Devanagari
बालस्य नेह शरणं पितरौ नृसिंह
नार्तस्य चागदमुदन्वति मज्जतो नौ: ।
तप्तस्य तत्प्रतिविधिर्य इहाञ्जसेष्ट-
स्तावद्विभो तनुभृतां त्वदुपेक्षितानाम् ॥ १९ ॥
Verse text
bālasya neha śaraṇaṁ pitarau nṛsiṁha
nārtasya cāgadam udanvati majjato nauḥ
taptasya tat-pratividhir ya ihāṣjaseṣṭas
tāvad vibho tanu-bhṛtāṁ tvad-upekṣitānām
Synonyms
bālasya
—
of a little child
;
na
—
not
;
iha
—
in this world
;
śaraṇam
—
shelter (protection)
;
pitarau
—
the father and mother
;
nṛsiṁha
—
O my Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva
;
na
—
neither
;
ārtasya
—
of a person suffering from some disease
;
ca
—
also
;
agadam
—
medicine
;
udanvati
—
in the water of the ocean
;
majjataḥ
—
of a person who is drowning
;
nauḥ
—
the boat
;
taptasya
—
of a person suffering from a condition of material misery
;
tat
—
pratividhiḥ — the counteraction (invented for stopping the suffering of material existence)
;
yaḥ
—
that which
;
iha
—
in this material world
;
aṣjasā
—
very easily
;
iṣṭaḥ
—
accepted (as a remedy)
;
tāvat
—
similarly
;
vibho
—
O my Lord, O Supreme
;
tanu
—
bhṛtām — of the living entities who have accepted material bodies
;
tvat
—
upekṣitānām — who are neglected by You and not accepted by You .
Translation
My Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, O Supreme, because of a bodily conception of life, embodied souls neglected and not cared for by You cannot do anything for their betterment. Whatever remedies they accept, although perhaps temporarily beneficial, are certainly impermanent. For example, a father and mother cannot protect their child, a physician and medicine cannot relieve a suffering patient, and a boat on the ocean cannot protect a drowning man.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The mother and father are not the protection for their child. Medicine is not protection for sick person. A boat is not a remedy for a person drowning in the ocean. For those who do not accept you, the remedies accepted by suffering people in this world are not a shelter at all.
Without you, no remedy for suffering is successful. The mother and father are not the protectors of a child, since one sees that a child suffers even if they protect him. Sometimes they even try to kill their children as in the case of Ajīgarta (who sold his son Śunaśepa as a human sacrifice). Medicine is no protection for sick person, since even persons who take medicine die. A boat is not a shelter for a person drowning in the ocean, for one sees that boats also sink. Thus suffering persons who by their desire do not recognize you do not obtain a solution to their problems by their remedies. Tāvat is only ornamental.
Purport
Through parental care, through remedies for different kinds of disease, and through means of protection on the water, in the air and on land, there is always an endeavor for relief from various kinds of suffering in the material world, but none of them are guaranteed measures for protection. They may be beneficial temporarily, but they afford no permanent benefit. Despite the presence of a father and mother, a child cannot be protected from accidental death, disease and various other miseries. No one can help, including the parents. Ultimately the shelter is the Lord, and one who takes shelter of the Lord is protected. This is guaranteed. As the Lord says in
Bhagavad-gītā
(9.31)
,
kaunteya pratijānīhi na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati:
“O son of Kuntī, declare it boldly that My devotee never perishes.” Therefore, unless one is protected by the mercy of the Lord, no remedial measure can act effectively. One should consequently depend fully on the causeless mercy of the Lord. Although as a matter of routine duty one must of course accept other remedial measures, no one can protect one who is neglected by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In this material world, everyone is trying to counteract the onslaught of material nature, but everyone is ultimately fully controlled by material nature. Therefore even though so-called philosophers and scientists try to surmount the onslaught of material nature, they have not been able to do so. Kṛṣṇa says in
Bhagavad-gītā
(13.9) that the real sufferings of the material world are four —
janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi
(birth, death, old age and disease). In the history of the world, no one has been successful in conquering these miseries imposed by material nature.
Prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ.
Nature (
prakṛti
) is so strong that no one can overcome her stringent laws. So-called scientists, philosophers, religionists and politicians should therefore conclude that they cannot offer facilities to the people in general. They should make vigorous propaganda to awaken the populace and raise them to the platform of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Our humble attempt to propagate the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement all over the world is the only remedy that can bring about a peaceful and happy life. We can never be happy without the mercy of the Supreme Lord (
tvad-upekṣitānām
). If we keep displeasing our supreme father, we shall never be happy within this material world, in either the upper or lower planetary systems.