūkha — rays; bhinna — divided; ańguli — figures; cāru-patram — very beautiful.

TRANSLATION

The Lord showed His lotus feet by raising them. His lotus feet are the source of all awards achieved by devotional service free from material contamination. Such awards are for those who worship Him in pure devotion. The splendor of the transcendental rays from His moonlike toenails and fingernails appeared like the petals of a flower.

PURPORT

The Lord fulfills the desires of everyone just as one desires. Pure devotees are interested in achieving the transcendental service of the Lord, which is nondifferent from Him. Therefore, the Lord is the only desire of the pure devotees, and devotional service is the only spotless process for achieving His favor. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī says in his Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.1.11) that pure devotional service is jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam: [Madhya 19.167] pure devotional service is without any tinge of speculative knowledge and fruitive activities. Such devotional service is able to award the pure devotee the highest result, namely direct association with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Kṛṣṇa. According to the Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad, the Lord showed one of the many thousands of petals of His lotus feet. It is said: brāhmaṇo'sāv anavarataḿ me dhyātaḥ stutaḥ parārdhānte so 'budhyata gopa-veśo me purastāt āvirbabhūva. After penetrating for millions of years, Lord Brahmā could understand the transcendental form of the Lord as Śrī Kṛṣṇa, in the dress of a cowherd boy, and thus he recorded his experience in the Brahma-saḿhitā in the famous prayer, govindam ādi-puruṣaḿ tam ahaḿ bhajāmi **.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness