Devanagari
प्रणतदेहिनां पापकर्षणं
तृणचरानुगं श्रीनिकेतनम् ।
फणिफणार्पितं ते पदाम्बुजं
कृणु कुचेषु न: कृन्धि हृच्छयम् ॥ ७ ॥
Verse text
praṇata-dehināṁ pāpa-karṣaṇaṁ
tṛṇa-carānugaṁ śrī-niketanam
phaṇi-phaṇārpitaṁ te padāmbujaṁ
kṛṇu kuceṣu naḥ kṛndhi hṛc-chayam
Synonyms
praṇata
—
who are surrendered to You
;
dehinām
—
of the embodied living beings
;
pāpa
—
the sins
;
karṣaṇam
—
which remove
;
tṛṇa
—
grass
;
cara
—
who graze (the cows)
;
anugam
—
following
;
śrī
—
of the goddess of fortune
;
niketanam
—
the abode
;
phaṇi
—
of the serpent (Kāliya)
;
phaṇā
—
on the hoods
;
arpitam
—
placed
;
te
—
Your
;
pada
—
ambujam — lotus feet
;
kṛṇu
—
please put
;
kuceṣu
—
on the breasts
;
naḥ
—
our
;
kṛndhi
—
cut away
;
hṛt
—
śayam — the lust in our hearts .
Translation
Your lotus feet destroy the past sins of all embodied souls who surrender to them. Those feet follow after the cows in the pastures and are the eternal abode of the goddess of fortune. Since You once put those feet on the hoods of the great serpent Kāliya, please place them upon our breasts and tear away the lust in our hearts.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Your lotus feet destroy the past sins of all embodied souls who surrender to them. Those feet follow after the cows in the pastures and are the eternal abode of the goddess of fortune. Since You once put those feet on the hoods of the great serpent Kāliya, please place them upon our breasts and tear away the lust in our hearts.
KB 10.31.7
“Dear Kṛṣṇa, actually we have become very lusty, having been touched by Your lotus feet. Your lotus feet certainly kill all kinds of sinful activities of devotees who have taken shelter there. You are so kind that even the ordinary animals take shelter under Your lotus feet. Your lotus feet are also the residence of the goddess of fortune, yet You danced on the heads of the Kāliya serpent with them. Now we are requesting You to kindly place Your lotus feet on our breasts and pacify our lusty desires to touch You.
Purport
In their appeal, the
gopīs
point out that Lord Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet destroy the sins of all surrendered conditioned souls. The Lord is so merciful that He even goes out to herd the cows in the pasturing ground, and thus His lotus feet follow them about in the grass. He has offered His lotus feet to the goddess of fortune and has placed them upon the hoods of the serpent Kāliya. Therefore, considering all this, the Lord should place His lotus feet on the
gopīs’
breasts and satisfy their desire. That is the logic the
gopīs
employ here.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Other gopis said, "Place your lotus feet upon our breasts."
"Why?"
"In order to diminish the pain of our desire."
Because they have the greatest knowledge of love, the gopis endowed with the greatest prema, without desire to remove their pain or attain happiness, who serve with body, words and mind only for Krsna’s happiness, who display the pain of love, youth and beautiful form for increasing Krsna’s conjugal joy, never weaken prema with their clever words, but rather weaken only lust.
When one person sees his glutton friend wants to eat, wanting to feed him from affection, endeavors to obtain four types of sweets, they friend may ask, "Where are you going?" the other will answer, "I am going for my own purpose, not for you." Affection for a friend becomes more attractive through the clever use of words. If he says, "This is for your satisfaction, not mine, since I have no desires,." then the prema is diminished. In the prema samput it is said, "As long as the light of prema does not show itself explicitly, it keeps the hearts of the two lovers lit constantly. But when it goes out through the door of the mouth, quickly it gets extinguished or becomes feeble."
That the gopis have no interest in their own pleasure is indicated by the Lords’ words "na paraye’ham"( I cannot repay the debt to you.), which also show the Lord’s being under their control. That Krsna is controlled by prema, not lust, is seen in all scriptures.
"If I place my feet on your breasts, I fear that I will commit sin."
Fearing such a comment from Krsna, the gopis therefore say, "If you destroy the sins of those surrendered to you, what is the question of your fearing sin?"
"If I place my tender feet on your hard breasts, I will get pain."
"You feet follow the cows, who go to very rough places to eat grass. If your feet tolerate that, then you cannot say that our breasts are too hard."
"It is inappropriate to place my feet on your breasts which are decorated with many ornaments."
"Your lotus feet, the abode of opulence (sri niketana), will be the best ornament for our breats."
"I am afraid of your husbands."
"If you were not afraid when you placed your feet on the hoods of Kaliya, then why should you be afraid of our weak husbands?"
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Praying for his external association outside the heart, like some external ointment, in order to get relief from their pain of separation in their heart, out of humility, they pray only for association with his feet. Place your extraordinary lotus feet on the breasts of us, your surrendered servants. “You are fearless, but I fear obtaining sin.” Why should you fear sin? Your feet destroy the sins of persons like Nalakuvera and Maṇigrivā, who just approach those feet and offer respects. “But it is improper for me to act like this for you. This is full of sin, such as drinking liquor.” Those feet follow the cows going from forest to forest and do not suffer greatly. Or, “It is not proper to associate with ignorant persons like you.” You follow the cows which simply eat grass even if sugar is placed before them. They are also ignorant. You should have mercy on us like you have for the cows. “How can I place my feet on your splendid breasts?” Since your feet are endowed with the greatest beauty (śrī-niketanam) they will decorate our breasts attractively. “I am afraid of your husbands, since I am timid by nature.” You placed your feet on Kāliya’s heads, so what fear do you have? And those feet are suitable for destroying the desire in our hearts since they can destroy the poison of all anarthas. In this the ability of his feet to destroy sin is modified by four phrases.
“So this is what you desire, destruction of sin?” No, destroy the desire in our hearts. That is our goal. Verse 19 says, “O dearly beloved! Your lotus feet are so soft that we place them gently on our breasts, fearing that your feet will be hurt.” Thus the destruction of the desire in the heart will be established with possession of affection. Previously they said that he should place his hand on their head in the singular. By putting your hand on one head, we will all accept that. This is said out of humility. Now however, they say “Put your feet on our breasts (plural).” Attaining somewhat of an individual relationship, out of individual greed, humility is no longer satisfying. They thus speak out of individual greed.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
Place your extraordinary lotus feet (te) on the breasts of us, your surrendered servants (te). Those feet destroy the misery of saṁsāra (pāpam) or the strongest desires. They follow after the cows in the pasture. This shows mercy in caring for the animals of Vraja. The four descriptive terms show the destruction of sin.
“Do you desire my foot on your breast for this purpose?” No. Our goal is destruction of the desires in our hearts. Our desires are unlimited and your foot is suitable, wandering everywhere. This is for us and for you. The comparison with the lotus indicates that the foot produces all results and is the highest goal.
Or “O fearless women! I am afraid of sin.” Your foot destroys the sins of all beings, of those who have offered respects even once, who have somehow surrendered to you. Why should you be afraid of sin?
Or “I cannot act like this with you who are filled with sin.” You should destroy our sins, since we have surrendered to you.
Sakṛd eva prapanno yas tavāsmīti ca yācayet
Abhayaṁ sarvadā tasmai dadamy etad vrataṁ mama
To the person who surrenders even once to me saying “I am yours” I deliver him from fear. That is my vow. Rāmāyaṇa
“I should not apply that tender foot to cruel persons, since the foot will suffer.” Your feet do not suffer in wandering from forest to forest herding the cows. We, like the ignorant cows, should receive your mercy.
“Is it suitable to place my feet on your beautiful breasts?” Your feet are the abode of Lakṣmī. Since your feet are full of all wealth, our breasts will be the best ornaments.
“Since I am fearful by nature, I am afraid of your husbands.” You placed your feet on the hoods of Kāliya. Or you destroyed the poison by putting your feet on his head. In the same way destroy the poison of the desire in our hearts by placing your feet there. Previously they requested that he place his hand on their heads (singular used to show unity of all of them). This would not give rise to rivalry. Now they request he put his feet on their breasts (plural), individually. Thus he should also place his hands on each of their heads. Because this gives rise to rivalry, for special rasa, he should to this simultaneously to all individually, so that no distinctions are indicated. It will be the remedy for the malady which is unseen, being in the heart.