Kuntidevi Prayers

kunty uvāca namasye puruṣaṁ tvādyam īśvaraṁ prakṛteḥ param alakṣyaṁ sarva-bhūtānām antar bahir avasthitam māyā-javanikācchannam ajñādhokṣajam avyayam na lakṣyase mūḍha-dṛśā naṭo nāṭyadharo yathā tathā paramahaṁsānāṁ munīnām amalātmanām bhakti-yoga-vidhānārthaṁ kathaṁ paśyema hi striyaḥ kṛṣṇāya vāsudevāya devakī-nandanāya ca nanda-gopa-kumārāya govindāya namo namaḥ namaḥ paṅkaja-nābhāya namaḥ paṅkaja-māline namaḥ paṅkaja-netrāya namas te paṅkajāṅghraye yathā hṛṣīkeśa khalena devakī kaṁsena ruddhāticiraṁ śucārpitā vimocitāhaṁ ca sahātmajā vibho tvayaiva nāthena muhur vipad-gaṇāt viṣān mahāgneḥ puruṣāda-darśanād asat-sabhāyā vana-vāsa-kṛcchrataḥ mṛdhe mṛdhe 'neka-mahārathāstrato drauṇy-astrataś cāsma hare 'bhirakṣitāḥ vipadaḥ santu tāḥ śaśvat tatra tatra jagad-guro bhavato darśanaṁ yat syād apunar bhava-darśanam janmaiśvarya-śruta-śrībhir edhamāna-madaḥ pumān naivārhaty abhidhātuṁ vai tvām akiñcana-gocaram namo 'kiñcana-vittāya nivṛtta-guṇa-vṛttaye ātmārāmāya śāntāya kaivalya-pataye namaḥ manye tvāṁ kālam īśānam anādi-nidhanaṁ vibhum samaṁ carantaṁ sarvatra bhūtānāṁ yan mithaḥ kaliḥ na veda kaścid bhagavaṁś cikīrṣitaṁ tavehamānasya nṛṇāṁ viḍambanam na yasya kaścid dayito 'sti karhicid dveṣyaś ca yasmin viṣamā matir nṛṇām janma karma ca viśvātmann ajasyākartur ātmanaḥ tiryaṅ-nṝṣiṣu yādaḥsu tad atyanta-viḍambanam gopy ādade tvayi kṛtāgasi dāma tāvad yā te daśāśru-kalilāñjana-sambhramākṣam vaktraṁ ninīya bhaya-bhāvanayā sthitasya sā māṁ vimohayati bhīr api yad bibheti kecid āhur ajaṁ jātaṁ puṇya-ślokasya kīrtaye yadoḥ priyasyānvavāye malayasyeva candanam apare vasudevasya devakyāṁ yācito 'bhyagāt ajas tvam asya kṣemāya vadhāya ca sura-dviṣām bhārāvatāraṇāyānye bhuvo nāva ivodadhau sīdantyā bhūri-bhāreṇa jāto hy ātma-bhuvārthitaḥ bhave 'smin kliśyamānānām avidyā-kāma-karmabhiḥ śravaṇa-smaraṇārhāṇi kariṣyann iti kecana śṛṇvanti gāyanti gṛṇanty abhīkṣṇaśaḥ smaranti nandanti tavehitaṁ janāḥ ta eva paśyanty acireṇa tāvakaṁ bhava-pravāhoparamaṁ padāmbujam apy adya nas tvaṁ sva-kṛtehita prabho jihāsasi svit suhṛdo 'nujīvinaḥ yeṣāṁ na cānyad bhavataḥ padāmbujāt parāyaṇaṁ rājasu yojitāṁhasām ke vayaṁ nāma-rūpābhyāṁ yadubhiḥ saha pāṇḍavāḥ bhavato ’darśanaṁ yarhi hṛṣīkāṇām iveśituḥ neyaṁ śobhiṣyate tatra yathedānīṁ gadādhara tvat-padair aṅkitā bhāti sva-lakṣaṇa-vilakṣitaiḥ ime jana-padāḥ svṛddhāḥ supakvauṣadhi-vīrudhaḥ vanādri-nady-udanvanto hy edhante tava vīkṣitaiḥ atha viśveśa viśvātman viśva-mūrte svakeṣu me sneha-pāśam imaṁ chindhi dṛḍhaṁ pāṇḍuṣu vṛṣṇiṣu tvayi me 'nanya-viṣayā matir madhu-pate 'sakṛt ratim udvahatād addhā gaṅgevaugham udanvati śrī-kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa-sakha vṛṣṇy-ṛṣabhāvani-dhrug- rājanya-vaṁśa-dahanānapavarga-vīrya govinda go-dvija-surārti-harāvatāra yogeśvarākhila-guro bhagavan namas te

Srimati Kunti said: O Kåñëa, I offer my obeisances unto You because You are the original personality and are unaffected by the qualities of the material world. You are existing both within and without everything, yet You are invisible to all. Being beyond the range of limited sense perception, You are the eternally irreproachable factor covered by the curtain of deluding energy. You are invisible to the foolish observer, exactly as an actor dressed as a player is not recognized. You Yourself descend to propagate the transcendental science of devotional service unto the hearts of the advanced transcendentalists and mental speculators, who are purified by being able to discriminate between matter and spirit. How, then, can we women know You perfectly? Let me therefore offer my respectful obeisances unto the Lord, who has become the son of Vasudeva, the pleasure of Devaké, the boy of Nanda and the other cowherd men of Våndävana, and the enlivener of the cows and the senses. My respectful obeisances are unto You, O Lord, whose abdomen is marked with a depression like a lotus flower, who are always decorated with garlands of lotus flowers, whose glance is as cool as the lotus and whose feet are engraved with lotuses. O Håñékeça, master of the senses and Lord of lords, You have released Your mother, Devaké, who was long imprisoned and distressed by the envious King Kaàsa, and me and my children from a series of constant dangers. My dear Kåñëa, Your Lordship has protected us from a poisoned cake, from a great fire, from cannibals, from the vicious assembly, from sufferings during our exile in the forest and from the battle where great generals fought. And now You have saved us from the weapon of Açvatthämä. I wish that all those calamities would happen again and again so that we could see You again and again, for seeing You means that we will no longer see repeated births and deaths. My Lord, Your Lordship can easily be approached, but only by those who are materially exhausted. One who is on the path of [material] progress, trying to improve himself with respectable parentage, great opulence, high education and bodily beauty, cannot approach You with sincere feeling. My obeisances are unto You, who are the property of the materially impoverished. You have nothing to do with the actions and reactions of the material modes of nature. You are self-satisfied, and therefore You are the most gentle and are master of the monists. My Lord, I consider Your Lordship to be eternal time, the supreme controller, without beginning and end, the all-pervasive one. In distributing Your mercy, You are equal to everyone. The dissensions between living beings are due to social intercourse. O Lord, no one can understand Your transcendental pastimes, which appear to be human and are so misleading. You have no specific object of favor, nor do You have any object of envy. People only imagine that You are partial. Of course it is bewildering, O soul of the universe, that You work, though You are inactive, and that You take birth, though You are the vital force and the unborn. You Yourself descend amongst animals, men, sages and aquatics. Verily, this is bewildering. My dear Kåñëa, Yaçodä took up a rope to bind You when You committed an offense, and Your perturbed eyes overflooded with tears, which washed the mascara from Your eyes. And You were afraid, though fear personified is afraid of You. This sight is bewildering to me. Some say that the Unborn is born for the glorification of pious kings, and others say that He is born to please King Yadu, one of Your dearest devotees. You appear in his family as sandalwood appears in the Malaya hills. Others say that since both Vasudeva and Devaké prayed for You, You have taken Your birth as their son. Undoubtedly You are unborn, yet You take Your birth for their welfare and to kill those who are envious of the demigods. Others say that the world, being overburdened like a boat at sea, is much aggrieved, and that Brahmä, who is Your son, prayed for You, and so You have appeared to diminish the trouble. And yet others say that You appeared to rejuvenate the devotional service of hearing, remembering, worshiping and so on in order that the conditioned souls suffering from material pangs might take advantage and gain liberation. O Kåñëa, those who continuously hear, chant and repeat Your transcendental activities, or take pleasure in others' doing so, certainly see Your lotus feet, which alone can stop the repetition of birth and death. O my Lord, You have executed all duties Yourself. Are you leaving us today, though we are completely dependent on Your mercy and have no one else to protect us, now when all kings are at enmity with us? As the name and fame of a particular body is finished with the disappearance of the living spirit, similarly if You do not look upon us, all our fame and activities, along with the Päëòavas and Yadus, will end at once. O Gadädhara [Kåñëa], our kingdom is now being marked by the impressions of Your feet, and therefore it appears beautiful. But when You leave, it will no longer be so. All these cities and villages are flourishing in all respects because the herbs and grains are in abundance, the trees are full of fruits, the rivers are flowing, the hills are full of minerals and the oceans full of wealth. And this is all due to Your glancing over them. O Lord of the universe, soul of the universe, O personality of the form of the universe, please, therefore, sever my tie of affection for my kinsmen, the Päëòavas and the Våñëis. O Lord of Madhu, as the Ganges forever flows to the sea without hindrance, let my attraction be constantly drawn unto You without being diverted to anyone else. O Kåñëa, O friend of Arjuna, O chief amongst the descendants of Våñëi, You are the destroyer of those political parties which are disturbing elements on this earth. Your prowess never deteriorates. You are the proprietor of the transcendental abode, and You descend to relieve the distresses of the cows, the brähmaëas and the devotees. You possess all mystic powers, and You are the preceptor of the entire universe. You are the almighty God, and I offer You my respectful obeisances.