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; śīlinÄm - of those who possess such characteristics; syÄt - let there be; saá¹…gamaḥ - association; anugrahaḥ - mercy; eá¹£aḥ - this; naḥ - unto us; tava - Your.
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.