Srimad Bhagavatam — Navama Skandha, Shloka 19
Lord Rāmacandra’s Charity, Sītā’s Departure, and the Lord’s Return to Vaikuṇṭha
स्मरतां हृदि विन्यस्य विद्धं दण्डककण्टकै: । स्वपादपल्लवं राम आत्मज्योतिरगात् तत: ॥ १९ ॥
smaratāṁ hṛdi vinyasya viddhaṁ daṇḍaka-kaṇṭakaiḥ sva-pāda-pallavaṁ rāma ātma-jyotir agāt tataḥ
یَجْیَ مکمل کر کے، دندکارنْیہ میں کانٹوں سے کبھی زخمی ہونے والے اپنے قدموں کو شری رام نے اپنے سدا سمرن کرنے والوں کے دلوں میں بسا دیا۔ پھر وہ برہماجیوति سے پرے اپنے ویکنٹھ دھام میں داخل ہوئے۔
The lotus feet of the Lord are always a subject matter for meditation for devotees. Sometimes when Lord Rāmacandra wandered in the forest of Daṇḍakāraṇya, thorns pricked His lotus feet. The devotees, upon thinking of this, would faint. The Lord does not feel pain or pleasure from any action or reaction of this material world, but the devotees cannot tolerate even the pricking of the Lord’s lotus feet by a thorn. This was the attitude of the gopīs when they thought of Kṛṣṇa wandering in the forest, with pebbles and grains of sand pricking His lotus feet. This tribulation in the heart of a devotee cannot be understood by karmīs, jñānīs or yogīs. The devotees, who could not tolerate even thinking of the Lord’s lotus feet being pricked by a thorn, were again put into tribulation by thinking of the Lord’s disappearance, for the Lord had to return to His abode after finishing His pastimes in this material world.
FAQs
This verse teaches that Lord Rāma establishes His lotus feet in the hearts of those who remember Him—indicating that remembrance is a direct form of devotion that connects the devotee to the Lord.
It highlights the Lord’s humanlike līlā—accepting apparent hardship while remaining transcendental—before He returns to His own self-effulgent divine state.
Practice daily smaraṇam—remembering the Lord through japa, kīrtana, and reflecting on Rāma’s qualities—so devotion becomes inwardly established in the heart.