tasyÄdya te dadṛśimÄá¹…ghrim aghaugha-mará¹£a-
tÄ«rthÄspadaá¹ há¹›di ká¹›taá¹ su-vipakva-yogaiḥ
utsikta-bhakty-upahatÄÅ›aya jÄ«va-koÅ›Ä
Äpur bhavad-gatim athÄnugá¹›hÄna bhaktÄn
tasya - His; adya - today; te - Your; dadṛśima - we have seen; aá¹…ghrim - the feet; agha - of sins; ogha - floods; mará¹£a - which undo; tÄ«rtha - of the holy pilgrimage site (the Ganges); Äspadam - the source; há¹›di - in the heart; ká¹›tam - placed; su - well; vipakva - matured; yogaiḥ - by those whose practice of yoga; utsikta - fully developed; bhakti - by devotional service; upahata - destroyed; ÄÅ›aya - the material mentality; jÄ«va - of the individual soul; koÅ›Äḥ - whose external covering; Äpuḥ - they attained; bhavat - Your; gatim - destination; atha - therefore; anugá¹›hÄṇa - please show mercy; bhaktÄn - to Your devotees.
Today we have directly seen Your feet, the source of the holy Ganges, which washes away volumes of sins. Perfected yogīs can at best meditate upon Your feet within their hearts. But only those who render You wholehearted devotional service and in this way vanquish the soul’s covering — the material mind — attain You as their final destination. Therefore kindly show mercy to us, Your devotees.
The holy river Ganges has the power to destroy all sorts of sinful reactions because she originates at the Lord’s lotus feet and thus contains the dust of His feet. Explaining this verse, ÅšrÄ«la ÅšrÄ«dhara SvÄmÄ« says, “If the Lord might advise the sages that they need not concern themselves with devotional practices because they are already far advanced in spiritual knowledge and austerity, they hereby respectfully decline such a suggestion, pointing out that only those yogÄ«s who have destroyed their material mind and ego by surrendering to Kṛṣṇa in pure devotional service can attain full perfection. They conclude by praying to the Lord that He favor them in the most merciful way by making them His devotees.â€
