FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.47.66

मनसो वृत्तयो न: स्यु: कृष्णपादाम्बुजाश्रया: । वाचोऽभिधायिनीर्नाम्नां कायस्तत्प्रह्वणादिषु ॥ ६६ ॥
manaso vṛttayo naḥ syuḥ
[manaso vrittayo nah syuh]
kṛṣṇa pādāmbujāśrayāḥ
[krishna paadaambujaashrayaah]
vāco ’bhidhāyinīr nāmnāṁ
[vaacho ’bhidhaayineer naamnaam]
kāyas tat-prahvaṇādiṣu
[kaayas tat-prahvanaadishu]
manasaḥ — of the minds vṛttayaḥ — the functions naḥ — our syuḥ — may they be kṛṣṇa — of Kṛṣṇa pāda - ambuja — of the lotus feet āśrayāḥ — taking shelter vācaḥ — our words abhidhāyinīḥ — expressing nāmnām — His names kāyaḥ — our bodies tat — to Him prahvaṇa - ādiṣu — (engaged) in bowing down and so forth .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
manaso vṛttayo naḥ syuḥ
manasaḥ
of the minds
vṛttayaḥ
the functions
naḥ
our
syuḥ
may they be
kṛṣṇa pādāmbujāśrayāḥ
kṛṣṇa
of Kṛṣṇa
pāda - ambuja
of the lotus feet
āśrayāḥ
taking shelter
vāco ’bhidhāyinīr nāmnāṁ
vācaḥ
our words
abhidhāyinīḥ
expressing
nāmnām
His names
kāyas tat-prahvaṇādiṣu
kāyaḥ
our bodies
tat
to Him
prahvaṇa - ādiṣu
(engaged) in bowing down and so forth .
  • manasaḥ vṛttayaḥ — the functions of the mind
    Genitive + nominative: manasaḥ (of the mind) + vṛttayaḥ (functions). The thought-currents. Gauḍīyas read this against Patañjali's yoga-citta-vṛtti-nirodha: bhakti does not still the vṛttis but redirects them to Kṛṣṇa-pāda-padma.
  • kṛṣṇa-pāda-ambuja-āśrayāḥ — taking shelter of Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet
    Compound (contiguous chain): kṛṣṇa + pāda + ambuja + āśrayāḥ. Kṛṣṇa-pādāmbuja — the recurring image of the entire Bhāgavatam. Gauḍīyas regard āśraya at the lotus feet as the heart of śaraṇāgati.
  • vācaḥ abhidhāyinīḥ nāmnām — may our words express His names
    Phrase: vācaḥ (words) + abhidhāyinīḥ (designating) + nāmnām (of names). Vāk-arpaṇa as nāma-saṅkīrtana. The gopas pre-figure Caitanya's yuga-dharma.
  • kāyaḥ tat-prahvaṇa-ādiṣu — our bodies in bowing-down and so on
    Phrase: kāyaḥ (body) + tat (to Him) + prahvaṇa (bowing) + ādiṣu (etc.). Kāya-arpaṇa as praṇāma and sevā. The triad — mind, word, body — offered to one Person.
[Nanda and the other cowherds said:] May our mental functions always take shelter of Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet, may our words always chant His names, and may our bodies always bow down to Him and serve Him.

The residents of Vṛndāvana were firmly convinced that even if they could not have direct association with their beloved Kṛṣṇa, they would never be indifferent to Him. They were all topmost pure devotees of the Lord.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
[Nanda and the other cowherds said:] May our mental functions always take shelter of Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet, may our words always chant His names, and may our bodies always bow down to Him and serve Him.
Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Since the previous verse mentioned that they spoke with anurāga, the words of this verse are spoken with anurāga, not with the conception that Kṛṣṇa was the Supreme Lord. After considering the talks with a predominance of respect for Kṛṣṇa as the Lord, they express their true feelings with words of seeming agreement, while indicating their extreme internal grief in two verses. If you consider Kṛṣṇa to be the Supreme Lord, and he is hard for us to attain, all our functions should concentrate upon him. We should not be indifferent to him. Our bodies should bow to him, our word should utter his names and our minds should think of him. The word ādiṣu indicates that their bodies should engage in service and other actions as well.

Śrīdhara Svāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

May our mental functions take shelter of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, who is directly bhagavān. This means that he should appear to everyone internally. May our words or voices chant his names such as Kṛṣṇa, Dāmodara and Govinda. Or the plural “names” is used to show respect. Our voices should chanty the name Kṛṣṇa. Our bodies should offer respects with devotion. We should also do menial services with our bodies (ādiṣu). They pray for bhakti with engagement of mind, words and body. Though Nanda has vātsalya bhāva he prays for the shelter of Kṛṣṇa’s feet. This is because of lack of control and misery arising from separation. Or though Nanda tried to speak, his throat was choked with tears. Thus other cowherds spoke. Nandādayaḥ is a tad-guṇa-saṁvijñāna bahuvrīhi compound. He would never say “May our mental functions take shelter of his feet.” He already said that he is always thinking of Kṛṣṇa: smaratāṁ kṛṣṇa-vīryāṇi līlāpāṅga-nirīkṣitam hasitaṁ bhāṣitaṁ cāṅga sarvā naḥ śithilāḥ kriyāḥ As we remember the wonderful deeds Kṛṣṇa performed, his playful sidelong glances, his smiles and his words, O Uddhava, we forget all our material engagements. SB 10.46.21

Related values
Anahankarah (Freedom from False Ego)Kshama (Forgiveness / Patience)Atma Nigraha (Self-control)
Related verses
May our mental functions take shelter of Kṛṣṇa's feet, our words chant His names, our bodies bow and serve Him. Vraja residents commit to ongoing tri-partite devotion as their parting prayer.
Reflection Questions
  • Which of mind, speech, body is currently lagging in your daily devotion?
  • What single discipline would bring all three into alignment?

The cowherds' parting prayer: may our minds shelter at Kṛṣṇa's feet, our words speak His names, our bodies bow and serve. The three classical limbs of bhakti — mānasika, vācika, kāyika — offered as a final tripod. Gauḍīyas treat this as the gopas' parallel to BG 9.34.

📝 My note

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