gomatÄ«á¹ gaṇá¸akÄ«á¹ snÄtvÄ
vipÄÅ›Äá¹ Å›oṇa Äplutaḥ
gayÄá¹ gatvÄ pitá¹n iá¹£á¹vÄ
gaá¹…gÄ-sÄgara-saá¹…game
upaspṛśya mahendrÄdrau
rÄmaá¹ dṛṣá¹vÄbhivÄdya ca
sapta-godÄvarÄ«á¹ veṇÄá¹
pampÄá¹ bhÄ«marathÄ«á¹ tataḥ
skandaá¹ dṛṣá¹vÄ yayau rÄmaḥ
Å›rÄ«-Å›ailaá¹ giriÅ›Älayam
draviá¸eá¹£u mahÄ-puṇyaá¹
dṛṣá¹vÄdriá¹ veá¹…kaá¹aá¹ prabhuḥ
kÄma-koṣṇīṠpurÄ«á¹ kÄñcÄ«á¹
kÄverÄ«á¹ ca sarid-varÄm
Å›rÄ«-rangÄkhyaá¹ mahÄ-puṇyaá¹
yatra sannihito hariḥ
ṛṣabhÄdriá¹ hareḥ ká¹£etraá¹
daká¹£iṇÄá¹ mathurÄá¹ tathÄ
sÄmudraá¹ setum agamat
mahÄ-pÄtaka-nÄÅ›anam
gomatÄ«m - at the GomatÄ« River; gaṇá¸akÄ«m - the Gaṇá¸akÄ« River; snÄtvÄ - bathing; vipÄÅ›Äm - at the VipÄÅ›Ä River; Å›oṇe - in the Åšoṇa River; Äplutaḥ - having immersed Himself; gayÄm - to GayÄ; gatvÄ - going; pitá¹n - His forefathers; iá¹£á¹vÄ - worshiping; gaá¹…gÄ - of the Ganges; sÄgara - and the ocean; saá¹…game - at the confluence; upaspṛśya - touching water (bathing); mahÄ-indra-adrau - at the Mahendra Mountain; rÄmam - Lord ParaÅ›urÄma; dṛṣá¹vÄ - seeing; abhivÄdya - honoring; ca - and; sapta-godÄvarÄ«m - (going) to the convergence of the seven GodÄvarÄ«s; veṇÄm - the Veá¹‡Ä River; pampÄm - the PampÄ River; bhÄ«marathÄ«m - and the BhÄ«marathÄ« River; tataḥ - then; skandam - Lord Skanda (KÄrttikeya); dṛṣá¹vÄ - seeing; yayau - went; rÄmaḥ - Lord BalarÄma; Å›rÄ«-Å›ailam - to ÅšrÄ«-Å›aila; giri-Å›a - of Lord Åšiva; Älayam - the residence; draviá¸eá¹£u - in the southern provinces; mahÄ - most; puṇyam - pious; dṛṣá¹vÄ - seeing; adrim - the hill; veá¹…kaá¹am - known as Veá¹…kaá¹a (the abode of Lord BÄlajÄ«); prabhuḥ - the Supreme Lord; kÄma-koṣṇīm - to KÄmakoṣṇī; purÄ«m kÄñcÄ«m - to KÄñcÄ«puram; kÄverÄ«m - to the KÄverÄ«; ca - and; sarit - of rivers; varÄm - the greatest; Å›rÄ«-raá¹…ga-Äkhyam - known as ÅšrÄ«-raá¹…ga; mahÄ-puṇyam - most pious place; yatra - where; sannihitaḥ - manifested; hariḥ - Lord Kṛṣṇa (in the form of Raá¹…ganÄtha); ṛṣabha-adrim - the Ṛṣabha Mountain; hareḥ - of Lord Viṣṇu; ká¹£etram - the place; daká¹£iṇÄm mathurÄm - the southern MathurÄ (Madurai, the abode of Goddess MÄ«nÄkṣī); tathÄ - also; sÄmudram - on the ocean; setum - to the bridge (Setubandha); agamat - He went; mahÄ - the greatest; pÄtaka - sins; nÄÅ›anam - which destroys.
Lord BalarÄma bathed in the GomatÄ«, Gaṇá¸akÄ« and VipÄÅ›Ä rivers, and also immersed Himself in the Åšoṇa. He went to GayÄ, where He worshiped His forefathers, and to the mouth of the Ganges, where He performed purifying ablutions. At Mount Mahendra He saw Lord ParaÅ›urÄma and offered Him prayers, and then He bathed in the seven branches of the GodÄvarÄ« River, and also in the rivers VeṇÄ, PampÄ and BhÄ«marathÄ«. Then Lord BalarÄma met Lord Skanda and visited ÅšrÄ«-Å›aila, the abode of Lord GiriÅ›a. In the southern provinces known as Draviá¸a-deÅ›a the Supreme Lord saw the sacred Veá¹…kaá¹a Hill, as well as the cities of KÄmakoṣṇī and KÄñcÄ«, the exalted KÄverÄ« River and the most holy ÅšrÄ«-raá¹…ga, where Lord Kṛṣṇa has manifested Himself. From there He went to Ṛṣabha Mountain, where Lord Kṛṣṇa also lives, and to the southern MathurÄ. Then He came to Setubandha, where the most grievous sins are destroyed.
Usually one goes to GayÄ to worship deceased forefathers. But as ÅšrÄ«la ViÅ›vanÄtha CakravartÄ« explains, although Lord BalarÄma’s father and grandfather were still alive, it was on His father’s order that He carefully worshiped His forefathers at GayÄ. Drawing insight from the Vaiṣṇava-toá¹£aṇī, the ÄcÄrya further explains that although Lord BalarÄma was in the immediate proximity of JagannÄtha PurÄ«, He did not go there, since He wanted to avoid the embarrassment of having to worship Himself among the forms of ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa, Balabhadra and SubhadrÄ.
