Śrī Dāmodaraṣṭaka (namāmīśvaraṁ sac-cid-ānanda-rūpaṁ)

This eight śloka prayer is sung morning and evening during the month of Dāmodara.

1) To the supreme controller who possesses an eternal form of blissful knowledge, whose glistening earrings swing to and fro, who manifested Himself in Gokula, who stole the butter that the gopīs kept hanging from the rafters of their storerooms and who then quickly jumped up and ran in retreat in fear of Mother Yaśodā but was ultimately caught—to that Supreme Lord, Śrī Dāmodara, I offer my humble obeisances.

2) Upon seeing His mother's whipping stick, He cried and rubbed His eyes again and again with His two lotus hands. His eyes were fearful and His breathing quick, and as Mother Yaśodā bound His belly with ropes, He shivered in fright and His pearl necklace shook. To this Supreme Lord, Śrī Dāmodara, who is bound with His devotee's love, I offer my humble obeisances.

4) O Lord, although You are able to give all kinds of benedictions, I do not pray to You for liberation, nor eternal life in Vaikuṇṭha, nor any other boon. My only prayer is that Your childhood pastimes may constantly appear in my mind. O Lord, I do not even want to know Your feature of Paramātmā. I simply wish that Your childhood pastimes may ever be enacted in my heart.

5) O Lord, the cheeks of Your blackish lotus face, which is encircled by locks of curling hair, have become reddened like bimba fruit due to Mother Yaśodā's kisses. What more can I describe than this? Millions of opulences are of no use to me, but may this vision constantly remain in my mind.

6) O unlimited Viṣṇu! O master! O Lord! Be pleased upon me! I am drowning in an ocean of sorrow and am almost like a dead man. Please shower the rain of mercy on me; uplift me and protect me with Your nectarean vision.

7) O Lord Dāmodara, in Your form as a baby Mother Yaśodā bound You to a grinding stone with a rope for tying cows. You then freed the sons of Kuvera, Maṇigrīva, and Nalakuvera, who were cursed to stand as trees, and You gave them the chance to become Your devotees. Please bless me in this same way. I have no desire for liberation into Your effulgence.

8) O Lord, the entire universe was created by Lord Brahmā, who was born from Your abdomen, which was bound with a rope by Mother Yaśodā. To this rope I offer my humble obeisances. I offer my obeisances to Your most beloved Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and to Your unlimited pastimes.