Text 4
kiṁ citram acyuta tavaitad aśeṣa-bandho
dāseṣv ananya-śaraṇesu yad ātma-sāttvam
yo ’rocayat saha mṛgaiḥ svayam īśvarāṇāṁ
śrīmat-kirīṭa-taṭa-pīḍita-pāda-pīṭhaḥ
kim — what; citram — wonder; acyuta — O infallible Lord; tava — Your; etat — this; aśeṣa-bandho — O friend of all; dāseṣu — for the servants; ananya-śaraṇeṣu — who have taken no other shelter; yat — which; ātma-sāttvam — intimacy with You; yaḥ — who; arocayat — acted affectionately; saha — with; mṛgaiḥ — the animals (monkeys); svayam — Yourself; īśvarāṇām — of the great demigods; śrīmat — effulgent; kirīṭa — of the helmets; taṭa — by the edges; pīḍita — shaken; pāda-pīṭhaḥ — whose footstool.
My dear infallible Lord, it is not very astonishing that You intimately approach Your servants who have taken exclusive shelter of You. After all, during Your appearance as Lord Rāmacandra, even while great demigods like Brahmā were vying to place the effulgent tips of their helmets upon the cushion where Your lotus feet rested, You displayed special affection for monkeys such as Hanumān because they had taken exclusive shelter of You.
The devotees of the Lord become completely successful by the Lord’s causeless mercy. Sometimes Lord Kṛṣṇa accepts a position of subservience to His great devotees, as with Nanda Mahārāja, the gopīs, Bali Mahārāja and others. Although demigods like Lord Brahmā were standing in line to touch their helmets to the Lord’s foot cushion, still Lord Rāmacandra awarded His most intimate friendship to subhumans, such as the monkeys headed by Hanumān. Similarly Lord Kṛṣṇa’s affection for the deer and cows, and even for the trees of Vṛndāvana, is well known. Further, the Lord gladly drove the chariot of Arjuna and acted as the messenger and faithful subordinate of King Yudhiṣṭhira. Such devotees have no need for the elaborate jñāna-yoga systems or the process for achieving mystic powers. All these devotees are represented here by Śrī Uddhava, who frankly informs the Lord that the sophisticated systems of philosophical speculation and mystic yoga are not appealing for one who has developed a taste for direct loving service to the Lord.