Å›rÄ«r yat padÄmbuja-rajaÅ› cakame tulasyÄ
labdhvÄpi vaká¹£asi padaá¹ kila bhá¹›tya-juá¹£á¹am
yasyÄḥ sva-vÄ«ká¹£aṇa utÄnya-sura-prayÄsas
tadvad vayaá¹ ca tava pÄda-rajaḥ prapannÄḥ
Å›rīḥ - the goddess of fortune, wife of Lord NÄrÄyaṇa; yat - as; pada-ambuja - of the lotus feet; rajaḥ - the dust; cakame - desired; tulasyÄ - together with TulasÄ«-devÄ«; labdhvÄ - having obtained; api - even; vaká¹£asi - upon His chest; padam - her position; kila - indeed; bhá¹›tya - by servants; juá¹£á¹am - served; yasyÄḥ - whose (Laká¹£mÄ«'s); sva - upon themselves; vÄ«ká¹£aṇe - for the sake of the glance; uta - on the other hand; anya - of the other; sura - demigods; prayÄsaḥ - the endeavor; tadvat - in the same way; vayam - we; ca - also; tava - Your; pÄda - of the feet; rajaḥ - the dust; prapannÄḥ - have approached for shelter.
Goddess Laká¹£mÄ«, whose glance is sought after by the demigods with great endeavor, has achieved the unique position of always remaining on the chest of her Lord, NÄrÄyaṇa. Still, she desires the dust of His lotus feet, even though she has to share that dust with TulasÄ«-devÄ« and indeed with the Lord’s many other servants. Similarly, we have approached the dust of Your lotus feet for shelter.
The gopÄ«s here point out that the dust of the Lord’s feet is so ecstatic and enlivening that the goddess of fortune wants to abandon her unique position on His chest to share with many other devotees a position at His feet. Thus the gopÄ«s urge Lord Kṛṣṇa not to be guilty of a double standard. Since the Lord gave the goddess of fortune a place on His chest and also allowed her to seek the dust of His lotus feet, Kṛṣṇa should certainly give the same opportunity to His most loving devotees, the gopÄ«s. “After all†the gopÄ«s plead, “seeking the dust of Your lotus feet is perfectly justified, and You should encourage us in this endeavor and not try to send us away.â€
