Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.84.26
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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agha-ogha-marṣa
—
which undoes the flood of sins
agha (sin) + ogha (flood) + marṣa (forbearing, undoing). Bhagavān's feet are not just clean — they unmake the accumulation of sin. Gauḍīyas note the river-imagery: ogha matches the Ganges, marṣa matches its flow.
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tīrtha-āspadam
—
the source of the holy pilgrimage site
tīrtha + āspada (resting place, source). The feet are the source-point of the tīrtha — the doctrine of verse 11 brought to its furthest end: not only is the sādhu the real tīrtha, but Bhagavān's feet are the tīrtha's tīrtha.
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utsikta-bhakti
—
fully developed devotional service
ut-sikta (poured upon, sprinkled out, fully ripened) + bhakti. Bhakti at its full pour. Gauḍīyas read this as a near-synonym for prema-bhakti — the stage at which bhakti has overflowed the disciplinary banks.
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jīva-kośāḥ
—
the external covering of the individual soul
jīva (individual soul) + kośa (sheath, covering). The mind-shaped covering that needs to be destroyed for the jīva to meet Bhagavān. Gauḍīyas read kośa-bheda not as Advaitin merging but as the lifting of the covering so the eternal servant may serve.
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anugṛhāṇa
—
please show mercy
anu + √grah (to seize, accept). To grasp toward, to bestow grace. Gauḍīyas treat anugraha as the active form of kṛpā: not passive favor but Bhagavān's reaching out. The sages, having said so much, end the speech with this imperative.
The holy river Ganges has the power to destroy all sorts of sinful reactions because she originates at the Lord’s lotus feet and thus contains the dust of His feet. Explaining this verse, Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī says, “If the Lord might advise the sages that they need not concern themselves with devotional practices because they are already far advanced in spiritual knowledge and austerity, they hereby respectfully decline such a suggestion, pointing out that only those yogīs who have destroyed their material mind and ego by surrendering to Kṛṣṇa in pure devotional service can attain full perfection. They conclude by praying to the Lord that He favor them in the most merciful way by making them His devotees.”
"We who are explaining this knowledge are your devotees, for seeing you in this way is not possible without devotion. We see your lotus feet which are the shelter of holy places like the Ganga which destroy (marsa) all sins (agha) and are placed in the heart by advanced methods of yoga through meditation but not seen." "That may be, but to destroy the subtle body, jnana is necessary." "Those whose subtle bodies (jiva kosa) containing desires are destroyed by intense devotion attain the goal and not others. Therefore knowing us to be devotees, please give us mercy."
The sages conclude. Today we have seen the feet of you who are rarely realized. Today our lives have become successful since those feet are the highest sādhana (method of attainment) and sādhya (attainment). This is explained by two descriptive phrases. Your feet are the origin of the holy Gaṅgā which destroys a host of sins which make persons inimical to your bhakti. The most mature yogīs and ātmārāmas place those feet in their hearts. “Why is the realization of the ātmārāma disrespected and bhakti praised?” Bhakti destroys the material mind. Another version has apahṛta instead of apahata, but the meaning is the same. Those who have destroyed the coverings on the jīva by intense bhakti, attain you. Making them devotees, be merciful to them, so that they can constantly see you.
Therefore, show such mercy to us today. O supreme person (ādya)! Or today, on this day that the people of Vraja have come, we have seen the feet of the Lord who manifests his unlimted glories (tasya). Therefore be merciful to us. Your feet are rarely seen. They are the shelter of all tīrthas since they have the power of the Gaṅgā which is all tīrthas. Or your feet are most purifying. Gaṅgā is hard to attain. Your feet, the shelter of the Gaṅgā, are even harder to attain. Moreove Sanaka and others, advanced yogīs, simply keep those feet in their hearts. Those who have destroyed the coverings on the jīva, the false conceptsion of knowledge etc. (āśaya) by bhakti attain Vaikuṇṭha (bhavad-gatim). “Since you are offenders, propagating māyāvāda, mīmāṁsa, sāṅkhya, all of which are without concepts of God, how can I show you mercy?” You forgive all offenses (aghaugha-marṣa).
- What old debt or shame could I lay at His feet today?
- Where am I trying to atone with effort when His presence would simply wash?
The sages, having walked through the doctrinal map of two dozen verses, end at the feet themselves: not as conclusion but as the actual washing place from which the Ganges issues. Perfected yogis hold these feet in meditation; only undivided bhakti, melting the kośa, lands a soul among them. The whole speech bends toward the touch of those feet.
The Mahābhārata and Bhāgavatam (SB 9.9) record that the Ganges descends from Viṣṇu's foot (washed by Brahmā in SB 8.21) and is brought to earth by Bhagīratha's tapas to liberate his ancestors.
Gauḍīyas read the verse's tīrtha-āspadam — the source of the holy pilgrimage site — as referring to that very descent: the foot is the source of the river that is the source of every tīrtha.
Caitanya-caritāmṛta records that the Bhaṭṭācārya, Rāya Rāmānanda, and finally Sārvabhauma surrendered when they touched Mahāprabhu's feet. The feet of Bhagavān, in any age, function as the verse names — agha-ogha-marṣa, washing the floods of sin.
Gauḍīyas read this verse as the foundational charter for caraṇa-sevā.
My note
Source: vedabase.io