Vijayate ¹r¤ B¢lak¨¾´aª Prabhuª

Atha Yamun¢¾°akam

I bow joyfully to Yamun¢, the source of all spiritual powers, rich with heaps of sand - the gleaming dust of Mur¢r¤'s lotus feet. She bears, on Her waves with their joy - bright flowers from the fresh blossomed govs that line Her banks, the Splendor of Love's Father (K¨¾´a), whom Gods and demons worship.

Born of the Sun, She falls from mount Kalinda's forehead, Her swelling floods splashing brilliantly. She sways with enchanting grace, as She courses down the cliffs that are Kalinda's bright, full cheeks. Noisily She pursues Her jagged path (below), tossed here and there like a bride in a swinging palanquin, and, making Mukunda's love grow ever stronger, She conquers.

Bow down to Her who has descented to the earth as its sanctifier - attended by parrots, peococks and geese, with their varied songs, as if by so many beloved maidens. The banks curves from the swell of Her comely hips, this loved one prized as transcendent by K¨¾´a; and the sands there gleam brilliantly, for they are the pearls worn as bracelets by Her arms, the waves.

Adorned with countless virtues, and praised by the Gods with ¹iva and Brahm¢, you are ever as black as mass of clouds, Oh ! Giver of what Dhruva and Paraºra most desired. On your bank is sacred Mathur¢, thronged with Gopas and Gop¤s. You who have taken refuge in the Ocean of Mercy, bring joy to my heart.

Ga¬g¢, who is born of K¨¾´a's lotus feet, gained His love and became the giver of all spiritual powers to those who worship her only because she flowed together with Yamun¢. Let the lotus-born Lak¾m¤, then, be an equal and co-wife, as it were (with Yamun¢), but may Yamun¢, who destroys the Kali-terror of Har¤'s loved ones be fixed forever in my heart.

Homage to you always, Yamun¢; your exploits outrun wonder. Never will Yama's torments touch one who drinks your milk. For not even death (Yama) could strike own his sister's sons, though they be evil. The one who worships You wins, like the Gop¤'s, the love of your Hari.

Mam¢ 'stu tava sannidhau tanu navatva me t¢vat¢ Na durlabhatam¢ ratir Muraripau Mukunda priye II Ato'stu tava l¢lan¢ suradhun¤ para¼ sa¬gam¢t Tavaiva bhuvi k¤rtit¢ na tu kad¢pi pu¾°isthitaiª II7II

May I gain newness of body in your presence, Oh ! Beloved of Mukunda, for with that alone will love for Mura's enemy become easy. Let my cherishing be of you, then, for only after she joins with you is Ga¬g¢ praised so loudly on earth - but not by those who are established in Grace.

Who can (possibly) praise You, then, co-wife of Lak¾m¤, beloved ? For worship of Lak¾m¤ must be preceded by worship of Hari, and even then it results in the bliss of liberation at most. But far greater is this, your story: oneness with the drops that flow from His every limb as He exerts Himself in His union of love with all the Gop¤'s.

Removal of all sins and love for Mukunda result for thr joyful and constant reader of this, your octet, Oh ! Daughter of the Sun. By Her come all spiritual powers, by Her is Mura's enemy gladdened, through Her comes conquest of one's own nature, saya Vallabha, Hari's dear one.

Courtesy : "The Grace of Lord Krishna" by Mr. James D. Redington.
Published by Shri Sunil Gupta for Sri Satguru Publications.

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