Devanagari
निरपेक्षं मुनिं शान्तं निर्वैरं समदर्शनम् ।
अनुव्रजाम्यहं नित्यं पूयेयेत्यङ्घ्रिरेणुभि: ॥ १६ ॥
Verse text
nirapekṣaṁ muniṁ śāntaṁ
nirvairaṁ sama-darśanam
anuvrajāmy ahaṁ nityaṁ
pūyeyety aṅghri-reṇubhiḥ
Synonyms
nirapekṣam
—
without personal desire
;
munim
—
always thinking of assisting Me in My pastimes
;
śāntam
—
peaceful
;
nirvairam
—
not inimical to anyone
;
sama
—
darśanam — equal consciousness everywhere
;
anuvrajāmi
—
follow
;
aham
—
I
;
nityam
—
always
;
pūyeya
—
I may be purified (I will purify the universe within Me)
;
iti
—
thus
;
aṅghri
—
of the lotus feet
;
reṇubhiḥ
—
by the dust .
Translation
With the dust of My devotees’ lotus feet I desire to purify the material worlds, which are situated within Me. Thus, I always follow the footsteps of My pure devotees, who are free from all personal desire, rapt in thought of My pastimes, peaceful, without any feelings of enmity, and of equal disposition everywhere.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
I always follow the footsteps of my pure devotees, who are free from all personal desire, are rapt in thought of my pastimes, are fixed in me, without any feelings of enmity, and are equal to all conditions of the world. Let me be purified by the dust from their feet!
Moreover, just as the devotee follows me, I, being invisible to the devotee, follow the devotee. Śukadeva has described me as bhagavān bhakta-bhaktimān: the Lord who is devoted to his devotee. (SB 10.86.59) The devotee contemplates my form, qualities pastimes and associates (munim). Śrīdhara Svāmī explains the word puyeya as follows. The Lord thinks “Let me purify the universe which exists within me.” Jīva Gosvāmī says puyeya means “Let me become purified of the fault of not being able to repay the devotion of my followers.” Actually bhakti cannot exist without taking the dust from the feet of the devotees, and without bhakti, one cannot experience the sweetness of my rasa. I have established this rule. Therefore, I also should become absorbed in the full sweetness of my rasa like a devotee by bhakti.
Purport
Just as the devotees always follow the footsteps of Lord Kṛṣṇa, similarly Lord Kṛṣṇa, being a devotee of His devotees, follows the footsteps of His devotees. A pure servitor of the Lord is always meditating on the pastimes of the Lord and considering how to assist the Lord in His mission. All the material universes are situated in Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s body, as demonstrated to Arjuna, mother Yaśodā and others. Lord Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore there is no question of impurity in the Lord. Still, the Lord desires to purify the universes situated within Him by taking the dust of the lotus feet of His pure devotees. Without the dust of the lotus feet of the devotees, it is not possible to engage in pure devotional service, without which one cannot directly experience transcendental bliss. Lord Kṛṣṇa thought, “I have established this strict rule that one can enjoy My transcendental bliss only through devotional service obtained from the dust of the lotus feet of My devotees. Since I also desire to experience My own bliss, I will observe the standard procedure and accept the dust of My devotees’ feet.” Śrīla Madhvācārya points out that Lord Kṛṣṇa follows the footsteps of His devotees in order to purify them. As the Lord walks along behind His pure devotees, the wind blows the dust of the Lord’s feet in the front of His devotees, who then become purified by contact with such transcendental dust. One should not foolishly look for material logic in these transcendental pastimes of the Lord. It is simply a question of love between the Lord and His devotees.