Devanagari
धन्या अहो अमी आल्यो गोविन्दाङ्घ्य्रब्जरेणव: ।
यान् ब्रह्मेशौ रमा देवी दधुर्मूध्र्न्यघनुत्तये ॥ २९ ॥
Verse text
dhanyā aho amī ālyo
govindāṅghry-abja-reṇavaḥ
yān brahmeśau ramā devī
dadhur mūrdhny agha-nuttaye
Synonyms
dhanyāḥ
—
sanctified
;
aho
—
ah
;
amī
—
these
;
ālyaḥ
—
O gopīs
;
govinda
—
of Govinda
;
aṅghri
—
abja — of the lotuslike feet
;
reṇavaḥ
—
the particles of dust
;
yān
—
which
;
brahmā
—
Lord Brahmā
;
īśau
—
and Lord Śiva
;
ramā devī
—
Ramādevī, the wife of Lord Viṣṇu
;
dadhuḥ
—
take
;
mūrdhni
—
on their heads
;
agha
—
of their sinful reactions
;
nuttaye
—
for the dispelling .
Translation
O girls! The dust of Govinda’s lotus feet is so sacred that even Brahmā, Śiva and the goddess Ramā take that dust upon their heads to dispel sinful reactions.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O girls! The dust of Govinda's lotus feet is so sacred that even Brahmā, Śiva and the goddess Ramā take that dust upon their heads to dispel sinful reactions.
KB 10.30.29
“Dear friends, just imagine how the dust of this place is transcendentally glorious. The dust of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa is worshiped even by Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva and the goddess of fortune, Lakṣmī.
Purport
According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī, who quotes from
śāstra,
each day in the late afternoon, as Kṛṣṇa returned from the cow pastures with His cowherd boyfriends, great demigods like Brahmā and Śiva would come down from heaven and take the dust of His feet.
Great personalities like the goddess Ramā (the wife of Viṣṇu), Śiva and Brahmā are not at all sinful. But in the ecstasy of pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness they feel themselves fallen and impure. Thus, desiring to purify themselves, they blissfully take the dust of the Lord’s lotus feet on their heads.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The neutral gopis, who were inattentive to what the friends of Radha knew, seeing the footprints of Krsna, then spoke. "Blessed is the dust of Krsna’s feet, for Brahma and Siva hold that dust on their heads in order to remove the sorrow and suffering. Every day in the morning when Krsna comes from the cow pens with his friends, they are seen coming down from svarga to take the foot dust of Krsna on their heads." This is mentioned in 10.35.21, 22. "It is seen that the devatas offer obeisances to Krsna’s foot dust but we cannot because the restraints of modesty. Because of this we sink further into sin."
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
The neutral gopīs speak. O my friends (amī ālyaḥ)! Out of great astonishment and because all become unified in mutual sorrow, they all cried out together. The past tense of dadhuḥ (took) is used to indicate certainty of the action. The order of the personalities in accordance to greater importance (Lakṣmī is supreme among them). She is addressed as devī to indicate her superiority. They take his foot dust on their heads, because of great devotion, in order to remove pain of separation or offenses. The reason the dust is most fortunate is that it is from the lotus feet of Govinda. That dust is fortunate because it has a relationship with Govinda. The phrase govindāṅghry-abja should actually be in the locative case, but is placed in the compound for metrical reasons. Because we do not have that relationship we are insignificant.
Glorifying the dust from his feet takes place because of the gopīs’ prema. Even without their prema, the dust shows its greatness. With their prema, how much more greatness it has! According to the intensity of their prema, the greatness of the dust increases. Similarly Bharata describes the fortunate of the earth on seeing the foot prints of the deer: kiṁ vā are ācaritaṁ tapas tapasvinyānayā yad iyam avaniḥ: what penance the earth must have done! (SB 5.8.232)
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
O friends (ālyaḥ). They are addressed to make them unified in mind or to generate special bhakti. This (amī) dust is most fortunate. In listing Brahmā, Śiva and Lakṣmī the word ca is not used, to show that they are all prominent. However the latter in the list are most excellent (Lakṣmī.) They take his foot dust on their heads. The gopīs see this all the time. This is what they saw, not an admission of his great powers. Ramādevī means Lakṣmī and excludes Rādhā. Or in taking the foot dust Lakṣmī is indicated to have developed bhakti for Kṛṣṇa. Thus she is worshippable as devī. Or since Rādhā and Lakṣmī are generally the same devī is used to indicate Lakṁsī. As a devī Lakṣmī never touches her feet on earth. Or devī means Vraja-devī, Rādhā.
They place the dust on their heads as an indication of their bhakti. They do this to destroy offenses or the suffering from separation (agha-nuttaye). They are without offense but we are full of offenses since we do not hold the dust on our heads. Or the dust is the highest (dhanyaḥ) or capable of giving the treasure of Kṛṣṇa’s form. Or this dust which exists in Vaikuṇṭha and has fallen in the cow pens or this dust which we previously saw, unmixed with her footprints, is most excellent. This is a statement of envy. Or this dust and this friend (in the plural to show respect for Rādhā) , having been taken away by Kṛṣṇa, are fortunate. Like the dust, she is fortunate. Even Lakṣmī and others bow before her.