Devanagari
केतुस्त्रिविक्रमयुतस्त्रिपतत्पताको
यस्ते भयाभयकरोऽसुरदेवचम्वो: ।
स्वर्गाय साधुषु खलेष्वितराय भूमन्
पाद: पुनातु भगवन् भजतामघं न: ॥ १३ ॥
Verse text
ketus tri-vikrama-yutas tri-patat-patāko
yas te bhayābhaya-karo ’sura-deva-camvoḥ
svargāya sādhuṣu khaleṣv itarāya bhūman
padaḥ punātu bhagavan bhajatām aghaṁ naḥ
Synonyms
ketuḥ
—
a flagpole
;
tri
—
vikrama — three mighty steps in conquering Bali Mahārāja
;
yataḥ
—
adorned by
;
tri
—
patat — falling into each of the three planetary systems
;
patākaḥ
—
the flag upon which
;
yaḥ
—
which
;
te
—
Your (lotus feet)
;
bhaya
—
abhaya — fear and fearlessness
;
karaḥ
—
creating
;
asura
—
deva — of the demons and the demigods
;
camvoḥ
—
for the respective armies
;
svargāya
—
for the attainment of heaven
;
sādhuṣu
—
among the saintly demigods and devotees
;
khaleṣu
—
among the envious
;
itarāya
—
for just the opposite
;
bhūman
—
O most powerful Lord
;
pādaḥ
—
the lotus feet
;
punātu
—
may they purify
;
bhagavan
—
O Supreme Personality of Godhead
;
bhajatām
—
who are engaged in worshiping You
;
agham
—
the sins
;
naḥ
—
of us .
Translation
O omnipotent Lord, in Your incarnation as Trivikrama, You raised Your leg like a flagpole to break the shell of the universe, allowing the holy Ganges to flow down, like a banner of victory, in three branches throughout the three planetary systems. By three mighty steps of Your lotus feet, Your Lordship captured Bali Mahārāja, along with his universal kingdom. Your lotus feet inspire fear in the demons by driving them down to hell and fearlessness among Your devotees by elevating them to the perfection of heavenly life. We are sincerely trying to worship You, our Lord; therefore may Your lotus feet kindly free us from all of our sinful reactions.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O powerful Lord! May that foot which is like a victory flag, endowed with great power during your appearance as Vāmana, with banners falling upon the three worlds like the Gaṅgā River, bestowing fear in the demon troops to drive them to hell, and bestowing fearlessness to the devatā armies for taking them to Svarga, purify us of our sins!
You lotus feet have been realized by all people. May your foot, like a raised victory flag, purify us. Endowed with great powers when you appeared as Vāmana avatāra (trivikrama-yutaḥ), the flag is endowed with three banners, or with its banner it falls like the Gaṅgā over the three worlds. It creates fear in the demon army for sending them to hell and fearlessness in the devatā army for sending them to Svarga. May this foot purify us worshippers of sin! Another version has aghāt. The possessive case in bhajatām is poetic license. Śruti says caraṇaṁ pavitraṁ vitataṁ purāṇaṁ yena pūtas tarati duṣkṛtāni: we become pufified and can cross saṁsāra by that pure, ancient foot which extended itself. (Mahā-nārāyaṇa upaniṣad)
Purport
In order to reclaim for the demigods the universal kingdom seized by Bali Mahārāja, Lord Kṛṣṇa, as described in the Eighth Canto of this great work, appeared as the beautiful dwarf-
brāhmaṇa
Vāmana, who extended His foot upward to the outer limits of the universe. When the Lord’s leg breached a hole in the universal shell, the holy Ganges water came flowing into the universe. This scene appeared like an upraised flagpole with a wonderfully flowing victory banner.
As stated in the
śruti-mantras, caraṇaṁ pavitraṁ vitataṁ purāṇaṁ yena pūtas tarati duṣkṛtāni:
“The lotus feet of the Personality of Godhead are most pure, all-pervading and the oldest of all. One who is purified by them crosses over all previous sinful activities.” Throughout the universe the process of worshiping the lotus feet of the Lord is most famous.