Devanagari
अविस्मितं तं परिपूर्णकामं
स्वेनैव लाभेन समं प्रशान्तम् ।
विनोपसर्पत्यपरं हि बालिश:
श्वलाङ्गुलेनातितितर्ति सिन्धुम् ॥ २२ ॥
Verse text
avismitaṁ taṁ paripūrṇa-kāmaṁ
svenaiva lābhena samaṁ praśāntam
vinopasarpaty aparaṁ hi bāliśaḥ
śva-lāṅgulenātititarti sindhum
Synonyms
avismitam
—
who is never struck with wonder
;
tam
—
Him
;
paripūrṇa
—
kāmam — who is fully satisfied
;
svena
—
by His own
;
eva
—
indeed
;
lābhena
—
achievements
;
samam
—
equipoised
;
praśāntam
—
very steady
;
vinā
—
without
;
upasarpati
—
approaches
;
aparam
—
another
;
hi
—
indeed
;
bāliśaḥ
—
a fool
;
śva
—
of a dog
;
lāṅgulena
—
by the tail
;
atititarti
—
wants to cross
;
sindhum
—
the sea .
Translation
Free from all material conceptions of existence and never wonder-struck by anything, the Lord is always jubilant and fully satisfied by His own spiritual perfection. He has no material designations, and therefore He is steady and unattached. That Supreme Personality of Godhead is the only shelter of everyone. Anyone desiring to be protected by others is certainly a great fool who desires to cross the sea by holding the tail of a dog.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The great fool who is trying to cross the ocean of saṁsāra by holding onto a dog’s tail approaches anyone except the Lord, for whom nothing is astonishing to accomplish, who is full in his desires with a perfect form, and who is gentle with his devotees.
The intelligent person should not surrender to anyone else. A really foolish person approaches someone else for shelter—devatās, karma-yoga or jṣāna-yoga. The wise person does not do so. It is just like a person desiring to cross the ocean by holding a dog’s tail. The dog cannot cross the ocean, what to speak of the man holding his tail. The dog, seeing the man holding his tail, will throw him off in the water, and the dog also will drown. However, it is not astonishing that the person who takes shelter of the Lord crosses the ocean of saṁsāra. Thus the Lord is described as avismitam, without surprises. Though it is astonishing that, without the Lord, some try to cross the ocean of saṁsāra, it is not astonishing to cross by taking shelter of the Lord, since that ocean immediately becomes like the water in a calf’s footprint. The Lord is always complete in his desires along with (samam) the attainment of svarūpa of seven types of sweetness. [Note: Perhaps this refers to his beauty, fragrance, sound of his voice, youthfulness, tastiness, liberality (audārya) and mercy, mentioned in Mādhurya-kadambinī.] He has enjoyment bestowed through his hlādinī-śakti. The Lord is gentle (praśāntam), tolerant of his devotees though they commit sevāparadha, since he is affectionate to them.
Purport
A dog can swim in the water, but if a dog dives in the ocean and someone wants to cross the ocean by holding the dog’s tail, he is certainly fool number one. A dog cannot cross the ocean, nor can a person cross the ocean by catching a dog’s tail. Similarly, one who desires to cross the ocean of nescience should not seek the shelter of any demigod or anyone else but the fearless shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
(10.14.58)
therefore says:
samāśritā ye pada-pallava-plavaṁ
mahat-padaṁ puṇya-yaśo-murāreḥ
bhavāmbudhir vatsa-padaṁ paraṁ padaṁ
padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ na teṣām
The Lord’s lotus feet are an indestructible boat, and if one takes shelter of that boat he can easily cross the ocean of nescience. Consequently there are no dangers for a devotee although he lives within this material world, which is full of dangers at every step. One should seek the shelter of the all-powerful instead of trying to be protected by one’s own concocted ideas.