The Govindam Prayers

From Śrī Brahma-saṁhitā

TEXT 1
īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ
sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ
anādir ādir govindaḥ
sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam
TRANSLATION
Kṛṣṇa who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is
the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.

TEXT 29
cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vṛkṣa-
lakṣāvṛteṣu surabhir abhipālayantam
lakṣmī-sahasra-śata-sambhrama-sevyamānaṁ
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
TRANSLATION
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, the first progenitor who is tending the cows, yielding all desire, in
abodes built with spiritual gems, surrounded by millions of purpose trees, always served with great
reverence and affection by hundreds of thousands of lakṣmīs or gopīs.

*TEXT 30
veṇuṁ kvaṇantam aravinda-dalāyatākṣam-
barhāvataṁsam asitāmbuda-sundarāṅgam
kandarpa-koṭi-kamanīya-viśeṣa-śobhaṁ
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
TRANSLATION
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is adept in playing on His flute, with blooming eyes like
lotus petals with head decked with peacock’s feather, with the figure of beauty tinged with the hue of
blue clouds, and His unique loveliness charming millions of Cupids.

TEXT 31
ālola-candraka-lasad-vanamālya-vaṁśī-
ratnāṅgadaṁ praṇaya-keli-kalā-vilāsam
śyāmaṁ tri-bhaṅga-lalitaṁ niyata-prakāśaṁ
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
TRANSLATION
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, round whose neck is swinging a garland of flowers beautified
with the moon-locket, whose two hands are adorned with the flute and jeweled ornaments, who always
revels in pastimes of love, whose graceful threefold-bending form of Śyāmasundara is eternally manifest.

*TEXT 32
aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛtti-manti
paśyanti pānti kalayanti ciraṁ jaganti
ānanda-cinmaya-sad-ujjvala-vigrahasya
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
TRANSLATION
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, whose transcendental form is full of bliss, truth, substantiality
and is thus full of the most dazzling splendor. Each of the limbs of that transcendental figure possesses in
Himself, the full-fledged functions of all the organs, and eternally sees, maintains and manifests the
infinite universes, both spiritual and mundane.
TEXT 33
advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam
ādyaṁ purāṇa-puruṣaṁ nava-yauvanaṁ ca
vedeṣu durlabham adurlabham ātma-bhaktau
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
TRANSLATION
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is inaccessible to the Vedas, but obtainable by pure
unalloyed devotion of the soul, who is without a second, who is not subject to decay, is without a
beginning, whose form is endless, who is the beginning, and the eternal puruṣa; yet He is a person
possessing the beauty of blooming youth.

TEXT 34
panthās tu koṭi-śata-vatsara-sampragamyo
vāyor athāpi manaso muni-puṅgavānām
so ’py asti yat-prapada-sīmny avicintya-tattve
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
TRANSLATION
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, only the tip of the toe of whose lotus feet is approached by the
yogīs who aspire after the transcendental and betake themselves to prāṇāyāma by drilling the
respiration; or by the jñānīs who try to find out the non differentiated Brahman by the process of
elimination of the mundane, extending over thousands of millions of years.

TEXT 35
eko ’py asau racayituṁ jagad-aṇḍa-koṭiṁ
yac-chaktir asti jagad-aṇḍa-cayā yad-antaḥ
aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu-cayāntara-stham-
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
TRANSLATION
He is an undifferentiated entity as there is no distinction between potency and the possessor thereof. In
His work of creation of millions of worlds, His potency remains inseparable. All the universes exist in
Him and He is present in His fullness in every one of the atoms that are scattered throughout the
universe, at one and the same time. Such is the primeval Lord whom I adore.

TEXT 36
yad-bhāva-bhāvita-dhiyo manujās tathaiva
samprāpya rūpa-mahimāsana-yāna-bhūṣāḥ
sūktair yam eva nigama-prathitaiḥ stuvanti
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
TRANSLATION
I adore the same Govinda, the primeval Lord, in whose praise men, who are imbued with devotion, sing
the mantra-sūktas told by the Vedas, by gaining their appropriate beauty, greatness, thrones,
conveyances and ornaments.

TEXT 37
ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhis
tābhir ya eva nija-rūpatayā kalābhiḥ
goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūto
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
TRANSLATION
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, residing in His own realm, Goloka, with Rādhā, resembling His
own spiritual figure, the embodiment of the ecstatic potency possessed of the sixty-four artistic activities,
in the company of Her confidantes [sakhīs], embodiments of the extensions of Her bodily form,
permeated and vitalized by His ever-blissful spiritual rasa.
TEXT 38
premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena
santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti
yaṁ śyāmasundaram acintya-guṇa-svarūpaṁ
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
TRANSLATION
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is Śyāmasundara, Kṛṣṇa Himself with inconceivable
innumerable attributes, whom the pure devotees see in their heart of hearts with the eye of devotion
tinged with the salve of love.

TEXT 39
rāmādi-mūrtiṣu kalā-niyamena tiṣṭhan
nānāvatāram akarod bhuvaneṣu kintu
kṛṣṇaḥ svayaṁ samabhavat paramaḥ pumān yo
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
TRANSLATION
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who manifested Himself personally as Kṛṣṇa and the different
avatāras in the world in the forms of Rāma, Nṛsiṁha, Vāmana, etc., as His subjective portions.

TEXT 40
yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṇḍa-koṭi-
koṭiṣv aśeṣa-vasudhādi vibhūti-bhinnam
tad brahma niṣkalam anantam aśeṣa-bhūtaṁ
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
TRANSLATION
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, whose effulgence is the source of the nondifferentiated Brahman
mentioned in the Upaniṣads, being differentiated from the infinity of glories of the mundane universe
appears as the indivisible, infinite, limitless, truth.

TEXT 41
māyā hi yasya jagad-aṇḍa-śatāni sūte
traiguṇya-tad-viṣaya-veda-vitāyamānā
sattvāvalambi-para-sattvaṁ viśuddha-sattvam-
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
TRANSLATION
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is the absolute substantive principle being the ultimate entity
in the form of the support of all existence whose external potency embodies the threefold mundane
qualities, viz., sattva, rajas, and tamas and diffuses the Vedic knowledge regarding the mundane world.

TEXT 42
ānanda-cinmaya-rasātmatayā manaḥsu
yaḥ prāṇināṁ pratiphalan smaratām upetya
līlāyitena bhuvanāni jayaty ajasram-
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
TRANSLATION
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, whose glory ever triumphantly dominates the mundane world by
the activity of His own pastimes, being reflected in the mind of recollecting souls as the transcendental
entity of ever-blissful cognitive rasa.

TEXT 43
goloka-nāmni nija-dhāmni tale ca tasya
devi maheśa-hari-dhāmasu teṣu teṣu
te te prabhāva-nicayā vihitāś ca yena
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
TRANSLATION
Lowest of all is located Devī-dhāma [mundane world], next above it is Maheśa-dhāma [abode of
Maheśa]; above Maheśa-dhāma is placed Hari-dhāma [abode of Hari] and above them all is located
Kṛṣṇa’s own realm named Goloka. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda, who has allotted their respective
authorities to the rulers of those graded realms.

TEXT 44
sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralaya-sādhana-śaktir ekā
chāyeva yasya bhuvanāni bibharti durgā
icchānurūpam api yasya ca ceṣṭate sā
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
TRANSLATION
The external potency Māyā who is of the nature of the shadow of the cit potency, is worshiped by all
people as Durgā, the creating, preserving and destroying agency of this mundane world. I adore the
primeval Lord Govinda in accordance with whose will Durgā conducts herself.

TEXT 45
kṣīraṁ yathā dadhi vikāra-viśeṣa-yogāt
sañjāyate na hi tataḥ pṛthag asti hetoḥ
yaḥ śambhutām api tathā samupaiti kāryād
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
TRANSLATION
Just as milk is transformed into curd by the action of acids, but yet the effect curd is neither same as, nor
different from, its cause, viz., milk, so I adore the primeval Lord Govinda of whom the state of Śambhu is
a transformation for the performance of the work of destruction.

TEXT 46
dīpārcir eva hi daśāntaram abhyupetya
dīpāyate vivṛta-hetu-samāna-dharmā
yas tādṛg eva hi ca viṣṇutayā vibhāti
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
TRANSLATION
The light of one candle being communicated to other candles, although it burns separately in them, is the
same in its quality. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda who exhibits Himself equally in the same mobile
manner in His various manifestations.

TEXT 47
yaḥ kāraṇārṇava-jale bhajati sma yoga-
nidrām ananta-jagad-aṇḍa-sa-roma-kūpaḥ
ādhāra-śaktim avalambya parāṁ sva-mūrtiṁ
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
TRANSLATION
I adore the primeval Lord Govinda who assuming His own great subjective form, who bears the name of
Śeṣa, replete with the all-accommodating potency, and reposing in the Causal Ocean with the infinity of
the world in the pores of His hair, enjoys creative sleep [yoga-nidrā].

TEXT 48
yasyaika-niśvasita-kālam athāvalambya
jīvanti loma-vilajā jagad-aṇḍa-nāthāḥ
viṣṇur mahān sa iha yasya kalā-viśeṣo
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
TRANSLATION
Brahmā and other lords of the mundane worlds, appearing from the pores of hair of Mahā-Viṣṇu, remain
alive as long as the duration of one exhalation of the latter [Mahā-Viṣṇu]. I adore the primeval Lord
Govinda of whose subjective personality Mahā-Viṣṇu is the portion of portion.

TEXT 49
bhāsvān yathāśma-śakaleṣu nijeṣu tejaḥ
svīyam kiyat prakaṭayaty api tadvad atra
brahmā ya eṣa jagad-aṇḍa-vidhāna-kartā
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
TRANSLATION
I adore the primeval Lord Govinda from whom the separated subjective portion Brahmā receives his
power for the regulation of the mundane world, just as the sun manifests some portion of his own light
in all the effulgent gems that bear the names of sūryakānta, etc.

TEXT 50
yat-pāda-pallava-yugaṁ vinidhāya kumbha-
dvandve praṇāma-samaye sa gaṇādhirājaḥ
vighnān vihantum alam asya jagat-trayasya
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
TRANSLATION
I adore the primeval Lord Govinda, whose lotus feet are always held by Gaṇeśa upon the pair of tumuli
protruding from his elephant head in order to obtain power for his function of destroying all the
obstacles on the path of progress of the three worlds.

TEXT 51
agnir mahi gaganam ambu marud diśaś ca
kālas tathātma-manasīti jagat-trayāṇi
yasmād bhavanti vibhavanti viśanti yaṁ ca
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
TRANSLATION
The three worlds are composed of the nine elements, viz., fire, earth, ether, water, air, direction, time,
soul and mind. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda from whom they originate, in whom they exist and
into whom they enter at the time of the universal cataclysm.

TEXT 52
yac-cakṣur eṣa savitā sakala-grahāṇāṁ
rājā samasta-sura-mūrtir aśeṣa-tejāḥ
yasyājñayā bhramati sambhṛta-kāla-cakro
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
TRANSLATION
The sun who is the king of all the planets, full of infinite effulgence, the image of the good soul, is as the
eye of this world. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda in pursuance of whose order the sun performs his
journey mounting the wheel of time.

TEXT 53
dharmo ’tha pāpa-nicayaḥ śrutayas tapāṁsi
brahmādi-kīṭa-patagāvadhayaś ca jīvāḥ
yad-datta-mātra-vibhava-prakaṭa-prabhāvā
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
TRANSLATION
I adore the primeval Lord Govinda, by whose conferred power are maintained the manifested potencies,
that are found to exist, of all virtues, all vices, the Vedas, the penances and all jīvas, from Brahmā to the
meanest insect.

TEXT 54
yas tv indragopam athavendram aho sva-karma-
bandhānurūpa-phala-bhājanam ātanoti
karmāṇi nirdahati kintu ca bhakti-bhājāṁ
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
TRANSLATION
I adore the primeval Lord Govinda, who burns up to their roots all fruitive activities of those who are
imbued with devotion and impartially ordains for each the due enjoyment of the fruits of one’s activities,
of all those who walk in the path of work, in accordance with the chain of their previously performed
works, no less in the case of the tiny insect that bears the name of indragopa than in that of Indra, king of
the devas.

TEXT 55
yaṁ krodha-kāma-sahaja-praṇayādi-bhīti-
vātsalya-moha-guru-gaurava-sevya-bhāvaiḥ
sañcintya tasya sadṛśīṁ tanum āpur ete
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
TRANSLATION
I adore the primeval Lord Govinda, the meditators of whom, by meditating upon Him under the sway of
wrath, amorous passion, natural friendly love, fear, parental affection, delusion, reverence and willing
service, attain to bodily forms befitting the nature of their contemplation.

TEXT 56
śriyaḥ kāntāḥ kāntaḥ parama-puruṣaḥ kalpa-taravo
drumā bhūmiś cintāmaṇi-gaṇa-mayi toyam amṛtam
kathā gānaṁ nāṭyaṁ gamanam api vaṁśī priya-sakhi
cid-ānandaṁ jyotiḥ param api tad āsvādyam api ca
sa yatra kṣīrābdhiḥ sravati surabhībhyaś ca su-mahān
nimeṣārdhākhyo vā vrajati na hi yatrāpi samayaḥ
bhaje śvetadvīpaṁ tam aham iha golokam iti yaṁ
vidantas te santaḥ kṣiti-virala-cārāḥ katipaye
TRANSLATION
I worship that transcendental seat, known as Śvetadvīpa where as loving consorts the Lakṣmīs in their
unalloyed spiritual essence practice the amorous service of the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa as their only lover;
where every tree is a transcendental purpose tree; where the soil is the purpose gem, all water is nectar,
every word is a song, every gait is a dance, the flute is the favorite attendant, effulgence is full of
transcendental bliss and the supreme spiritual entities are all enjoyable and tasty, where numberless milk
cows always emit transcendental oceans of milk; where there is eternal existence of transcendental time,
who is ever present and without past or future and hence is not subject to the quality of passing away
even for the space of half a moment. That realm is known as Goloka only to a very few self-realized souls
in this world.

Note; * indicates the verses [30 & 32] used in the “Govinda Prayers” (The Radha Krsna Temple Album