Text 39
jīvasya yaḥ saṁsarato vimokṣaṇaṁ
na jānato ’nartha-vahāc charīrataḥ
līlāvatāraiḥ sva-yaśaḥ pradīpakaṁ
prājvālayat tvā tam ahaṁ prapadye
jīvasya — for the conditioned living being; yaḥ — He (the Supreme Lord) who; saṁsarataḥ — (the conditioned soul) caught in the cycle of birth and death; vimokṣaṇam — liberation; na jānataḥ — not knowing; anartha — unwanted things; vahāt — which brings; śarīrataḥ — from the material body; līlā — for pastimes; avatāraiḥ — by His appearances in this world; sva — His own; yaśaḥ — fame; pradīpakam — the torch; prājvālayat — made to blaze; tvā — You; tam — that Lord; aham — I; prapadye — approach for shelter.
The living being caught in the cycle of birth and death does not know how he can be delivered from the material body, which brings him so much trouble. But You, the Supreme Lord, descend to this world in various personal forms, and by performing Your pastimes You illumine the soul’s path with the blazing torch of Your fame. Therefore I surrender unto You.
Śrīla Prabhupāda writes: “[Nārada said,] In the bodily concept of existence, everyone is driven by material desires, and thus everyone develops new material bodies one after another in the cycle of birth and death. Being absorbed in such a concept of existence, one does not know how to get out of the encagement of the material body. Out of Your causeless mercy, my Lord, You descend to exhibit Your different transcendental pastimes, which are illuminating and full of glory. Therefore I have no alternative but to offer my respectful obeisances unto You. My dear Lord, You are the Supreme, Parabrahman, and Your pastimes as an ordinary human are another tactical resource, exactly like a play on the stage in which the actor plays parts different from his own identity.”