अथानघाङ्घ्रेस्तव कीर्तितीर्थयो
रन्तर्बहिःस्नानविधूतपाप्मनाम् ।
भूतेष्वनुक्रोशसुसत्त्वशीलिनां
स्यात्सङ्गमोऽनुग्रह एष नस्तव ॥५८॥

athÄnaghÄá¹…ghres tava kÄ«rti-tÄ«rthayor
antar-bahiḥ-snÄna-vidhÅ«ta-pÄpmanÄm
bhÅ«teá¹£v anukroÅ›a-susattva-śīlinÄá¹
syÄt saá¹…gamo 'nugraha eá¹£a nas tava

 atha - therefore; anagha-aá¹…ghreḥ - of my Lord, whose lotus feet destroy all inauspiciousness; tava - Your; kÄ«rti - glorification; tÄ«rthayoḥ - the holy Ganges water; antaḥ - within; bahiḥ - and outside; snÄna - taking bath; vidhÅ«ta - washed; pÄpmanÄm - contaminated state of mind; bhÅ«teá¹£u - unto the ordinary living beings; anukroÅ›a - benediction or mercy; su-sattva - completely in goodness; Å›Ä«linÄm - of those who possess such characteristics; syÄt - let there be; saá¹…gamaḥ - association; anugrahaḥ - mercy; eá¹£aḥ - this; naḥ - unto us; tava - Your.


Text

My dear Lord, Your lotus feet are the cause of all auspicious things and the destroyer of all the contamination of sin. I therefore beg Your Lordship to bless me by the association of Your devotees, who are completely purified by worshiping Your lotus feet and who are so merciful upon the conditioned souls. I think that Your real benediction will be to allow me to associate with such devotees.

Purport

The Ganges water is celebrated as being able to eradicate all kinds of sinful reactions. In other words, when a person takes his bath in the Ganges, he becomes freed from all life’s contaminations. The Ganges water is celebrated in this way because it emanates from the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Similarly, those who are directly in touch with the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and who are absorbed in the chanting of His glories are freed from all material contamination. Such unalloyed devotees are able to show mercy to the common conditioned soul. ÅšrÄ«la Vá¹›ndÄvana dÄsa ṬhÄkura has sung that the devotees of Lord Caitanya are so powerful that each one of them can deliver a universe. In other words, it is the business of devotees to preach the glories of the Lord and deliver all conditioned souls to the platform of Å›uddha-sattva, pure goodness. Here the word su-sattva means Å›uddha-sattva, the transcendental stage beyond material goodness. By his exemplary prayers, Lord Åšiva teaches us that our best course is to take shelter of Lord Viṣṇu and His Vaiṣṇava devotees.