Shloka 42
Kardama Muni’s Mystic Opulence, Devahūti’s Rejuvenation, and the Turning Toward Fearlessness
किं दुरापादनं तेषां पुंसामुद्दामचेतसाम् । यैराश्रितस्तीर्थपदश्चरणो व्यसनात्यय: ॥ ४२ ॥
kiṁ durāpādanaṁ teṣāṁ puṁsām uddāma-cetasām yair āśritas tīrtha-padaś caraṇo vyasanātyayaḥ
Qu’est-ce qui serait difficile pour des hommes au cœur résolu, réfugiés aux pieds de lotus du Bhagavān, le Tīrtha-pada qui met fin aux périls de l’existence mondaine? De Ses pieds jaillissent des fleuves sacrés tels que le Gange.
The words yair āśritas tīrtha-padaś caraṇaḥ are significant here. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is known as tīrtha-pāda. The Ganges is called a sacred river because it emanates from the toe of Viṣṇu. The Ganges is meant to eradicate all the material distresses of the conditioned souls. Therefore nothing is impossible for any living entity who has taken shelter of the holy lotus feet of the Lord. Kardama Muni is special not because he was a great mystic, but because he was a great devotee. Therefore it is said here that for a great devotee like Kardama Muni, nothing is impossible. Although yogīs can perform wonderful feats, as Kardama has already displayed, Kardama was more than a yogī because he was a great devotee of the Lord; therefore he was more glorious than an ordinary yogī. As it is confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā, “Out of the many yogīs, he who is a devotee of the Lord is first class.” For a person like Kardama Muni there is no question of being conditioned; he was already a liberated soul and better than the demigods, who are also conditioned. Although he was enjoying with his wife and many other women, he was above material, conditional life. Therefore the word vyasanātyayaḥ is used to indicate that he was beyond the position of a conditioned soul. He was transcendental to all material limitations.
FAQs
This verse says that one who takes shelter of the Lord’s feet (tīrtha-pada) finds nothing truly difficult to attain, because the Lord’s shelter removes calamity and grants spiritual strength.
Kapila reassures Devahūti that sincere devotional shelter is powerful: by depending on the Lord—who is the refuge of all sacredness—her obstacles and distress can be overcome and the highest goal becomes attainable.
Regularly anchor the mind in devotion—through prayer, nāma-japa, and remembering the Lord in difficulty—so anxiety and setbacks are faced with faith, steadiness, and a higher purpose.