Text 11

The following verse is a petition made at the stage of humility described in the previous Texts.

Prahlāda Mahārāja (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.9.39) prays:

नैतन् मनस् तव कथासु विकुण्ठ-नाथ सम्प्रीयते दुरित-दुष्टम् असाधु तीव्रम्
कामातुरं हर्ष-शोक-भयैषणार्तं तस्मिन् कथं तव गतिं विमृशामि दीनः

naitan manas tava kathāsu vikuṇṭha-nātha samprīyate durita-duṣṭam asādhu tīvram
kāmāturaṃ harṣa-śoka-bhayaiṣaṇārtaṃ tasmin kathaṃ tava gatiṃ vimṛśāmi dīnaḥ

O Vaikuṇṭhanātha, my mind is polluted by the desire to sin. How can I explain to You the suffering of my mind, which is constantly aff licted by desires? My mind, strongly attached to these desires, is sometimes overpowered by happiness and sometimes by distress and fear. It is always engaged in collecting wealth and material assets, and finds no taste in the narrations of Your pastimes. How, then, can I remember and meditate upon You?

दूरित-दूषित मम असाधु मानस
काम-हर्ष-शोक-भय एषणार वश

dūrita-dūṣita mama asādhu mānasa
kāma-harṣa-śoka-bhaya eṣaṇāra vaśa

तव कथा-रति किसे हैबे आमार?
किसे कृष्ण तव लीला करिब विचार?

tava kathā-rati kise haibe āmāra?
kise kṛṣṇa tava līlā kariba vicāra?

Commentary: Bhajana-rahasya-vṛtti:

When steady devotion arises in the heart of a sādhaka, a mood of natural humility manifests. Out of greed to constantly relish the sweetness of the Supreme Lord, he repents, “Alas, alas, I have not performed any sādhana-bhajana. My heart is sinful and my mind is wicked, and therefore I left the merciful Lord and am drowning in the ditch of material enjoyment. How will I be able to relish the nectar of Svāminī’s lotus feet? O Lord, how can I develop affection for Your form, qualities and pastimes? How can I obtain a taste for bhajana? Firmly bound by many kinds of illicit desires, I am drowning in the ocean of material existence. Oh, how can I protect myself from all this? O Bhagavān, I have become a servant of the six enemies. How can I, who am unintelligent and devoted to material desires, understand the boundless, eternal and deep truth about You?”

This kind of humility arises when bhakti is fully ripe. In reality, fully mature prema is humility. Considering himself to be extremely fallen and wretched, the sādhaka always offers Śrī Bhagavān various humble and grief-stricken prayers.