taá¹ mopayÄtaá¹ pratiyantu viprÄ
gaá¹…gÄ ca devÄ« dhá¹›ta-cittam Ä«Å›e
dvijopasṛṣá¹aḥ kuhakas taká¹£ako vÄ
daÅ›atv alaá¹ gÄyata viṣṇu-gÄthÄḥ
tam - him; mÄ - me; upayÄtam - surrendered; pratiyantu - you may know; viprÄḥ - O brÄhmaṇas; gaá¹…gÄ - mother Ganges; ca - and; devÄ« - the demigoddess; dhá¹›ta - offered; cittam - whose mind; Ä«Å›e - unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead; dvija-upasṛṣá¹aḥ - created by the brÄhmaṇa; kuhakaḥ - some trickery; taká¹£akaḥ - snake-bird; vÄ - or; daÅ›atu - let it bite; alam - never mind; gÄyata - chant; viṣṇu-gÄthÄḥ - the holy names of Lord Viṣṇu.
“ ‘O brÄhmaṇas, just accept me as a completely surrendered soul, and let mother Ganges, the representative of the Lord, also accept me in that way, for I have already taken the lotus feet of the Lord into my heart. Let the snakebird — or whatever magical thing the brÄhmaṇa created — bite me at once. I only desire that you all continue singing the deeds of Lord Viṣṇu.’
This is a verse from ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam (1.19.15) spoken by MahÄrÄja ParÄ«ká¹£it while he was sitting on the bank of the Ganges expecting to be bitten by a snake-bird summoned by the curse of a brÄhmaṇa boy named Śṛṅgi, who was the son of a great sage named ÅšamÄ«ka. News of the curse was conveyed to the King, who prepared for his imminent death. Many great saintly persons, sages, brÄhmaṇas, kings and demigods came to see him in his last days. MahÄrÄja ParÄ«ká¹£it, however, was not at all afraid of being bitten by the snake-bird. Indeed, he requested all the great personalities assembled to continue chanting the holy name of Lord Viṣṇu.
