Syamarani dasi: We have been singing the Damodarastakam prayers in the last days. Generally, as you have taught us, when we sing a prayer we remember the person who wrote the prayer and ask him to give us his mood. But the person who wrote Damodarastakam is Satyavrata Muni.
Srila Gurudeva: We sing Damodarastakam only because of the phrase, "Namo radhikayai tvadiya priyayai" (I offer my obeisances to Your beloved Radhika); otherwise, we have no need. This song is for the bhaktas of dasya, sakhya, and vatsalya, as well as for Gaudiya Vaisnavas who are just entering bhakti.
Syamarani dasi: Yet, you spend so much time daily singing all the other verses. Is that for the general people...
Srila Gurudeva: "Vrajangana-sunayakam, sadasukha-pradayakam, jagan-manah pralobhanam, namami nanda-nandanam." Vrajangana-sunayakam – We pray to Nanda-nandana only because of His connection with Vrajangana, the gopis.
makhesvari! kriyesvari svadhesvari suresvari triveda-bharatisvari pramana-sasanesvari ramesvari! ksamesvari pramoda-kananesvari vrajesvari vrajadhipe sri radhike namo 'stute' ["You are the mistress of all kinds of sacrifices (especially of the topmost yugala-milana-yajna); of all actions (since You are the root of all potencies – mula-sakti-tattva); of the mantras uttered at yajnas and of the sacrificial offering presented to the demigods; of all the demigods; of the words of the three Vedas; of the enforcement of all scriptural principles; of Sri Rama-devi (the goddess of fortune); of Sri Ksama-devi (the goddess of forgiveness); and especially of the delightful kunjas in Vrndavana. When will You mercifully make me Your dasi and grant me the qualification to render service in Your amorous pastimes with the prince of Vraja? O Srimati Radhika, owner and maintainer of Vraja! I offer pranama unto You time and again."]Syamarani dasi: In your Guru Maharaja's mangala-arati song... Srila Gurudeva: You jump from one point to another. Syamarani dasi: You can continue with the previous point if you like. Srila Gurudeva: What is your question? Syamarani dasi: Without having ever heard any explanation from you, it appears to me that in your Guru Maharaja's mangala-arati song, he's going back and forth between bhajana and arcana. What is it actually? Is it all bhajana because it is talking about Lalita performing arati? When your Guru Maharaja writes about the karatalas and mrdangas, does this refer only to the gopis' performance of arati? Srila Gurudeva: Yes, yes, yes. But all the upakarana are of another type. Syamarani dasi: What does upakarana mean? Srila Gurudeva: It refers to the instruments of arcana and arati. Lalita's pradipa (lamp) is not an ordinary pradipa like that in the arcana of a kanistha-adhikari. She is offering her madhu-sneha (the affection of the left-wing gopis) in that pradipa. Do you know the meaning of madhu-sneha?
Vrndavana: November, 1994