Devanagari
पुंसां स्वकामाय विविक्तमार्गै-
रभ्यर्चतां कामुदुघाङ्घ्रि पद्मम् ।
प्रदर्शयन्तं कृपया नखेन्दु-
मयूखभिन्नाङ्गुलिचारुपत्रम् ॥ २६ ॥
Verse text
puṁsāṁ sva-kāmāya vivikta-mārgair
abhyarcatāṁ kāma-dughāṅghri-padmam
pradarśayantaṁ kṛpayā nakhendu-
mayūkha-bhinnāṅguli-cāru-patram
Synonyms
puṁsām
—
of the human being
;
sva
—
kāmāya — according to the desire
;
vivikta
—
mārgaiḥ — by the path of devotional service
;
abhyarcatām
—
worshiped
;
kāma
—
dugha — aṅghri — padmam — the lotus feet of the Lord, which can award all desired fruits
;
pradarśayantam
—
while showing them
;
kṛpayā
—
by causeless mercy
;
nakha
—
nails
;
indu
—
moonlike
;
mayūkha
—
rays
;
bhinna
—
divided
;
aṅguli
—
figures
;
cāru
—
patram — very beautiful .
Translation
The Lord showed His lotus feet by raising them. His lotus feet are the source of all awards achieved by devotional service free from material contamination. Such awards are for those who worship Him in pure devotion. The splendor of the transcendental rays from His moonlike toenails and fingernails appeared like the petals of a flower.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
He saw the Lord mercifully showing one lotus foot which fulfills the desire for service for persons who worship to attain the Lord by pure methods of bhakti, whose toes were like beautiful petals blossoming in the moon rays of his toe nails.
He saw the lotus feet which were fulfilling desires of those who worship on special paths, for fulfilling their desires (sva-kāmāya), or with a desire for attaining the Lord (sva), or for satisfying the Lord with service. Vivikta-mārgaiḥ means “by paths which were not mixed with jṣāna or karma.” Or it can mean “by pure paths, arising from vaidhi or rāgānuga-- bhāva-marga with dāsya, sakhya or other rasas.” Those feet fulfilled the desires for serving properly (kāma-dugha). He showed only one foot among many thousands of his feet, by lifting it up slightly.
By this hint and moving one eyebrow in the next verse, it is indicated the Lord showed his form as Kṛṣṇa (though Kṛsṇa appears only later during Vaivasvata Manvantara) to Brahmā in this and the next two verses. Other scriptures also indicate that Kṛṣṇa revealed himself to Brahmā. Tad u hovāca brāhmaṇo sadanaṁ carato me dhyātaḥ stutaḥ parārddhānte so ’budhyata gopaveśo me purastāt āvirbabhūva; after passing the first half my lifetime, when the night ended, I and meditated and praised the Lord, who appeared in the dress of a cowherd boy before me. (Gopala-tāpanī Upaniṣad) Brahma-saṁhitā also describes how Kṛṣṇa showed himself to Brahmā. Thus some say that “revealing one foot” in this verse refers to the form of Kṛṣṇa, who stands with his feet crossed, showing one sole of his foot.
His toes were like graceful petals opened by the rays from his moon-like toe nails. What is astonishing here is that the lotus is blossoming in the moonlight instead of the sunlight.
Purport
The Lord fulfills the desires of everyone just as one desires. Pure devotees are interested in achieving the transcendental service of the Lord, which is nondifferent from Him. Therefore, the Lord is the only desire of the pure devotees, and devotional service is the only spotless process for achieving His favor. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī says in his
Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu
(1.1.11) that pure devotional service is
jṣāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam:
pure devotional service is without any tinge of speculative knowledge and fruitive activities. Such devotional service is able to award the pure devotee the highest result, namely direct association with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Kṛṣṇa. According to the
Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad,
the Lord showed one of the many thousands of petals of His lotus feet. It is said:
brāhmaṇo ’sāv anavarataṁ me dhyātaḥ stutaḥ parārdhānte so ’budhyata gopa-veśo me purastāt āvirbabhūva.
After penetrating for millions of years, Lord Brahmā could understand the transcendental form of the Lord as Śrī Kṛṣṇa, in the dress of a cowherd boy, and thus he recorded his experience in the
Brahma-saṁhitā
in the famous prayer
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi.