Damodarastaka! English transl.

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Sri Damodarastaka<br>(found in the Padma Purana

of Krsna Dvaipayana Vyasa, spoken by Satyavrata Muni

in a conversation with Narada Muni and Saunaka

Rsi)<br><br>"In the month of Kartika one should worship Lord

Damodara and daily recite the prayer known as

Damodarastaka, which has been spoken by the sage Satyavrata and

which attracts Lord Damodara." (Sri Hari-bhakti-vilasa

2.16.198) <br><br>TRANSLATION <br><br>(1) <br>To the

Supreme Lord, whose form is the embodiment of eternal

existence, knowledge, and bliss, whose shark-shaped earrings

are swinging to and fro, who is beautifully shining

in the divine realm of Gokula, who I (due to the

offense of breaking the pot of yogurt that His mother was

churning into butter and then stealing the butter that was

kept hanging from a swing) is quickly running from the

wooden grinding mortar in fear of mother Yasoda, but who

has been caught from behind by her who ran after Him

with greater speed--to that Supreme Lord, Sri

Damodara, I offer my humble

obeisances.<br><br>(2)<br>(Seeing the whipping stick in His mother's hand,) He

is

crying and rubbing His eyes again and again with His two

lotus hands. His eyes are filled with fear, and the

necklace of pearls around His neck, which is marked with

three lines like a conch shell, 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.<br><br>(3) <br>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 imbues 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.<br><br>(4)<br>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

Vrndavana may ever be manifest in my heart, for what is the

use to me of any other boon besides this?<br><br>(5)

<br>O 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.<br><br>(6) <br>O 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.<br><br>(7) <br>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.<br><br>(8) <br>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.